Obviously, I have dressed up this issue somewhat, adding a table of contents. I really had no idea how long or how often I would be writing this digest. Last week marked the half-year anniversary. I have things which come to mind along with ideas which I see and here, and jot down. By the end of the week, I usually find that I have written 4–10 pages.

You are welcome to pass this along to people you know. Unless otherwise noted, I write all of this.

If you receive this and you hate it and you don’t want to ever read it no matter what...that is fine; email me back and you will be quickly deleted from my list (which is almost at the maximum anyway).

I do not accept any advertising nor do I charge for this publication. I’m not even angling to be a speech writer for Obama, although you may think that is what I am up to when you read my advice to Obama (the best advice he has gotten so far, and I have seen a boatload of people offer him advice).

Most of you know who Father Pfleger is; he is a priest who spoke at the Trinity Church of God (Obama’s church) and caused quite a ruckus this past week.

Pfleger is a renegade white priest who sounds no different than Jeremiah Wright. Obama has publically named Wright, Pfleger and Meeks (the current Trinity Church pastor) as his spiritual mentors.

In most churches, the pastor speaks to the congregation and challenges them in their own lives—in their own day-to-day lives—and a pastor challenges us to be better. This is not Father Pfleger’s approach, nor is it the approach of those who speak from the pulpit of Trinity Church. Their general approach to the mostly Black congregation is, “You have been dealt a bad hand and these are the ones responsible for victimizing you.”

In this sermon, Father Pfleger, a guest speaker at Trinity Church, does not challenge the congregants there, but tells them that those who benefitted from slavery from many generations ago are just as guilty as those who enslaved men and women 200 years ago. So the congregants are not challenged to do anything with their own lives except to blame rich white people for their situation. Oh, and by the way, “There is a savior out there and his name is Obama. Vote for this man and he will begin to fix the evil done to you.”

Here are some www.youtube.com links, but bear in mind, lots of people are viewing these, so it may be slower coming up.

On Hannity and Colmes the other night, Ann said, "[Pfleger is] the white Reverend Wright--I love this guy--he's like Emminem."

I must admit, when I heard Pfleger for the first time, I was not shocked. He said that Hillary felt like she was entitled to be our next president, and, all of a sudden, here comes Barack Obama. Apart from the nonsense of “[Hillary crying] ]I’m white, I’m entitled; and there’s a Black stealing my show.’ ” It wouldn’t really make any difference what color she is and what color Obama is, she believes that it is her time and that she is entitled.

As you probably realize, Obama has now disassociated himself from Trinity Church of God. He has cancelled his membership there in no uncertain terms.

Will this work for Obama? Will he finally shed Jeremiah Wright and Liberation theology? For the Obama faithful, Obama could do anything, and they would extol his virtues. When he would not throw Wright under the bus in the beginning, saying, "I could no more repudiate Jeremiah Wright than I could my own grandmother" [not an exact quote], Obama was praised for sticking by his friend. When Obama threw Wright under the bus a few weeks later, he was praised for his courage to do so. Now that he has cut off his ties to Trinity Church, I can guarantee you that there will be commentators, letters to the editor and tv pundits praising him for his moral courage to cut off Trinity church. “I know this was difficult for Obama to do, but sometimes, a man running for president just has to make presidential decisions.” That will be the gist of what you will hear for the next few days.

For conservatives and for many independents, we understand that this is pure and simple politics. This church was supposed to give Obama the radical left wing vote as well as some of the Christian vote (after all, he goes to a Christian church). However, we don't really know how much Obama actually bought into Liberation Theology (see the previous issue) or if his attendance at Trinity Church was a simple political calculation. He doesn't talk like Wright or Pfleger—Obama speaks of unity (“Not red states or blue states, but the United States”), yet no one could name 3 instances of Obama working across the aisle with big name Republicans in order to get a tough compromise through. This is true of his career as a state senator as well (also covered in a previous issue).

One of the problems is, this is too little too late. Christopher Hitchins unearthed a long-stnading connection between Pfleger, Wright and Obama, and wrote: In April 2004, Barack Obama told a reporter from the Chicago Sun-Times that he had three spiritual mentors or counselors: Jeremiah Wright, James Meeks, and Father Michael Pfleger—for a change of pace, a white Catholic preacher who has a close personal feeling for the man he calls (as does Obama) Minister Farrakhan. Hitchins then writes: He seems, indeed, to have a real gift for remaining adequately uninformed about the real beliefs of his "mentors."

So these crazy men were not simply blips on the Obama screen of life, but his self-processed mentors.

What Obama should have done is tell the truth from the beginning, giving it whatever slight spin he wants. He attended Trinity Church early on for political gain. This gave him a connection to the Black community which he did not have before; and it gave him a political base. He could have said, "I attended Trinity Church of God to develop a political base and because I liked their involvment in the community...they showed their faith with their works. I must admit that I rarely attended church and that I ignored and sometimes even winced at the statements made from the pulpit. Since I had not attended many churches previously, I did not realize that most churchs are not like this. Most churches do not have a pastor preaching fear of government and making anti-American and sometimes completely unfounded paranoid, conspiratorial statements. My focus was, instead, on their community involvement, and, quite frankly, on the votes that I would get from the congregants of this church.

I must also confess that I cultivated a friendship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Father Michael Pfleger, in part for political gain, and in part to be associated with the ministry to the community, which seems to stand far apart from their mean and angry rhetoric from the pulpit.

I must admit that I am only beginning to realize just how wrong the teaching from that pulpit is, and how divisive its theology is. This theology does not in any way define my own vision for our country. As I have become more and more aware of just how out of the mainstream this thinking is, and just how far this is from the thinking of most Americans, it has become apparent to me that I needed to cut all ties with this church. Admittedly, it took me awhile to make this decision and I apologize to the American people for taking so much time. Again, I just did not fully realize just how far from Trinity church was from other Christian churches because I had not attended other Christian churches. Furthermore, this is why I have not chosen another church as of yet...I do not want to choose a church for politcal reasons ever again. My faith in God is too important for this."

Now, if Obama made this speech, even now, it might mitigate some of the damage. However, in order to win over some independents, he has to admit what most of us already know—attending Trinity Church was fundamentally a political calculation. Because he will not admit that his membership in Trinity was a political calculation, as many as 50% of Democrats in some states do not believe Obama to be honest. He has to be honest to win some of these voters back.

Over a month ago, when the Reverend Wright craziness broke, I said the key to what is going on is, look at the people in the background. Look at the congregants clapping and jumping up and down, in a veritable orgasm over what Wright is saying.

Since this new priest speaking at Obama's church has become public, I have heard several conservatives point toward the congregants, telling us to notice how they are behaving and how excited they are.

This tells us that these kind of things which Wright and this priest have said are not anamolies; these are the things which fire up this congregation. This is what fires his congregation up. Obama cannot claim to not know what was being taught in his church after 22 years, if his fellow congregants bust a move everytime their pastor says something unbelievably provocative and tasteless.

You probably realize, that is a damn good speech and that it would go a long way to fixing what is broken in Obama’s campaign. Quite frankly, fo months, I have known the exact words that Obama could use to win both the primary and the general election. However, I'm not going to tell you. I knew from the very beginning, back in Iowa, what he needed to say. In the future, if a young, charismatic conservative Republican comes onto the scene, I may suggest to him the very same words which will make the difference (although, admittedly, these words would work better with a charismatic Democrat).

