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Dec. 23, 2008 - Rush Limbaugh Program
34:12
December 23, 2008, Tuesday, Hour #2
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Time Text
And the stock market now down 60 points.
After I reported the news, Obama is losing the beefcake poll on the Drudge Report to Vladimir Putin for a hunkiest socialist authoritarian leader.
Putin miles ahead of Obama.
Stock market down 60 points.
Ladies and gentlemen, the purge has begun.
And also, after a conversation with Snerdley here at the top of the hour break, I am stunned at his lack of understanding on certain things.
Greetings and welcome back.
Rush Limbaugh, the EIB Network, and the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies here during Christmas week.
Great to have you with us.
Yes, a 60-point collapse in the stock market today after the Drudge Report ran a poll, still running the online poll, on who is the hunkiest authoritarian socialist leader, Putin or Obama.
By the way, I mean, folks, both these guys, if you look at these pictures on Drudge, they've been body shaved.
There was no way either of these pictures are accidental.
Well, I mean, it's look at it.
Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, the purge has begun.
Mere moments ago, the body of a Madoff fund operator was found in his New York apartment.
The name De La Villa Houche.
De la Villa Houche found dead in his apartment today, a Madoff fund operator.
Of course, the active question here, was it murder or was it suicide?
And this brings to mind that I miss Tom Lantos, a great immigrant to this country, Hungarian Jewish, became a member of Congress, very elegant, erudite, refined, and dignified.
He was from California, Northern California.
And I will never forget during the Craig Livingstone FBI file controversy in the White House, remember when nobody could remember who hired Craig Livingstone?
Craig Livingstone had, he had custody of the 500 FBI files of Clinton enemies, but nobody could recall for the longest time who hired him.
After a while, it became very embarrassing for both the Clinton administration and the Democrat Party in general that Livingstone was out there cutting such a wide public swath.
So they had him up to hearings about three weeks after a famous Navy admiral had committed suicide after it had been learned that he had falsified information to get medals that he had not deserved.
And I will never forget Tom Lantos interviewing or interrogating Craig Livingstone, who looked like he was in shell shock anyway.
I mean, he's just obviously some flunky that was given custody of these things.
And he was the fall guy.
He was always intended to be the fall guy.
So they threw him up to the wolves, and Lantos actually said to Craig Livingstone, at least Admiral Burda had the decency to commit suicide.
And Livingstone just looked around.
What the hell is this guy telling me?
Borda was a better guy, because at least he committed suicide.
Admiral Burda committed suicide.
Well, Livingstone was continuing to walk free.
Now, we wonder if De La Villa House, the fund operator for the Madoff Fund, found dead in his New York apartment today was suicide or was it foul play?
Regardless, ladies and gentlemen, the purge has begun.
I guess it could be safely said that De La Villa House simply wasn't enjoying the new high status of being involved with Bernie Madoff.
In case you missed the first hour, folks, it is true, the rich that were involved with this guy are now using it as another status symbol in reverse.
Hey, are you going to be down?
I talked to a couple people.
You're going to be down to Palm Beach this season?
Not so much.
You know, the Madoff thing.
Implying that they've suffered some financial losses.
Most, a lot of Madoff people don't want it known because they might have been involved.
But those who had known, but they're proud to now tell people because it was such an exclusive club.
So they're proud to admit their stupidity because, see, everybody's losing in the market.
It's no big deal to lose.
But it's a status symbol to say you lost with Madoff.
What a sick bunch.
I was talking to Snerdley during the break.
Snerdley was rubbing his hands together.
He's sort of excited about the inauguration.
And he asked me this question.
He said, how long do you think it's going to be before these Obama voters realize that it was all smoke and mirrors?
I said, what do you mean?
Well, I mean, Russia, I've talked to some of these Obama people.
They really think the world is going to change.
They think everything's magically going to change.
I said, and they will continue to think so.
No, they won't.
I mean, it won't change.
You know, he said to me, things aren't, they're going to get worse.
Even Obama's saying they're going to get worse.
They're not going to get better.
The world, none of what he says is going to happen is going to happen.
I said, you're missing the point.
