RUSH: Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we have the CEO of the United States of America basically saying, “I didn’t know about any of this.” We have the CEO of the United States, the chief executive, saying, “I didn’t know about the IRS, and I didn’t know about the IG report.” Folks, he’s stretching credulity. He’s lying about this. I just want to ask you to make a comparison. Let’s say that this afternoon there is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and let’s say that it’s an Exxon well.
Just to make up something, let’s say it’s an Exxon well that starts leaking and there’s oil all over the Gulf of Mexico, and the Exxon CEO strides to the microphone and says, “You know, I really don’t know about any of this. My staff hasn’t told me. Now, I don’t like it, and I’m gonna get this fixed. I’m gonna fire whoever runs that thing out there.” What if the CEO of BP, British Petroleum, had reacted the way Obama did?
If any CEO of any multinational corporation reacting to inappropriate behavior by employees, says, “It’s their fault. I didn’t know about it,” do you think it would work? Would that CEO get away with it? Would the business media cover for the CEO of Exxon? That happens to be Rex Tillerson, so let’s put a name to it. There’s a big oil spill this afternoon. Let’s say it happens. I don’t even know that Exxon has a rig out there, but let’s say they do.
They have an Exxon rig and it blows up, and there’s oil all over, and there are fires on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon, waits three or four days and calls a press conference. “You know, I just found out about this a couple of days ago, and I’m trying to get to the bottom of it. I want to assure everybody it isn’t gonna happen again. All right? Now, I gotta get back to running Exxon. So I’ll see you.”
Would people put up with that?
Would the media put up with any real chief executive dealing with a controversy in his business the way Obama is dealing with all of these? No, of course not. But every Obama voter — every Obama low-information voter, every Obama voter — is perfectly fine with Obama not knowing diddly-squat. Because in the case of BP or Exxon, their express purpose would be to destroy the company and the CEO. In this case, it’s to save Obama and his agenda. I’m just telling you.
In the real world, nobody could get away with what Obama gets away with. No chief executive could get away with being distant and disengaged and not knowing what’s going on in his company. The board of directors and the shareholders would demand a change. “You know, he really doesn’t know what’s going on. He doesn’t seem all that interested.” That CEO wouldn’t last, folks. You know, we’ve got a low-information voter outreach program going here, and I’m trying to reach ’em in every way possible. Stick with me on this.
Here’s Chris in South Windsor, Connecticut. Hi, Chris. Great to have you here.
CALLER: Hi, Rush! I’m really glad to talk to you. I’ve been a fan for years. I will tell you that your theorem has really answered a question for me. I’ve been completely confused about why Obama was missing in action during the entire Benghazi episode. I guess he disappeared at five and no one knows where he was. He was staying out of sight.
RUSH: That’s right.
CALLER: Why isn’t anybody else talking about that?
RUSH: That is the question as far as I’m concerned: “Where was he?” He was off the grid. Nobody’s asking that. That is the question. He tells Panetta and Hillary at five o’clock, in separate conversations with them, to do whatever it takes. The problem is, they don’t have the authority that he does as commander-in-chief in ordering the military in or out. Panetta cannot move troops on his own. Hillary can’t, either. Well, legally. But the point is, they weren’t gonna take on the responsibility anyway. He was off the grid, and for five to seven hours, Chris, nobody knows where he was.
CALLER: Well, is the press purposely not pushing this, or what? I mean, with what you’re talking about now, which makes complete sense, he needs to stay out. My kid was living in Chicago when he ran for Senate. He said, “You watch that guy. He will either vote ‘present’ or he will be gone for a vote.”
RUSH: Yep.
CALLER: He said, “He’ll never put his name on anything.”
RUSH: Exactly. That is the Limbaugh Theorem: Voting “present,” never putting his name on anything. When Benghazi is going to hell in a hand basket, he’s nowhere.
CALLER: Yup.
RUSH: Therefore it can’t be said that he didn’t order troops. It can’t be said that he did or didn’t do anything, because he didn’t. He wasn’t there.
CALLER: Unbelievable. Well, Rush, thank you. You’ve answered my question and I wish the whole world would listen to you. I am a 65-year-old woman. I’m friends with a lot of wonderful women, none of whom even have heard of Benghazi. They’re smart, they have money, they vote, and none of them have heard of Benghazi.
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: And it’s just so frustrating.
RUSH: Seriously, now: If they haven’t heard of Benghazi — and you know them — what are they talking about?
CALLER: They’ll talk about the environment. They’ll talk about, “Did you know that such-and-such a seed was engineered in such a way and it’s gonna ruin our lives?”
RUSH: Do they know that Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy?
CALLER: Yes!
RUSH: Do they talk about that?
CALLER: Yes, yes, yes. Oh, yes, they do.
RUSH: Do they happen to know where Beyonce is on her tour?
CALLER: Uhhh, I’m not so sure about that.
RUSH: Maybe not, no.
CALLER: But they were all aware… We’re older. We, unfortunately, have had many instances of breast cancer and so on in our friends and families.
RUSH: Sorry.
CALLER: So those are things that they care about, but they watch every morning show. All of them watch the morning news shows and really enjoy them.
RUSH: Do they watch The Real Housewives of whatever shows?
CALLER: No. No. And I feel guilty talking about them. I love these women.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: They’re my friends and my compatriots.
RUSH: Are they all excited to see The Great Gatsby movie?
CALLER: Well, yes.
RUSH: Yeah, see?
CALLER: They were, and somebody heard a bad review about it. I just spent time away with them. They’re intelligent and wonderful friends, but they have absolutely no knowledge about the stuff that you’re talking about. I live in Connecticut, and they’re not gonna want to listen to me.
