February 12, 2008

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I'm sitting here reading this Obama interview, and I am in stunned disbelief.  Nobody can be this ignorant.  Scary ignorant.  From high atop the EIB Building in Midtown Manhattan, one of the most frequently visited tourist attractions in all of Manhattan, I am Rush Limbaugh, behind the Golden EIB Microphone.  Great to have you with us.  Here's the phone number, 800-282-2882, and the e-mail address is

.  It's a Q&A with Barack Obama December 20th in the Boston Globe, Charlie Savage wrote the story.  Try this one.  This is number five.  "Does the Constitution permit a president to detain US citizens without charges as unlawful enemy combatants?"  Obama's answer:  "No. I reject the Bush Administration's claim that the President has plenary authority under the Constitution to detain U.S. citizens without charges as unlawful enemy combatants."  Memo to Obama:  It is not the Bush administration's position.  The Supreme Court held in 2004 -- this is the famous case, US vs. Hamdi.  The president has the power to detain American citizens without charges as enemy combatants.  Now, I just have to think here -- I don't know what to think.  He's either ignorant or he's saying something far more dangerous.  If he is saying that he's not bound by the Supreme Court's interpretation of the law, liberals would have a stroke if Bush claimed the kind of authority that Obama is claiming in this -- and ignorance.  

Liberals are out there going bonkers every day over how stupid Bush is.  This Obama interview is just scary.  Let's see.  Find another one here.  He gets it wrong on who ratifies treaties and who consents to them.  He says the president doesn't have the authority to abolish treaties.  And the president does!  Bush abolished the ABM treaty shortly after taking office because Bush said it's irrelevant.  The Soviets are gone.  I'm getting rid of this.  The liberals went nuts, but they couldn't stop him because the president does have the authority to get rid of treaties.  Obama says here that the president does not have the authority to undermine Congress, the Senate here, which ratifies treaties.  The Senate doesn't ratify, they consent to them.  The president makes treaties, negotiates them, comes up with them.  When's the last time you saw Gorbachev meeting with some senator at Reykjavik or anywhere else?  Gorbachev met with Reagan, for crying out loud.

This interview sets McCain up.  There's a sitting duck out there.  There's a sitting duck for McCain if he wants to exploit this.  Andy McCarthy posted an article today, National Review Online, discussing the announcement that military prosecutors have decided to seek the death penalty against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five others who are complicit in the 9/11 attacks.  This is the 9/11 Six, and the article raises the issue of what kind of enforcement paradigm we're going to have.  Do we go back to the September 10th approach of treating foreign jihadists as if they were ordinary criminal defendants entitled to all the rights and privileges of the civilian justice system, or should we treat the enemy as a war criminal in a conflict in which it's vital that we protect the intelligence we depend on to save American lives?  In other words, are we going to go back to the Jamie Gorelick Clinton days where we're going to treat these enemy combatants as just civilians in court and we're going to hear testimony and we're going to divulge intelligence secrets of what it took to nail them, or are we going to treat them as enemy combatants, military tribunals and this kind of thing?  

As McCarthy wrote today, it's a real opportunity for Senator McCain to separate himself from Obama and Clinton.  We still have the military commission option because Congress passed the Military Commissions Act in 2006, and McCain voted for that.  Obama and Clinton voted against it.  Now, the next commander-in-chief will surely have an opportunity to end military commissions in order that the terrorists held at Gitmo, including the 9/11 Six, be transferred to the civilian justice system.  What do our three plausible candidates think should be done with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed?  This is a gift, and McCain should grab it, but he probably won't, because he wants to shut down Gitmo.  He believes Gitmo is bad.  He believes that torture happens in Gitmo.  But McCarthy is right.  This is a golden opportunity for McCain to put into play and demonstrate his vast experience at national security and protecting the country, because Obama and Clinton both want the 9/11 Six and future terrorists like this to be brought home here, put in the civilian justice system, and tried the same as we would try a bank robber, in time of war.  

