This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the Cheney-Barkley connection
By Simon Maloy

It's the final hour and Rush kicks it off with an argument “totally in logic” and “irrefutable” about AIG and the bonuses. Limbaugh claimed that the argument that AIG executives should have been more “sensitive” to the use of taxpayer money is bunk, because they were given money to stay in business and keep doing what they had been doing, and that the lack of accountability in the TARP legislation made this possible. Rush acknowledged that not everyone would agree with this, but it wouldn't be any different if we were bailing out McDonalds -- would we expect them to stop selling Big Macs?

From there, Rush entered into an extended and philosophical monologue on the shortcomings of socialist thought vis-à-vis the costs of labor, unionization, and education. After reaching such dizzying intellectual heights, Rush brought it back down to the levels to which we've grown accustomed. Noting that the Danish government will begin making compensation payments to women who developed breast cancer from working late shifts, Rush added: “Prostitutes are not part of this study, I don't think.”

Taking a quick call between breaks, Rush accused Andrew Cuomo of attempting to “tarnish” the reputations of AIG employees receiving bonuses. Coming back from the break, Rush explained why Alex Rodriguez and Julia Roberts make as much money as they do -- not because they're important, but because of their abilities, their output, and the fact that someone will pay them that much.

Then Rush arrived late to a party at which other conservatives and media people have already overstayed their welcome -- accusing Obama of hypocrisy on the “fundamentals” of the economy. Rush even aired the audio of Obama saying on Friday, “If we are keeping focused on all the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy,” but then immediately rejiggered it into: “Obama's teleprompter told him that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.” Rush continued: “So back then, on August 21st, Obama's teleprompter told him to make fun of McCain, because McCain was saying the fundamentals of the economy are strong. ... And then, last Friday, when El Rushbo was on the charity circuit, Obama's teleprompter told him that the fundamentals of the economy are sound.” No, no, no, no, no. Obama criticized McCain during the campaign for saying, in general, that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong,” and then backtracking to define what he called “fundamentals.”

Another break and Rush was back, highlighting former Vice President Cheney's praise of Limbaugh this past Sunday as a “good friend” and a “good man.” The only thing that shocked us about this is that Rush waited until the end of the show to play that clip. Then, much to our delight, he opened up another chapter in his ongoing feud with NBA great Charles Barkley, contrasting Cheney's effusive praise for Rush with Barkley calling a radio station from prison to call Limbaugh a “fat ass.” Rush found a bit of pathos in all this, saying that in 20 years he hadn't changed, but Barkley clearly has, retelling the story of a charity golf tournament Barkley hosted back in the '90s to which Rush had been invited as the keynote speaker. For our own part, we can't decide whether we'd prefer to be praised by Cheney or insulted by Barkley.

That's it for the Limbaugh Wire for today. Thanks for reading, we'll see you tomorrow, and be sure to check out Media Matters' continuing obsession with all things Limbaugh.

Highlights from Hour 3

America's Truth Rejector

Falsely suggested Obama repeated the "fundamentals" line he had criticized McCain for during the campaign:

LIMBAUGH: All right. Now to the audio sound bites -- and I'm going to get to Dick Cheney saying he loves me before this program is over today, but, first, last Friday, when I was out, this is what President Obama's prompter - teleprompter told him to say:

OBAMA [audio clip]: If we are keeping focused on all the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy, then we're going to get through this, and I'm very confident about that.

LIMBAUGH: You hear that Friday when I wasn't here? Obama's teleprompter told him that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. They told him to say it and he said it. And then on Sunday, Meet the Press, David Gregory talking to the White House Council of Economic Advisers' Christina Romer, and she said, “Are the fundamentals of this economy sound?”

ROMER [audio clip]: Well, of course the fundamentals are sound in the sense that the American workers are sound, we have a good capital stock, we have good technology --

LIMBAUGH: Whoa, what is this? I go on vacation, all of a sudden the economy rebounds and Obama's teleprompter tells him so? He was just running down the economy a week ago: “It's going to be bad. We may -- if we don't do this now, we may never recover.” Remember that? “We've got to do all of this now. It's going to be a long time.”

Gregory couldn't let Romer's comment go by. He said, well, all right, but what's different between now and then when the economy was in better shape than it is now? When McCain was saying the fundamentals were strong, and Obama's teleprompter told him to say no?

ROMER: [audio clip]: What we're saying is that the -- you know, where we are today is obviously not good. We have a plan in place to get to a good place. I think that's the crucial -- a fundamentally crucial difference is to make sure that you have put in place all of the comprehensive programs that'll get us back to those fundamentals.

LIMBAUGH: Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. The fundamentals were -- see the fundamentals were stronger back during the campaign than they are today, and McCain said that and he got beat up over the head.

Back August 21st, in Chester, Virginia, John Tyler Community College, Obama had a town hall meeting on the economy and this is what his teleprompter told him to say.

OBAMA: [audio clip]: I guess if you think that being rich means you've got to make $5 million, and if you don't know how many houses you have, then it's not surprising that you might think the economy was fundamentally strong.

LIMBAUGH: So back then, on August 21st, Obama's teleprompter told him to make fun of McCain, because McCain was saying the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Then, throughout the campaign and through his immaculate inauguration -- the immaculation -- he kept running down the economy like this: “Hopeless. Yeah, we don't do this now, we may never recover” -- all that rut.

And then, last Friday, when El Rushbo was on the charity circuit, Obama's teleprompter told him that the fundamentals of the economy are sound.

Ladies' man

LIMBAUGH: Anyway, I'm way long here, and I've got so much great stuff. I've got audio sound bites I've gotta get to. I'll also have to -- the night shift -- BBC News night shift: Danish government's been paying compensation to women who've developed breast cancer after long spells of working nights. Prostitutes are not part of this study, I don't think.