The people you're talking about who voted for Obama are delusional in the first place.
Once you're delusional, you're always delusional.
I said, why do you expect these people to become rational about 30 minutes after noon on January 20th?
Because they're going to see that their lives aren't any better.
Wrong.
They're going to continue to delude themselves into thinking their lives are better.
But they won't be.
It doesn't matter.
He's going to be there.
That's a cult.
If he told them they were all going to go to the Hail Bob Comet, they'd jostle to be first in line.
As long as he's there, this group of Obama voters, as long as he's there, they could lose everything and still think the world's getting better because he's there and he's telling them.
And it's just his air, his manner of speaking.
Plus, they know what beefcake he is underneath the shirt and tie now.
Even though he might lose the drudge poll, it's just going to make them love him even more.
I mean, dueling socialists here on the drudge page, it's hard to figure out, you know, on what basis people are voting.
I mean, Putin does look a little flabbier to me than both in obvious shape.
But plus, you know, Putin has the pasty white skin of the KGB that never sees the sunlight.
Living in Russia, little, you know, vodka stretch marks down there, but still, Putin pulling away.
So what is the vote notes?
Let me put the glasses on and be able to see this.
26.9 to 16.8, terms of thousands, 43, almost 44,000 votes.
I think Drudge only put this thing up at 10 o'clock or 11, so people are pouring in madly to vote on this.
But seriously, as long as he's there doing press conferences, appearing in public, these people are going to think just because he's there, everything is getting better, even if it isn't for them.
I don't know what percentage of Obama voters those are, but there's quite a few of them.
If you're expecting those people to wake up one day, that's like expecting the media to change their minds.
When do you think that's going to happen?
You think the media wants to drum this guy into trouble?
They're going to have no more trips to Hawaii?
Is this going to be the getaway White House?
You know how far Hawaii is five?
It's about a 10-hour trip.
10-hour trip out there from the right coast.
Depending on winds, it could even be longer.
Okay, let's see what do we have here.
What do we have?
Oh, ladies and gentlemen, you remember not long ago, we chronicled the most amazing story.
I was totally incredulous.
There was a story from AP, and I should have known that it was only beginning.
It was not just a standalone story.
The story was the dilemma that modern-day parents have over how to approach their children during the holiday season in the midst of a recession.
And the story sought to advise parents on the various ways they could go because the two primary options were to not tell the children of how tough financial times are.
Just spend like it was last year.
Don't upset the fragile little beasts.
Just, you know, they can't handle it.
Or, or confront them and tell them you're not going to get as much this year.
We're not going to cut back our spending.
Why?
What?
Well, because there's a recession and we just don't have as much money.
Well, get some more, get to.
No, it's not that easy.
There have been a couple follow-up stories, and today there are three more from A.P. Obama.
First one headlined thus: teens learning about the economy firsthand.
Many say they have lowered their expectations for the holiday season.
It's from Des Moines, Iowa.
Teenagers have never been known for their restraint, but perhaps these times are different.
Tuned into worries of a deepening recession, many teenagers say that they have been smart shoppers and they have lowered their expectations for receiving gifts this season.
Shakara Walker, 18, a senior at Benjamin Banneker Hat Schruel in Atlanta, says, I plan to spend less this year since I've gotten older.
It's got to the point now where gifts aren't everything.
This kid made it to her senior year in high school and she says it's got to the point.
She's a senior in high school.
But at least her expectations have been tempered.
Teenagers learning about the economy firsthand.
How the hell else would they learn about it?
Gee, here's the next story.
And this comes from the file from this.
This could be any media outlet.
This could be your local paper.
It could be a network.
It happens to be A.P. Obama, but it could be going to be you parents are incompetent and unqualified.
You do not know how to talk to your kids about money.
And so from the AP.
I'm holding it right here in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers.
Five tips for talking with teenagers about money offered by our drive-by media parents.
Number one, understand the difference between needs and wants.
Many kids may consider movies and designer genes needs, but they need to understand that needs are the true essentials like food, clothing, and shelter.
Wants can make life easier, but kids need to learn they must address and pay for their needs before they can spend money on their wants.
