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June 22, 2005 - Rush Limbaugh Program
36:23
June 22, 2005, Wednesday, Hour #1
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It certainly seems, ladies and gentlemen, the Senate is awash in tears lately.
Senator Dick Turbin apologized, said he apologized.
We'll examine whether this was indeed or is an apology.
Some people have their doubts.
But we're going to do something more than that.
We're going to get beyond the apology.
We're going to look at how this actually works for Republicans versus Democrats in Washington.
And we will revisit the Trent Lott episode, and you will see a marked difference in the way both parties deal with these kinds of things.
Greetings, welcome.
Rush Limbaugh here, The Excellence in Broadcasting Network, and three hours straight ahead here from the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies.
So Durbin says he apologizes.
Now, if we take that at face value, I mean, I guess that means that all his other comments last week, attacking Republicans, et cetera, were then boldface lies as well.
And I find it just fascinating.
Here, Durbin is apologizing for whatever he thinks he did.
And by the way, here's really the crux of it.
Durbin said some may believe that my remarks crossed the line.
To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies.
Basically, folks, he's apologizing if you were offended.
He's not apologizing for what he said.
He's apologizing if you were offended by what he said.
Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line.
To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies.
He doesn't retract the remarks, and he doesn't say I was wrong.
Now, you might think this is nitpicking, and you might say, come on, Rush, just move on.
Can you?
And that's what the libs are all saying.
And I find that an interesting phrase, moveon.org.
Come on, Rush, let's move on.
It's over with now.
Let's get on with it.
Well, this is not how it went down when Trent Lott was put through this.
And that's part of what I want to review as we go through all of this now.
And of course, we will take your comments on this.
Senator Durbin also continued to blame people like me.
He didn't mention me this time, but he blamed people like me for ginning this up into a huge controversy.
And even the Washington Post today, the comparison that ends the conversation.
Senator is latest to regret Nazi analogy.
It's by Mark Leibovich.
And here's how the story starts.
Someone should post a sign in the Senate cloakroom or wherever important people who should know better will see it.
The sign would warn politicians against comparing anything to the Nazis or Hitler or the Holocaust.
These comparisons are not a good idea, repeat, not a good idea.
It'll only bring a massive headache, as Senator Richard Durbin has learned.
So once again, the mainstream press in Washington advising Durbin and others how not to have to go through this again.
Not to don't say it because it's wrong.
If you want to avoid this, don't do this.
If this were a Republican who had said this, there would be no advisory pieces in the Washington Post, no helpful hints, nothing of the sort.
And even in this piece, I, ladies and gentlemen, get blamed for being a participant.
And one of the causes of this increased rancor.
All of this is consistent with the escalation of political rhetoric in general, says Deborah Tannin, a professor of linguistics at Georgetown and an expert on political discourse.
She mentions the Senate debate over filibusters in which the nuclear option loomed.
And conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh, who rails against feminazis.
It's all part of the same verbal inflation tannin says, adding that feminists generally refrain from torturing people.
Folks, they can't keep me out of the news no matter how they try.
It's just, I'm now responsible.
I have heated the political rhetoric.
It's because of people like me and the nuclear option being used by Republicans that Durbin did this.
Because people like me and the Republicans have simply turned up the gas, turned up the juice here on all of the incendiary rhetoric and we're heating it up.
And it's really, it's not Durbin's fault.
It's nobody else.
It's just part of the way things are going.
What is this line here?
Deborah Tannin adding that feminists generally refrain from torturing people.
I'll tell you.
Well, she's a political expert when she's needed to be a political expert.
She's another linguistics expert.
This one from Georgetown, George Lackoff, Rhymes with is from Berkeley.
But you heard about Berkeley?
This is funny.
They're going to close down this Thomas Jefferson School because Jefferson had slaves and the name of the town Berkeley comes from a former slave owner who was actually an apologist for slaves and slave owners.
And we'll get to that in due course.
But I mean, Howard Dean's throwing my name out there again today.
And in the Washington Post, I am listed as a contributor to the reason, cause, if you will, the reason for all this incendiary rhetoric floating around.
All right.
How are we going to do this?