Now, McCain gave an interview to Der Spiegel, a German magazine.  This is more from Andy McCarthy, who filled me in on this.  Here is what McCain had to say about the Club Gitmo enemy combatants.  Here's the question from Der Spiegel:  "America has lost a lot of friends because President George W. Bush angered, indeed outraged, them. He allowed human rights to be violated at Guantanamo Bay, and he dismissed the joint effort to combat global warming. Under a President McCain, could we expect a change of course?"  McCain's answer:  "Yes. I would announce that we are not ever going to torture anyone held in American custody. I would announce that we were closing Guantanamo Bay and moving those prisoners to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and I would announce a commitment to addressing climate change and my dedication to a global agreement -- but it has to include India and China."

Folks, if you're wondering why so many of us on this side of the aisle are disappointed, it's because this answer is depressing.  It's disappointing.  We haven't violated human rights at Club Gitmo.  We have not violated human rights.  Senator McCain accepts the premise, not only, by the way, accepts the premise, he takes the opportunity to grandstand on torture.  He intimates that President Bush has presided over a torture regime.  This answer is somewhat akin to Jack Kemp's answer in the debate with Algore back in 1996.  Kemp was Bob Dole's vice presidential running mate and Algore says, (paraphrasing) "By the way, Jack, I want to point out you're good on civil rights.  You're not a racist like the rest of your party," and Jack said, "Thank you."  I'm sitting there watching the television, "What the hell was that?"  McCain's basically done the same thing here.  Der Spiegel says, "The world hates your country, and the world hates your president, President Bush because of torture and human rights violations and global warming." McCain says, "Absolutely right, but I'm not going to do any of that, that Bush has done that people hate us for."  

END TRANSCRIPT

Read the Background Material...

• Boston Globe: Barack Obama's Q&A - Charlie Savage

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/CandidateQA/ObamaQA/

• Weekly Standard: Obama Unplugged. Lost without a Teleprompter- Dean Barnett

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/728ofzey.asp

• Der Spiegel: 'I Have a Long Record of Working Together with Our Allies'

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,druck-534459,00.html

• National Review: Obama on the Executive - John Derbyshire

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZGM5ZWZiZTk0MjJmZDZkMTAwYzU4ZWJjYzJjZDliODQ=

• National Review: The 9/11 Six: An Opportunity for Senator McCain - Andrew C. McCarthy

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTE1YTlkMzU0NmUxMjk0OTkzODNhMTc5Mzg1MTRkYjM=

February 13, 2008

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Susan, Louisville, Kentucky.  Nice to have you on the EIB Network.  Hello.

CALLER:  Hi, Rush.  How are you?  

RUSH:  Fine.  Thank you very much.

CALLER:  Okay.  Wonderful.  I have to share some history that you and I have in your child rearing with my children and other children in our neighborhood.  My husband is an infantry officer in the Marine Corps, and a couple years ago while almost everybody on our block was deployed -- we live in company grade housing in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina -- you were the only male influence in a variety of young men's lives, of our toddler's sons.  There's a group of wives that used to sit out in our front yard, turn on Rush Limbaugh, and we'd joke that our husbands were gone but all we had was Rush, so I just want to let you know what a role you played.

RUSH:  Well, I'm flattered by that.  I feel very confident.  I'm very hopeful that your kids have a great future.

CALLER:  Well, thank you, Rush.  Well, Obama talking about change, and he said his head is not in the clouds.  I'm concerned it's in a cloud of smoke.  And if you could do me a favor and a variety of military wives out there, I'm wondering if you could touch a little bit on what Obama would do to the military if he is in fact voted into office.

RUSH:  Well, I think it's actually relatively easy to answer the question just based on Obama's speeches of late.  I think the US military, under the commander-in-chief Barack Obama will march into the future united, armed, with the hopes of the free world at their backs. They will march forward into the future in harmony and with love and dreams for peace.

CALLER:  Well, we're concerned because we think -- my husband and I and a group of our friends who are all educated and who are all professionals in the military -- we're concerned that when another attack does happen, and if Obama is elected, oh, it will, we're concerned that we will apologize, give the terrorists a hug, and sing Kumbaya.

RUSH:  Well, if I may be serious, I was giving you a typical Obama answer at first.  Look, your question is very serious.  Obama has already said that he's going to meet with the world's tyrants.  Obama has already said that he might invade Pakistan.  There is an excellent piece today, and I'm going to link to this.  Do you go to my website by any chance?

