Limbaugh Defends AIG From "Lynch Mob ... Ginned Up By Obama"

Anger at American International Group knows no party lines. But one top Republican isn't joining in. On Monday and Tuesday, Rush Limbaugh defended the insurance giant and their bonus payouts:

"A lynch mob is expanding: the peasants with their pitchforks surrounding the corporate headquarters of AIG, demanding heads. Death threats are pouring in. All of this being ginned up by the Obama administration."

When one of his own callers said he agreed with President Obama on this one, Limbaugh replied: "Let me ask you a question. ... You have a company -- let's take AIG out of this 'cause they're so emotionally charged. Let's say that the company being bailed out is the XYZ Widget Company. ... We need them to manufacture widgets and sell widgets and so forth. So why in the world -- or how do you get to the point where you're going to bail out the company, but you don't want the employees to get paid?"

The caller protested that the AIG employees were already getting paid plenty, and Limbaugh responded that the only thing stopping him from making just as much was himself:

LIMBAUGH: Do you know what? And I mean this from the bottom of my heart, Nathan -- the only person stopping you is you. There's 250 -- he hung up. Damn it, he hung up. Right?

Nathan, if you're -- there's $250,000 out there for you, Nathan. If you really want it, you really want to earn that kind of money, it's out there. Now, it's going to -- and don't -- I'm not being insulting -- it's going to take hard work.

Read the full transcript at Media Matters.

The AIG defense led MSNBC's Keith Olbermann to name Limbaugh, not for the first time, his "Worst Person In The World" Tuesday night. Watch:

Comments

[Indie2008]

Does Limbaugh have such contempt for the "little people" who comprise his.audien­ce? Many are traveling salesmen, truck drivers, shift workers, the home-bound, and small business owners.It is ironic that they fawn over this defender of the super rich, who would so callously explain their lack of high achievement. Does he think they are lazy>

[AnalyzeIT]

Indie2008, it would seem as though he does have contempt for the "little people', the sad thing is that the majority of them are too un-educated to even realize or understand it. Sad.......­....... I hope they wake up and learn to think for themselves­.........S­OON.

[Eris23Skidoo]

They think that by listening to him they can live vicariously through him.

[sher2x4]

FRLITA

[indy girl]

GOP, are you listening and taking notes? Your leader Chubby Bubba Rush speaks.

[javaz]

So, as the leader and voice of the GOP, Rush and the Rush Republicans believe those of us who are middle-class, hard-working people are peasants?

Wasn't it just 2 weeks ago that the Rush GOP were shouting angrily about the stimulus plan rewarding bad behavior for people who bought homes they knew they couldn't afford?

Yet, rewarding the rich for bad behavior is just fine and dandy, and us peasants better get in line and not complain.

[Eris23Skidoo]

To Rush, only we peasants are capable of bad behavior. Since those people are raking in millions, they are by (his) definition, nobility. Rush is an aristocrat.

[genia]

Go Nathan !!

[JRichardson]

Great. Limbaugh can now be the leader of Wall St! It's worked for the Republicans.

Look, everybody is trashing AIG for paying out fat bonuses to the very people who brought this mess upon the company. A well deserved thrashing. But, the bigger problem lies in the counter-party payouts the company is making to the European banks and the likes of Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and others for making bad bets on mortgage backed securities. We're not talking hundreds of millions but hundreds of billions folks!

See Global Investment Watch's post on this at http://globalinvestmentwatch.com/2009/03/18/stinkin-contracts/

[GhostofBillHicks]

Of course he would[defend them]!

[SparkyDash]

Har! Who says "ginned up" anymore?

[indy girl]

old timey codgers!

[Sepulchre]

Who drink to much gin with their oxycodone.

[solarian]

rush sure has beady little eye sign of a criminal

[BeasleysMom]

Sort of off comment. I am watching Obama at a townhall meeting in CA right now. Someone just shouted, "I love you, Obama!" And he shouted right back, "And, I love you!."

Remember the McCain/Palin rallies with people shouting "k*ll him," booing, etc.?

These ha te mongers, like Rush, Palin, Steele, etc. are done and over. Civility is a much better way for a country!

[SparkyDash]

agree...

[pjlawrence81]

I work for Fedex 6 six days a week as a delivery driver, and I could work up to 10 hours a day at any time, but since they don't pay me a six-figure income, I'm not working hard enough. That does make sense, Mr. Limbaugh. I guess real hard work is getting paid 50 mil a year to sit at a desk and spit garbage into a microphone. How could I have been so lazy all these years?

[Saganslegacy]

Right on.

[HyperInfluential]

I can never understand why those of us who are actually, physically tired after a days work get paid orders of magnitude less than those who don't even break a sweat in their silk shirts when they "work".

[yoli647]

I agree

[Eris23Skidoo]

Hell, yes!

[BeasleysMom]

My guess is if Rush really had to WORK for a living instead of just slinging' sh*t over the radio everyday he wouldn't be able to earn $250,000 or even $25,000. What does the average person with his (lack of) education earn these days?

[Sepulchre]

And without at least trade skill training. Minimum wage.

[Eris23Skidoo]

I bet Rush couldn't flip burgers for more than an hour without eating ALL of them.

[Steve Magruder]

Looks like there's one less Dittohead in existence after that exchange.

It may just be that the biggest (and I do mean biggest) casualty of the AIG Affair will be Rush.

[marijam]

I'm beginning to see how the French peasants were incentivized into staging the French revolution­...

[supergranny]

my thoughts exactly

[HateHater123]

Well it's just about as clear as a bell how Rush sees it all. He even comes right out and CALLS us the PEASANTS and doesn't seem too worried about our "pitchforks". He's coming around to ask us all now..."yea­h, and what are you going to do about it....mone­y is power, and as long as you chase yours, we get more"....O­h, he's the Republican Spokesperson, alright. Loud and Clear.