Let's start, I guess, let's just go through the motion with the audio soundbites.
Let's start with Durbin first, and let's go back and go to June 14th.
Here is the despicable, disgusting Durbin comparison of our soldiers to Nazis and Pol Pot.
Now, he's the number two man in the Senate.
And because, you know, he ought to be made to resign that position because is this not worse than what Trent Lott said?
I mean, it certainly is, in anybody's estimation, except the D.C. culture and establishment.
So here's Durbin back on June the 14th.
If I read this to you and didn't tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have happened by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime, Paul Potter, others, that had no concern for human beings.
Sadly, that's not the case.
This was the action of Americans in treatment of their own prisoners.
He hasn't taken any of that back.
He just said he's sorry if anybody was offended by it.
But he didn't say he was wrong and he didn't take it back.
And he also, ladies and gentlemen, has never been to Gitmo.
He's never been, went to Iraq, but he's never been to Gitmo.
You would think he'd want to go.
If it's this bad down there, you'd think he'd want to go down there and take a look at it.
Now, he first apologized.
We'll get to the apology sound bites now.
He first apologizes if anything he said offended the memory of the Holocaust.
This is last night on the Senate floor.
I made reference to the Nazis, to the Soviets, and other repressive regimes.
Mr. President, it is very clear that even though I thought I had said something that clarified the situation, to many people, it was still unclear.
I'm sorry if anything that I said caused any offense or pain to those who have such bitter memories of the Holocaust, the greatest moral tragedy of our time.
Nothing, nothing should ever be said to demean or diminish that moral tragedy.
But yet again, he simply apologizes for the feelings that it caused.
He doesn't take back what he said.
And then here come the, here come the tears, the Senate awash in tears.
This is last night on the Senate floor.
Durbin tears up while apologizing if anything he said cast a negative light on the military.
Cast a negative light?
He called them Nazis.
What do you mean, if anything he said cast a negative light?
Listen to this.
I'm also sorry if anything I said in any way cast a negative light on our fine men and women in the military.
Stop, Tape.
How could it not?
I'm also sorry if anything I said in any way cast a negative light on our...
I am sorry for casting a negative light, and I take it back.
That's an apology.
Here he continues to say he's sorry if anything he said cast a negative.
Of course, it did.
You compared him to Nazis, Soviet gulags, Pol Pot.
Here's the rest of it.
I went to Iraq just a few months ago with Senator Harry Reid on a delegation, bipartisan delegation.
The president was part of it.
When you look into the eyes of those soldiers, you see your son, you see your daughter.
They're the best.
I never, ever intended any disrespect for them.
Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line.
To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies.
There we go.
So some may believe my remarks, they did cross the line.
You're not taking it back.
You didn't erase the line.
The line's still there.
Your words are still over the line, and you're apologizing to people for making them feel bad.
Now, I know what you're saying.
Rush, can't you just let this go?
Come on, Rush.
Come on, Rush.
I mean, he apologized.
Can't you just let it go?
This is only going to...
See, you're just going to make everybody think the right wing is a bunch of wackos and freaks.
Stick with me on this, folks.
Stick with me.
You've been with me long enough to know that we don't do anything here without a major point with a big exclamation point to be followed.
And that's what's going to happen here.
So just stick before you.
Come on, Rush.
Be nice, will you?
Be big about it.
Be bigger than Durbin.
Accept it.
I just want to show you how Washington works here.
And I know how short memories are.
Just sit tight.
Let's finish up with Durbin here before we go to the break.
Let me check the roster here.
Yeah.
This is the last Durbin.
He ends up here by quoting Abraham Lincoln, who was shot in the temple.
Remember that joke that he told about Lincoln?
A lot of people think that he's Jewish.
Yeah, Abraham.
And he was shot in the temple.
Everybody laughed big time on that.
Still haven't heard an apology for that one.
Anyway, here he is.
He invokes Lincoln's name.
There's usually a quote from Abraham Lincoln that you can turn to in moments like this.
Would do every day.
Maybe this is the right one.
Lincoln said, if the end brings me out right, what is said against me won't amount to anything.