CALLER:  Yes, I do.

RUSH:  You do?

CALLER:  Yes.

RUSH:  All right.  By the way, is your husband still deployed or is he home?

CALLER:  He is actually home.  We are stationed here in Kentucky now.

RUSH:  Stationed in Kentucky.  Okay.  There's a piece by Leon Wieseltier today in the New Republic that just excoriates -- and Wieseltier actually is liberal -- excoriates Obama on the very thing you're talking about.  Wieseltier's point, and I didn't print it out because it's not something that you can excerpt.  I'd have to read the whole thing to you.  But I'll summarize it for you here.  It basically talks about the hot spots around the world where we are seriously threatened, from China to North Korea to Iraq to Iran to Pakistan, to the Soviet Union, to China.  He says China holds the fate of our economy in its hands because of all the dollars, all of the US debt that they own.  And that whatever China wants in the world, they get.  If they don't want to be part of Kyoto, the UN says, fine, fine, fine, you don't have to be part of Kyoto, because everybody is scared to death that the ChiComs, they're not going to take it.  You cross them, ask the Falun Gong, ask the Mongolians, ask any number of people. You stand in front of one of their tanks, ask what happens.  They're not going to put up with any of this.  

His whole point is, there is nobody less qualified seeking the office to deal with all of this than Barack Obama. It's detectable by listening to him talk about these circumstances and these situations around the world.  This goes beyond what will happen to the military and how he will use it.  This goes even beyond that.  This goes to the very nature of what his foreign policy would be.  It's based, really, on the fact that Wieseltier believes that naïveté is just profound in Obama.  He actually believes that he can go meet with the tyrants and thugs of the world and by the very power and force of his personality and the desire for Kumbaya and everybody to hold hands, he can talk the bad guys into being good guys working for a common purpose with the hopes and dreams of the world at their back. Wieseltier says the world's a far more dangerous place and we're at much greater risk in the world today than we were yesterday, the day before, and Obama is just singularly unqualified to deal with it.  We will link to this at RushLimbaugh.com so that you can check it out.  Now, Susan, hang on.  Don't go away.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Susan in Louisville, back to you.  I wanted to do something for you.  You're so nice with what you said in the beginning of your call, and your husband has served the country, and you were left with three kids and so forth with only me to help raise them, and that's actually a good thing.  But I want to do two things for you.

CALLER:  Thank you, Rush.

RUSH:  The first thing I want, I want to send you whole bunch of flowers.  I mean, tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I know your husband is probably going to do something, but I want to send you some flowers --

CALLER:  Thank you so much, Rush.

RUSH:  -- from ProFlowers, and I'm also going to do this.  Is that a young crumb cruncher in the background?

CALLER:  Oh, Rush, I'm pushing them full of M&Ms and said, "I'm on a very important phone call."

RUSH:  Oh, okay.  Pushing them full of M&Ms.  Good.

CALLER:  Yeah.

RUSH:  Next thing I'm gonna do, and this won't take very long. I want to give you and your husband aSelect Comfort Sleep Number Bed.

CALLER:  Oh, my God, Rush.  Let me give you a little history on that.  We just signed up for LifeLock because of you, and that was my New Year's resolution, it's one that I kept, and I was starting to save little bit by little bit to get one of those Sleep Number Beds, because I know they are so highly recommended.

RUSH:  Well, I knew that.  See, I sense these things.  My instincts, I never doubt them.  Look, we'll put you on hold, and we'll make all this happen down the road.  But you're going to absolutely love the bed.  You were very sweet, and I don't think the country does enough for families like you.

CALLER:  Well, thank you, Rush, and you make my life better daily.  My husband works half days every day, six to six, and I listen to you diligently every day.

RUSH:  Well, thanks very much, and you give him all of our best, will you do that?

CALLER:  Okay.

RUSH:  Okay, thank you very much, Susan. 

END TRANSCRIPT

Read the Background Material...