For those of you who do not know who Bill Kristol is, he is an intelligent, very likeable and reasonably moderate conservative. The other day, on FoxNews, Kristol was commenting on what will happen if Obama and a large Democratic majority wins in Congress. Kristol is not a guy to make scary predictions, but he suggested that, if there is a large Democratic victory, look for that victory to mark the end of FoxNews and talk radio.

I have a difficult time believing what Kristol says, but, in the past, Democrats put forth the fairness doctrine which required talk radio to present both the Democratic and the Republican viewpoint. Many Democrats will still argue for this. Anything which has the word fair or fairness in it must be a good thing. It only makes sense, to some of them, if you have 3 hours of Rush Limbaugh, that this ought to be followed by 3 hours of Randi Rhodes. The problem with this is, millions of people will listen to Rush and only thousands of people will listen to Rhodes. So, for a radio station to adhere to this legislation (it was a law in the past), they must expect for half of their programs to receive a vastly reduced listening audience. Not many stations want to do this.

What is even more difficult is, any time there is governmental regulation, what else should be expect? Paperwork. Mounds and mounds and mounds of paperwork.

The fairness doctrine, if it rears its ugly head again, will not give us more views from the radio; it will shut down political talk radio altogether.

I personally know Democrats who think this is a good thing. If Rush got taken off the air, this would be a great thing in some Democrat eyes. If you are a Democrat reading this, you might be thinking, “Yeah!”

One of the great virtues of liberalism that I was raised in was, be open to listen to new viewpoints; keep an open mind.

3. We need to return to the fairness doctrine; there are too many right-wing conservatives on the radio.

4. Remember what happened when Lieberman broke party ranks and voiced a different opinion about the Iraq War? They all but cut him out of the Democratic party (until he won his reelection as an independent).

This is no longer the party which once extolled the virtues of free speech and free thought; it has become a party of lock-step. If you are a Democrat from birth, you need to wake up and look around at your party and realize what is going on. Many of the great virtues of liberalism have disappeared from your party’s values.

I took this directly from a posting made by Martin Miller concerning the non-release of “The Path to 9/11."

Among the nearly two dozen television DVDs slated for nationwide release on Sept. 11 is the second season of "Bones," the third season of "Grey's Anatomy" and the miniseries "The Starter Wife" that aired earlier this year. Not on the list on that day or any other in the near future is last year's highly controversial "The Path to 9/11."

The $40-million, five-hour ABC miniseries, which recently received seven Emmy nominations and drew a combined two-night audience of more than 25 million viewers, is for now on the path to nowhere. Its Amazon page reads: "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."

With no date for the release, questions are being raised about whether political pressure is behind its current status as a stalled or discarded DVD project. The reasons are murky, but the miniseries' writer, Cyrus Nowrasteh, believes it's crystal clear: Powerful forces are out to protect Bill Clinton's presidential legacy and shield Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) from any potential collateral damage in her bid for the White House.

Nowrasteh, also one of the miniseries' many producers, said he was told by a top executive at ABC Studios that "if Hillary weren't running for president, this wouldn't be a problem."

"Whatever anyone may think about me or this movie, this is a bad precedent, a dangerous precedent, to allow a movie to be buried," added Nowrasteh, who received death threats even before the miniseries was broadcast last September. "Because the next time they'll go after another movie. The Bush administration may go after a movie. The next administration may go after a movie. No matter who it is, they may go after a movie. I think this town needs to stand up."

Even before "The Path to 9/11" aired on ABC late last summer, the docudrama ignited a political firestorm, almost entirely from high-profile Democratic leaders who viewed its account of events leading up to the terrorist attacks as a right-wing hatchet job on the Clinton administration and its efforts to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. Attempts to pressure ABC to cancel the miniseries at the time were unsuccessful, but last-minute network edits were imposed to quell the critical outcry.

An ABC spokeswoman reached Tuesday would say only that the company "has no release date at this time," and she declined to comment further.

Meanwhile, Sen. Clinton's campaign staff did not return an e-mail or a phone call seeking comment.

Last year, a Clinton spokesman referred to the ABC enterprise as "despicable," and then Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and four other Democratic senators signed a letter to Disney Chief Executive Robert A. Iger stating that if the miniseries were shown it would "deeply damage" Disney's reputation. As a result of the tumult, ABC was unable to attract advertisers for the miniseries.

Thus far, few have noted the DVD's absence in the marketplace. Among those who have are conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh, who questioned last month why the disc isn't available on the nation's retail shelves. (Limbaugh and Nowrasteh have met on several occasions but do not regularly socialize, Nowrasteh said.)

With a possible writers strike and fall television premieres around the corner, the DVD's release hasn't galvanized Hollywood as a cause cï¿©lï¿¨bre. But voices traditionally associated with the political left are disturbed by the DVD's uncertain fate. This isn't about politics, said film director Oliver Stone, but about the right of artists to have their work distributed.

"This is a shame; it's censorship in the most blatant way," said Stone, who has hired Nowrasteh for several writing projects. "I'm not vouching for its accuracy -- it's a dramatization -- but it's an important work and needs to be seen."

Average: four monthsThe time between a program's television broadcast and subsequent DVD release varies, but these days it's generally around four months. However, for TV movies and miniseries -- mostly because so few are made these days -- the rules are less clear.

For instance, HBO's movie "Buried My Heart at Wounded Knee," an adaptation of Dee Brown's famous book, and the USA Network's miniseries "The Starter Wife," about a Hollywood power wife scorned, premiered in late May and will be out on DVD Tuesday.

Still, there are plenty of miniseries, most of them produced years ago, that never make it to DVD. The chief reason is usually a perceived lack of interest and profit.

"It's really up to the studios when they want to release the DVD," said Gord Lacey, founder of www.tvshowsondvd.com, a website that tracks DVD releases from television. "But this is odd. It may be this is a very sensitive subject and they [ABC Studios] don't want to go through the PR nightmare again."

In 2003, after vehement protests from Republicans, CBS yanked its scheduled miniseries "The Reagan’s." Republicans complained that the docudrama created a distorted and unflattering picture of the former president. Eventually, the program was shown on CBS' much-less-watched sister network, the pay cable outlet Showtime, and was later released on DVD.

Initially, Nowrasteh was told by executives at ABC Studios that the miniseries would have a DVD release in January. Then, April. Then, this summer. Currently, Nowrasteh has not been notified of a specific release date for the DVD.

Despite a virtually nonexistent Emmy marketing campaign, "The Path to 9/11" claimed seven nominations, though none in the more prestigious categories for writing and directing. As the miniseries' writer and a producer, Nowrasteh is entitled to revenue from DVD sales, but it would be fractions of a penny for a disc sold. DVD sales, too, could potentially help ABC offset its considerable financial losses on the project.

"I go to Blockbuster and I see a lot of crap on the shelves," added Nowrasteh. " 'Path to 9/11' deserves to be available to people who want to see it or buy it or rent it or whatever. Every controversial movie I can think of, whether it's 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' the Reagan miniseries . . . they were all released; they were broadcast. You can get them on DVD."

martin.miller@latimes.com

Scott McClellan was the deputy press secretary under George Bush for 3 years. He just recently released a "tell all" book (What Happened?) in which he makes some fairly strong accusations against the Bush administration, including:

• McClellan charges that Bush relied on “propaganda” to sell the war.

• He says the White House press corps was too easy on the administration during the run-up to the war.

• He admits that some of his own assertions from the briefing room podium turned out to be “badly misguided.”

• During the time of the outing of Valerie Plame, he makes note of a suspicious meeting between Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.

