Rush Limbaugh's hypocrisy and errors in attacking Gen. Clark on Monday, June 30!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on July 1, 2008 - 1:30am.
Rapid Response
Hello Everyone:
Rush Limbaugh attacked Gen. Clark on Monday, June 30 by calling him "Ashley Wilkes" and by using other baseless attacks in the article right below titled "Obama Lectures on Patriotism; Clark Devalues McCain's Service."
Limbaugh in my opinion is a total hypocrite because he has attacked, mocked, and has made fun of John McCain on purpose more than any credible and nationally known Democratic official I can think of!
Just listen to these audios that Rush Limbaugh has put on his website which have attacked, mocked, and have made fun of John McCain on purpose:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/today.guest.html
• Parody: NSA Wiretap Catches McCain: ![]()
• Parody: McCain Explains
• McCain Sings: You're Our Guest Worker Now!
McCain Sings: Bomb Iran
Parody: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Parody: Citizen McCain
Many of Rush Limbaugh's callers also hate John McCain with a passion and Limbaugh has cheered them on in their hatred of McCain:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/today.guest.html
It's Open Line Friday!
Dittoheads Have McCain on Their Minds
Why McCain Wins in Arizona:
(1:20)
McCain's Gambit: Democrat Votes:
(9:39)
Does McCain Just Want To Get Even?
(3:13)
Check out these links to see the pictures that Rush Limbaugh has put on his website that have attacked, mocked, and have made fun of John McCain:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/15892#comment-312456
Rush Limbaugh mocked McCain as being Jimmy Carter's Second Term!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on June 27, 2008 - 4:26pm. (Please check out all of Limbaugh's stupid pictures of McCain in this entire post)
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/12663
ANALYSIS: John McCain is imploding now because of the Neocon GOP activist base!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on July 13, 2007 - 11:20am.
Rush Limbaugh is a total hypocrite to be criticizing Gen. Clark for supposedly attacking John McCain's military service which he did NOT do while at the same time he has been openly mocking and making fun of McCain for years worse than any high profile Democratic official who I can think of!
Gen. Clark did and said NOTHING wrong about John McCain as I have credibly documented:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/15947
VIDEO & ANALYSIS: Gen. Clark on Dan Abrams from Monday, June 30
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on June 30, 2008 - 11:13pm.
The obvious bottom line to this in my opinion cutting through all of the spin is that Gen. Clark is being used politically by Limbaugh and by his GOP activist allies to try and get at Obama and Gen. Clark is also being used by the media to try and get some big headlines. This is absolutely disgraceful in my opinion!
Obama in my opinion made a very huge mistake by throwing Gen. Clark under the bus instead of standing up for him. Obama stood up for Jeremiah Wright and for his church at first before he threw them under the bus giving them the benefit of a doubt for a period of time. Gen. Clark unfortunately got thrown under the bus right away by Obama for political convenience without being given any benefit of the doubt:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/15941
CNN is now reporting that Obama "rejects yesterday's statement by Gen. Clark"
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on June 30, 2008 - 1:36pm.
I certainly expect to see that kind of behavior coming from Rush Limbaugh but in my opinion it is absolutely disgraceful when I see Obama immediately rejecting Gen. Clark and throwing him under the bus over something that he did NOT do. Limbaugh's blatant hypocrisy and Obama acting ungrateful for Gen. Clark's help and support gets me very upset!
I am also responding to Rush Limbaugh in this post because I believe that no attack on Gen. Clark can ever go unanswered. If any attack on Gen. Clark ever goes unanswered, then we are as good as giving Gen. Clark's political enemies the final word in their attempts to negatively define him before millions of people who will not know any better!
Mitch Dworkin
http://www.securingamerica.com/
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/10756
StopIranWar.com: "War is not the answer"
Submitted by Wes Clark on February 21, 2007 - 11:40am.
http://www.securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7191
Listen to Gen. Wes Clark fight for Dems on Sean Hannity's radio program: An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight back against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda!
