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May 27, 2011 - Rush Limbaugh Program
36:35
May 27, 2011, Friday, Hour #2
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Time Text
The planet is dying.
That's what they tell us.
The planet is dying.
Tornadoes, floods, and droughts are being caused by the reckless abuse of mankind.
And yet Obama is driving around in the beast.
Live from the Southern Command in sunny South Florida, it's open line Friday.
Yip, yip, yahoo.
Yes, sir, remember we'll get to your phone calls in quantity in this hour.
Wake up, Wendy.
Telephone number 800-282-2882.
The email address, lrushbow at eibnet.com.
Somebody just...
Somebody just asked me if I know what the first three numbers on the license plate of the beast are.
Don't they going to go there?
This is how, this is how people attempt to sucker me into big.
Probably somebody from Media Matters sent me that email.
You know what the first three numbers on the license plate of the beast are?
Okay, folks, great to have you here.
As always, 800-282-2882.
If you want to be on the program, you know what I hope?
I actually hope that the Democrats actually run Obama for re-election.
You know, all this talk about who's the Republican nominee going to be.
Sarah Palin has her bus tour starting, and the media is rubbing their hands together with glee.
Oh, goody.
Oh, we at the White House wait just there's no excellent goody.
Gee, they hope Sarah Palin's a nominee.
Oh, that would be a slam dunk set.
Let me tell you something.
I hope.
I hope they run Obama, folks.
What a, I mean, just wind him up and he says it's my fault.
Here we got, here we've got a sitting president who cannot run for reelection by saying, you want more of what I've already done?
They can't promise more of the same because nobody wants more of the same.
They can't run on the record.
They cannot.
They've got to turn this election about something other than Obama.
They've got to turn it into something like, well, we didn't know how bad it really was.
It's much worse than we even knew.
Our policies are the right ones, but it's going to be a while before they fully kick in.
We don't want to change horses in the middle of the stream.
We really don't want to turn this country over to some lunatic like Sarah Palin.
Well, the truth of the matter is, if I'm running the Republican Party, I'm serious here, folks.
And this is why I'm telling you about attitude all day.
No way do you make yourself feel like you're in the minority on anything.
You're not.
You may be in the minority in terms of pop culture or on college campus or whatever, but in terms of the American people and issue by issue by issue, you and I are in the majority.
And we're proving it not just in polls.
We're proving it in elections.
We've got to stop being so defensive.
We've got to stop accepting the premise that these guys put forth.
I'm telling you, if I'm chairman of the Republican Party, you know what I'm out there saying, gosh, I hope there's no challenge to Obama.
Gosh, I really hope they run President Obama for your put them on defense.
Make them so incredulous.
Put them on defense.
Make them start scratching their heads.
What are these guys doing?
Asking for Obama?
Because they think Obama's still a messiah.
The people in the White House actually still buy all of that.
The one stuff.
I mean, he's what a target, political target.
There's nobody that wants more unemployment.
There's nobody that wants higher taxes.
There's nobody that wants more of the same in the housing market.
Is there?
There's nobody that wants higher gasoline prices.
There's nobody who wants what's happening with food prices to continue.
There's nobody who, well, I say no figuratively.
There's nobody that wants more of what Obama has gotten.
There's nobody that wants more of what Obama's policies have led to, is there?
And yet they're going to throw this guy up.
We can't get by without four more years of Obama.
Wait, we want four more years of slow economic growth?
We want four more years of a lousy job market.
We want to go even trillions more in debt that we want?
No, we don't want any of this.
Why, he couldn't even come up with a budget that got one Senate vote, not even one vote from his party.
Yeah, I hope they run him again.
Darn right, folks.
I kid you not.
Another reason why the drive-bys so fear Sarah Palin.
And it's not just Palin, although Palin's gotten the lion's share of it, but they're now starting to do opposition research on Chris Christie and Michelle Bachman and so forth.
But you know one of the other reasons why?
They're scared to death.
The ruling class is really scared to death of a middle class that is not obedient.
Now, the Democrat Party loves a middle class and a lower middle class that is totally obedient.
And by obedient, I mean willing to accept what is and willing to accept what they're given.
Willing to accept their food stamp benefit and be grateful for it.
Willing to accept whatever assistance they get in healthcare and be grateful for it.
