RUSH: From the Los Angeles Times: ‘They came to cheer. They got a lecture. The crowd went wild. During a Barack Obama town-hall meeting on the economy, the topic turned to education, which, the Illinois senator said, could not be remedied by spending alone. ‘It doesn’t matter how much money we put in if parents don’t parent,’ he scolded. The line is one the Democrat delivers often, but on Thursday in Beaumont, Texas, he struck a remarkable chord with his mostly African American audience. ‘It’s not good enough for you to say to your child, ‘Do good in school,’ and then when that child comes home, you’ve got the TV set on,’ Obama lectured. ‘You’ve got the radio on. You don’t check their homework. There’s not a book in the house. You’ve got the video game playing.’ Each line was punctuated by a roar, and Obama began to shout, falling into a preacher’s rhythm. ‘Am I right?’
‘So turn off the TV set. Put the video game away. Buy a little desk. Or put that child at the kitchen table. Watch them do their homework. If they don’t know how to do it, give ’em help. If you don’t know how to do it, call the teacher.’ By now, the crowd of nearly 2,000 was lifted from the red velveteen seats of the Julie Rogers Theatre, hands raised to the gilded ceiling. ‘Make ’em go to bed at a reasonable time! Keep ’em off the streets! Give ’em some breakfast! Come on! Can I get an amen here?’ Whooooooooooooooooo, went the crowd. ‘You know I’m right,’ Obama laughed. ‘And, since I’m on a roll, if your child misbehaves in school, don’t cuss out the teacher! You know I’m right about that! Don’t cuss out the teacher! Do something with your child!’ Pandemonium. ‘All right, all right,’ he finished, ‘settle down. We’re having too much fun here. … I’m speaking the truth!”
So the crowd in Beaumont, Texas, went wild as Obama tells them basic information on child rearing. Give ’em some breakfast. Yay! As though it was a new concept; as though they couldn’t think of this on their own. Wash your hands after using the bathroom. Yay! Don’t stay out in the rain. Come in out of the rain. Yaaaay. Look both ways before crossing the street. Yaaay. One thing he didn’t say was teach ’em how to get a job. But, look, I know some of you are thinking, ‘Rush, what’s wrong with that advice? What in the world is wrong with that advice?’ Doesn’t it bother you, folks, that basic child rearing is being taught as part of a presidential campaign?
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RUSH: By the way, when Michelle Obama starts slamming the hedge fund business, what prominent person that we all know is in the hedge fund business? Among many others, Chelsea Clinton is in the hedge fund business, ladies and gentlemen. As far as Obama’s speech in Beaumont, Texas, don’t misunderstand. I have no problem with that kind of instruction to kids or parents, you know, taking their responsibilities as parents seriously. But don’t forget, Bill Cosby tried that same thing, and they practically ran him out of the race. They practically ran him out of the race. And Obama, I think, is plagiarizing me when he starts that little speech by saying, ‘We’ve thrown enough money at this; it’s time for you to get involved.’ That’s plagiarism of El Rushbo and conservatism. It’s just, when I look at the fact that this is a movement and not a political campaign and that the attachment to Obama is based on faith, here you have people who have not the slightest idea. This is going to be really tough, folks. Here you have people haven’t the slightest idea, apparently, how to raise their own kids; otherwise this kind of message would not be receiving standing ovations. (interruption)
Now, Snerdley’s frowning at me on this, but Mr. Snerdley, you know I am always two days ahead of things. I am always way ahead of things on this, and if you just take this for what it is… ‘Rush, how can you oppose it?’ I’m looking down the road. I’m looking down the road at: How are we going to beat this guy, if he is building up this kind of faith attachment on this kind of thing? If the president of the United States is going to be elected by teaching people how to raise their kids, while at the same time making blunder, after blunder, after blunder when he opens his mouth about foreign policy; do you realize what that means? Canadian TV has got this story, and they’re not going to reveal their source. There’s some people denying this, but after the debate Tuesday night where both Clinton and Obama just trashed NAFTA. Apparently Clinton did, too — or Obama, called some people in Canada and said, ‘We’re not going to mess with the relationship we have with you regarding NAFTA, it’s just politics. It’s just politics. I just have to say this kind of thing. You know, I’m in a primary campaign, I got a lot of people don’t like NAFTA.’
Now, Canadian officials are denying it, and Obama is denying it, but the CTV network is standing by the story. Don’t know whether it’s true or not, but it’s something that’s totally unbelievable. These are people who will tell their audience anything, say whatever in order to get votes, win an election, and so forth, and then revert to form afterwards. I mean, the idea that these guys are going to do anything about NAFTA is ridiculous. It’s just not going to happen. Mrs. Clinton can sit there and say, ‘I’m going to renegotiate it on more favorable terms and so forth.’ It’s all BS. It’s literal BS. But they’re in Ohio, and there’s people in Ohio and Zanesville and other places, Youngstown, that they’re trying to make out like ghost towns, who want to blame NAFTA for this.