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http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_063008/content/01125108.guest.html
Obama Lectures on Patriotism; Clark Devalues McCain's Service
June 30, 2008
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I just tuned into a little bit of the Obama speech in Independence, Missouri. He said, "I..." He got a standing O on this. He said, "I will never question the patriotism of any of my opponents." Yay! Who has questioned his? And then he said, "I'm not going to sit idly by when someone questions mine." Now, who is questioning his patriotism? There might be some fringe people out there, for crying out loud, but who is doing it? Is McCain doing it? Who of any consequence or importance is questioning Obama's patriotism? They're questioning his experience! If anybody wants to talk about questioning patriotism, how about Wesley Clark and what he said? "I don't think that getting shot down in a plane (grumbling) qualifies anybody to be president," and so forth. I'll be interested to see if Obama distances himself from Wesley Clark -- or renounces or denounces Clark -- in this speech. We got eagle eyes and eagle ears... (interruption) Why is he doing the speech...? That was my point earlier in the program, Snerdley!

I said, "Every Fourth of July, some Democrat somewhere goes somewhere and talks about patriotism.'" It must be that there is some doubt, if you have to go out there and do this, if you have to give a speech on patriotism and what it means. We know the Democrats have spent years trying to redefine it. Mrs. Clinton herself defined patriotism as criticizing the president. Remember that screeching, wailing sound bite that we've used? It's a year and a half old now. They have been trying to redefine patriotism as the abject dislike of your country, as the abject dislike of your president and the dissent and criticism of both. That's how they've been defining patriotism and so they have to go out there and make speeches about patriotism. This is a fine time. The Fourth of July is coming up on Friday, Independence Day; this would be a fine time for somebody to run around and start talking about American exceptionalism -- in either party, frankly -- and reminding the American people what this country is, where it started, how it started, the Founders, all of this, what happened, the miracle in Philadelphia.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
There's Obama, he just finished saying, "No political party has a monopoly on patriotism." This is the one area... We find the Democratic Party when we look at them and we look at the leftists; we see them on offense. They just are relentless. They never stop. But when it comes to patriotism, they are defensive. They do have to go out and remind everybody that they are, and now Obama is saying that "no political party has a monopoly on it." So it must mean that they've got some focus group data that suggests it's a problem. I don't know how big a problem it's going to be, because as I predicted last year... The latest polling if you look at this, this is not horse race polling. This is polling of the American people. The American people are vastly more concerned about the economy now, than they are about the war in Iraq, and I told everybody -- I suggested to everybody -- last year at this time, and maybe 15 months ago, "You have all of this talk. The Democrats are trying to raise all of this hell about the war in Iraq. It ain't going to be the issue when we get to the 2008 presidential election. It'll be the economy. It always is." People were talking about, "Well, the economy is no longer an issue, Rush. Even when the economy is going good, it didn't matter to people 'cause they expect it." I said, "You wait. The economy is going to be the primary issue. I don't know what elements," but it has turned out to be the case. Now, Wesley Clark was on Face the Nation yesterday with Bob Schieffer, and he said that he didn't think that McCain's service as a fighter pilot and prisoner of war was relevant to running the country. He didn't think it was a qualification for being the president of the United States. Let's go back to July of 2004 in Boston. This is the Democratic convention, and remember General Clark (Ashley Wilkes) was running for president himself, and he lost out to Kerry in the primaries. Here is a portion of Wesley Clark's speech. He spoke before Kerry was introduced by his Vietnam buddies.
CLARK: War. War. I've been there. So has John Kerry. John Kerry has heard the thump of enemy mortars. He's seen the flash of the tracers. He's lived the values of service and sacrifice. In the Navy, as a prosecutor, as a senator, he proved his physical courage under fire. And he's proved his moral courage too. John Kerry fought a war, and I respect him for that. And he came home to fight a peace. And I respect him for that, too. (tepid applause) John Kerry's combination of physical courage and moral values, is my definition of what we need as Americans in our commander-in-chief.