RUSH: Well, look, that’s all you’ve gotta say. I have enough experience in Connecticut, to know if it’s not in the New York Times, they don’t know about it.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: I guarantee you.
CALLER: I have a friend of 35 years. I love her to death. I don’t have to worry about her hearing me talk to you because she sure ain’t listening to you.
RUSH: (chuckles)
CALLER: She and I almost had to end our friendship on her side because she found out that I was not gonna vote for Clinton. I mean, people don’t respect you but they also can’t tolerate you.
RUSH: They do. They are just afraid.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Tom in South Bend, Indiana, welcome, sir, to EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hey, Rush. All of the television stations and the congressional Republicans are giving Obama 100% cover on Benghazi. We don’t have the Internet around my house; we don’t have a computer. I spent the last two weeks with the TV on every news channel; my wife and I swapped turns. I’ve been listening to every congressional interview, and all they’re talking about is talking points. To be honest, I don’t really care who wrote the talking points, whether it’s this three-letter agency or the State Department or this three-letter agency, they’re all a part of the White House.
RUSH: Wait, wait, wait. Hold it, hold it. When you say “all they’re talking about,” you saying Republicans?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Give me an example.
CALLER: Fox News is 100% dedicated to the talking points. All that Bill O’Reilly is talking about is talking points. All that John Boehner is talking about is who misled with these talking points. There are much more important issues.
RUSH: Wait. Whose talking points?
CALLER: The falsified Benghazi talking points. I’m saying there are bigger questions concerning Benghazi than who misled the nation with these talking points. We are giving them cover by allowing them to release e-mails and say, “Look, we’re being transparent about the talking points process, nothing to see here, folks,” when in reality we should be asking, why did Hillary Clinton withdraw troops from the area when the British ambassador had just had an assassination attempt against him, why did we draw down security —
RUSH: Okay, I see. (crosstalk)
CALLER: — giant hole in the wall of the consulate.
RUSH: I see what you mean. I’m a little slow on the uptake here. Well, you’re right in one sense. The Benghazi e-mails have been released, and the big discovery is that there wasn’t a video discussed by the regime. So I guess what you’re irritated at is that the Republicans and whoever in the so-called Republican media, is simply trying to expose that the Obama administration lied about something when in fact the whole thing was an absolute debacle and why don’t anybody care about why the strategery in this thing was botched and why there wasn’t any concern for these four Americans dead and why wasn’t anything that happened there reacted to as an act of war and defended properly. Is that what your point is?
CALLER: Absolutely. And the point is the talking points wouldn’t have saved anyone’s life. I think it’s important that the administration lied to us but, look, we know that they lie —
RUSH: Okay, I understand. His point is the talking points are all after the fact and all they’re focused on, yeah, they show that Obama lied. Big whoop. All right. But there’s a lot of stuff that happened before the talking points, the attack itself, the actual event took place. And old Tom here is saying, so what? Okay, Obama lied. There’s no news there. Big deal. Why isn’t anybody focused on the actual incompetence of handling the event? And I understand your point. I think the talking points show that the State Department and the White House were only concerned about protecting themselves. The e-mails show that the administration lied every step of the way. And the Republicans are making the mistake of thinking that they can somehow get Obama voters to regret voting for Obama, and it isn’t gonna happen. It isn’t gonna happen.
It’s why I spent the first hour of the program saying this is liberalism. This is incompetence. This is people unqualified to lead, that’s what needs to be learned here. And the same thing can be said about Benghazi. But everybody’s focused on getting Obama. “We gotta get Obama. We gotta get Obama lying. We gotta prove there was no video. We gotta prove it.” For what purpose? I know that it’s satisfying, and it’s worthy of being done, but getting Obama right now isn’t the point. Unless he tears up the Constitution and runs again, getting Obama is not the point. There’s a larger lesson and a much greater political objective that can be achieved here. And I think Tom senses that. I think he’s right.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: So we got a call here. I’m not gonna have time to take it. It’s a good question. Wade from Florence, Kentucky, said, “If Obama was your brother or a trusted dear friend, what would you advise him to do right now in the midst of all this scandal?” I’d tell him to do exactly what he’s doing. He’s not being held accountable for anything. Somebody tell me where Obama’s in any trouble. The media knows that the White House and the State Department and everybody else is lying about Benghazi.
Big whoop!
They’re not gonna do anything about it. It’s over with now. “They lied to protect Obama and Hillary? Okay, that’s cool. We can understand that. They lied to protect Obama and Hillary. It wasn’t anything about national security in these e-mails. Everything’s all fine.” I wouldn’t have him do anything different. I’d stay disengaged and detached and continue to say, “My God, I didn’t know anything! I’m gonna fix it.” It’s worked up ’til now. (New Castrati impression) “Mr. Limbaugh, this business that all these people that don’t need instructions to do what Obama wants, that’s just silly.”
Oh, really?
Really?
Do you think Stephanie Cutter had to be told to call Romney a felon? Do you think anybody had a meeting to say, “Hey, Stephanie, call Romney a felon”? She knew to do that on her own. How about Hilary Rosen? Do you think Hilary Rosen had to be told, “Hey, Hilary, go on CNN and say, ‘Ann Romney never worked a day in her life.'” Do you think Hilary Rosen need to be told that? No way. They think it! Stephanie Cutter did it on her own. She didn’t have to be told to go out and call Romney a felon, and then back it up when challenged on it. Now, Harry Reid did have to be told that Romney hadn’t paid his taxes. Somebody did have to tell him that.
I’d like to know who it was.
Maybe someday we’ll find out.