• Salon.com: McCain Targets Obama - Alex Koppelman

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/02/12/mccain_speech/index.html

• The New Republic: Washington Diarist

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=76832a5a-4c74-41f1-98b7-82f6b74638b8

February 13, 2008

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I'm thinking of endorsing Obama.  Well, everybody's asking me about my endorsement.  I want to give you a reason why I'm thinking of endorsing Obama.  Listen to this.  (playing of Barack Obama spoof)  

Barack Obama, ladies and gentlemen, is a blank canvas upon which anybody can project their fantasies, or their desires.  You look at Democrats in the audience, and they're swooning.  He's saying nothing.  He's saying nothing better than anybody in my lifetime ever has.  The reason he says nothing so well is because everybody thinks that he's saying what they want.  So they're able to project onto Obama their fantasies.  If they believe in allowing somebody to marry a dog, they think Obama will support it.  Therefore, I would like today to announce a tentative decision, I'm stilling thinking about it, to endorse Barack Obama, since everybody is asking who am I going to endorse, and here's why.  Barack Obama is pro-life.  Barack Obama is a Constitutionalist.  Barack Obama believes in limited government.  Barack Obama is in favor of health care savings plans.  Barack Obama loves free markets and wants to protect them.  Barack Obama is strong on national defense.  Barack Obama is a tax cutter extraordinaire.  Barack Obama makes my leg tingle when I hear him speak.  Barack Obama will end the designated hitter rule.  Barack Obama will establish a college football playoff once and for all so we will genuinely have a champion.  Barack Obama will get to the bottom of Spygate.  Barack Obama will offer free beer Fridays.  Whatever you want Obama to be, folks, he's a blank slate, he's an empty canvas, and this is the nature of his appeal.  Whatever people fantasize about, whatever they want, they are confident Obama supports it, too.  

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Jared in Spokane, Washington, you're first today.  Nice to have you here.

CALLER:  Hey, thank you, Rush, thanks very much.  As I told your screener, I am a conservative in Washington State -- in eastern Washington, a more conservative part of the state -- and even I am considering voting for Obama just because of the way he communicates; understanding, I know, that a lot of what he says doesn't have a lot of substance to it.  But the reason why --

RUSH:  Do you realize what you just said?

CALLER:  -- is I think he is a -- he is a great communicator like -- like Reagan was, and he's inspirational.  

RUSH: Do you...?

CALLER: I remember growing up as a kid in the eighties, and the thing that Reagan did for me, is he made me feel good again, feel good about the country; and I think that's what Obama does.  I don't necessarily agree with his politics. I don't like what he says. I think he's kind of a socialist. But I agree with the way he inspires people.

RUSH:  Are you listening to yourself here?  

CALLER: (laughs)

RUSH: You're a conservative Republican in the state of Washington.

CALLER:  Yes.

RUSH:  You want to feel good.  You expect a presidential candidate to do it. Even if he's a socialist you're going to vote for him.  You know that his policies are way over there on the left.

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH:   You admit that his speech doesn't contain much substance, but it is inspiring like Reagan inspired you.  And you're thinking of voting for him even though you know he's a socialist lib.

CALLER:  Because the alternative is John McCain, who you know works with liberals more than any so-called Republican out there. And what's the difference if I have John McCain working with liberals, and a liberal as a president?  There's not a whole lot of difference there.

RUSH:  If the liberal inspires you.

CALLER:  So if I can get someone who's a good person deep down, if I get someone who's a good person as president --

RUSH:  I tell you what, we're in trouble.

CALLER:  -- that for me is more important.

RUSH:  All I can say is we're in trouble.  Okay.  So you've decided here. McCain is going to work with the liberals. Obama is a liberal. So it's a wash.

CALLER:  So what's the difference?

RUSH:  So it's a wash.

CALLER:  Yeah.

RUSH:  And so you are a going to vote for the liberal who inspires you?  And that's Obama.

CALLER:  It may come down to that. Yes.

RUSH:  We're in trouble.

CALLER:  I agree.

RUSH:  We are in trouble. There's no...  We're in trouble.  You need to really hear what you just said.  Besides that, you know, Reagan... How old are you? You sound relatively youthful, how old are you?

CALLER:  I am 33.