If the end brings me out wrong, 10,000 angels swearing I was right wouldn't make any difference.
In the end, I don't want anything in my public career to detract from my love for this country, my respect for those who serve it, and this great Senate.
I offer my apologies to those who were offended by my words.
There you go.
I promise you that I will continue to speak out on the issues that I think are important to the people of Illinois and to the nation.
Now, how do you hear this?
I'll tell you what, the way I hear it, look, I apologize.
First, the Lincoln business.
Hey, look, you know, if what I said was right, it doesn't matter what anybody else says.
I'm going to be right.
And if I was wrong, it doesn't matter who defends me.
I'm still going to be wrong.
That's just for icing.
He gets the point here.
offer my apologies again to those who were offended by my words uh and then he says i'm gonna keep saying them he says i promise you i'm gonna continue to speak out on issues that i think are important to the people of illinois and the nation and if your feelings get hurt i may apologize again but i'm gonna keep speaking all right now for those of you saying come on rush come on can you let it just sit with me stick with me on this we'll be back continue here in just a second And we're back.
We're having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have here.
Folks, join us on the EIB network and the Limboy Institute, 800-282-2882.
So Dick Durbin says that some may believe that my remarks cross the line, but he doesn't say he thinks that.
He didn't say my remarks crossed the line.
He said, some of you may think my remarks cross the line.
And if you do, I'm sorry for offending you, but I'm going to keep speaking out on these issues.
So he didn't take the words back.
I'm sorry he didn't take it.
Come on, Rush.
Give him the benefit.
Just stick with me, folks.
Let's continue with the audio sound bites.
Last night on the Senate floor, John McCain, who has to insert himself into virtually every story that there's going to be a lot of press on, rushes to the Senate floor to praise Durbin and ask that we put this behind us.
The senator from Illinois just made a heartfelt statement, one of apology.
All of us, I believe, who've had the opportunity to serve in public life from time to time have said things that we deeply regret.
I know that I have.
I can't speak for the other members of this body.
But I would like to say to the senator from Illinois, he did the right thing, the courageous thing, and I believe we can put this issue behind us.
And I thank the senator from Illinois.
Courageous thing here.
So why doesn't Durbin have to go on an atonement tour like Trent Lott did?
Why didn't he have to go to sensitivity training?
Why didn't he have to go meet Abraham Foxman?
Why doesn't he have to run?
Why didn't he go apologize to all the different Jewish groups in person like Blot?
Lot had to show up on Black Entertainment TV for crying out loud and sit there with some of those stone-faced anchors who didn't care that he was there.
We're going to accept his apology no matter what.
Lot apologized five times and they never accepted it once.
And after he apologized five times, the White House dumped all over him and they took his Senate leadership position away from him and created an enemy out of him from now on until Bush leaves office.
Five times Lott apologized.
Not once was it accepted over a remark.
He made it a birthday party.
And yet this that Durbin did was courageous.
That's not, we're not finished here.
Do the Republicans demand that he resign his leadership post?
Do they refuse to accept the apology?
No, they accept it and move on.
Last night, or actually this morning on Fox and Friends, Mitch McConnell was there.
And E.D. Hill says, some have suggested that he should be canned from his job as minority whip.
Do you think that's going too far?
Look, you know, leadership posts are up to the Democratic conference.
That'll be for them to decide.
I think we're probably going to move on from this point and to other issues.
Yeah, we'll get back to Bolton and the filibuster.
Hubba, hubba.
Yes, sir, Rebob.
Now, folks, don't misunderstand me.
I don't care whether Durbin resigned his post or not.
I'm just trying to show you the differences in these two parties.
I'm trying to show you a party with gonads and a party with linguine spines.
And you tell me which party is which.
I'm trying to show you which party's got the guts to act like winners, which party has the guts to act like they have spines, and which party, despite the fact that they lose, still acts like they run the show.
As far as Durbin going or staying, I don't know.
If he stays, fine.
I think he's a poster child here for the Democratic Party, and I hope he keeps talking, and I haven't changed my mind.
And whether he apologized or not is irrelevant to me.
I'm just pointing out to you, I don't think he did.