Now, I must take AP to task here because none of this is relevant, especially if these people voted for Obama because he's going to handle it all.
He's going to handle wants and needs.
Seriously, is this not shocking?
This is what passes for journalism?
Hey, parents, we know you're at wit's end over how to deal with your parents, your kids rather, about money and how scarce it is.
Here are five tips.
Tell them the difference between what they want and what they need.
Can you imagine being such a low-life human being that you have to have the media tell you how to be a parent?
If you are a parent and you see this story in your local paper, if you still have one, and you read this and it turns on light bulbs for you and go, yeah, I never thought of that.
You are sick.
You are in bad shape, and you need to go look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself why you had kids in the first place.
Good grief almighty.
Tell your kids the difference between wants and needs.
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.
Number two, set financial goals and budget accordingly.
One of the best ways for young people to learn about managing money is for them to set and achieve a simple financial goal, like owning their first house of 5,000 square feet at age 21 with zero financing.
Brought to you by Barney Frank, Chris Donnon, Freddie Mae, Fannie Mac, whatever.
Set and achieve a simple financial goal?
Younger teenagers can benefit from opening a savings account and choosing something to save for.
By the way, I want to say something about this, ladies and gentlemen, because point number five here, start saving early.
Really?
Really?
Brian, you just had a little baby not too many months ago.
Are you going to advise your little kid to start saving early?
You are?
I think you've started an account for him?
You had a passbook savings account at a local bank?
You trust the bank?
You see, ladies and gentlemen, this is dangerous and risky.
Two groups of people, let's call them kids.
One group had very strict, responsible parents who made them save as much as they could.
And the parents were doing likewise.
Another kid, another group of kids, had parents that were just laissez-faire.
Go do what you want.
And those kids saved nothing.
They went out and bought a lot of stuff.
Those kids still have their stuff.
The other kids who saved have been wiped out.
And the final Associated Press Obama story on teenagers and money is headlined this way.
Your teenager's first recession learning to cut back.
Your teenager's first recession learning to come back.
All right, it's Open Line Friday into the phone.
Well, Open Line Friday on Tuesday.
And we return now to the phones.
This is Jeff in Sherwood, Michigan.
Nice to have you with us, sir.
Yes, sir.
Megan Dennis, Mr. Honorable Rush Limbaugh.
Appreciate that.
Thank you.
I have to first start out.
In 1992, I had a friend of mine turn me onto your talk program, and I hated you.
I hated you with a passion.
I didn't like the way you talked and all that.
Why?
It wasn't about the way I talked.
I didn't like the way you were talking.
You know what?
I know what it is.
That was during the Clinton era.
I know what it was.
I know what it was.
What you found abrasive was that I was so damn sure of myself, the confidence.
That can rub people the wrong way sometimes because they hear that as arrogance and braggadocio.
But as Babe Brooks said, you know, it ain't bragging if you're right and if you can do it.
But in 1997, I took on to over-the-road truck driver.
One day I came upon your program, and ever since then, I'm hooked on you.
A couple months ago, you had that lady that had to take heart pressure medicine.
Remember that?
Oh, yeah.
Yes.
She needed blood pressure medicine because of this program and yet could not stop listening to it.
Yes, sir.
And I'm opposite.
I need my heart, blood, my medicine, because I can't find you on a radio station.
Not because you can't.
It's when in those rare moments when you can't.
Right.
Over the road truck driving, yes.
A lot of dev spots.
But I'd like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a brighter New Year.
And thank me.
And thank you for making me a rush ditto head.
Appreciate that, sir.
But you did it on your own.
Don't forget to credit yourself here in this homecoming.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
The reason I called, since I'm a truck driver, I just printed a thing off the internet.
Flying Japan files Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Truck stops remain open.
According to Bloomberg, they made $16 billion in 2007.
All these companies that are filing for Chapter 11 are complaining they're running out of money.
Why all of a sudden are they broke?
This truck stop, you know, you go into a truck stop now spending almost $2 for a glass of tea.
Why can't they get their heads together and figure out to lower the prices on what they sell?
At some point, they may end up doing that.
I personally have never filed for bankruptcy, even though it's becoming a status symbol.