RUSH: Oh, so much here. First off, how do you come home and "fight a peace"? How do you do that? Well, Kerry did it. He was the architect. He was the scriptwriter for how you come home and "fight a peace." We get out of Vietnam, and they won't let it go. It was John Kerry throwing his medals over the White House gate. (Fake medals. He kept his real ones at home.) It was John Kerry who was telling lies about the Swift Boat buddies, telling lies about American combat troops in general, that they were raping and mutilating and doing all this "Gen-giss" Khan-type stuff. While America was trying to heal from all of this and get over it, John Kerry was indeed "fighting a peace." We'll revisit this and then listen to Wesley Clark yesterday talk about McCain after this.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: During the breaks, I continued to give a little listen to Obama's patriotism speech in Independence. This is really rich. He just finished saying that patriotism -- he defined it. "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it." Patriotism is supporting your country all the time... All the time? If that's what patriotism is, he has just accused his buddies on the left of being unpatriotic! I mean, not only do they not support the country all the time. They actively are engaged to inflict harm on this country! For example, in Iraq, they are enmeshed and they own defeat. "...and your government when it deserves it." So that gives them, with that little definition, "Of course the government deserves being criticized when it's being run by George W. Bush!" So everybody is in the clear on that. "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time..." Hmmm. I want to go back and air Wesley Clark from 2004 at the Democrat National Convention, and this is shortly after, if you remember that convention, Kerry grabbed a bunch of his Vietnam buddies and got on a boat. What they were going to do is replicate Kerry's Vietnam experience of being in a boat and taking territory in Vietnam, very bravely and courageously. So Kerry took Boston Bay. He took the Bay and he took the area of Boston where the convention was. Remember that? That's how he arrived at the convention hall. Before all that happened, Wesley made the comments...

CLARK: War. War. I've been there. So has John Kerry. John Kerry has heard the thump of enemy mortars. He's seen the flash of the tracers. He's lived the values of service and sacrifice. In the Navy, as a prosecutor, as a senator, he proved his physical courage under fire. And he's proved his moral courage too. John Kerry fought a war, and I respect him for that. And he came home to fight a peace. And I respect him for that, too. (tepid applause) John Kerry's combination of physical courage and moral values, is my definition of what we need as Americans in our commander-in-chief.
RUSH: Okay, we talked about the concept of fighting "a peace," and Kerry did. Kerry came home and lied about American soldiers to a Senate committee. That's how he was "fighting a peace." But do you note here's Obama giving a speech in Independence, Missouri, after having been in Unity, New Hampshire? He's now in Independence, Missouri giving a speech on patriotism; and Wesley Clark, a man -- which, again, Democrats seem to feel the need to prove to people that they are patriotic. Even when nobody is charging them with being unpatriotic, they still feel the need to prove it, which is quite telling to me. Then we have these comments from Wesley Clark four years ago in which we now remember that the Democrats nominated their version of a war hero, as a means of being elected president. This is after 9/11; they're convinced the American people want somebody tough in the White House, and so Kerry wore a uniform and Kerry was this for them. But then the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth came out with their ads (which nobody has disproven, by the way) and Kerry was toast. But you've just heard Wesley Clark define qualifications for the presidency based on Kerry and his military service. "He lived the values of service and sacrifice. In the Navy, as a prosecutor, as a Senator..." There's a lot of sacrificing in the Senate. "[H]e proved his physical courage under fire.... [H]e came home to fight a peace... [P]hysical courage and moral values, is my definition of what we need as Americans in our commander-in-chief." Now, you just heard him define presidential qualifications for Americans, by using John Kerry as an example. Let's now go to Face the Nation yesterday, and the host Bob Schieffer talking to Wesley Clark. He said, "Well, you went so far as to say that you thought John McCain was, quote -- and these are your words -- 'untested and untried.' And I must say, I had to read that twice, because you're talking about somebody who was a prisoner of war. He was a squadron commander of the largest squadron in the Navy. He's been on the Senate Armed Services Committee for lo these many years. How can you say that John McCain is untested and untried, General?"