I don't believe in these public apologies.
Anyway, I think it's all a bunch.
He said what he meant to say.
He said what he meant to say.
And the real irony here is that while he's out there supposedly apologizing for hurting people's feelings, what's Nancy Pelosi doing?
She's organizing 133 members of the House to set up this investigation of what's going on at Getmo and to get us out of Iraq while Durbin's out there apologizing and praising the troops and the guards and everybody else.
And there's not one bit of scrutiny from the mainstream press on any of this.
Just reporting and praise.
And okay, Durbin did it.
Can we now move on?
In the Washington Post, we get a little story.
Tips for the Democrats.
Hint, next time, don't compare anybody to Hitler.
And by the way, the only reason they're doing it is because Rush Limbaugh invented the term feminist.
That's the sum total of the Washington Post story.
Durbin did it because I popularized it first with feminazi.
I haven't used that term on this program in years.
But it still gets to him, doesn't it?
And you know why?
Because it's right.
Because it's accurate.
And I'm not going to apologize for it.
I will apologize if it hurts your feelings.
But you know what?
I think if you're offended at your problem, it's not mine.
That's another thing about this bill.
Durbin's not in charge of other people's feelings.
He has no business apologizing if people are offended.
People's feelings are their own.
So if you're offended, it's your problem.
That's the way I look at it.
You can't go through life trying not to offend people or you'll end up being a wimp.
Anyway, oh, Frist.
Bill Frist accepted Durbin's apology this this morning on C-SPAN on the Senate floor.
Last night's statement from Senator Durbin both honored our troops and recognized the sacrifices of those who lived and died under the grim systems of Nazi terror, of Soviet repression and Cambodian genocide.
That is right and fine and worthy.
Senator Durbin took an honorable step yesterday afternoon, and I look forward to working with our colleague from Illinois as we move forward.
You can't be serious.
I wouldn't look forward to working with a guy.
The guy is holding up everything you want to do, Senator Frist.
This is the collegiality.
And of course, our friends in the Senate.
Blah, blah, blah, blah.
Durbin, after all this, is going to think the slate's been wiped clean, and he's going to continue to stand in the way of everything Frist wants to get done.
Nothing's going to change.
All this collegiality, all this bending over forwards and backwards to be nice, to try to be bigger than everybody about this, try to be bigger than the Democrats.
It never works.
Doesn't make the Democrats like him anymore.
It isn't going to get John Bolton a new vote.
It isn't going to get him approved.
It's not going to get Social Security advanced.
It ain't going to get anything done.
The Republicans are just afraid of the media ripping them to shreds if they refuse to accept the apology.
That's all this is.
We'll be back in a moment.
By the way, Brian, go ahead and turn on the DittoCam since this is my last day this week.
Little programming note.
Got a guy golf trip I'm heading on this afternoon.
We'll not be here Thursday or Friday.
We'll be back on Monday.
Welcome back.
It's Rush Limbaugh, the EIB Network.
I'm not through here, folks.
Just stick with me on this.
The best is yet to come here.
But I'm telling you, why is Durbin apologizing?
You don't think he's apologizing because it's Republicans mad at him.
He couldn't care less.
I mean, the Republicans in the Senate have been saying things.
He wouldn't respond.
could not care less.
He's responding.
He's apologizing because you are upset.
He's apologizing because he's heard about it from average ordinary Americans.
And you average ordinary people know who you are.
All over the country.
Make no mistake about it.
If it was just a bunch of Republicans demanding it, he'd be still doing his Howard Dean routine.
By the way, a little side note based on what's on cable TV news these days.
I happen to be reading the Atlanta Urinal Constipation newspaper today, and they've got this thing called the Vent section.
And I saw something, and I didn't know this.
They said the name Vandersloot, one of the suspects in the Natalie Holloway disappearance down in a room, Vandersloot in the Atlanta Journal newspaper today, Vandersloot apparently is Dutch for Kennedy.
And now back to the Dick Durbin circumstance.
I want to go back now to the Trent Lott episode.
We have just set the table for you here.
Let's review what we've done.
Durbin apologized, but didn't apologize.
He didn't take back his words.