That's the kind of obedience in the middle class that the Democrat Party likes and wants and it did Obama.
But Sarah Palin is middle mainstream America who's not going to take it anymore.
Not obedient.
Not subservient.
Not willing to live life as an indentured servant.
And neither are you.
And neither are all the rest in the middle class.
The news media, the Democrats, view Sarah Palin as the living, breathing embodiment of a middle class flyover America.
That's not going to put up with it anymore.
And they fear it because of the numbers.
There are far more people in the middle class than any elite group that you can name.
There are far more quote-unquote average Americans than there are elite Americans.
And that's why the elites, the ruling class, need a middle class that's obedient.
And Palin isn't.
Look at the extremes.
Look at the extremes they have gone to to destroy Sarah Palin.
What other potential presidential candidate has been accused of being an accomplice to murder?
Sarah Palin, accompliced a murder.
Gabby Giffords.
Me, accompliced a murder.
What other talk show host has ever been accused of being an accomplice to murder?
That is hate and that is fear.
They hate her that much and they fear her that much because she is not obedient.
She is not a member of the middle class that's going to say, yes, sir, yes, ma'am.
Thank you very much for my food stamp.
Nobody hates or fears powerless people, ladies and gentlemen.
Nobody hates Joe Biden.
We laugh at him.
Nobody fears Joe Biden.
Hell, even Bin Laden didn't fear Joe Biden.
Bin Laden made it clear Biden wasn't even worth spending any time on in terms of a mission.
He's so unimportant.
What would have happened to, say, Valerie Jarrett or any other of Obama's czars or cabinet people if they had gotten even 1% of the media scrutiny that Sarah Palin has gotten or any other Republican has gotten or will get?
The Democrats and their media minions spend most of their time trying to convince us, the majority, we are the majority, that we are the lunatic fringe, that somehow we're the oddballs, something wrong with us.
We're the real screwy ones.
When in reality, it is they who are the fringe and in many cases, lunatic.
You realize Palin almost beat Obama before.
It was an election you might recall, 2008.
Palin almost beat Obama the last time.
She almost managed to drag McCain across the finish line.
Now, the Democrats must realize that election should have never been that close, and it wouldn't have been that close were it not for Palin.
this they know.
I remember, I got a slogan.
I remember playing golf here at my club, member guest tournament.
One of the guests, good old guy.
I mean, I really like the guy.
He's a full-fledged Democrat from North Carolina.
And he wears, you know, the pink pants with the pink shoes and so he gets really into the Doug Sanders holding.
Nice guy.
But he loves to jam me about politics.
And this time I'm talking about was 2007, 2008.
The member guess is always in March.
And he's like every other Democrat.
And he's a smart guy.
I mean, this guy, he's not your average mind-numbed robot.
But he is a loyal Democrat.
And as far as he's concerned, I can remember, what in the world?
You're a smart guy.
This hatred you have for Bush is irrational.
I can understand maybe you not liking Bush policy.
What's this hatred?
And he shouts, it can't get any worse, Rush!
It can't get any worse.
And I'm thinking, God, it can.
And Lord, it has.
But folks, what more good can Obama do?
We've got the perfect Republican campaign slogan.
If they run Obama, we can't do worse.
Sorry, we can't do any worse than you guys.
That's our slogan is we can't do worse than that.
That's our Republican slogan.
Put it on t-shirts.
Put it on mugs.
They nominate Obama.
We say, well, we can't do any worse than that.
I'm talking offense here, folks.
Total offense.
What more good can Obama do?
Yeah, as far as Palin's concerned, she's really ticked him off now.
Not only does she refuse to sit at the back of the bus, she now has her own damn bus.
I got another slogan.
I got another slogan for the Republicans to use in the upcoming campaign.
Bin Laden is dead and gone.
What more can Obama do?
Open line Friday.
We go to the phones in Chicago.
Mark, great to have you on the program, sir.
Hi.
How are you, Rush?
Very good.
Second time I have had an opportunity to speak with you.
Thank you.
To get behind Mitt, we need, because he's clean, Rush, he's clean.
He's not corrupt.
Fine.
Who else?
Who is corrupt?
What I'm talking about is the others, unfortunately, bring baggage and fodder for the Libs to use against us.