First of all, McClellan, prior to working for Bush in Texas, had only worked for his own parents, Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Barr McClellan (her first husband). Carole (Republican and an Inependent) ran for governor of Texas this past election cycle, calling herself "one tough grandma." Her ex-husband (Scott McClellan’s father) wrote a book alleging that Lyndon B. Johnson was a conspirator in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Carole also played a bit part in the 1980 movie Roadie. Michael Medved refers to them both as nut-burgers. I recall hearing her commercials for governor, but all that sticks out in my mind is "one tough grandma." Scott McClellan ran her campaign three times. I have read that he was chief of staff to a Texas State Senator, but I have not uncovered anything more specific.

My point is, Scott McClellan's resume is quite thin, and his parents are maybe a little out of the mainstream, to be charitable.

More importantly, the statements of concern about Bush's presidency are vague and sound like Democratic talking points (I have been hearing the same things about Bush for the past 5 years). What his book does not have is, specifics. What sort of propaganda is he speaking about? What are the "facts" which Bush doctored and then presented to the public? What facts did he present from the podium which were "badly misguided"? My understanding is (and I have not read this book), is that we find some anti-Bush generalizations here and there, but there are no specifics given; there are no examples given.

With regards to that suspicious meeting between Rove and Libby? According to Rove, they met regularly, almost daily. Rove said on FoxNews, "I don't know what we discussed during that particular meeting, but I can tell you for certain what we did not discuss: Valerie Plame, as we were ordered not to discuss this amongst one another." This is not an exact quote.

That being said, I have read and seen references to McClellan's editor and unspecific changes which he made to the book (McClellan himself admits this, but stands by the content of the book, nonetheless). It does not seem unlikely that, given the left-wing leanings of his publisher, that some of these quotes were inserted by someone else (this is conjecture on my part). Obviously, if McClellan wants to make any money, then he has to stand behind his statements.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tTBg1wNUcU8 (the first third are O'Reilly's talking points for the day; then Rove comments on the new minister craziness, and then Rove handles McClellan's assertions point by point.

This interview is great! She points out that “Scott shared no thoughts” and that he made no contribution as a part of the Bush cabinet.

That's from an e-mail sent by former Sen. Bob Dole to former White House press secretary Scott McClellan. The one-time Republican presidential nominee's e-mail was obtained by the Politico.

A liberal I know complained about this email being leaked. If Bob Dole understands how to use email, then he no doubt understands the concept of CC, and he undoubtedly CC’d this to everyone he knows.

I still have a lot of stuff I have already partially or fully written which I have not posted here yet: the Obama gaffes, advice to the Republican party (which is rattling around in my head right now), and even a short piece on gas prices. In fact, I ve nearly 30 articles already written for future issues.

The first mention of assassination did not come from Hillary Clinton; it came first from Harry Smith of CBS, and then from Michelle Obama:

CALLER: You know, I'm just a simple conservative Republican worker, and so therefore I always look to you for guidance and clarification. I never thought in my life I'd be defending Hillary, but I just don't understand what the problem is with her using the RFK assassination as a reference to a timeline of which Democrat candidates could go into June.

RUSH: A lot of people are like you and don't understand. It's factual, it happened, it did impact that race, it gave the Democrats Hubert Humphrey and led to Chicago and the burning cars and so forth. So why not mention -- it's a matter of taste, I think. You know, we do have a First Amendment, you say what you want, but was it helpful to her? Did it help her?

RUSH: Well, of course, if she had told somebody beforehand she was going to say this, they probably would have said, "No, no, no, don't go there, do not go there." We don't want to suggest, Mrs. Clinton, we don't want to put in people's minds that any presidential candidate might be assassinated next month. It's June. Not an anniversary we celebrate here.

RUSH: Yeah. Well, it is a toughie because it did happen, and I'm a big foe, I'm a big enemy of political correctness. I really am. Here, we got a couple sound bites. I think we can squeeze a couple of them in here. Here's Michelle Obama. This is February 11th on CBS.

MICHELLE: -- sleep over it. Because the realities are that, you know, as a black man, you know, Barack can get shot going to the gas station, you know, so you -- you know, you can't –

[by the way, is anyone else sick to death of Barack, Michelle and Hillary’s lousy grammar and their continued use of the phrase you know? Do they not know the English language or are they just, you know, sort of talkin down to us?]

RUSH: Okay, that's February 11th. Here is Harry Smith talking with Ted Kennedy on January 29th on CBS.

SMITH: When you see this generational change that seems to be taking place before our eyes, does it make you at all fearful? I just -- I think what I was trying to say is, sometimes agents of change end up being targets, as you well know, and I --

RUSH: On this assassination business, we just had a call, it was a good call, the guy said, "What's wrong with it? It's true." Yes, it is true, but it's a little tasteless, and you don't discuss the assassination of candidates in the midst of a campaign, you just don't, not cool even though it's true. Let somebody like Charles Barkley say it. He can get away with anything. Barkley can say anything; Obama can say anything, but Mrs. Clinton is not going to be able to get away with this kind of stuff. But who actually raised the subject? It was none other than Michelle (My Belle) Obama, February 11th, 2007 on 60 Minutes. I think she actually might have said this late last year and repeated it on camera on 60 Minutes. Regardless, she wasn't first, it was Harry Smith. Let's play 28 first, 'cause January 29th, 2008, on the Early Show on CBS, Harry Smith is talking to Ted Kennedy. Now, we have bleeped Kennedy out of this, 'cause he didn't know what the hell Harry Smith was talking about, and I'll tell you where we bleeped. Well, didn't bleep, we edited him out. "When you see this generational change that seems to be taking place before our eyes, does it make you at all fearful?" And that's when Kennedy started the usual liberal claptrap about health care and so he had no clue what Harry Smith was talking about, and then after Harry Smith says, "Does it make you at all fearful," we edited out Kennedy's comments and put Harry Smith in, and you'll be able to hear the edit now that I've told you about it.

SMITH: When you see this generational change that seems to be taking place before our eyes, does it make you at all fearful? I just -- I think what I was trying to say is sometimes agents of change end up being targets, as you well know, and that was why I was asking if you were at all fearful of that.

RUSH: Asking about the assassination of his brothers. And Ted Kennedy had no clue that this is what -- so CBS, Harry Smith, raises the specter of Obama being assassinated long before Mrs. Clinton ever did. Then, on February 11th, 2007, on 60 Minutes, Steve Kroft is talking to Michelle (My Belle) Obama, along with her husband Barack, said, "Michelle, a tough question to ask. A number of years ago Colin Powell was thinking about running for president. His wife, Alma, really didn't want him to run. She was worried about some crazy person with a gun. Something you think about?"

MICHELLE: I don't lose sleep over it. Because the realities are that, you know, as a black man, you know, Barack can get shot going to the gas station, you know, so you -- you know, you can't -- you know, you can't make decisions based on -- on fear and the possibility of what might happen. We -- we just weren't raised that way.

RUSH: Don't get me started on how you were raised. Jeremiah Wright, anybody? Barack Obama, ladies and gentlemen, is simply a blank slate for the sixties radicals to paint whatever they want on his canvas. That's what he is. Kyle-Anne Shiver writing about this in National Review Online today.