RUSH:  Thirty-three.  Thirty-three.  Thirty-three. You were...(sigh) You were teenage years or even younger than that when Reagan was around.

CALLER:  Right.

RUSH:  And yet he inspired you?

CALLER:  He inspired me, and as I studied him in high school and in growing up further --

RUSH: Yeah. Yeah.

CALLER: -- I agreed with him. I agreed with his stance on communism.

RUSH:  Well, he was full of substance, though.

CALLER:  I agreed with his stands on social issues.

RUSH:  The thing is, he was full of substance.

CALLER:  Oh, I agree.

RUSH:  He was full of substance.

CALLER:  But he also inspired people, and he inspired people to believe in themselves and believe in their country and believe in conservatism.

RUSH:  Yeah, but Obama is not inspiring people to believe in themselves. He's inspiring them to believe in him.  He is messianic.  He's making people feel good about themselves, but they're not personally inspired. They are personally "hopeful," and Obama is who they're inspired of, not themselves.  It's a significant distinction.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: RUSH:  All right, folks, before we get to the Obama speech sound bites, a quick question.  How many of you spent some time, as I suggested, processing the last call that we just heard on this program?  If you did, let me ask you a question.  How do you know that it was a plant?  Because it was.  That call was so obviously a plant.  Am I the only one?  Probably so.  That's why I'm host. (interruption) No, that's not it, Snerdley, that's not it.  Snerdley's close.  It's not the fact that he wasn't old enough to know anything about Reagan.  When I asked him about the age thing, he said he learned a lot and was inspired by Reagan in what?  High School.  My friends, name for me a high school anywhere in this country that, A, teaches anything about Reagan, B, teaches anything good about Reagan.  That call had to be a plant.  Reagan is simply not celebrated and heralded in American high schools, especially in the state of Washington.  I know Spokane is a conservative place, but the public school system is the public school system.  All right, now we go to Obama and his acceptance -- well, whatever it was, his speech last night in Madison, Wisconsin.  We have four bites.  Here's number one.

OBAMA:  I should not be here today.  I was not born into money or status.  I was born to a teenaged mom in Hawaii.  My father left us when I was two.  But my family gave me love, they gave me an education, and most of all, they gave me hope.  Hope that in America, no dream is beyond our grasp if we reach for it and fight for it and work for it.  Understand this.  Hope is not blind optimism.  Hope is not ignorance of the barriers and the challenges that stand between you and your dreams.  I know how hard it will be to change America.

RUSH:  I hope you do, because hope never got anything done.  I don't want to go through my hope riff.  That's number one.  Here's number two, Obama last night in Madison, Wisconsin.

OBAMA:  We'll invest in you, you invest in your country, together America will move forward, that's what we dream of. That is our calling in this campaign.  That's our calling, to reaffirm that fundamental belief, I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper; that belief that makes us one people and one nation.  It's time to stand up and reach for what's possible, because together people who love their country can change it.

RUSH:  See, Snerdley, I mean you're the guy that supports all this.  I'll tell you, this is so syrupy I feel like I'm going to need to take some medication to keep my blood sugar down.  I think I'm going to get an insulin attack here.  Here's the third sound bite of four from Obama last night in Madison.

OBAMA:  Now, when I start talking like this, I have to say some people will tell you that I've got my head in the clouds; that I'm still offering false hopes; that I need a reality check; that I'm a hopemonger.  But, you know, it's true, my own story tells me that in the United States of America, there's never been anything false about hope, at least not if you're willing to work for it; not if you're willing to struggle for it; not if you're willing to fight for it.

RUSH:  And here is number four.

OBAMA:  When we instead join arm in arm and decide we are going to remake this country block by block, precinct by precinct, county by county, county -- state by state.  That's what hope is.  There's a moment in the life of every generation when that spirit has to come through if we are to make our mark on history.  And this is our moment.  This is our time.