CLARK: Because in the matters of national security policymaking, it's a matter of understanding risk, it's a matter of gauging your opponents, and it's a matter of being held accountable. John McCain's never done any of that in his official positions. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded? That wasn't a wartime squadron. He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn't seen what it's like when diplomats come in and say, "I don't know whether we're going to be able to get this point through or not. Do you want to take the risk? What about your reputation? How do we handle this publicly?"
SCHIEFFER: Yeah.
CLARK: He hasn't made that calls, Bob.
SCHIEFFER: Well, General --

RUSH: "He hasn't made those calls." Do you believe this? By the way, I don't for a minute believe that he's out there as an independent contractor. This is not an idle comment on MSNBC when nobody is watching at ten o'clock at night. This is one of the revered Sunday morning shows. These comments are rehearsed! These comments are made on purpose. Schieffer has says, "I have to say, Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences, either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down."
CLARK: Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.
SCHIEFFER: Really!
CLARK: But Barack is not... He is not running on the fact that he has made these national security pronouncements. He's running on his other strengths. He's running on his strength of character, on the strengths of his communication skills, on the strengths of his judgment. And those are qualities that we seek in our national leadership.
RUSH: Now, I don't know how in the world you can sit around and tar and feather McCain as being "unqualified" after having been a prisoner of war for five years. You talked about "sacrifice." He talked about John Kerry's sacrifice. You talk about "bravery." McCain went into the teeth of the dog in this war. He stayed in the Navy for eight years after he got out of the Hanoi Hilton. He never went to Washington and threw his medals over the White House fence. He never bumped and decried his fellow airmen or soldiers or Marines who fought in Vietnam. This is just... This is... I wonder if the McCain camp gets it yet what's ahead of them? We warned them about this, and this is not all that's happening out there. When you heard Wesley Clark here in sound bite #4: "It's a matter of gauging your opponent. It's a matter of being held accountable. McCain has never done any of that in his official positions. He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall." Let me tell you what they're heading at here.
If you go to certain left-wing blogs and websites, you will find all kinds of vicious attacks on McCain, such as accusing him of war crimes for bombing civilian targets in Hanoi in the 1960s. There are others who are accusing McCain of disloyalty during his captivity in Vietnam because of they say that he was coerced into participation in propaganda films and interviews after he had been tortured. John Aravosis at something called "American Blog" wrote, "A lot of people don't know that McCain wrote propaganda video for the enemy while he was in captivity. Putting that bit of disloyalty aside, what exactly is McCain's experience that prepares him for being commander-in-chief? Getting shot down, tortured, and then doing propaganda for the enemy is not command experience," this guy wrote in a blog post titled, "Honestly, Besides Being Tortured, What Did McCain to Excel in the Military?" So the left-wing blogs have started this, and Wesley Clark is picking up the theme. There is an echo chamber on the left too, and more and more these left-wing talking points that are shouted and emitted by Obama's people and his campaign, come from the dark reaches of the kook left. So now, not only is McCain not qualified just because he flew a bombing mission and got shot down over Hanoi and then spent five years in as a prisoner of war. That doesn't qualify him! No, what John Kerry did is more of a qualification! John Kerry had moral character! You heard Wesley Clark. Go back and grab cut three here. After you've heard Clark twice now rip McCain, listen to how he praises Kerry four years ago at the Democrat National Convention.
CLARK: War. War. I've been there. So has John Kerry. John Kerry has heard the thump of enemy mortars. He's seen the flash of the tracers. He's lived the values of service and sacrifice. In the Navy, as a prosecutor, as a senator, he proved his physical courage under fire. And he's proved his moral courage too. John Kerry fought a war, and I respect him for that. And he came home to fight a peace. And I respect him for that, too. (tepid applause) John Kerry's combination of physical courage and moral values, is my definition of what we need as Americans in our commander-in-chief.