You think Mitt is not going to offer opportunity.
They don't.
Really, you think the Democrats are going to leave Mitt alone?
No, they're going to attack him as virulently as they can possibly do.
But show me something they can get on him.
Does it matter if they tell the truth?
We both know it doesn't matter.
Whoever the nominee is, they're going to destroy, or they're going to try to destroy.
Yeah, but here's the thing.
Mitt also has cheek.
Did you notice what he did with the pizza in Chicago yesterday?
Yeah.
Yeah.
What was it, used or old pizza over to Obama's headquarters?
Let me tell you my concept of this.
This guy is wealthy.
He understands the privileged class, and he can deal with them as well as he can deal with the common man because he understands both.
He comes from a people who have been oppressed.
Okay.
The Roman people.
He can deal with that.
Okay, let me jump in here right now.
I understand the opportunity that this program affords a lot of you.
You have the person that you think should be the nominee, so it's Open Line Friday.
You can call any.
And that's great.
I just want you to know I'm not endorsing anybody today.
And I'm not, I don't care to be persuaded today who I should endorse.
So feel free and call and tell me who you like.
I don't know when I'm going to endorse anybody, Snurdley, but I'll know.
I'll know.
But I don't know now when it's going to happen.
But believe the pressure's on.
You wouldn't believe a number of people telling me if you don't, we're dead.
You had better fight.
You better choose somebody and you better get behind them and you better get behind them early because if you let this process drag out, these guys are going to destroy each other.
Whoever the nominee is is going to be beat up so bad by that time that it won't matter.
The pressure is on me here, fine and dandy.
I understand that.
But just so you know, you can call here and you can tell me you're for Daffy Duck today.
Just don't tell me I ought to be.
Because you can't persuade me today.
This is not the day to try.
I'm just trying to be polite here.
Pure and simple.
All right.
Yeah, Brian, we got a problem here.
My implant just slipped out of its belt holder.
We don't have, no, no, no.
No, no, we don't have time to stop the program to put it back on.
He didn't hear me.
Hang on.
Turn the ditto cam off.
Put this back on.
I got it.
Just sec.
Put it up here for now.
Okay.
There we are.
I'll get this fixed permanently at the top of the hour.
Now the ditto cam is back, and I got to make sure I don't rip that cable off again.
Okay.
I'm looking for the wireless, the wireless cochlear implant.
It takes two cables for this to work.
And if I start gesticulating wildly sometimes, one of the cables comes loose, and that's what happened.
Appleton City, Missouri, this is Dexter, and welcome to the EIB Network, sir.
Great to have you here.
Well, thank you.
Glad to be here.
You were talking about getting the amendment to the Constitution for a balanced budget.
And I don't believe there is any agenda that has anything to do with that.
I believe that the Americans are tired of having to pay their own bills and keep going the way they're supposed to, and yet the government doesn't have the government isn't held to the same high standards that the American people are.
Well, amen to that.
So I don't think there's an agenda.
I don't think it's a Democrat thing.
I don't think it's a conservative thing.
I think it's an American thing.
We're just tired of the government spending, spending, spending.
Yeah, but I wasn't trying to say there's an agenda.
What I was trying to say is here's a poll out of the blue that shows that 65% of the American people support a balanced budget amendment.
Now, to me, whether there's an actual movement to do that, not my point.
My point on this is that the media, liberal, which we know, is that it's just another example.
65% of the American people support a balanced budget.
It means support reducing spending.
It means support not raising the debt limit.
It means supporting all kinds of fiscal sanity.
65%.
My point is that the public supports all of these things.
The public supports exactly what you're talking about, cutting spending, reforming entitlements, limiting government.
Of course, we're held to standards.
The government doesn't hold to itself.
But my point is that the Republican leadership needs to run on these issues, and they need to have press events every day touting these issues.
They don't need to be ashamed of what they believe.
They don't need, it's time to stop thinking they're in the minority.
It's time to stop acting defensive about what they believe because these issues are majority issues in terms of public opinion in the country.
All right, a couple more calls on Open Line Friday.
And then I'm going to get to a couple of fascinating stories I have here in the stacks of stuff.
Who's next?
Vinny.
Oh, it's old Vinny from Queens.
Vinny, how are you, my buddy?
