This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Fred Flintstone's alcohol problem

by Simon Maloy

Following the political drama of the first hour -- lying about Obama and earmarks, insulting the Vice President's intelligence, nearly shaking the echo chamber loose with Bill Sammon and Drudge -- Rush turned his sights to football ... sort of. Specifically, he expounded at length on Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock's column explaining the role of the sports media as it pertains to the new general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs, writing: "[W]e attempt to be a watchdog of those with power. When we fail to play that role, generally speaking, terrible things happen. The Iraq War is a worst-case scenario. We trusted our president implicitly, led the cheers when we declared war on Iraq and declined to demand answers to difficult questions. Hundreds of billions of dollars later, and with our economy in collapse, we now blame poor, minority homeowners for the fall of our society." Rush was incensed that Whitlock was concerned about the “dictatorial” Chiefs front office but not about the nascent Obama “dictatorship,” and heaped his usual amounts of scorn on the media, calling them “stenographers” for Obama and the Democrats.

Back from the break, and Rush finally took a call on “Open Line Wednesday” -- this one from a man concerned about the alleged failures of government programs. Rush responded by saying that every government program that has failed was the product of Democrats -- welfare, Great Society, etc.

Another break, and another caller, who wanted Rush's thoughts on a letter from hotel-industry leaders to Congress expressing their “concern[] that legitimate meetings, business events and recognition travel are now being portrayed as perks and symbols of excess.” Rush professed to be disgusted that industry leaders were “begging” Congress to stop criticizing their industries, and said this was not what the Founders envisioned for America. Rush also turned his sights on Warren Buffett and others for expressing their “hope” that Obama will “change” his policies. According to Limbaugh, they won't change because this is what liberals do! Unfortunately, Rush's example of “what liberals do” was something that liberals didn't do -- give stimulus money to ACORN: “Why do you think ACORN is getting all of this money? Why do you think Obama's reelection machine is getting all of this money starting in 2010?”

Nonetheless, Rush expressed the hope that Buffett and his compatriots will wake up, but he didn't hold out too much hope, because Obama is just too much like Venezuela's Hugo Chavez: “When are you going to understand who it is you elected? We hope the president will change. Yeah, I wonder how many Venezuelans are hoping Hugo Chavez changes.”

Capping off the hour, Rush squeezed in a little more criticism at Buffett & Co., this time slandering “disgruntled” women and beloved cartoon characters -- Fred and Wilma Flintstone -- in the process.

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: When is Congress going to realize? When is Obama going to realize? That's the mockery of -- that's the joke of Warren Buffett and Andy Grove and Jack Welch. “Gee, I hope the president backs off. Gee, I hope the president understands. Gee, I hope.” You hope the president under- -- we hope you will wake up and understand who it is you elected. We hope the president will change? Yeah, I wonder how many Venezuelans are hoping Hugo Chavez changes. Well, you know, it's not that many. You know, his approval rating is around 60, 70 percent. You know why? He controls the media. They're -- he's approaching Saddam levels. There are food shortages, energy shortages. A typical socialist country -- more and more people living in poverty. He's taking from the producers and distributing it, keeping a lot for himself. But he controls the media. Every day the media message is how great Chavez is, how compassionate, how wonderful, how he wants the best for everybody. He's the protector. He's the guardian. People's lives are ruined. His approvals are in the 70s. He owns the media. And we ask, “When's Obama going to realize the policies are hurting the travel business?”

Enemies list

Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, MSNBC's Chris Matthews are “taking dictation from the White House”:

LIMBAUGH: There's no curiosity. There is blind acceptance of Obama, Jason, right in front of your eyes. They are -- they're stenographers, from Jonathan Alter to Chris Matthews to whoever. They're taking dictation from the White House, Jason. They're taking dictation from Rahm Emanuel. They're taking dictation from James Carville. They're taking dictation from Robert Gibbs. They're taking dictation from Stan Greenberg. They're taking dictation from the president of the United States.

America's Truth Rejector

Repeated false claim that ACORN will receive stimulus funds:

LIMBAUGH: But their objective is to see to it they're never defeated again. Why do you think ACORN's getting all this money? Why do you think Obama's re-election machine is getting all this money starting in 2010? Federal money going to campaign coffers for Democrats in the guise of a stimulus bill.

Ladies' man

LIMBAUGH: They are excused from the normal characterizations of the rich, and I would presume that that's the motivation of people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett and other hyper-rich. They're already targets, so they cultivate a public image of, “Well, we're Democrats. We support Democrats.” Of course, Buffett was out there with Schwarzenegger when Schwarzenegger was sounding good at the beginning of his campaign to fix California when he was running for governor.

Regardless, I think -- regardless of their political persuasions, I think these business titans have made an emotional investment in Obama. I think a lot of Obama's voters have made an emotional investment, not an intellectually based investment and they have no clue when to dump him. You make an emotional investment, and it's tough to let go of it because an emotional investment, you are investing yourself, not just your expertise. You're giving whoever you're emotionally investing with a part of yourself and it's hard to break up. Plus, the guy's the president -- it's access to power. I mean, how do you just -- how do you just, “Oh, the guy's destroying the economy? He has a great-looking family. Oh, he's the guy. He looks so good, an occasional cigarette but still, he sounds so smart. He's wrecking the economy but I can't let go because oh, I love the guy, oh.”

So they have to tip-toe around it and write these little pieces, “Gee, I hope the president realizes -- gee, I hope the president can realize that we need to end this chaos. Gee, I hope one of the president's advisers.” So whatever their charts are telling them, their personal wealth charts, their own portfolios. Whatever their head's telling them, their heart is saying, “I can't let go of the guy. He's the president. I supported him. I had high hopes. Gee, maybe he'll change.” They sound like disgruntled women in relationships. “Why won't the guy change? Gee, I hope.” Can you imagine Wilma Flintstone saying, “Gee, I hope Fred learns some day to stop drinking too much.” Just leaving it alone, Wilma Flintstone's going to be hiding the booze or whatever, so this is what we're dealing with -- they're so deeply emotionally invested in Obama, it's going to take something big to shake them out of their love and devotion to that investment.