RUSH: "Came home to fight a peace," and again, he did that by lying to our soldiers to a Senate committee. Wesley Clark ought to have zero credibility with anybody. This is nothing but a partisan, political hack who himself was incompetent! Didn't Clinton fire the guy? He was the NATO general in the Bosnia war, and I think even Clinton fired the guy! He's a big pretender. And by the way, here's Obama out there with his patriotism lecture, and I keep listening to little segments of this, and frankly, I don't think we need to be lectured to on patriotism by Barak Obama. Here's a guy who trashes the country all the time. His minister trashed the country all the time. His friend William Ayers tried to overthrow the country! We don't need lectures from Obama on patriotism. "Well, that's not the William Ayers that I knew. That's not the Reverend Wright that I knew all these years." He has just, by his own definition, thrown both of these guys on the bus. They are not patriots. They are not American patriots. Obama gets away with recasting himself as often as he wants. The Drive-By Media will bend over forwards and backwards -- they'll put themselves in pretzel-like positions -- in order to accommodate this guy's daily recalibrations so he can appear to move to the non-controversial "center."
BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: We have two more sound bites on this and then some brilliant commentary by me. This is the Obama communications director Robert Gibbs, he was on Scarborough's show today on DNCTV and the co host Mika Brzezinski said, "We heard Clark's comments, we played them just a minute ago on Face the Nation. Is your campaign behind what Clark said?"
GIBBS: No, we're not. What I've heard every time that Barack Obama talks about John McCain, and that is he begins by thanking him for his service to this country. We're leading into July4th where we are reminded of all the sacrifices that people have made to make this country free, and we certainly honor the sacrifice and the service and the heroism of John McCain.
RUSH: Right, easy to say this. After Clark's made the big news here's this guy on DNC TV, sometime early this morning when very few people are watching. "No, totally not us. We honored McCain's service. I have no idea how this could have happened. We're minding our own business, so forth." So then Brzezinski says, "Let me ask you this, then, if the campaign is not behind this Wes Clark making those comments, specifically those comments, tell us."
GIBBS: Obviously those are the comments of General Clark. They're not the comments of Barack Obama. Again, Barack Obama always talks about John McCain in a setting by mentioning the service that he's given to this country. You know, we're going to give a speech later today about what patriotism means in this country. And one of the lines that you'll hear is that nobody should question the patriotism of either of these two candidates. Obviously, they've given of their time. They've given an incredible amount to their countries. Both of them love their countries. I think for anybody to suggest otherwise just doesn't make a lot of sense.
RUSH: Let me tell you what's going on here. In addition to Obama lecturing us on patriotism and redefining it, look at what his friends have said about this country. Reverend Wright, William Ayers tries to overthrow the country. We've been through these, he's trying to soften his image and the Drive Bys are helping him here. But what's also happening is an effort -- and this is purposeful and it's an effort that is being aided and abetted to the Drive By Media -- to devalue the military experience of John McCain and his hero status, and to raise up Obama's patriotic position by redefining it. It's a two prong thing. He didn't mention McCain in his speech. He just he's not going to challenge the patriotism of any of his opponents and he's going to stand up for when his is challenged. But he didn't denounce what Clark said. But the drive bys will say that he did, just as you heard his campaign spokesman Gibbs do so. So make no mistake about it. They are going after the one area they know that McCain trumps Obama no matter how it's played. American hero, war hero, sacrifice, prisoner of war. They are trying to devalue all of that while Obama redefines patriotism.
How has Obama shown his patriotism as a public man? Has he supported our war effort? He has not. By his own definition he's not supported his country. Patriotism is supporting your country all the time. I heard him say it. He's not done that. Has he spent much time with the Armed Forces? Depends on which Armed Forces: Bill Ayers or the United States military. Obama has spent his entire career condemning much of the country: bitter clingers, guns, religion, not just the government but the country, as has his wife, as have his friends. Patriotism should not be defined as a relentless assault on the nation's traditions and customs but that's what they want it to be today. Liberals want to define patriotism as being whatever they support and whatever they say no matter how offensive and damning they are. This is a guy who made a big deal out of not wearing the American flag pin lapel. What do you mean I'm not supposed to mention that, Snerdley? Look it, I said at the beginning of this program, Snerdley, this is not the Limbaugh Institute for Pseudo Conservative Studies.