Operation Chaos is Rush encouraging Republicans to cross over to the dark side and to vote for Hillary Clinton, to keep this race (and the chaos) going. This has benefitted Hillary greatly, but even she seems unable to keep from screwing it up:

RUSH: So there I was. I had just gotten home on Friday afternoon, I was eagerly preparing for three days of rest and relaxation, not to have a care in the world. I get home, I fire up the computer, and I see that Operation Chaos has been sabotaged by the intended beneficiary! How many times have I told people, don't try this at home! Mrs. Bill Clinton should simply stay in the kitchen, barefoot and wait for orders from me, Commander-in-Chief US, Operation Chaos. That Bobby Kennedy [assassination] comment was just plain stupid. The news media just hyped all over it. She had some allies in the Drive-By Media that said, "No, no, no, you misunderstood, you need to see the whole thing in context." I don't care. To say something like that, to talk about the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, it didn't happen 'til June, as one of the reasons you're staying in the race, for crying out loud. You people in this audience, you are the troops and the volunteers of Operation Chaos, and you have ten times the IQ of our intended beneficiary here. This is precisely what I mean when I admonish people, "Don't try what I do at home." She should have heeded that advice. She was teetering on the legitimacy here, folks.

Operation Chaos was proving masterfully successful, with help she threaded the needle, she was where she needed to be, and then that. That ruined my Friday 'cause why couldn't that have happened before the program ended on Friday afternoon. Well, I could have tried to save her. I mean, the Drive-Bys just went nuts over this and there was a great line from Michael Goodwin in the New York Daily News: This comment is an X-ray of a dark soul. You know, you have to admit, folks, I don't care how they try to spin this as the comment was not that big a deal. Yeah, she said this in March to TIME Magazine, why didn't anybody make a deal of it then? It was just so sad. Here's what she said. This was in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in Puff Daschle's state. Sioux Falls, South Dakota, of all places, with the editorial board of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader -- nothing against the Argus Leader -- but my gosh, if you're going to say this, say it to the New York Times. If you're going to get this out there, get it out there. She had this exchange about the campaign. This is Internet quality, by the way.

HILLARY: Between my opponent and his camp and some in the media, there has been this urgency to end this. And, you know, historically that makes no sense. So I find it a bit of a mystery.

HILLARY: I don't, because, again, I've been around long enough -- you know, my husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary --

HILLARY: Somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know, I just -- I don't understand it.

RUSH: I don't care what the excuse is, she's thinking about it. It's on her mind. She's thinking about it. Do you know how horrible this is? Yes, I know, it's true, I know everything about this is true and there might have been some overreaction. It was stupid to say. I don't care whether it's true or not. Besides, her husband had the nomination wrapped up in March, the primaries didn't begin in Bobby Kennedy's day until March, and she was talking about the long, protracted conflict of the campaign, and that's not what they had back in '68. It was more reasonable back then. Hell, the primaries and the cauci didn't start until early March instead of the 1st of January. Anyway, then she had to go out and apologize for this later. This is poor quality. It's from the Internet. This is in Brandon, South Dakota. And you know what was funny about this, this was quite telling. The Drive-Bys on her airplane on the way to Sioux Falls, when they got there, they put the Drive-Bys on a bus and took them to a grocery store because that's where Mrs. Clinton was going to be showing up after she did this interview with the editorial board at the Argus Leader.

Now, the Wi-Fi connections from the airport in Sioux Falls all the way into the grocery store were very bad and spotty, and so the Drive-Bys who are covering her campaign never saw this, because the newspaper put the discussion that they had with Mrs. Clinton on the Internet. Some guy at the New York Post, not part of the campaign, with a better Internet connection, is watching this thing and broke the story with Mrs. Clinton's press contingent having no clue what had just happened. Then this guy at the Post put it up there, Drudge found it, and it was all over. This has quite interesting implications for Drive-By Media coverage because here you had this contingent of people running around with her, and they were the last to know what had happened. They were just a couple miles away. So when they got to this grocery store, when Hillary showed up in the grocery store, she had no clue that all hell had busted loose, and neither had the Drive-Bys, and the Drive-Bys are sitting there getting BlackBerry messages from people outside the grocery store and other parts of the country who had heard what happened here and started peppering her with questions. She said this.

HILLARY: In the course of that discussion, mentioned the campaigns that both my husband and Senator Kennedy waged in California in June in 1992 and 1968. And I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nomination, primary contests that go into June. That's a historic fact. The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last --

HILLARY: I, you know, regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation, and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever.

RUSH: She may not have, it's just plain stupid. Just plain stupid. Hillary is stupid, Obama is stupid, genuinely an empty suit. I've been thinking about this a lot, too, didn't start thinking about it 'til last night, I took the weekend off, after I got over -- I mean Operation Chaos, I don't know if we can salvage this, folks. We're going to keep going. When you go into battle plans that you've made they never hold true because you never know what's going to happen in a war, and you never know when your own beneficiary is going to sabotage the effort. But it is what it is. We have to deal with this reality, can sit here and lament it all we want. You know, it's interesting here. Let's go back to the nineties. Back when the Clintons were media darlings, somebody else needs to make an apology here, and that's the Drive-By Media. The Drive-By Media assured the world that the Clintons were the gold standard for politicians. Remember this? Now the media says that the only difference between the Clintons and a bag of dog manure is the bag and that they should be scooped off the political stage. What looks like an embarrassing campaign for both Bill and Hillary is actually a far bigger embarrassment for their guarantors.

The Drive-By Media's credibility seems to never be the issue. How about some soul-searching on their behalf as to how they could have been so wrong about these two? This whole campaign, one of the great things about Operation Chaos you'll have to admit is that who the Clintons really are has been on display now for one and all, in addition to Obama. Look at Hillary Clinton, the president of the United States? You know what? She's been in the Senate since when, 2000? I don't know, 2002, whenever it was. '98? I don't know. There's not one major piece of legislation, there's not one major law with her name on it. And you won't find a major piece of legislation with Obama's name. And yet we've lived ever since 2001 with the presumption that this is the smartest woman in the world, that all she needs is to let some time pass, she'll be coronated and finally she'll revitalize the United States, somebody who's got a brain and some sensibility in the Oval Office. Now they're saying she's not fit to be dogcatcher. How-can that happen? How do you go from smartest woman in the world ready to be coronated to somebody not even qualified to be a dogcatcher? Scare the dogs for crying out loud.

Then explore the possibility that they, the media, just might be wrong about the walking gaffe machine that is Barack Obama. Here he is yesterday on Memorial Day, he's out there: "Today we reserve the time to speak of our fallen heroes, some of whom are in the audience." He's talking to cadavers? He says, "fallen heroes, some of whom are here today." I'll tell you, if McCain had said half the stuff that Obama has said, they would have run him out of the race already. He's just as unfit as Hillary is, but they've guaranteed him already to be the next Abraham Lincoln.

RUSH: Let's continue here with the reaction to Mrs. Clinton's statement. This is "The Punk." Terry McAuliffe was on Fox News Sunday yesterday. Chris Wallace said, Punk, "When you say that the Obama campaign inflamed Mrs. Clinton's comment, the comment was, it's unfortunate. Senator Obama yesterday on a plane said I'm going to take her at her word. How did they inflame it?"

MCAULIFFE: That's great, but Friday they were all part of this process. The press secretary came out and attacked Senator Clinton and got it going so this story would be around for three days. It's nice to get a story going and then, you know, let it go for three days over the weekend and say, "Oh, she didn't mean anything about it."

RUSH: Who got the story going, Terry? So Wallace says, "Does Senator Clinton understand how tasteless, even how ghoulish it is to even use the word assassination, especially when there have been concerns about Senator Obama's safety?"

MCAULIFFE: Well, first of all, this was about -- all about Hillary Clinton and the reasons why she was in this race and the timeline.