Hello, Rush.
I'm so happy to talk to you.
There's no better person to kick off Memorial Day than the country's greatest patriot.
Thank you very much, Vinny.
I appreciate it.
Same wing about you.
Thank you, sir.
Listen, I agree with you wholeheartedly.
Conservatives do own the issues.
The American people are conservative.
But what I'm going to say is going to be a little controversial to you.
Okay, I don't think Sarah Palin can take it over the finish line because, well, the media's done such a fine job of just destroying this woman.
And while it doesn't affect people like me and you who are Dyde-New, you know, quasi-politicians who eat, sleep, and drink, you know, politics, there are an awful lot of people out there who are just getting their feet wet.
And, you know, they know a little bit about politics and they know what they like, but they think Sarah Palin is a caricature of a politician.
And I don't say that lightly because I love the woman and I love everything she stands for.
Me personally, I believe the heavy hitters of the Conservative Party are going to come out at the end of the summer.
I shared this with Beau a few weeks ago.
I think you're going to see Rick Perry throw his hat into the ring because there's probably going to be a need to.
And that's who I would like to see run because I believe someone like Rick Perry, who hasn't been totally destroyed and maligned by the media the way Sarah Palin has, can actually bring us across the finish line.
And, you know, again, this is very hard for me to say because I like everything that Sarah Palin likes, but the difference between her and Reagan, because that's the only other person that really comes to mind that's been maligned in politics the way Sarah has and George W. too, is that there was not this incredible, all-enveloping media coverage in Reagan's Day that we have today.
I mean, Sarah Palin can't, you know, she can't walk down the block without knowing exactly where she's going, what time she left the house, what she's wearing, and what time she returned to the house.
And, you know, that's the way I really feel about it.
Okay, Vinny, I hear what you're saying out there, old buddy.
And let me paraphrase it.
And also, I should say at the outset, I'm endorsing her yet.
I guess it's easy to conclude that when I bring the subject up here of her bus trip and how it irritates the left and so forth, I bring my own passion to it.
You might infer that she's my candidate.
Nobody is yet.
That's not the point.
I know.
I can't tell you the number of women I run into despise her.
Well, it doesn't matter.
They hated my explanation, true, but they still hate her.
They despise her.
Women on our side.
So whether I understand why or not, you know, whether I have my ability to fully understand, which I do, I know why, but it doesn't matter to why.
The fact is, they do.
But Vinny, I need to ask you a question about something.
And in asking you, I need to ask everybody else, because you're not the first person from whom I have heard this.
What you basically said to me was the media has so thoroughly destroyed her, she doesn't have a chance.
You pretty much said it your own words, but that's what you believe, right?
I mean, guys, that woman is a sad thing, yeah, but guys, they've really just, they've destroyed her.
Right?
Yeah, yeah, they've done a very thorough job of not turning people like me who eat, sleep, and drink.
My question is.
Okay.
Why are you going to sit there and accept that?
Because if the media next decides to destroy Romney, and if they succeed, then you're going to throw him overboard.
And then if the media decides to destroy Palenti and they succeed, they'll throw him overboard.
At some point, are these people worth defending or not?
I mean, the media has thrown me overboard.
The media has done everything they could to destroy me.
If I were running for political office, they probably would have succeeded.
But my audience has not abandoned me.
Like I hear people who have previously supported Palin abandoning her.
You're letting the media win with that.
That's what I don't get.
And Vinny, I've talked to you enough on this program, and you're a bare knuckles guy.
But here you're just acquiescing, which makes me think that there's something else about Palin that you don't like, and you really don't mind the fact the media has destroyed her because it's made it easier for you to let her go.
Are you asking me?
Yeah.
No, I love Palin.
I don't know if you see the difference of what I've just explained.
You've heard me say I would vote for her in a minute.
But the fact of the matter is, I don't think there's enough me and you out there, real conservatives, that can push Sarah Palin over the finish line.
It's not up to us.
Not up to us.
It's up to her to do it.
You don't think 18 months is enough time for her to turn anything around?
You know, Rush, if she's our candidate, I am wholeheartedly supporting her from seven ways to Sunday.
There's no doubt about it.
I'm just wondering if she's been so damn damaged that, you know, we can't get enough people to vote for her at the end of the day.