He didn't say he thought his words crossed the line.
He said, if you think his words crossed the line, he's sorry for hurting your feelings, and he apologizes for that.
He's actually apologizing for you being offended, but he didn't take his words back, and in fact, said he's going to keep speaking out on these important issues.
And then we had Senator McCain run to the Senate floor to praise him.
And we had Senator Frist say the same thing this morning on the Senate floor.
It's all bygones or bygones and we can move on and get back to the business of the Senate, which is obstructing everything that the Republicans want to do.
And we're going to be happy to work with Durbin again, Frist said.
We're excited.
We're looking forward to working with our colleague from Illinois as we move forward on the Bolton filibuster.
No action on Social Security.
No action on judges.
Blah, blah, blah, blah.
We're looking happy.
And we're happy.
We're looking forward to getting back to the business of the Senate, working with our friend and colleague from Illinois.
And then Mitch McConnell said, I don't have anything to say about the leadership and the Democratic side of the aisle here.
That's their business.
Okay, that's what happened last night and today.
Let's go back, December 12, 2002.
I want to go back and just replay you a prediction that I made during the Trent Lott controversy.
And I said then, Senator Lott, if you want to end this, switch parties today and the criticism of you will end.
If we want to end this now, and let's face it, we all do.
There's one thing and only one thing Senator Trent Lott can do.
Switch parties.
Become a Democrat today and all this will be overlooked.
Now, he'll have to resign the Senate because there would go our majority if he switched parties and stayed in the Senate.
But I mean, just personally for him, if he wants this all to go away, become a Democrat and it'll be overlooked.
Let's now look at a montage of how Democrats reacted to Trent Lott's apology.
And by the way, there wasn't just one Trent Lott apology.
There were five.
Trent Lott apologized five times.
Not one of them was accepted.
We have a montage here, December 2002, from Democrats and John McCain reacting to Lott's apology.
We got Governor Kumo.
We have former Texas Governor Ma Richards.
We have the former head of the NAA LCP, Kwa Easy Imfume.
We have Louisiana Senator Mary Landrew.
We have California Representative Maxine Waters and the president and founder of the push and monochrome coalition, the Reverend Jackson, along with Senator McCain.
Here was what they had to say about Trent Lott's apology.
Trent Lott speaks for the Republican Party.
It was terrible.
If a Democrat had said what Trent Lott said, there would have been no question about whether or not that Democrat would stay on or not.
We think he should resign, and we think the party should find a way to make that happen.
The real issue is, does the Republican Party think this should be their leader?
I can promise you, if a Democratic leader said something like this or close to this, their leadership position would be pulled.
Trent Lott has made yet another statement consistent with his long history of supporting segregation and separatism.
And now it's gotten to the point where it's downright racism.
Trent Lott's redemption will come through action, not just through words.
I believe that Trent Lott ought to hold a press conference, restate his commitment to equal opportunity, his abhorrence of discrimination of any kind, and answer questions and make a compelling case.
All right.
Now, that's how the Democrats play ball in these sorts of circumstances.
And this is how the Republicans play ball.
Durbin doesn't apologize.
And we said, well, that's great, Senator.
We're looking forward to working with you again.
Hubba hubba, let's move on.
You're a great guy.
Mario Cuomo, Trent Lott speaks for the Republican Party.
Well, so does Dick Durbin, but you didn't have a Republican anywhere with Clout saying it.
You didn't have an elected Republican say, we said it here, and we've been saying it for years and years and years, things like it.
But you don't hear it from elected Republicans in Washington.
Ma Richards, if a Democrat had said what Trent Lott said, there would have been no question about whether or not the Democrat would have stayed on or not.
We just found evidence that Ma Richards didn't know what she's talking about.
Imfume.
We think he should resign, and we think the party should find a way to make that happen.
Landrew, if a Democrat leader said something like this or close to this, then their leadership position would be pulled.
What did Lott say?
He just said, you know, Strom, the country would be a lot better off if you'd have won back in 1948.
Now, you compare that to Durbin comparing U.S. interrogators and military people and America in general to Nazism, Stalinism, and pole potism.
And I ask you, did one Democrat dissent?