MCAULIFFE: And she said, "If anyone took offense to what I had said, then I apologize for it." Sure. I agree.

MCAULIFFE: She was merely talking about the timeline. She understands if it offended people; she apologized for that.

OBAMA: Well, I -- I -- I mean, yuh -- I think it was an unfortunate remark, uh, but, uh, as I said, uhhhhh, today, I think that when you're on the campaign trail for 15 months, you know, you're gonna make some mistakes, and I don't think that Senator Clinton intended anything by it; and, you know, I -- I think we should put it behind us.

RUSH: (sigh) Well, what else is he going to say? He's gotta take this high road, but you know damn well he and Michelle (My Belle) were as angry as they could be about this. But do you know the first one to bring up this whole idea of assassination was in this campaign? Do you know? Do you know, Dawn? (interruption) No, it wasn't me! Snerdley, do you know who was the first person to bring up assassination in this campaign? Who was it? It was Michelle (My Belle) Obama, and it was last year with: "Barack could get shot going to the gas station in this country." Barack could get shot going to the gas station. The next person I know of that brought it up was Harry Smith on the CBS Early Show sometime back in January, I think. It might have been February. Had Ted Kennedy on, and he was asking about assassination and the campaign, vis-a-vis Obama.

And then Hillary mentioned it the first time that I know of in an interview with TIME Magazine in March. The problem is that Mrs. Clinton is the candidate and the rest of these people were media types. By the way, Ted Kennedy was clearly clueless when Harry Smith asked the question, because Harry was trying to ask the question in a very delicate way, and Senator Kennedy had no clue what he was talking about. He had to clarify it, and that's when the whole thing was said.

RUSH: Our buddies at PowerLineBlog.com actually listened to Obama's Memorial Day speech (thank goodness they did, because I didn't), and they report some of the transcript. Not the whole transcript, but a lot of it. And here are some of the things that Obama said. Play cut 16. We have this one at least. This is Obama seeing dead people in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

OBAMA: On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in...in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.

RUSH: Now, a lot of people say, "Rush, don't harp on this. He's just trying to be nice." Look, I wouldn't harp on it if this wasn't gaffe number one million. I don't think he knows what Memorial Day is. We honor the dead who have served the country; they can't possibly be anywhere where Obama sees them. (interruption) Yes! What do you mean...? Do I mean what? I don't think he understands. I think he probably confuses Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Memorial Day he probably thinks we're saluting all veterans, and that we do it again on Veterans Day. I know he's running for president, but what percentage of high school graduates -- whether they can read their diplomas or not -- even know what Memorial Day is? And you know that by the time Obama gets to university such as, where did he go, Harvard? Those people hate the military there. They do everything to keep recruiters off campus. They probably disparage Memorial Day and all sorts of things because we're celebrating, you know, warriors and barbarians and rapists and murderers -- which is the left's view of the US military. Let me put it this way, Snerdley, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't know what Memorial Day is. But it's even worse if he does know, if he knows we're honoring the dead. Because somebody wrote the damn speech! He doesn't do a speech like this that is not written, somebody had to write the thing. Here, listen to it again, audio sound bite 16.

OBAMA: On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in...in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.

RUSH: Yeah, maybe by fallen he thinks by Memorial Day we honor the injured. "Our fallen heroes, many..." Here, listen to this again and imagine any Republican saying this. The only other guy who could get away with saying this much stupid stuff is Charles Barkley.

OBAMA: On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in...in the audience here today --

RUSH: Do you want to hear some other things he said? He said we're going to have hundreds of thousands of new veterans coming in, many of them -- he's talking about veterans who are alive here, on Memorial Day. Now, you contrast that to the president. Here. I think it's on the last page. Yeah, grab number 26. No. Grab 24, 25, 26, and have them standing by. It's Bush yesterday in Arlington, who knows what Memorial Day is. He routinely goes to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier -- and, Senator Obama, there's nobody alive in there. Here's what else Obama said. "We're going to have hundreds of thousands of new veterans coming in, many of whom suffer posttraumatic stress disorder. They are not being diagnosed quickly enough; they are not getting the service that they need quickly enough -- sadly, the group of veterans probably bearing most negativity in this area are women veterans. We gotta do a better job of creating facilities," and the idiot audience started applauding. Then he continued. "Part of what we need is to recognize that oftentimes our women service members are more prone to posttraumatic stress disorder partly because they -- and there's a sad but real problem of sexual harassment, sexual abuse for women veterans and that makes them much more prone, then, to have posttraumatic stress disorder."

This speech is on Memorial Day where we are honoring the nation's dead war veterans! This doesn't make sense whether he knows what Memorial Day is or not. If this many women are being sexually abused, get 'em outta there! Wouldn't that be the thing to do? Get them out of there, if there's this big a problem. This guy's a waking liberal cliche. This guy is merely a sponge. He soaks up all the liberalism that he's heard throughout his life. He hasn't had one original thought. Just like that comment we are 3% of the world's population and have 25% of the world's resources that we steal and use. I mean, I've been hearing that since 1980. That's out of the liberal playbook page. Now, here's an interesting thing from Rasmussen. Rasmussen Reports' polling unit. "As Obama inches closer to formally wrapping up the nomination, the number of Democrats who want Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race has declined. The latest Rasmussen Reports national phone survey finds..." This is from last Friday; this is probably before the Bobby Kennedy comment. Yeah, it was. Its 10:08 a.m. A national telephone survey back then found "that just 32% of Democrats now think that Clinton should withdraw from the race, down from 38%."

I don't know if that would still hold up today. But if it holds up, there's gotta be a reason for this and that's 'cause the rest of the Democratic Party knows that Obama is stupid. Is that too harsh a word? Well, no, it's not. Let me try it this way. Barack Obama is the first generation to run for president of the United States who was educated totally in the indoctrination mills known as public education and private universities. It's not that he's not smart; he may be. I doubt that he's smart. I mean, he's affirmative action guy. It's that he is not educated. That's why all the gaffes. He is not educated. I believe he doesn't know what Memorial Day is. He does now, but before yesterday, he didn't know. He is not educated. The things that he has been learned... (laughter) Sorry. The things that he has learned, the things which have been taught to him... You can hear it in his speech. He does not respect this country. He does not like it. He sees nothing but its flaws. He has no concept of American exceptionalism because he's never been taught about it. All 57 states! He doesn't like all 57 states. He's been to most of them.

He said he's been to almost all 57 states in the campaign. Here's the bottom line. As far as the Drive-Bys and the people that assess these things are concerned: If you're liberal, you're smart. That's just it. That's the explanation of Mrs. Clinton being referred to as the Smartest Woman in the World. Do you think John Kerry's smart? This guy is a walking, bungling, effete snob who doesn't know diddly-squat. He talks and talks and talks, he says nothing, but the liberal Drive-Bys eat it up and they eat it up now with Obama because -- guess what? -- he's smarter than the Drive-Bys. He must be. He went to Harvard. But wait. George W. Bush went to Harvard and yet he's an idiot. So that proves the point here that only liberals are smart. Think about this. What if Obama is the classic affirmative action result? That is, someone who could not have gotten into Harvard without affirmative action and probably didn't get outta Harvard without affirmative action; now is the poster child for what's wrong with affirmative action. Think anybody in the Drive-Bys is going to let that slip out? And think about this, too. The libs don't have any trouble arguing that Bush is dumb and stupid and only got into Harvard by way of legacy -- you know, his old man. They argue that's bad, that that's unfair. "Legacy affirmative action, that's not good." So why is real affirmative action any less pernicious? Here's Bush. This is Bush on Memorial Day. This is at Arlington National Cemetery. By the way, Obama, this is where dead heroes who have served in the military and others are buried. It's right near Washington. You can see it up there.

