RUSH: Elkhart, Indiana. This is Vince. Great to have you on the program, sir. You’re on the EIB Network. Hi.
CALLER: Fantastic. How are you, Rush?
RUSH: Very well. Thank you.
CALLER: Hey, did you hear the Hispanic radio interview with Mr. Obama and what he said?
RUSH: Yeah. Is this the, ‘you’re sitting in the back’ of the bus?
CALLER: No. ‘Punish your enemies; reward your friends.’
RUSH: Oh. Oh, yeah. Yes, of course.
CALLER: Isn’t that fantastic?
RUSH: Typical. He’s a Chicago thug.
CALLER: Oh, I think every time he gets off prompter he goes back to his radical ways, and this is added to the list.
RUSH: Well, true. I don’t think he abandons his radical ways. Look at his legislative ideas. What I was talking about here — and I don’t think we need any evidence that Obama is an angry guy with a chip on his shoulder. He said, ‘Republicans had driven the economy into a ditch and then stood by and criticized while Democrats pulled the economy out, and now the progress has been made, Obama said, ‘We can’t have special interests sitting shotgun. We gotta have middle-class families up front in the car. We don’t mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in the back.” Now, imagine if I were to say that about Obama and the Democrats joining the Republicans.
‘Okay, Barack, you want to join us here? We’re going to win the election pretty big. If you want to join us, fine, but you gotta sit in the back of the bus, Barack.’ Can you imagine what the outcry would be? So here’s Obama saying Republicans have to sit in the back of the bus, sit in the back of the car. Now, I bring this to your attention because, remember, ranking Republicans all over the place are saying they fully expect Obama to moderate, to move to the center, realizing he’s been rejected by the American people. The inside-the-Beltway theory is Obama’s gonna want to be reelected. He’s going to read the tea leaves; he’s going to see the American people by virtue of the election have rejected his ideas and because he wants to get reelected he is going to have to moderate his tone and moderate his extremism and start agreeing with Republicans on a few things.
That’s clearly what the establishment Republicans expect to happen. Well, here’s more evidence it’s just the exact opposite. Obama knows the Republicans are gonna win, and what he’s saying is, ‘Okay, nothing I can do about that, but you’re still not going to have anything to say about what I do. You’re not going to have anything to say about the direction this country is going. You may win the election, but as far as I’m concerned, after I get this car out of the ditch that you people drove it into you’re sitting in the back of it for the rest of my presidency. You’re going to have nothing,’ and, meanwhile, our people think he’s gonna moderate and move to them and agree because of the outcome of the elections. Marc Thiessen in the Washington Post today: ‘The Roots of Obama’s Demise — The decline of the Obama presidency can be traced to a meeting at the White House just three days after the [immaculation].
‘When the new president gathered congressional leaders of both parties to discuss his proposed economic stimulus, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor gave Obama a list of modest proposals for the [Porkulus] bill. Obama said he would consider Republican ideas but told the assembled Republicans that, ‘elections have consequences, and I won,” and he was specifically responding to Cantor’s ideas for some tax cuts to stimulate the economy. He said: Well, you can have your ideas, but ‘I won.’ This is the same meeting where he told Cantor and Boehner, ‘You can’t listen to Rush Limbaugh anymore. That’s not how things get done in Washington.’
Here’s a pull quote from Marc Thiessen’s piece: ‘In January 2009, Republicans were on their heels, ready to compromise with the president. In January 2011, Republicans will likely be energized and emboldened to roll back Obama’s most egregious initiatives. The president was right. Elections do have consequences.’ Now, this piece says Obama ‘may rue that decision’ to refuse Republican cooperation three days after his immaculation. I doubt it. I don’t think he rues anything. ‘Whether the midterm elections are a tidal wave that sweeps Democrats out of power or simply result in major losses for the president’s party, one thing’s clear: The stimulus will play a major role in determining the outcome.’ Now, Thiessen correctly points out ‘[T]he president could have easily co-opted the GOP by making it a partner in crafting the stimulus. He could have told Republicans: Take half of the money and use it for tax relief, spending, or both.’
In other words, he could have accepted my bipartisan stimulus plan which was published in the Wall Street Journal. Okay, you give me 43, 48% of the money (which is the percentage of the vote Republicans got) and I’ll do with it what I think should be done and you do with the remainder what you think should be done and we’ll compare notes. Now, Obama was never going to do that because Obama knows that tax cuts would have saved the economy. Tax cuts, the way the Republicans would have fought the economic demise, would have brought us economic growth. That wouldn’t do. Yeah, I mean it. Obama didn’t want economic growth. There’s a way to get economic growth and he went and did just the opposite.