Did one other than Richard Daly, did one Democrat suggest we don't want this kind of man speaking for us in our party, particularly the number two leadership position?
Nope.
Did the Republicans come forward and say, we got to get Lott out of here.
We can't put up with this.
This is bad news for us.
We've got to throw him overboard.
Yes, they did.
Now you might say, come on, Rush, one's about race and one's, that's a good point.
I think it's time to stand up on this stupid race business, too.
They charge racism every time somebody makes one comment that the left disagrees with about it.
And as long as you keep running with your tail between your legs, they're going to keep acting this way.
And they're going to keep forcing people from office this way.
To argue that this country is as racist and has not changed since the days of slavery and the 64 Civil Rights Act is just wrong.
It's blind and it is purposeful.
It's just silly.
And then McCain says, Trent Lott, press conference.
Yeah.
Restate.
Let him know.
He's not a racist, and I'm not in it.
That's what I'm worried about.
Everybody's going to think I'm a racist unless I go out there and dump on Trent Lott.
I got to do it to save myself.
Stupid party I'm a member of.
Damn it.
That's how the Republicans deal with this stuff.
Now, let me go to our Nexus research.
I am holding here the Gannett News Service, essentially USA Today, from December 11th, 2002.
Here's the headline.
Democrats reject Lott's apology.
Republican leader Trent Lott's apology for saying the country would have been better off if elected a pro-segregation president in 1948 fell flat with many black lawmakers and other Democrats on Tuesday, and some called for him to give up his leadership post.
Qua easier fume, Senator Lott's statements, the kind of callous, calculated, hateful bigotry that has no place in the halls of Congress.
His remarks are dangerously divisive, certainly unbefitting a man who is to hold such a highly esteemed leadership role as the majority leader of the Senate.
Tom Daschell said Monday he accepted Lott's explanation that the Republican had not intended to endorse Strom Thurmond's then ardent support of segregation.
However, after the critical comments from Maxine Waters, Daschell issued a second statement saying his acceptance of Lott's explanation does not mean that I found the statement appropriate.
Regardless of how he intended his statement to be interpreted, it was wrong to say it, and I strongly disagree with it.
Maxine Waters helped me get my mind right on this.
Maxine Waters spanked Daschell.
Daschell went out and took back what he had said.
Then Benny Thompson, Mississippi Representative, it's obviously not enough from our vantage point, this apology.
It was insulting and not the words that you would expect from the next Senate majority leader.
Bob Menendez, Democrat, New Jersey, Cuban American, called Lott's apology a day late and a dollar short.
That's story one.
Story two, December 12, 2002, Chicago Tribune, headline, Lott Hope's third apology is the charm.
Lot Hope's third apology is the charm.
Urgently trying to quell a growing controversy, Mississippi Senator Trent Lott gave broadcast interviews Wednesday to expand on his apology for saying America would not have so many problems if it had elected Strom Thurmond to president in 1948.
The words were terrible and I regret it.
This was a mistake of the head and not of the heart.
I don't accept those policies of the past at all.
He actually took his words back.
He apologized for the words that he used.
Tom Daschell, meanwhile, called on President Bush to personally repudiate Lott's words, as did DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe.
Sources said the NAALCP, which already has called on Lott to step down, was mulling whether to run a television ad critical of Lott, though a spokesman denied it.
John Kerry, a 2004 presidential perspirate, became the first senator to ask Lott to step aside.
I simply don't believe the country can today afford to have someone made these statements again and again be the leader of the U.S. Senate.
So Kerry called on him to quit.
That's the Chicago Tribune on December, or yeah, December 12, 2002.
Let me get to the next story.
It is the Lexington, Kentucky Herald leader, December 14th, 2002.
Headline, Lott's fifth apology.
It's so funny.
Lott's fifth apology brings little support.
Rival tests Waters for a leadership role.
So he apologized five times.
The Democrats never once accepted it.
And they forced him from the leadership position.
I actually forced President Bush in on the issue as well.
Now, I wanted to go through this because I wanted just to show you.
In case memories are short, you know, 2002 is three years ago.
Some people's memory goes back to yesterday.