THE PRESIDENT: A few moments ago I placed a wreath upon the tomb of three brave Americans who gave their lives in service to our nation. The names of these honored are known only to the Creator who delivered them home from the anguish of war, but their valor is known to us all. It's the same valor that endured the stinging cold of Valley Forge. It is the same valor that planted the proud colors of the great nation on the mountaintop on Iwo Jima. It is the same valor that charged fearlessly through the assault of enemy fire from the mountains of Afghanistan to the deserts of Iraq. It is the valor that has defined the armed forces of the United States of America throughout our history.

RUSH: That is George W. Bush -- the "stupid, dumb, can't speak" George W. Bush -- at Arlington National Cemetery. Here again, Obama from Las Cruces, New Mexico, yesterday.

OBAMA: On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in...in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.

THE PRESIDENT: From far-away lands they will return to cemeteries like this one where broken hearts receive their broken bodies. They found peace beneath the white headstones in the land that they fought to defend. It is a solemn reminder of the cost of freedom that the number of headstones in a place such as this, grows with every new Memorial Day. Here in Washington and across our country, we pay tribute to all who have fallen -- a tribute never equal to the debt they are owed. We will forever honor their memories. We will forever search for their comrades, the POWs and MIAs -- and we pledge, we offer a solemn pledge to persevere and to provide the security for our citizens and secure the peace for which they fought.

RUSH: You heard him say, "We pay tribute to all who have fallen." He did not say, "I see some of them standing here today." Here's Obama yesterday, Las Cruces, New Mexico.

OBAMA: This Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in -- in the audience here --our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.

THE PRESIDENT: On this Memorial Day, I stand before you as the commander-in-chief and try to tell you how proud I am of the sacrifice and service of the men and women who wear our uniform. They're an awesome bunch of people, and the United States is blessed to have such citizens. I am humbled by those who have made the ultimate sacrifice that allow our free civilization to endure and flourish. It only remains for us, the heirs of their legacy, to have the courage and the character to follow their lead and to preserve America as the greatest nation on earth and the last, best hope for mankind. May God bless you, and may God bless America.

RUSH: Again, that's the stupid idiot George Bush who can't speak, on Memorial Day. This was Barack Obama in Las Cruces, New Mexico, yesterday.

OBAMA: On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in...in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.

Just in case you think any of this is particularly harsh, do you recall how Dan Quayle was beaten to the ground with his misspelling of potato? That was the butt of every other joke for the next week or two on every late night talk show and on every show which had a little humor in it (like Saturday Night Live). Despite Obama’s 15–20 recent gaffes, I have not heard a single comedian make fun of Obama.

By the way, bear in mind, apart from Obama’s stuttering, ungrammatical speech patterns, even Saturday Night Live has not made fun of Obama (they did make fun of the debate moderators, who, for the most part, tossed Obama softball questions).

This past week, HBO ran an original movie called Recount; this is all about what happened in the Florida election in the year 2000, when many Democrats (including Obama, by the way) believe that George Bush stole the election from Al Gore.

CALLER: Greetings from the low country of South Carolina, Mr. Limbaugh. It's an honor to speak with you.

CALLER: I was wondering if you could pass along some of your wisdom. I recently watched the HBO production of the film they aired called Recount.

CALLER: That was an interesting piece, but in light of the Democrats' desire to regain control of the White House and the Republican hope that we will keep the White House, I was wondering if you might be able to share with your listeners if you think we may see another run in the courts for the White House?

RUSH: I have been advocating this as part of Operation Chaos. You know, I watched this movie, this Recount movie, and it was told from the Democrat perspective (as they admitted that it was), but it was a documentary, and it was just fraught full of holes. There were facts left out. There was dialogue made up (things that people never said that they were quoted as saying), but, unless you knew all the details, you might not be able to figure this out. This thing got it so wrong. The premise is wrong in the first place because the media -- the USA Today bunch, CNN, and the New York Times -- all went down to Florida after all of this aftermath was over. They looked at all the evidence, they counted votes every which way you can think of, and in no count did Algore ever lead in Florida! He would not have won Florida with a statewide recount, with a full recount in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, and Broward Counties, Volusia County.

They could not find a way that Gore won, and yet HBO does this piece last night. They also left out something else crucial. The United States Supreme Court had to shut down the Florida Supreme Court twice. In the movie last night, they only had to shut it down one time. But after the first United States Supreme Court ruling, the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, Charles Wells said, "I've got a piece of paper from the Supreme Court, and they've told us to stop this," and Barbara Pariente, who is I think now the chief justice, basically said, "To hell with it," and so the Supreme Court had to shut 'em down again. So they only portrayed the Supreme Court shutting 'em down once. You had a rogue court. You had a runaway Florida Supreme Court rewriting election law after the election had been certified, which meant that no matter what happened in all this, the Florida House of Representatives had certified Bush as the winner of the 25 electoral votes, and it was the US Congress that was going to solve this and Dick Cheney was going to be there to break the tie vote. There was no way Gore was ever going to win this. This is why it's been so amazing to watch the left since 2000 think they got cheated out of an election. I'm sure they still think they did, but they are not grounded in reality.

Now, the question from Carl in South Carolina: Could something like this happen again? I have told Mrs. Clinton: Sue! Algore started this whole thing, he litigated the 2000 results, they are not going to count all the votes from Florida and Michigan as it stands now. They're going to disenfranchise voters from two large states, with lots of minorities. That's the only way Obama can win. Now, if the Democrats are not careful here, especially if they're going to keep running these stupid movies like Recount where the whole theme of that movie last night was, "Count every vote," and the Republicans were standing in the way of being bullies and did not want every vote recounted. In fact, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a statewide recount when the Gore people had never even asked for it. That's how absurd it got.

But the point is this: Ever since Florida 2000, the Democrat Party has run around with a theme that Republicans obstruct the vote, that they do not count all the votes or that they do whatever they can to screw Democrat votes into not counting, tamper with the machines and all that. Now here the Democrats find themselves in this cacophonous and crazy, chaotic nomination scene in which the Democrat Party -- in order to secure this nomination for Obama and to end the chaos -- is not going to count the votes from Florida and Michigan. So if the Democrat Party chooses its nominee on the basis of "every vote will not count," then they are forever, with any intellectual credibility, canceling one of their big talking points, which is: Count every vote, but it's the Republicans who stand in the way. Example: Florida aftermath 2000. They've got huge problems. This Saturday is the meeting of the rules and bylaws committee, which is where they're going to figure out what to do with the Florida and Michigan delegates, and Howard Dean's the guy responsible for figuring this out. This isn't over, folks. It's not over. Chaos is not over. They've got a lot to think about here.

RUSH: I think it's the Huffington Post. Some woman writing about this Recount show last night on HBO -- it's a movie, a documentary, it was fictionalized in a lot of places -- said, "After watching this I'm just as glad Gore didn't win because that movie shows the Republican bullies would have destroyed his administration anyway." It's a movie! Like they thought The West Wing was their real administration.

in case there is any confusion, Bush did legitimately win the election; but it was close:

If Democrats really believed in Democracy, they would eliminate caucuses, count the votes from Florida and Michigan at 100%, and they would eliminate the super-delegate system. Oh yeah, and they would be proclaiming Hillary as the Democratic nominee. She has more votes than Barack does.