Mr. Thiessen writes, ‘Had Obama really wanted to be the first ‘post-partisan’ president, he could have incorporated one of these alternatives into his final stimulus legislation.’ You could say the same thing about the health care bill. If Obama really wanted to neuter the Republicans, do you realize how easily he could have done it? All he would have had to do would have been to agree to put a couple of small, incidental ideas the Republicans were clamoring for in the health care bill, and he would have gotten three or four Republican votes. And then he could have said it was bipartisan. But he didn’t. He didn’t want any Republican input.
He didn’t want any Republican input in the stimulus bill. He didn’t want any Republican ideas in health care. He could have neutered them. He could have had his precious bipartisan and he could have then said, ‘Look, we did this together. We’re in this together. It hasn’t worked,’ but that’s not his objective. Inside-the Beltway people still don’t get this guy’s objective. The objective is destruction, and he wants full credit for it. He doesn’t want to share credit for this destruction. I mean, he’s not interested in that at all. As Mr. Thiessen writes here: ‘Obama was not interested in compromise. He decided to go it alone.’ Yes, he did, and we are where we are. And he will continue to go it alone even after these elections. He’s not moderating or moving to the center. Not substantively. If he does, it will be verbally, just for show, but for real it won’t happen.
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RUSH: Okay, we’re back. Rush Limbaugh, the cutting edge of societal evolution. I want to go back to our first caller and play the audio sound bite from Obama that he was talking about yesterday morning on a syndicated radio show. He received the question, ‘Mr. President, you were able to pass a health care plan, and you worked a lot for that. Many of my listeners, they haven’t seen that the same way you worked for health care for immigration reform. They haven’t seen the same effort.’
OBAMA: I am president. I’m not king. I can’t do these things just by myself. If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying we’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us, if they don’t see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it’s going to be harder, and that’s why I think it’s so important that people focus on voting on November 2nd.
RUSH: There he is bemoaning that he is not king, asking Latinos to punish their enemies, the great unifier who has, in truth, come to divide. The call was on Univision. So he thinks he’s on safe ground. Speaking on Univision he just assumes that no gringos will be watching, no gringos would hear about this. So he lets his genial mask slip. And we really see the community agitator up close and personal in this sound bite. There’s no chance in hell he’s gonna compromise with the GOP. He’s gonna use every kinda tribalism he can to use to divide us against each other. There’s no way he’s going to unify. Listen to this quote again. Look, this is all related to the fact that the GOP doesn’t understand what they’re dealing with even now, even with this upcoming tidal wave victory of the Tea Party, they still don’t know what they’re dealing with. And they better figure it out real fast. Here’s Obama when he doesn’t think the gringos are paying attention.
OBAMA: I am president. I’m not king. I can’t do these things just by myself. If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying we’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us, if they don’t see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it’s going to be harder, and that’s why I think it’s so important that people focus on voting on November 2nd.
RUSH: So he’s on Hispanic radio, and one of the questions is, ‘Hey, you know, you’ve done all that work for health care, but what about us? What about our friends, the illegals? Where’s the similar effort?’ He said, well, screw you. I mean, for crying out loud, if you don’t get out and vote I can’t do it all alone here, I’m not king. You better go out and vote. If you’re not gonna punish our enemies, then there’s no way we can reward our friends. So you’re not our friend if you don’t go punish our enemies. They bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun. They hit us, we hit twice as hard. He’s a great unifier. This is your great postpartisan, postracial, post-whatever. And he referred specifically to Republicans like McCain, those aren’t the kinds of folks who represent our core American values. I mean this is tribalism, folks, this is divide, divide, divide. If you don’t punish our enemies by showing up to vote, support what I’m for, then you don’t get any rewards from me. That’s what he’s telling them.
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RUSH: The mask, the camouflage, it came off. This back of the bus remark, this go punish your enemies stuff, this shows how race obsessed Barack Obama is.
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RUSH: The only people Barack Obama can lead are people who are as angry and divisive as he is. That’s where he excels, leading people who are already angry, already divisive. He keeps talking about the fact the Republicans drove the economy into the ditch. What’s been driven into the ditch is civility from the White House. What has been driven into the ditch is civility from the Oval Office. I want to play this sound bite again to you. This is from yesterday morning on Univision Radio. Question: ‘Mr. President, you were able to pass a health care plan, and you worked a lot for that. Most of my listeners, they haven’t seen that. The same way that you worked for health care, they haven’t seen that in immigration reform, they haven’t seen that same effort from you, sir.’
OBAMA: I am president. I’m not king. I can’t do these things just by myself. If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying we’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us, if they don’t see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it’s going to be harder, and that’s why I think it’s so important that people focus on voting on November 2nd.