RUSH:  When we instead join arm in arm and decide we're going to remake this country block by block, precinct by precinct, county by county, state by state, that's what hope is.  Nope.  What he's describing there is action.  But I don't want to get into my hope riff.  Now, there's no question that this kind of stuff, to the right audience, can lift 'em up.  It is, in its own way, inspiring.  It's telling the hopeless that there is hope in hope.  (laughing)  Look, here's my point about this.  There was nothing substantive; there was nothing about policy here; there was nothing about what he was going to do in the future.  It was all psychological, the Oprahization of a presidential campaign.  But here's the real point.  If you watched that whole speech last night, you know why he's winning and why Hillary is losing.  If you agree with Barack Obama, if you are John McCain, and you agree with Barack Obama, you will lose.  The thing that McCain needs to understand -- this hit me last night after watching this speech -- if he agrees on a lot of issues with Obama, as McCain tends to agree with liberals a lot, he loses.  Because Obama's going to have this technique and this appeal wrapped up.  

You cannot take a part of this and appropriate it as your own in your campaign.  This is Obama.  He owns this, whatever it is.  He has a patent on saying nothing, but he owns it and it's his, and you can't appropriate it.  Senator McCain can only beat this back by embracing conservatism.  You can't out-speech Barack Obama.  Just isn't going to happen, especially when he has a TelePromTer.  You're not going to be able to out-charisma Obama.  And you're not going to be able to out-sex-appeal Obama.  Ideas are going to be the only way to stop this guy, because his ideas he's trying to hide.  Like all liberals, he's trying to get away with not having to be public about what his ideas are; they are socialist, slash, liberal.  Ideas are not embracing him halfway, say, oh, we love Obama.  I think Hillary said this, I'm not sure, I've been hearing so many things, but I think Hillary said that Obama has not had one negative ad run against him in this campaign, because they're scared to.  McCain's media guy, Mark McKinnon, said, "Oh, we're not going to do that."  Well, if you're not going to do that means he hasn't been tested, you're going to need to beat this guy with ideas.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: So we just play these four audio sound bites of Obama, and you just heard them, and basically he's about "hope" and "the future."  And, of course, everybody said, "Well, who's possibly against the future?" Well, I'm not necessarily against the future, but somebody's gotta be for right now, and I am for right now.  If you don't pay attention to right now, then the future could be bad.  We're all for the future.  I'm not necessarily against the future, but somebody gotta stand up for right now, and I am the man to stand up for right now.  I want to grab a quick phone call because it sets up what's coming.  

RUSH: This is Jack in Boston.  Great to have you here.  Welcome to the program, sir.

CALLER:  Yeah.  Rush, I never would have thought that it would actually come through but you remember the 1979 or 1980 movie Being There with Peter Sellers?

RUSH:  Oh, yeah.

CALLER:  There was a character, Chauncey Gardiner.  Now, the way people reacted to Chauncey Gardiner is the same way people react to Barack Obama.  He didn't say anything!  He just talked about planting the seeds and it will grow to the future and good, and at the end of the movie I think he like walked on water.

RUSH:  Walked on water.

CALLER:  They believed anything he did.

RUSH:  Right.

CALLER:  It was a very, very funny movie.  People should see it.

RUSH:  Being There. That's an excellent, excellent suggestion, because that does nail it.  Chauncey Gardiner.  He's a streetwalker.

CALLER:  Yeah, he was a servant.  All he saw was what --

RUSH:  Servant.

CALLER:  -- he watched television; he didn't know anything.

RUSH:  He got fired.  In fact, he was fascinated with the television remote control.

CALLER:  Yeah. What happened was, he was a servant to these wealthy people who passed away, and he never was out of the house, and he comes out -- and all he knows is what he's seen on television, and he says these platitudes that don't mean anything, and everybody thinks he's like a genius and they follow him and he becomes the president of the United States.

RUSH:  Yeah, just like --

CALLER:  Exactly.

RUSH:  -- messianic.

CALLER:  Yeah.  The movie was hysterical.

RUSH:  Other wealthy people bring him into their homes for the wisdom and the guidance that he's offering.  That's an excellent --

CALLER:  Absolutely.