Some goes back longer than that.
But I just wanted to illustrate for you how the two parties play ball and how they're different.
And it's, to me, it's sort of sad.
And I know why the Republicans do it.
It's the same way.
We've got this Klein book out there.
And there are certain conservative commentators in a race.
They are in a virtual race to show the mainstream media they are not knee-jerk reactionary right-wingers.
And so they're out there dumping on this Klein book.
They're dumping on Klein.
They're dumping on the whole concept of these kinds of scandal books.
In fact, this may not even be what this book is.
But it's the same old thing, whether it's renegade Republican commentators, conservative commentators who desperately want the D.C. culture.
Please, please don't think of me as one of those talk radio guys.
Don't think of me, don't think of me as one of those right-wing weckles.
I think the Klein book sucks too.
And look what I wrote, and I was first out of the box with it.
Same thing in the Senate.
Hey, don't, don't, please.
You know, I want my profile in the style section to be good.
You know, we accept Durbin's apology and we're willing to forgive and forget and move on.
We want you to write that we're growing here in stature in Washington.
That's just the way things are.
That's what happens when the culture of Washington, D.C. is dominated by the left.
We'll take a break and be back after this.
Stay with us.
Okay, we've got to hustle.
This section is going to be a little short because it went long in the previous one.
We continue to follow Illinois Senator Dick Durbin around Washington.
Last night, as you know, was the Paint the Nation Blue rally.
Durbin and Howard Dean headlined this.
Now, this is Dick Durbin last night coming after his so-called apology.
Durbin was then forced to urge his fellow Democrats to applaud the troops, and they weren't in the mood for it.
We have 150,000 of the best and bravest Americans, our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, people we love in our family and those from other families, who, as I speak to you tonight, are literally risking their lives for America in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world.
Democrats stand proud supporting those men and women in uniform.
Join me in giving them a proud Democratic applause for all they give to America.
Now, that applause sounded bigger than it was.
That was not much of the room applauding.
But here's Durbin.
This is minutes after his apology, trying to talk about how proud he is of the troops in this.
But what the crowd really wanted to hear was when Durbin got back to the Michael Moore movie and talked about Bush holding hands with the Saudi prince.
That's what the crowd wanted to hear.
It wasn't that long ago the president was literally walking hand in hand across his Crawford ranch with a Saudi Arabian prince.
Well, when that amendment came up, the Republicans left.
They voted against it.
They wouldn't support it.
They believe presidents for time immemorial should continue walking hand in hand with Saudi princes and the leaders of the OPEC cartel.
But we don't believe that.
We believe America is stronger when we don't have to answer to countries like Saudi Arabia for our economic future.
We are stronger when we stand together as a nation for the right principles around the world and here in the United States.
We are stronger when we understand this land of opportunity has never been served better than when we had a Democrat as president of the United States.
And that's when the crowd went nuts.
Even I don't know if you could hear it, but they were going nuts in moments, parts of his remarks, which they didn't do in the previous remarks, praising the troops.
But here again, this is the party that votes against any oil exploration to make us independent of Saudi Arabia.
And their own president Bill Clinton walked hand in hand with Saudi princes.
Happened all over the place.
We couldn't let this finish without Howard Dean last night, the Paint the Nation blue rally.
Howard Dean at it again.
This country is a democratic country with a big D. If you put, even in places like Texas and Oklahoma, you put our message, our issues up against their issues.
Most people agree with our issues.
I am tired of being lectured to about moral values by people like Tom DeLay and Rush Lembaugh.
Thank you, Governor Dean.
You know, it'd be an interesting test if you guys would put some issues up in some of these red states, but you don't put any issues up.
Nobody, you don't have an agenda.
Your agenda is one of obstructionism.
Anyway, I just wanted to share all this with you folks because at the end of it all, you can just laugh at the total absurdity of all of this.
Back here in just a second.
Stay with us.
All right, the first hour is in the can, folks, and we'll be getting to your phone calls on this and other items in the news.
We will share with you in the ensuing hours.
Ditto Cam's on.
Podcasting's up.
Club Get Mo t-shirt still available, by the way.
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