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

[NTexasHillbilly]

This morning and early afternoon, while on a long drive, I tuned into a right wing station in Dallas. Limbaugh, the Pompous Prince of Porcinity was on, going on and on ad infinitum on our Teleprompter President. After 45 minutes of inanity which could have been condensed into 3 minutes, he started in on Jay Leno and his free show. His claim was that many of the jobless who got free tickets were selling them on e bay. He was very careful not to directly attack Leno, probably so as not to be ridiculed non the Tonight Show. What as absolute a$$ this guy is.

[novowel4me]

I know how someone working for Rush can make $ 250,000 and it's hard work driving around to different drug stores.

[NOLIESPLEASE]

Most of Rush's listeners will never make $250k unless your Joe the Plumber who wishes to make $250 k one day.....that it....RUSH listeners are $250 k wanna bee's.

Joe the Plumber fever is catching on.....I'm loving it....LOL.

[novowel4me]

That thought passed through my mind as well.

[Eris23Skidoo]

Maybe Rush has a ponzi scheme to help them all get rich quick!

[paulalex]

Rush's listeners are the peasants with pitchforks.

[JohnBryansFontaine]

RUSH AS CRYING BABY - TIMES EIGHT! New Yorker cover

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/03/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4871159.shtml

And now he can't stand EFCA: WHAAAA!!

[Oxonian2001]

And we know what babies are good at--crying and crapping.

Fortunately, most of them grow out of them except Rush and the execs screaming "I want my bonus I want my bonus! WAAAAAAH!" That's why they still think they're sucking to use Grassley's remark about taxpayers and te.ats.

[Princeton]

Maybe Rush can debate Joe the Plumber on this issue.

[HesDanTheMan]

Boy, what a battle of the wits that would be.

[NOLIESPLEASE]

Yea ....since he cant find any of his listeners who make that kind of money. But then again...Joe only wishes to make $250k....oh well, back to square one....darn!!!

[flamflurm]

Rush'd make a mess of Teleprompter...

[HyperInfluential]

Anyone who thinks it would be appropriate for any sitting President, no matter how much you hate them, to debate a shock jock on A.M. radio is a bad, unpatriotic American. Have a little more respect for your homeland, please!

It is not fitting that a President should go on AM radio and debate a talk show host, now matter how much you respect or disrespect the men involved, have proper respect for the Office of the President and the Commander in Chief.

[HyperInfluential]

PS: All Rush has to do to debate the President is ensure that the GOP name him as their nominee in 2012. They can have three full debates, one of which might even be moderated by Jon Stewart, so Limbaugh could dazzle us all with his intellect putting both of them down, on live television carried on every channel, just like he's always wanted.

[hmmmmmer]

Isn't it corporate America paying his salary?

How can he even begin to justify to his audience that they not worry about the money some of these people get. There is a lot of corruption there, a lot of greed, but since Limbaugh is part of that greed he can sympathize with the poor speculator who brings in a whole lot of money without having to answer to anyone.

[facet]

No. Rupert Murdoch is. He is Australian. Imagine that. Our politics being run by some one who has no interest in the U.S. other than sucking up money.

[hmmmmmer]

Agree completely!

[RobinLandseadel]

Remember folks, this is the head of the GOP.

Any questions?

[Fabienne]

Ooh, I've always wanted to be a peasant with a pitchfork.

[DBtv]

Don't forget the flaming torch,

[hmmmmmer]

And the lashing out at any flash of color or blurry movement

[KOisGod]

Me too, I don't like having a full set of teeth.

[mlaiuppa]

Good. Let Rush defend AIG. He'll lose more listeners and his popularity will decrease further.

[EnviroKlaus]

Re Rush Limbaugh’s wish for Obama to fail…
________________________________________
Why not drop the robust and vigorous Rush Limbaugh and his lunatic supporters off in Taleban Country to champion his cause. Thank goodness that he does not have the organizational gift of a Hitler to raise an army and wipe out every anti-American, every communist, every socialist, and every environmentalist.

To think that Bush, the staunch evangelical Republican, gave every one, especially the rich, a tax cut; hoodwinked the Americans into endless wars; offered token help to New Orleans; allowed the innovative fat-cats in the Oil Fields and on Wall Street to stuff their pockets with $Millions and then rewarded many of them with a $750 Billion bail-out bonus; gave the poor a luxury home with no down payment & zero interest - at least for a little time; put millions of his fellow citizens out of work, stood by as the pollution of air, water and soil accelerated; brought the US and the world economy to the brink; went hat-in-hand to the Chinese Communists to cover his $Trillions debt to prop up America-the-Beautiful; and then blamed it all on the Liberal Democrats. I bet Limbaugh, the All-American, the Ultimate Republican, could do Bush one better.

Klaus Keunecke
Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada

[brenttbc]

what limbaugh doesn't understand is that these bankers are getting paid ridiculous amounts of money not because of any merit, but because of a broken and corrupt system. AIG has made that perfectly clear to any reasonable person.
www.thebadchemicals.com

[Diogenis]

the operative word is............................................."reasonable".

[robiform]

Wow, Rush, this particular batch of Oxycontins must be REALLY potent!! You're more ludicrous than usual on this one!

[Diogenis]

He suks wind. Perhaps he will choke on his cigar.

[gintheb]

I've got an idea. Why don't we all just stop responding to the man. He makes a statement, calculated to upset people and draw attention to himself. Everybody gets worked up and goes crazy. He makes more money.

IGNORE him.

[fuzzwald]

Ignoring him won't work. He needs to be called out and slapped down - figuratively, of course. The dittoheads won't turn away from him, but it would be a mistake to give them the idea that Rush's childish rants are socially acceptable.

[carnelld]

Limbaugh has come down on the wrong side in this issue.

Even the "ditto heads" know when they are being milked.

[dimplesmile7]

No, Rush is coming down on the side of what is familiar to him. It is simple, AIG failed and had to be bailed out. They still have a God complex and believe that although they failed, money is still due to them. Rush has failed at everything and has the same attitude of entitlement. See both are overpaid and under qualified. This is why Rush is defending the AIG execs. All greedy unworthy people think alike.

[EvasDaddy]

Odd comments, both.

Limbaugh is ALWAYS on the "wrong" side of issues, Carnell. Therein lies his uselessness. As for the dittoheads; their uselessness is wholly predicated on their inability to understand that they are being lied to.

(I have assumed that "milked" means lied to, or maybe "used")

[AsianAfricanAMERICAN]

I have a feeling they will find a way to defend him. Rush will be the victim in whatever the defense turns out to be.

[demigod]

Rush and the Conservatives put forth this delusion that America is a meritocracy where hard work and competence alone guarantee success - when in fact our entire history shows that connections and inside influence have always ruled the day. The ashes to riches phenomina is the exception not the rule. Rush arguing for AIG is laughable. There's a reason why the peasants pick up the pitchforks - it's because they have been OPPRESSED by the ruling class. These guys at AIG skimming millions are exactly the guys who need a cart ride to the guillotine in the center of town. Rush should mount the scaffold along with the rest. Dittoheads - smell the coffee yet ?

[overcat]

Even if America is a meritocracy, running a giant company into the ground with bad decision making hardly qualifies as meritorious and certainly doesn't deserve rewards.

[TovSquirrel]

Sure it was meritorious. They got billions form the American taxpayers with apparently no accountability for their failure as business people! Free money merits a reward in their minds.

[RS]

Right on demigod. Here's an eye-opening website that backs up what you said and provides valuable information on the ruling class:

http://www.theyrule.net