RUSH: Looky here. "Home Sales Unexpectedly Rise in April." ("US home prices drop at sharpest rate in 20 years", is a companion story.) What's unexpected about this? I think I'm qualified for the Nobel Prize here in economics for being able to figure this out. Housing sales are up, car mileage is down, housing sales are up, and lower prices are attracting buyers. Gee, isn't that a miracle? Car mileage is down, and higher prices are discouraging driving. We could call this the Rush Limbaugh Law of Supply and Demand. Seriously, I ought to apply for a Nobel Prize in economics! How in the world do you write this story? "Sales of new homes rose in April for the first time in six months although the unexpected increase still left activity near the lowest level in 17 years." In every economic circumstance, what's bad news for most can be good news for a few. Now, this is not to ameliorate the bad news for those of you whose value and the equity you have in your home has plunged, but the idea that lower prices might afford buying opportunities for people is unexpected? Sigh.

RUSH: You want to hear some conservatism? Vaclav Klaus, president, Czech Republic, yesterday, National Press Club, trying to warn everybody in America that we are being hoaxed with global warming and Algore. Here is first of several bites we have from the president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus.

KLAUS: I spent most of my life under the communist regime which ignored and brutally violated human freedom, and I remember quite well, wanted to command, not only the people, but also the nature, to command wind and rain is one of the famous slogans I remember since my childhood. In the past, it was in the name of the Marxist or the proletariat, this time in the name of the planet. Structurally, it is very similar. The current danger as I see it is environmentalism and especially its strongest version, climate alarmism.

RUSH: Vaclav Klaus, who grew up under communism, is telling us that he sees it all over again in the environmental movement. Here's the next bite.

KLAUS: We are now at the stage where the facts, reason, truth are powerless in the face of the global warming propaganda. We have probably and regretfully already reached that stage. Now, the whole process is already in the hands of those who are not interested in rational ideas and arguments. It is in the hands of climatologists and other related scientists who are highly motivated to look in one direction only because a large number of academic careers has evolved around the idea of manmade global warming. It is fodder in the hands of politicians who, through the manipulation of people, maximized the number of votes they seek to get from the electorate.

RUSH: And here he describes, Vaclav Klaus, president, Czech Republic, here he describes the real aim of the environmentalist movement.

KLAUS: The green movement is trying to dictate, control, regulate, mastermind our lives. This is what we see every day. They want to discuss how many children we can have because the man is a creature which damages the atmosphere because of breathing. They are dictating us what kind of cars we can use, how big the refrigerators we can have. I speak as someone who lived in a communist era and who knows what it means to eliminate freedom, as someone who knows what it means to eliminate the market economy, someone who knows what it means to regulate, to command, to mastermind the economy from above.

RUSH: A question: "Do you see any dangers to the environment out there, Mr. President?"

KLAUS: I don't believe that man is destroying the planet and environmentalism is based not on small issues of saving electricity here in the National Press Club or of greening one pond or lake or water. That's not environmentalism. Environmentalism is an ideology which wants to control the world.

RUSH: See, he's speaking on one level, and, "Well, is there any environmental damage? Don't you admit to any, Mr. President?" See, he's a reformed communist, and therefore he's the enemy to the National Press Club. The next question: "If you found yourself on an airplane sitting next to Algore, what do you think you'd talk about?"

KLAUS: I met him in the past many times, so there would be no special question. I many times tried to talk, to have a public exchange of views with him, and he is not too much willing to make such a conversation. I'm ready to do it.

RUSH: What he's saying is Algore won't debate his side, because it wouldn't stand up. Now, this next bite, this perhaps is the piece de resistance. Last night on Fox News Channel's Special Report with Brit Hume during the panel discussion, the All Stars, Brit Hume spoke with Juan Williams about Vaclav Klaus, and Hume said, "Do you think Klaus is on the right track here or that he's an alarmist in the other direction?"

WILLIAMS: What he's saying is really interesting to me. I hadn't thought this through. But he's saying it's now beyond the scientists. He is saying in fact that it's an ideology that's seeking to take control of the world, is gonna tell us how to live, what cars to drive, whether you can have a refrigerator and all that, and suggest that it would somehow go beyond politics and not the way that suggests, oh, we have a green movement that everybody gets behind, but in fact would have political consequence not unlike a dictatorship. In all honesty, it struck me as something different. I had not heard this line of argument before because I've never felt threatened by an environmentalist. I think my consciousness is raised.

RUSH: I'm speechless. This is so typical. Here is a learned man, Juan Williams is a smart guy, and only yesterday has he ever heard somebody suggest that the environmental movement is not about environmentalism, that it's about large government, total control, dictatorial powers? He doesn't see with his own eyes they've been trying to wipe out SUVs? He doesn't see that they've banned lightbulbs? He doesn't see that people can't turn on their lights at night nine months a year for some turtles? He doesn't see any of this? He does not see the effort that is being made to not become energy independent with oil in our own county? He doesn't see this? Thank God Vaclav Klaus showed up and opened his eyes. But for crying out loud, Juan, turn on the radio here. We've been on this for, hmm, 20 years.

RUSH: We'll start with Darla in Bellingham, Washington. Hi, Darla, nice to have you here.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. I tell you, I'm so... I'm so... I can hardly talk. I am so upset about this Scott McClellan book. I -- I have children and grandchildren that I have to try to protect in our great nation. And here for a buck, for payback, I don't care what it is. He can't wait 'til the president's out of office? We have to do things, and, of course, he has more credence because he's known, quote, unquote, the president longer than many so he comes out with this trashy crap in this book that gives to the haters of this country, the terrorists of the world. If it makes our news media wonder if the president's going to comment on it while he's trying to give a speech to a graduating class then, oh, it must be that important, well, if they say it and it emboldens them -- and it always does embolden them -- well, does it make the country safer? Where is the patriotism in this country? I can certainly say it. We have lost our soul. Scott, you're a citizen of the country first. If it's payback to the president, fine. Is it payback to me? Is it payback to my family, too? Do you have to make the buck first? (voice breaking) I am sorry I sound upset but, Rush, that's just -- I -- I -- I don't get it. I'm -- I'm fed up. Where is the patriotism in this country? Where? Why have we decided that we don't just have to hate the president, we have to hate our country, we have to hate what it stands for, we have to put our desire for money and our 15 minutes of fame above everything?

CALLER: It is, Rush. Where is our patriotism? Do you think it has to do with Scott can't write this book after President Bush is out of power because he won't make as much money?

RUSH: No. I don't think it's that. It's possible. I don't pretend to know. I don't know this guy personally. I may have met him, glancing blow, walking someplace. I don't remember meeting him. My only memory of him is watching him work, and I wasn't that impressed with his job as a press secretary. I thought he had deer-in-the-headlight eyes all the time and was just fodder. I thought the press ate him up, chewed him up, spit him out each and every day. But, look, I want to go back to what you said, because, you know, what you said is so damn right on the money, and I want to try to explain it to you, or answer your question in a way that is not going to satisfy you, but I'm convinced. Everybody that I've heard that did know Scott McClellan says they never heard him say a word like this the whole time he was in the White House. He never objected to anything about Hurricane Katrina when it was happening. He never objected to the Scooter Libby stuff. He never objected to the constant campaign. All of these complaints, all of these criticisms, nobody that worked with him claims he had that much access to know these kind of things, and they never heard him object to any of it -- and of course he didn't resign in a pique of honor and dignity. I think as good a guess as anybody else will have... You know, I trace everything back to liberalism because the answer to every question you asked in that great, impassioned comment that you made, the answer to every question, "What's happened to our patriotism?" Liberalism.