I haven't done so.
Now, there's two kinds.
Well, there's more than two kinds, but the two in question are chapter 11.
If that's what these truck stops you're talking about are doing, chapter 11 means you don't go out of business, you just reorganize.
And chapter 11 means some of the people you owe are not going to get paid all of what they owe.
You do a reorganization and a priority list of who of your vendors needs to get paid.
And so it is a reorganization and a restructuring that puts the business back together on a sound footing.
Chapter 7 is liquidation.
That's when they shut you down.
Chapter 11, you keep operating.
The whole point is to stay in business.
But all these chapter 11, the line of people increasing with their hands out, trying to get their money from the TARP fund, it's becoming disheartening.
But it's human nature understandable.
Try this for stupidity.
And a little comedy.
This is a story from the Associated Press from Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The headline really says it all.
Dutch company punches holes in font to save ink.
A Dutch company looking for ways to reduce the environmental costs of printing has developed a new font that it says cuts ink usage by about 15%.
In essence, the eco font has little holes in the letters.
He concedes the font is not beautiful, but says it could be adequate for personal use or for internal use at a company.
Holes in your font.
Now, for you, Obama voters, a font, think of it as typeset, like ABC delegate typewriter, a keyboard.
And they put holes in every letter, an A with holes in it, holes in the B. There's even holes in the OL, even though the O already has its own hole to save ink.
This makes about as much sense as back during the 70s.
When I was living in Kansas City, TWA had a huge maintenance center at Kansas City International Airport, and they ran a test because the jet fuel was skyrocketing and gasoline was skyrocketing.
So what they did, they stripped all the paint off of two of their airliners because they figured a paint added weight.
You paint an airplane a lot of weight there.
And they flew these unpainted planes other than the required federal markings for identification, the end number, but they flew these around with no paint on them, just the aluminum, to see if they could calculate any savings on jet fuel.
And of course, there's no way to know because no two flights are identical with winds.
But it was silly.
And even if they had said, you know what, we're saving 1% here.
Okay, the next time you fly to LaGuardia and they put you in a 45-minute hold, before you land, you're still burning up all that fuel you otherwise might have saved by having a plane not painted.
Same thing with stupid idiocy of putting holes in your font.
All to save 15% on ink.
I told you, folks, these leftists, they are hilarious.
If you have a right frame of mind following these people around, you can enjoy yourself frequently.
Audio soundbite time.
I mentioned earlier that Joe Biden is now trying to lower expectations worldwide.
He was on Larry King Alive last night.
Larry King said, the world's view of America.
You expect it to change.
Right now, I think we're viewed militarily around the world, aren't we?
I think we are.
And, you know, you asked me earlier if I'm worried about the exceedingly high expectations that people have for President Barack Obama.
And I said domestically I wasn't so worried about that, but internationally I am.
I've been contacted by so many world leaders, their expectation for Barack's presidency is overwhelming.
I don't know.
They are so hungry to have an American leader who they think has a policy that reflects our stated values, as well as one they can talk to.
I'm sorry, as loose as this guy is known to be with words, hey, Chuck, stand up out there.
Let him see.
Oh, God love you, Chuck.
You're in a wheelchair.
Well, God.
Wish somebody would have told me.
Stand up for Chuck.
As loose as this guy is with words, do you believe world leaders are calling him and say, boy, we've got these really high expectations.
You know, we can't wait till you get Obama in there to get back to American policies that reflect your stated values.
If there are any world leaders that can't wait for Obama, it's people like Putin, and they are not calling Biden.
Putin, Hu Xintao in China, what's his name, Ach Madinezad in Iran.
These are the guys who are hoping for a change in U.S. policy, as in we surrender, as in let's give up.
But this is continuing the campaign.
This is ridiculous campaign rhetoric.
Their expectation for Obama is overwhelming.
They're so hungry to have an American leader who they think has a policy that reflects our stated values as well as one they can talk to.
I don't know of a world leader that has not spoken to Bush other than the aforementioned Ach Mantin Isad.
What's his name down in Venezuela?
Hugo Chavez and the Castro brothers.
But he's talked to Hui Shintao.