RUSH:  -- excellent suggestion, Jack. Go out and rent it, buy it, whatever: Being There with Peter Sellers.  We've also decided, folks, it's time; since it looks like Obama -- Hillary got her clock cleaned.  There's just no way other than that to describe it.  It's not over.  Those legs are still not protruding from underneath the house; and there's still a couple formulas whereby she can win, but let me just go through this with you.  Here's what it's going to take.  For her to overcome Obama for the pledged delegate lead, she's going to have win 55% of the remaining delegates.  Assuming next week goes Obama's way in Wisconsin and Hawaii, that percentage will then rise to 57% of the delegates that she'll have to win.  If you toss in a likely Obama win in Vermont, Wyoming, Mississippi, Oregon, Montana, South Dakota, then the percentage of pledged delegates she will need after those primaries will top 60% of the remaining delegates available.  The question, how does she do that?  How does she do it?  I'm telling you. Did you hear what Fast Eddie Rendell, the governor of Pennsylvania, said?  He went out there proving once again the real racism exists on the left in this country, he went out there -- and he's a big Clinton supporter. He effectively said (paraphrased), "Well, when you get down to brass tacks, there aren't a lot of white people in this country are going to vote for the black guy."  Fast Eddie Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania.  It's actually Eddie "Don't Call Me Fast Eddie" Fast Eddie Rendell.  So he's out there.

They're going to make a play for these delegates, unseated delegates in Michigan and Florida, super delegates.  I've got some thoughts on Chelsea coming up, too, because she's out there trying to horn in on those super delegates and get them to vote for her mom.  And like I told you yesterday: if they have to, they will cause a riot.  Where is the Democrat convention?  Is it in Denver?  They're going to cause a riot, if they have to, in order to win this nomination.  They're not going to let this thing slip away. So you cannot say this is over for a long, long time.  But now that Obama has a 100-delegate lead -- 102, I think, according to CBS -- he's a player. He's there, and he's for the future.  I'm for the right now.  For the right now, he has a theme song on this program.  

(playing Candy Man by Sammy Davis, Jr.)

RUSH: By the way, folks, the vocal portrayal here by Sammy Davis, Jr., who's black. So don't say anything to me.  

(playing Candy Man by Sammy Davis, Jr.)

RUSH: Sammy Davis, Jr., ladies and gentlemen, here on the EIB Network.  That's our Barack Obama theme song for right now.  Who knows what the future will hold?  By the way, Mr. Fast Eddie Rendell, what he was really doing... When Fast Eddie goes out there and says (paraphrased), "I don't think white people are going to vote for black people," he's telling white people not to vote for black people.  That's the message from the governor of Pennsylvania, Fast Eddie Rendell.  Of course, the Clintons don't get called on this.  This is, again, the playing of the race card. They're trying to start an Uncivil War, or revive it. This time you're not using the Schlick Meister, Bill Clinton. They're using Fast Eddie Rendell -- who used to, by the way, in the old Veterans Stadium throw snowballs from his seat in the upper deck on the visiting players, particularly the Dallas Cowboys.  

END TRANSCRIPT

Read the Background Material...

• American Thinker: The Obama Cult of Nonthreatening Personality

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/02/the_obama_cult_of_nonthreateni.html

• AP: Obama's Support Broad in VA, MD

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080213/D8UP7MH00.html

• FOX: Exit Polling Explains Obama Sweep in Virginia

http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/02/12/exit-polling-explains-obama-sweep-in-virginia-mccain-grappling-with-conservatives-doubt/

• NewsBusters: Matthews: Obama Speech Caused 'Thrill Going Up My Leg'

http://newsbusters.org/stories/matthews-obama-speech-caused-thrill-going-my-leg.html?q=blogs/brad-wilmouth/2008/02/13/matthews-obama-speech-caused-thrill-going-my-leg 

• Wall Street Journal: Obama's Wiretap Votes

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120286974171964257.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks

• HotAir: Obama: Elect me and I'll lose the War AND Raise Your Taxes!

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/02/12/obama-elect-me-and-ill-lose-the-war-and-raise-your-taxes/

• Weekly Standard: Obama Unplugged; Lost Without a Teleprompter - Dean Barnett

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/728ofzey.asp

• AP: Rendell: Race Factor Could Hurt Obama

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gIjYa42R0UUEGs0_AyNg506-z8FgD8UP1VUG0