“I Hope He Fails” Reverberates

RUSH: Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, went over to the Heritage Foundation today to make a speech, and I watched a little bit of the speech. There also was a Q&A, and he was asked to explain the mandate.

MCCONNELL: Tuesday’s election was not about Republicans; it was about the Democrats. They got a report card. They got an F. We’ll see how they want to change direction. And, look, I’ve said repeatedly and I’ll say it again today, I don’t want the president to fail, I want him to change. We weren’t sent here to do nothing and if he wants to address spending debt and private sector job creation he’ll find a willing partner in Senate and House Republicans.

RUSH: Now, you know what he means here. Do you think he’s taking a slap at me, Snerdley? I don’t think he’s taking a slap at me, ’cause a lot of people told me he said this, ‘Rush, McConnell’s coming after you.’ No, no, no, I don’t think he’s coming after me with this. When he says I don’t want the president to fail, he’s not talking about me. He said I want him to change. He is failing is what’s happening. And McConnell says, ‘Look, we weren’t sent here to do nothing. ‘We weren’t sent here to do nothing,’ McConnell said. ‘If Obama wants to address spending debt, private sector job creation, he’ll find a willing partner.’ But if he doesn’t, we’ll be willing to do nothing. That’s called gridlock. (interruption) Okay, what’s so funny in there? Tell me what you’re laughing about. Hm-hm. No, no, no. Brian, he didn’t seek approval from me to say what he said here. I didn’t even know he was gonna be at the Heritage Foundation. No, he did not call me to seek approval to say, ‘I hope he doesn’t fail.’ And for those of you at The Politico, McConnell did not call and seek permission to disagree with me on this. McConnell also vowed to keep bringing up Obamacare for repeal.

MCCONNELL: On health care, that means we can and should propose and vote on straight repeal repeatedly. But we can’t expect the president to sign it. So we’ll also have to work in the House on denying funds for implementation and in the Senate on votes against its most egregious provisions.

RUSH: And about the Democrats, moving to them and compromise, McConnell said…

MCCONNELL: Republicans have a plan for following through on the wishes of the American people. It starts with gratitude and a certain humility for the task we’ve been handed. It means sticking ever more closely to the conservative principles that got us here. It means learning the lessons of history. And above all, it means listening to the people who sent us here.

RUSH: All right, they’re saying this over and over. Other than Lindsey Graham and Trent Lott, this is what they’re saying. Lindsey Graham and Trent Lott are blaming Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell for having lost the Senate. But everybody else saying, ‘Okay, we heard you, and we’re not gonna make the mistake we made last time.’ Has Obama invited some people up for dinner? Oh, is this after he gets back from the exile? When he gets back from exile in India he’s invited the House and Senate leadership, eight in total. Oh yeah, we called that the Slurpee Summit. We had a beer summit, we’ve had jobs summits. Let’s have the Slurpee Summit. There it is: ‘Obama Invites Republican Leaders to Dinner.’ It’s in the New York Times.

By the way, look, I only wanted Obama to fail insofar as I want America to succeed. Everybody knows this. This thinking I said something controversial, that’s just an effort by these people to muddy the waters. Everybody knows what I meant by that. Well, it was controversial because I was the only one saying it. Everybody else at the time was, ‘Okay, he’s just elected, honeymoon, let’s go along to get along.’ But I mean the people that were ripping into me, they knew what I was saying, they knew that I didn’t want the country to fail, they knew that. Well, there might be one person that didn’t. Let’s go back to the audio sound bites. Going back, gotta find Scarborough, I think it’s number five. Once guy persists in either not knowing what I said or really doesn’t get it. Joe Scarborough was at the Kennedy School for government at Harvard Monday night during a forum entitled, ‘Beyond the Midterms, a New Way Forward.’ And Joe Scarborough, who was a member of the freshman class of 1994, and I was an honorary member of that class, I went up there and spoke to them during their orientation. Somebody asked me, ‘Rush, have you been invited to come speak to the freshman orientation for this class?’ No. ‘Are you expecting to be, Rush?’ No. ‘Does it bother you?’ No, it doesn’t. Been there, done that. Anyway, here’s Scarborough talking about me and ‘I hope he fails.’ You be the judge. He either is challenged or is purposely distorting it.

SCARBOROUGH: It’s stunning to me that Rush Limbaugh would say that he was cheering against the president. I would be hard-pressed to find many things outside the area of education that I agree with Barack Obama on, but I want him to succeed.

RUSH: Stop tape. Now, that’s just stupid. That is stupid, or maybe there’s something else going on. Let’s take this literally. I would be hard-pressed to find many things outside the area of education that I agree with Obama on, but I want him to succeed. That’s not even cogent. It’s not even coherent. There’s not very many things I agree with Gorbachev on but I really hope he succeeds over there. Here’s the rest of the bite, go back to the top of it and I will translate this for you in four words. The Wall Street Journal said, ‘Could you write for us 200 words on what you hope for Obama?’ I said, ‘It won’t take 200, I can do it in four: ‘I hope he fails.” I’ll translate Scarborough. This is a 38 second sound bite. I will translate what he says here in four words.

SCARBOROUGH: It’s stunning to me that Rush Limbaugh would say that he was cheering against the president. I would be hard-pressed to find many things outside the area of education that I agreed with Barack Obama on. But I want him to succeed. I grew up with a grandmother that I saw, not cheering against the president of the United States, but praying for the president of the United States, praying for her country. I saw her even praying for Jimmy Carter. If you can pray for Jimmy Carter, you can pray for anybody. This is a vicious cycle. It’s a vicious cycle, and voters are the only ones who will be able to break it.

RUSH: Okay, four words to translate that sound bite from Joe Scarborough: ‘I work for MSNBC.’ I can offer more words if you want, but that sound bite translated, ‘I work for MSNBC. I have to keep my job. I make really good money now, more than I made in Congress. My bosses are really liberal, and my bosses hope I fail. I am living on their good graces so I have to kiss their butt. I have to fit in. It’s a vicious job, but I need it. Therefore, I pray for Barack Obama.’