He's had Putin down to the ranch in Crawford for barbecue.
I frankly think that's what soured Putin on America, if you want my barbecue.
They don't understand barbecue.
They come in, they want to know where's the Borscht and the vodka.
Barbecue.
Putin, he actually said it was kind of strange.
I couldn't believe how much food there was, and it wasn't all that good.
Moving on to audio sound number nine, this was on W, what was it?
Fred Dicker was on the radio station Albany, New York yesterday, and he interviewed the New York State Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo.
And Fred Dicker said, if Governor Patterson calls you up and said, General, I'm making my decision now.
Do you want to be considered?
Are you interested in the Senate seat in New York?
What do you say to him?
First, I do have a choice.
I could campaign, lobby.
I could offer opinions.
I could speak to it.
I don't think that is appropriate.
I don't think it's appropriate for my, as I serve as Attorney General, etc.
Am I stymied, frustrated?
No.
If I wanted to campaign for the job, you know what I would do?
I would campaign for the job.
That is New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo really slapping around Caroline Schlossberg, who is actively campaigning for the Senate seat.
He's saying it's a little bit unbecoming to do this.
Fred Dicker then said, but if you're not interested, why wouldn't you say, no, I'm not interested?
Or if you are interested, why wouldn't you say, of course I'm interested?
I think it is presumptuous, Fred, for me to discuss a conversation I may or may not have with the governor of the state of New York.
I keep the conversations that we've had to ourselves because I consider them private, and I respect that.
And I think the governor does have a great field of candidates here.
And many of them I know personally, many of them I've worked with.
Caroline, I've known for years, and I'm very fond of her.
Whoa, isn't it?
So he used to be an ex-in-law.
Well, he is an ex-in-law.
She used to be an in-law.
He's very, very fond of Caroline Schlossberg.
One last time here, Andrew Cuomo says that he is not frustrated.
Fred Dicker finally says, this claim that the Times called you on Saturday that you're feeling frustrated, that you're feeling stymied, that's not true.
You know, Fred, I think it's just as soon as you state the proposition, the error in the proposition is evident.
He feels frustrated.
He's not campaigning.
Well, then he would campaign.
I mean, that's the answer to that frustration.
Okay, Cuomo says he's not frustrated.
Isn't it amazing how much he sounds like Mario the Pious?
I mean, I know if I didn't know that this was Andrew Cuomo, I would think it is his father, Mario the Pious.
It is scary, similar.
It is scary to listen how similar they sound.
The one thing I don't know is if Andrew can give a speech like Mario the Pious could.
I guess we might someday find out.
Last night on Hannity and Colms, the Fox News channel, Geraldine Ferraro was the guest, Rich Lowry filling in for Hannity.
And he said, you know, it's about Kennedy nostalgia.
If her name was Caroline Colms, there would be no groundswell of support for her.
Her name is Schlossberg, by the way.
Nobody's using her rules.
I'm going to see how she's running a campaign.
She should run in a primary when, you know, when the seat is up for election.
But this seat right now, the governor has to take a look and see who can best represent the state immediately.
Again, I keep repeating this to him.
It's not about care.
You know, there are lots of people who want this.
They're being a little bit more discreet.
They're not running a campaign.
You know, does Andrew Cuomo want it?
And, you know, I haven't spoken to Matilda lately, but I would bet that he does.
Yeah.
So here's Geraldine Ferraro bashing Caroline Schlossberg for an indiscreet campaign.
And then in the Politico today, Kennedy education record at issue.
This is Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg.
Can you mean your poor guy's husband or poor woman's husband?
He's been her husband.
She's 51.
They've been married for years and years and years.
They have some crumb crunchers.
And all of a sudden, she's back to being Caroline Kennedy.
And this guy's chopped liver.
Her name is Schlossberg.
At any rate, during the two years that Caroline Schlossberg worked as a fundraiser.
I'm adding Schlossberg.
I'm not reading the Kennedy in here.
Doing the job the mainstream media used to do.
During the two years, Caroline Schlossberg worked as a fundraiser and as a Goodwill ambassador for New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, co-workers would frequently drift by her workspace for a glimpse of the department's most famous $1 a year employee.