RUSH: Now, let’s break this down. Obviously the one thing you can conclude here is there’s no way the man’s gonna compromise with anybody. He’s not gonna say, ‘You know what? The American people rejected me. I think I better help the Republicans defund my health care bill. I think I better give up cap and trade. I don’t think the American people want cap and trade. I better stop with all this green energy stuff and getting rid of the coal. The American people don’t want it.’ Does anybody really expect that that’s going to happen? I think there are some who do, and they are Republican leaders. Does anybody remember, one of the things Obama did to get the economy out of the ditch is nationalize the car companies. Republicans drive a car, the economy in the ditch, and what does he do? Nationalize it.
But let’s break this down. (imitating Obama) ‘I’m president. I’m not king.’ Parentheses, (damn it). Or, ‘I’m president. I’m not king.’ Parentheses, (yet). ‘I can’t do these things just by myself. If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ‘We’re gonna punish our enemies.’ If you are going to sit out the election and whine and moan to me about immigration reform instead of joining me in punishing our enemies, then we’re not gonna reward our friends who stand with us. If we don’t see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, it’s going to be harder for me to be friends with you.’
So you see, you Latinos, you are not people. You are weapons to be used against the enemy at Obama’s bidding. But let’s examine the mind-set. If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ‘We’re gonna punish our enemies,’ who are the enemies? Who’s the enemy? We are. The people who do not want illegal immigrants to have amnesty. The people who want immigration law to remain as it is, the people who want the borders secured, they are the enemy. To who? Obama. And if his voters are not gonna look at us the same way he does, as enemies, then screw them. ‘If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying we’re going to punish our enemies, and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important,’ meaning if you don’t stand with me, if you don’t punish the enemies, to hell with your immigration bill. I’m going to go where my friends support me first. So you Latinos, you want my help on amnesty, fine, you better get out and punish my enemies, because my enemies are your enemies. If you don’t I’m gonna start working with other people who have helped me. That’s what he’s saying to these people.
All fine and dandy, politics is politics, but we were told that this was the great unifier. We were told that this was going to be postpartisan and postracial. We were told that this kind of approach in politics wasn’t going to ever happen anymore, that the precious independents who hated all of this conflict, independents and moderates who hated all the arguments and so forth, we were all gonna get along. Obviously, the only thing going on here is incivility, and it’s being led and inspired by the White House. Now, how did he get health care not being a king? How did he get stimulus, bailouts, takeovers, student loans? Why couldn’t he get immigration, Latinos? If he got all that other stuff, not being a king, how come he didn’t get what you want, Latinos? He could have. He could have gotten immigration just like he got health care. I mean nobody wanted health care and he still got it. He coulda gotten your issue of immigration. Why didn’t he? You Latinos need to be asking yourselves this question. Why didn’t he? ‘Cause you were in the back of the bus. The issues bus, you’re in the back. He figures all it’s gonna take is it looking like he cares. To get your vote all it’s gonna take is to make it look like he’s for immigration reform the way you want. All he’s gotta do is sue Arizona and you’ll vote for him.
Dingy Harry, all he has to do is promise to take up the immigration bill and you are gonna make up the difference in his upcoming defeat to Sharron Angle. So you’re the back of the bus, Latinos, and until you start punishing enemies, his enemies, you’re gonna stay at the back of the bus, along with the Republicans who are going to be at the back of the bus. And make no mistake, back of the bus is not a coincidental use of phrase. Back of the bus has a specific meaning to Omam Ibama. It has a specific meaning. Back of the bus is an intentional reference to Montgomery, Alabama, the bus boycott which helped launch Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. There’s no way that this is a slip of the tongue or an artful turn of phrase. It’s an intentional racial dig. One more thing about this: ‘I can’t do these things just by myself. If Latinos sit out the election, instead of saying we’re gonna punish our enemies and reward our friends who stand with us,’ again, who’s the enemy? We are. Republicans, conservatives, we are the enemy.
Now, when we talk about the Democrats as the enemy, what happens to us? Hate speech; it’s inspiring potential violence; it is uncivil; it’s discourse that’s hurting our culture and our politics. The president of the United States speaks on Spanish radio about punishing our enemies and chastises them for not doing so. When we talk about punishing our enemies, TIME Magazine does covers with a churlish looking Rush Limbaugh on the cover, saying, ‘Is Rush Limbaugh Good for America?’ Barack Obama on Spanish radio, (imitating Obama) ‘Well, if you Latinos are gonna sit out the election instead of punishing our enemies.’ Punish our enemies. Frankly, we ought to be looking at them the same way. The Tea Party does. Republican leadership doesn’t, not in genuine political terms. Just the opposition. But Obama here is admitting the American people are the enemy. The American people are opposed to amnesty. The American people are opposed to his way of immigration reform. The American people are the enemy. Arizona is the enemy, and so his government is suing the State of Arizona which means individual citizens are having to donate money to the Arizona legal defense fund, for crying out loud. The American people.