You know, meaning, meaning the people who are just wanting to.
I know.
I know.
Whatever you said, the media has, in her case, they've won.
The media has destroyed her in the eyes and ears of people who pay scant attention until we get closer.
That's what I'm talking about.
You just said it.
That's what I'm talking about.
Yeah, I know.
People who pay half attention.
Yeah, I know exactly what you're saying.
So, gee, it's too bad.
It's unfortunate.
But see you, Sarah.
Media destroyed you.
Now, maybe I'm a little sensitive to this because I happen to believe, and I had my annual spring fling.
It's a bunch of buddies and their wives.
We do one in April at my place.
We do one in November.
The one in April is cadre of my political friends.
And this whole topic of conservatives defending each other under assault came up.
And we all concluded it never happens because of the internecine battles going on within conservatism.
One conservative taking fire, there's some other conservative likes it because there's a competitor out of the way.
You don't see the right, you don't see conservatives circle their wagons to defend people.
You see the left do it.
We were discussing this.
Now, there were no political candidates at this thing.
There were nobody running for office.
Nobody wanted to run for none of that.
I'm not going to divulge their names.
I mean, you know, what happens at my place stays there.
I'm not going to divulge the names of people who were there.
You'd know them all.
But it's a touchy subject for me.
I mean, to sit here knowing what I know about Vinny and you and everybody else, what you think about the media and how you despise the media choosing our candidates, the media doing whatever they do to affect the outcome of events in the country, and then to just say, well, they've destroyed her.
Let's move on.
What?
Oh, okay.
So Snerdley said, Vinny, let me run something by you.
Are you still there, Vinny?
Yeah, I'm still there.
Okay, let me run something by you.
Snerdley just made a point to me that maybe I have missed in all this.
Or maybe you all are misunderstanding why I'm interested in this.
Snerdley is suggesting that your attitude is owing primarily to the fact we don't have time to experiment.
We've got to nominate somebody who can win.
It's too important.
And Palin, it's been demonstrated, so damaged, probably can't win, too bad, but we don't need to waste our time.
We need somebody who can win.
Does that encapsulate what you're thinking?
Well, that's so oversimplified.
We have the issues, but do we have the candidate to bring those issues over the finish line at the end of the day?
And that's where I'm coming from.
She has been so damaged as a candidate, okay?
I'm not questioning her conservative values, and I do rally around her.
Okay, but I find myself in political circles with neophytes who are just dipping their toe in the political waters saying, oh, no, I can't vote for Palin.
She's this, that, and the other thing.
And I spend the whole night defending her.
And I realize to myself, is this what we're going to have to do 18 months from now?
We're going to have to defend this woman over and above, over and over and over again to people who are so inclined not to vote for her.
You know, so this is what I'm a little worried about because it is important that we get President Obama out of the White House.
I mean, there is no, we can't give this man another four years.
The damage is near irreparable now.
Of course, you're correct when you say, where's our guys teaching?
Where are they?
Where's our leadership teaching every day about what Paul Ryan's trying to do here?
We need a leader.
And I love Sarah Palin.
You're right.
I voted for her, not John McCain.
Okay, but 2008 is a long time ago.
The country has had two years of piling on this woman day in and day out relentlessly.
They have got a caricature of her that is anything but a serious politician.
Why do you think they did it, Vinny?
Oh, because they're scared to death of her.
I know that.
I know that.
But is that enough to get John and Jane Doe to pull the lever for her who are kind of wishy-washing to begin with when it comes to politics?
Is that enough?
That's what I'm wondering.
All right.
Well, I appreciate the call, Vinny.
I appreciate your subjecting yourself to a host interrogation.
Thank you so much, Rush.
I appreciate talking to you.
You bet.
Happy Memorial Day weekend.
Well, look, I don't even know that she's running.
And Myron York has a piece today, the D.C. Examiner, quoting, well, not quoting, citing several Republican insiders say she's not running.
She's just loving what she's doing now.
She's keeping herself front and center.
She's earning good living.
She's traveling around, but nah.
Conventional wisdom inside the Republican Party is that she's not running.
Now, I'll say this, if she's afraid to run, then the media terrorists have won.
The media, they took down Richard Nixon, and it hasn't been the same since.
