RUSH: Look, you wouldn’t believe the distractions going on here today. It’s amazing this show is even taking place. You want to know what’s happened here, the first 15 minutes of this program? Lost Internet, lost e-mail. Still don’t have e-mail. We’ve got Internet back, but we don’t have e-mail back. (interruption) You don’t have Internet back in there? I’m the only one that’s got Internet? Okay, ’cause I’ve got the cable modem backup. We’re on AT&T fiber optic, there’s a problem down in Miami, we know what the problem is. But every time I’ve lost the primary we go to cable as a backup and everything’s back, e-mail and Internet. I don’t have e-mail. Any e-mail. I don’t understand it. I’ve got computer people trying to explain to me and I have not got a satisfactory explanation because every time we’ve lost a line in the past, the backup line provides everything else.
Now I’m getting this gobbledygook about IP addresses and DNS addresses and Gizmodos about why the e-mail can’t be seen by our backup cable modem. So this has me scratching my head for the last two and a half hours. When I don’t get an upfront explanation, I asked the question four times, a yes-or-no question four times. And it took me four times while the program’s going on here, folks. It’s yes or no. Dawn, she’s in there, she transcribes your phone calls in case you’re on a bad cell signal and I can’t understand you, her computer monitor blew up, there was an explosion in there at the same time. The audio level that I hear in my cochlear implant has died 25 times in the middle of this program. I asked the computer guy, ‘Are we being hacked here?’ ‘Oh, no, no, there’s no way.’ Well there are a lot of coincidences going on here.
My audio level is shot, a computer monitor blows up, we lose the Internet. The air-conditioning in the bathroom isn’t working, by the way. I was just in there. I wasn’t even going to burden you with that but that’s not working, I may as well unload on everything here. I’ll bet you when I get in my car something’s happened there and my key won’t start it and I’ll say, ‘Well, that’s because the DNS server doesn’t see the cable backup modem.’ Well, that’s never happened before. Why is it happening now? In the meantime, I’m having to look up whether or not the Mexicans have taken over a wildlife refuge in the state of Arizona, all while this show is going on here to try to be as accurate as I can. And I have to put up with people — here, grab audio sound bite number 15. Listen to this. Chris Matthews will not give it up.
MATTHEWS: I gotta salute Rush. I’ve never seen a guy on the radio, he doesn’t do television, he has one medium of expression, the voice, he doesn’t put on guests, he has a good golf game, I figure, he’s kept up his tan, he’s got a good lifestyle, congratulations on your marriage, he enjoys his life, and with like his left hand he runs the entire Republican Party. Congratulations. Until somebody dethrones you, Rushbo, congratulations on ruling an entire political party of Dittoheads.
RUSH: For 45 days he has been begging any Republican to come on and denounce me as the leader, and none of them will, 45 days. So finally he said that. But that came after this on his show last night.
MATTHEWS: It’s been 44 days since we first issued that challenge out on Limbaugh. Rush is loving it. Rush can’t believe it. How Rush can cow an entire party. That includes Rush Limbaugh. It’s been 44 days since I challenged any Republican to come on and disagree with Rush Limbaugh, and no takers. Why are Republicans so afraid of disagreeing with El Rushbo? It’s been 44 days since we invited Republican officeholders to come on our show and say that Rush Limbaugh is not the leader, to simply disagree with Rush. Rush went out there and took the side of BP. More on El Rushbo. He is so proud of himself. He took the side of the Republican leadership against Rush Limbaugh, and after a few hours of withering attack from Rush and his people, he buckled and apologized to Rush Limbaugh, taking the side of his party leadership against Rushbo.
The Rush-Barton shakedown, Mike. We thought Republicans had their chance to take their stand with their leaders and say, ‘Rush, oh, Rush, we hate to say this, but you’re wrong.’ I asked US Congressman Scalise from Louisiana if he agreed with Rush. Rush Limbaugh is really the Republican Party today. Now, that sort of tribalist right-wing view you get from Rush Limbaugh. I gotta salute Rush. ‘Til somebody dethrones you Rushbo, just one of them, that say that he or she disagrees with Rush. It was the better part of valor to tell Rush that he was sorry for what he’d done. When Rush went so far as to back BP, we had a congressman from Louisiana on this week, not even he would side with his party’s leadership and take on Rush. And on to Limbaugh. Well, saying Rush didn’t speak for him, that he spoke for himself, he still would not complete the thought and say, ‘Darn it, Rush is wrong,’ couldn’t do it. Let me finish tonight with our lively interchange with Rush Limbaugh.
RUSH: That’s a montage of this whole week. We did not repeat any of it. None of those segments were repeats. Every one of those things was actually said, and here comes the next bite, what you previously heard, the begrudging respect. I mean it’s almost like Matthews is in awe but he’s not getting a tingle up his leg about me. That’s still reserved for Obama.
MATTHEWS: I gotta salute Rush. I’ve never seen a guy on the radio, he doesn’t do television, he has one medium of expression, the voice, he doesn’t put on guests, he has a good golf game, I figure, he’s kept up his tan, he’s got a good lifestyle, congratulations on your marriage, he enjoys his life, and with like his left hand he runs the entire Republican Party. Congratulations. Until somebody dethrones you, Rushbo, congratulations on ruling an entire political party of Dittoheads.
RUSH: So I’m out there doing all this stuff and as an afterthought with my left hand I’m running the entire Republican Party. Chris, thank you very much. I know you sincerely mean that, and I know exactly what you mean when you say it, and I appreciate it. I wonder how he would compare my abilities to those of the teleprompter messiah. One more. This is Greta Van Susteren last night On the Record on the Fox News Channel, and she’s reviewing my comments about Obama and Dmitry Medvedev going out for a burger.
VAN SUSTEREN: This isn’t something you hear everyday. Rush Limbaugh has got President Obama’s back. Well, at least for that hamburger lunch with the Russian president.
RUSH ARCHIVE: I’ve often thought, I’ve even commented on it on this program, I think half the reason he leaves the White House is to go get a burger because his wife his making him eat watercress and bamboo in there. He wants to get out and have some real food, have some fries, some onion rings, some burgers. Look when this guy leaves the White House, look at what he eats. I mean it’s real food. Who knows what they’re feeding the poor guy in the White House.
VAN SUSTEREN: Bamboo, well, that doesn’t sound very appealing, does it?
RUSH: Especially because there’s a shortage of it, all those bamboo steamers out there. The pandas are even having trouble finding bamboo.