He’s talking to an audience to Spanish radio. The American people are the enemy. The Hispanics are supposed to get out there and punish their enemies. He has come to divide. This is why the Tea Party exists. It is Obama and the Democrats, and it is spending, it is debt, it is all the things Obama’s done that aren’t in the news, that are purposely being left out of the news, not being reported on at all, the things that created the Tea Party, that ginned ’em up in the first place. Instead what’s happening this week is a bunch of stories about how kooky and unstable Tea Party candidates are. Why, they’re stepping on the head of a supporter, Jack Conway, in Lexington, Kentucky. They know what’s about to hit ’em. They know the wave that’s about to sweep over them. They’re trying to diminish it, limit it, as best they can. And he went on to say — by the way, we don’t have the audio on this, but when Obama was finished talking to the Latinos about punishing their enemies, referring specifically to Republicans such as John McCain, who formerly supported an immigration overhaul but now are stressing border security and supporting strict immigration laws like Arizona’s, Obama said, ‘Those are not the kinds of folks who represent our core American values.’
So if you oppose amnesty for illegals, if you are for border security, if you agree that the Arizona law needs to be upheld, if you support the Arizona law, which is essentially a restatement of federal law, then in the eyes of President Obama you aren’t the kind of folks who represent our core American values. He has come to divide. The judicial branch rules that his executive orders, like the drilling ban in the Gulf of Mexico, are unconstitutional, he just laughs and ignores them, sends his flunky Salazar out there to ignore the court’s ruling. Those aren’t the kinds of folks who represent our core American values. So much for Obama reaching across the aisle, so much for Obama moderating, so much for Obama realizing the American people have rejected his ideas.
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RUSH: Here’s Obama, the continuation of the sound bite where he tells these Latinos to punish our enemies. This is Obama going after McCain — his friend, John McCain.
OBAMA: Well, I’m disappointed, too. Many Republicans who used to support comprehensive immigration reform, like John McCain, decided not to support it. The problem that we have is that until I can get some cooperation from the other side, then people who are anti-immigration reform can continue to block it. And that’s why this election coming up is so important because we essentially have to say that those who are politicizing the issue, who are supportive of the Arizona law, who talk only about border security but aren’t willing to talk about the other aspects of this, who don’t support the DREAM Act, who are out there engaging in rhetoric that is divisive and damaging, those aren’t the kinds of folks who represent our core American values.
RUSH: That’s you, folks. That’s you, divisive, damaging — not the kind of folks who represent our core American values. You support the Arizona law. You support securing the borders but none of the other stuff that goes along with it. Remember, now, McCain did not want to go after this man who would be the first black president because, well, it just would be unseemly. And this, predictable, this is the thanks you get when you reach out and try to be friends with these people.
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RUSH: Steve in Omaha, welcome to the EIB Network. Great to have you here.
CALLER: Mr. Limbaugh, so nice to speak to you again. We recently had a nice dialogue, you and me about the Jim Crow South and what Jim Crow really was. But speaking to today’s topic about Obama’s speech to Univision. I believe the Republicans are really missing the boat by conceding the Hispanic vote to the Democrats. The fact of the matter is that Hispanics are one of the potential core constituency of the Republican Party, and here’s why. Number one, they’re very strongly pro-family. Number two, they are truly religious, not just on Sundays, but they really live it. Number three, they’re incredibly hardworking people. They’re the hardest working people I’ve ever been around. Number four, they are fanatically devoted to the American dream and all that entails. And number five, and most important, they have a very strong streak of stubborn individualism. You add these all five together, and what do you come up with? A natural-born conservative. They are naturally conservative. Republicans need to identify this, realize this, and capitalize on this.
RUSH: Well, now, wait a second here. The best I can tell, the way the Republicans think they have to get the Hispanic vote is to, like McCain did, be in favor of amnesty, letting the illegals become legal.
CALLER: And I believe that is a wrong-headed strategy. That is a wrong-headed strategy. It’s shortsighted. It doesn’t capitalize on the characteristics of behavioral traits of —
RUSH: Let me tell you something.
CALLER: — Hispanic-Americans.
RUSH: Here’s the problem. You may be exactly right, but we gotta get some of the Republicans to that point first before they can go out and sell it.