As often as not, they didn't see her.
I get it all the time said a person who worked closely with her, where's Caroline?
Why isn't she at her desk?
She kept in touch every single day by phone, by email, or sometimes in person, or she was out in the field visiting schools.
The problem is, she hardly left a vapor trail, much less a paper trail.
Nobody can find any evidence of how often she went to work there or what she did as an aide to Joel Klein.
This is why she's out there actively campaigning and saying she's deserving of this because of her DNA.
Even went up to Sylvia's to eat soul food with Al Sharpton.
Open line Friday on Tuesday, El Rushbo, talent on loan from God.
Is it Kathleen?
A cell call from Miami at the airport there.
Hey, Kathleen, nice to have you here.
Hi, Rush.
Thanks for taking my call.
A little bit frazzled.
I've been buzzed twice by the sheriff because I'm in the Miami airport trying to talk to you quickly.
Thank God my husband's a fan because he's been invited.
Just a second.
I need a definition of terms.
You have been buzzed twice by the sheriff.
I was buzzed by the sheriff.
Well, I told the person who took my call, I was headed to the Miami airport.
And so I was kind of taking my life at risk.
And they shoot up behind you and buzz you with your lights and get out of here and get going.
I got you, I got you, I got you.
Sheriff and the word buzz, I think of different.
Sorry.
Anyway, first time calling.
It's like a taser.
No, no, no.
This is my first time calling, so I'm a little bit nervous, but I was just haven't had a chance to see Obama's picture, but I've heard you talking about it, and it just made me think: well, now that he has his beefcake photo all over the internet, do you think that he's going to have intern issues like Bill Clinton did?
No.
I don't think even if he does, we'll never hear about it.
He's too big to fail.
But I don't, no, it can't be that stupid.
Could be that arrogant, could be that arrogant, but I don't.
I just, I don't think, I don't think we're going to go there.
These scandals in the Democrat Party are repetitive in the terms that scandals happen, but they take different forms.
I don't want to predict whatever Obama scandal might happen.
We're already in the midst of one here, Bloggo, and you see how they're sweeping that away.
Well, yeah, I just think that, you know, he must wake up every morning and think, wow, I'm about to be the most powerful man in the world.
Well, wouldn't you?
Well, yeah, he tips towards the arrogance.
And so I don't know if maybe this might get just he's got four years, so I think he might become a little overwhelmed by his female followers.
I'm just talking to Snirdley about that.
There's nothing he's going to be able to do to disappoint the cult followers that he has.
Their lives could hit the sewer, and as long as he's still president, they will think that America and the world and their lives are better just because he's there.
Now, one thing I if when you do you use computer?
Yes.
All right.
When you get to your computer and you go to the Drudge page and you'll be able to see the online poll between who is the hunkiest authoritarian socialist leader.
By the way, Drudge is not presenting it that way.
That's the way I'm characterizing it.
You've got Putin at a KGB and you got Obama.
Now, when you get right now, the vote is 52,000 plus have voted.
It's 33,000 and 19,000 for Putin.
And I'd be interested.
You are a woman.
You sound like a babe.
What's the question?
No, I'm not asking you.
No, that's not a question.
I'm just telling you as a there's Dawn in there just rolling her eyes.
What's wrong with that?
What in the world is wrong with that?
Is it discriminatory?
Is it judgmental?
What is it?
Sexist?
No, I take it as a compliment.
It's sexist.
See, it's sexist to call a woman a babe.
I'm taking it as a compliment.
Well, good.
Good.
It's sexist to say you sound like a babe.
Anyway, you will find, I think, as a babe, that when you look at the two pictures that Drudge has up there, you'll note that both Putin and Obama have body shaved their chests.
They are hairless.
They're looking for the sheen, you know.
But what you'll find is that Putin looks like a fully developed man, as you would expect somebody in a KGB to look.
Obama looks boyish.
And I don't mean he looks being Polish, while he does have some definition.
But he just, and I think that's why Obama's losing this big time.
Hey, the stoner community is very happy out there.
Esquire Magazine with a report saying Obama really might decriminalize marijuana.
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