RUSH: Why do we have to have hatred for the country as well as hatred for the president? Liberalism. Liberalism is the greatest threat the country, as we have known it, faces. I'm convinced -- I don't know who published this book. It doesn't matter. But I'm convinced that somebody got hold of McClellan and convinced him he could make a lot of money. Maybe he was very, very upset at being fired -- which he was. And maybe there's a little payback in him and maybe there's, "Okay, I'm going to get you! You did this to me. You humiliate me by firing me? Fine." The truth of the matter is, the president carried this guy out of loyalty far longer than he should. The president was not well served by this guy, and this is evidence. So I think somebody at the publishing company got to him. Have you heard all these people saying, "This doesn't sound like the Scott McClellan we knew"?

RUSH: Here's the thing. I'll tell you what it's also about, Darla. It's about the presidential campaign. You wonder why he couldn't wait 'til Bush is outta office? This is designed to skewer John McCain. This is designed to really give him credibility problems because now, you know, he's the guy that they're calling Bush 3 and his nickname now from the left is "McSame" because they're trying as hard as they can to convince American voters that four more years of McCain is just four more years of Bush. And so --

CALLER: Well, we're going to wake up in this country one day, Rush, and it isn't going to be a free country anymore.

CALLER: We're on a slippery slope right now, and if we don't get, if the people in this country don't get their heads screwed on straight, and I would advise -- I know this sounds melodramatic, and I don't care. Look into the eyes of your children and your grandchildren every day and make the conscious decision, "Do I want to live under tyranny, do I want to live under the great freedoms of this nation -- or not?"

RUSH: Here's the problem. And I don't know how extensive it is, but it does have me concerned when I see Republicans caving left and right, joining Democrats -- at least their ideas -- and adopting their language, and it's happening all too frequently. My concern is these people operate by polls. My concern is, what percentage. American people doesn't see the country the way you do and I do? How many people in this country think, "You know what? It's so unfair out there. The oil execs are making this, and we're at war there and all these other people are getting rich, and I can't have health care. I need government. I need government to be my insurance policy." If people are willing to look favorably upon an ever-expanding government that they think is benevolent, then they're going to... You've heard the old saw about how easy it is to trade freedom for security.

CALLER: Well, if all they have to hope for is that the government's going to take care of it, here was a servant, Scott McClellan that worked in the government, that couldn't complain. He couldn't blow the whistle, couldn't do any of these things while he was serving in his government --

CALLER: -- then obviously... Yes, he could have, but he didn't. If this is the great government that people think are going to take care of them, take another look.

RUSH: Well, see, that's the frustrating thing. You don't have to look at McClellan. Look at the failure of the war on poverty. Look at the failure of Medicare. Look at the failure of Medicaid. Look at the failure of AFDC. Look at the failure of the Great Society. Everything the liberals do fails. And they try to say, "Well, don't judge us on our results. Judge us on our great big hearts and our good intentions." Everything they do they destroy! This global warming business, you want to talk about an encroachment on freedom. Try this. This is a story from the UK. It's in the Daily Mail. "Every adult should be forced to use a carbon ration card when they pay for petrol, airline tickets, or household energy, say members of parliament." Now, we, Darla, have just had polls last week from UK citizens who are fed up with these new taxes to stop greenhouse gases and the carbon footprint. They are paying through the nose already, and they haven't noticed any improvement in the environment and the naysayers and the scaremongers are still saying, "We gotta do more! We haven't done enough!" They recognize what all this is. It's just a hoax to raise taxes.

CALLER: Well, there are a lot of people out here like me, Rush, that quietly we talk amongst ourselves; and we know that all this bogus, trumped-up crud about the environment and the liberalism and the media shoving this down our throat. We know it. We feel it. We listen to you. We believe it. But it has to go a step further. Wake up. Citizens, wake up. You better speak up or the time for speaking will be over and we will have lost those rights. A carbon card to carry in your wallet? Are you kidding me?

CALLER: In the greatest country of the world, the United States, we're going to follow suit and we're going to have a bunch of special things on our driver's license or carbon this or carbon that? Give me a break.

RUSH: "Anybody who exceeds their entitlement," their carbon entitlement "would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven't used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces, the deal done through a specialist company." This is a private citizen version of McCain's cap-in-trade program that he is supporting for businesses.

CALLER: Of course it's worse than that, Rush. All we can do is listen to your program. I've never heard you -- as long as I have your ear, I will tell you I listen every day, and I have never heard you through this presidential cycle be so spot-on, so honest, not afraid to take the heat, not afraid to take the barbs -- and, believe me, I listen to all of it, liberal and conservative talk show, TV, radio. We listen to it all because we feel like it is our responsibility as United States citizens to be informed, and I have never heard you -- and that's something to say because I know your rating is like 99.9.

CALLER: However, I have never heard you so spot-on, and I can tell just in my voice when I called I was practically crying and now I feel better. Now I'm just pissed. (laughing) Not weepy anymore, just angry, but I've never heard you so spot-on.

RUSH: You know what, I love your passion, and we're going to have the reaction to your call -- I've been checking just subject lines in the e-mails here while we've been speaking -- and people are standing up out there cheering you.

RUSH: They are, because most people feel alone. I mean I'm sure you look at whatever -- the McClellan book incident or the latest Republican to cave and join the Democrats or whatever -- and you look around, and you feel like, "Gosh, am I isolated? Am I the only one sane in this country?" And you have to have faith that there are far more than -- and I think you understand this because you said so. There are far more than you that understand this.

CALLER: There are, Rush. There are tons of us out there, but they have to have a bigger voice. They have to speak louder. They have to. When they're in a group, it's like you said about when you go to a liberal thing or, as opposed to a liberal coming with you, how different people feel. Sometimes you're in a crowd and you get the sense that (muttering), "Ugh, I hate Bush," and you think, "I'll say nothing. I don't want to start a war." It isn't about starting a war. It's about that you're entitled to your opinion as much as they're entitled to theirs. There's nothing wrong with saying, "Sure, there are some things that the president does and says that I don't agree with, that my family doesn't agree with. Do I think that he has our best interests at heart and is doing the best he can? Most of the time, yes. Am I a blind, numb robot? No. Do I know that there are problems with his candidacy? Yeah. Do I know that there has to be some great fixes in this world? Yes. But, overall, I'm a United States citizen. I'm an American citizen, and I have to put my patriotism above other things. There are people that want to kill our family. There are people that want to change our way of life, and I don't want that."

RUSH: They are trying to redefine patriotism to equal what they are doing to George W. Bush and what they are doing to the country. Their patriotism is built on the foundation that this country is a fraud, that this country is oriented toward evil and that this country needs to be brought down to size. So, you know, I think one of the things, actually, that brings all this to the surface, is our success. I think our success of so-called conservative media and Republicans winning elections, presidential-wise when the Democrats thought they had these things sewn up -- and Republicans might win the next one, too. I think our success in a way is responsible for bringing these people out of their shell. They used to hide behind masks and camouflage. But now they're so enraged and they are so bitter that they are illustrating. This presidential campaign on the Democrat side is a great example. They're illustrating for us exactly who they are and what they are and you've nailed 'em. And don't think you're the only one out there that has been able to put this together on our own. I'm glad you called, Darla. It's really great. I'm a little long here. In fact, I'm way long. I have just blown the programming format to smithereens but that's because of how good you were.

Conservative Review
Issue #27	Kukis Digests and Opines on this Week’s News and Views	June 1, 2008