And ever since the media took down Richard Nixon is when the whole reason people wanted to get into journalism changed.
I want to get in journalism because I want to make the world a better place, or I want to write social injustice, or I want to destroy somebody.
I want to make it fair for people.
They took Nixon out, and they haven't been the same since.
And just think now how power mad they're going to be if they decide they can destroy any candidate they choose.
And make no mistake here, their objective is to keep her out of this race.
It just, I don't know, just in a, what's the right way to say this?
In a philosophical, real world yet philosophical sense, it just bothers me to hear people, anybody, and it's not just Vinny, I've heard a lot of people say this to me, and I've gotten into raised voice arguments with people at my own dinner table over this, so much so that Catherine pointed me to the door to leave.
And people started telling me how stupid she was, Palin.
Why do you think she's stupid?
Everything they believe is total product of what they've seen in the media.
Therefore, people are willing to sit around.
Okay, media destroyed her.
Too bad.
She's gone.
Yet, we're supposedly sophisticated.
We understand that's what the media is trying to do.
And we're just, okay, they won.
They won with Palin Fine.
If that's it, then don't ever call me again complaining about the media.
If you're willing to let the media win in taking our people out, fine.
Stop complaining about them.
Stop complaining about it being liberal.
I do.
I think that there is a glaring omission.
There's something really missing from conservatism, republicanism, or what have you.
And that is when anybody on our side comes under assault, there isn't anybody defends them.
People run away from it, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire itself.
The abject fear of the media.
I can't tell you how it just ticks me off.
Let's just, I'll tell you what, let's do this.
I'll tell you what I'll do next week.
I'll call Brian Williams and I'll call Andrea Mitchell and I'll call somebody from New York Times.
I'll get them on the show.
I'll ask them, who do you want us to run?
Who do you want us to choose our candidate and be done with it?
That save us a lot of time and bother.
Who is it that you're going to criticize the least?
Just tell me, who is it?
Tell me what candidate you people will be the nicest to, and that's who we'll nominate.
Be back.
Don't go away.
You know, folks, we've already tried that route.
Now that I think about it, calling the media can be Andrew Mitchell in here.
We'll go get Paul Krugman or Thomas Friedman.
Somebody in the New York Times.
We'll get Chris Matthews in here.
Who else can we get?
Take a pick.
Somebody in the Washington Post.
We'll go get Crystal Liz in and say, who do you guys want?
Who is it that we could nominate that you'll be the nicest to?
We've already done that.
We've tried it.
That didn't work either.
We tried that in 2008 with John McCain.
See where that got us.
Rick in Lexington, Kentucky.
You're on Open Line Friday.
Hi.
Rush, it's a pleasure to talk to you.
Thank you for what you do.
You bet someone.
I was calling the other day.
You played a clip from the PBS guys where they were trying to tell us that Huntsman was the guy we should get.
And I'm like, why are they ignoring Herman Cain?
And then they've occurred to me, oh, are PBS guys racist?
Because it seemed to me that Herman Cain won a debate.
And then the media didn't talk.
You talked more about him than anybody did.
The national media totally ignored him.
And I'm like, so they must be racist.
Now, as you're talking about Palin, I'm thinking, well, maybe they'll be afraid to attack him, you know, too.
But anyway, just the point.
And one more thing, if I may.
We need a few more of those editorial things from Bo Snurdley.
That rocked.
Oh, yeah, the official Obama criticizer.
Yes, sir.
That rocked last week.
Thank you.
Rick, I appreciate that.
Thanks very much.
Yeah, we could start, try to establish a meme that everybody who doesn't support Herman Cain is a racist.
Everybody who doesn't support Sarah Palin is afraid of strong wind.
We could try it.
I think, folks, honestly, I think with Herman Kane in the media, I think to the extent they're ignoring him, it's just because they don't think he's got a chance to win.
It's all it is.
They just, they don't look at him as top tier.
And if he gets top tier, if he moves in there polling, they'll pay, believe me.
Don't worry.
He'll get his anal exam from them.
Don't sweat it.
Okay, I didn't forget we just got sidetracked with our discussion with Vinny from Queens and the media, Sarah Palin.
These two news stories, the one from the particular column written by the Yale professor, coming up right after we get back from the local news here at the top of the hour.
Bias and all.
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