This is the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies. We're steel spined. We are not going to play defense and we're not going to cower like many of our pseudo conservative brethren and we're not going to say what we say or not say what we shouldn't say in order to be liked and adored by this crowd that's trying to destroy the traditions and institutions that made the country great. We're being lectured to on patriotism by a guy who had a problem trying to figure out when and where to wear the American flag pin, for crying out loud. And he's getting a standing ovation in a town very near where I once worked. Independence, Missouri. It's right there. I mean it's a five iron from Royal Stadium where I spent many a countless hour. All of a sudden after having problems on the flag pin now he wears it and is constantly surrounded by flags, patriotism must be symbolism to Obama.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Not only did Ashley Wilkes want me off of Armed Forces Radio, this notion that he's out there as an independent contractor is silly. He's the go-to guy for the libs, he's the go to general if they want to harm a veteran or advance the liberal cause with the military. That's how they use him, as they have used him yesterday on Face the Nation. Wesley Clark advanced high up the ranks in the military thanks to Bill Clinton. He wasn't a standout in any way. There's nothing that recommends Wesley Clark over any other general in terms of being able to bring credibility and accountability to assessing others' performance of the same job. He's another one of these Clinton generals, and they're all over the place. So what happens is if Clark smears McCain and Obama says that he is the patriot, what we are looking at is liberalism on display. Now, we have four Obama bites from his speech in Independence, Missouri from earlier today followed by McCain's response. But to set this up, I want you to go back and listen to Wesley Clark from yesterday on Meet the Press. First question from Bob Schieffer to General Clark is: "How in the world can you say that McCain is untested and untried, General?"
CLARK: Because in the matters of national security policymaking, it's a matter of understanding risk, it's a matter of gauging your opponents, and it's a matter of being held accountable. John McCain's never done any of that in his official positions. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded? That wasn't a wartime squadron. He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn't seen what it's like when diplomats come in and say, "I don't know whether we're going to be able to get this point through or not. Do you want to take the risk? What about your reputation? How do we handle this publicly?
SCHIEFFER: Yeah.
CLARK: He hasn't made that calls, Bob.
RUSH: Schieffer then said, "I have to say Barack Obama has had none of those experiences and nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and got shot down."
CLARK: I don't think fighting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be a president.
SCHIEFFER: Really?
CLARK: But Barack is not running on the fact that he's made these national security pronouncements. He's running on his other strengths. He's running on the strengths of character, on the strengths of his communication skills, on the strengths of his judgment, and those are qualities we seek in our national leadership.
RUSH: So let's go to Obama today. By the way, if you listen to Clark ripping McCain, you can also substitute the names Bill or Hillary Clinton for anything that he said about McCain. I mean, this is just a point being made. They dragged this guy out as a supposed credible general. But he's the liberal's go to general for ripping anybody in the military who has any kind of heroism or success and then Obama follows it up by one day with remarks like this in his speech in Independence, Missouri, on patriotism.
OBAMA: I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign. (Applause). And I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine. (Applause).
RUSH: Wait a minute, whose patriotism has been questioned here? Whose qualifications have been questioned here? What's happening here, folks, is very simple, an effort to devalue McCain's military experience and hero status and to raise up Obama's patriotic position by redefining what patriotism is. Here's more of Obama from just a moment ago in Missouri.
OBAMA: When we're arguing about patriotism, we're arguing about who we are as a country and, more importantly, who we should be. But surely we can agree that no party or political philosophy has a monopoly on patriotism.
(Applause).
RUSH: Then why the hell do you feel it necessary to go to Independence, Missouri, and talk about it? Then why the hell do you have such difficulty in deciding whether or not to wear the American flag lapel pin? One party obviously has a track record that deserves to be examined. We all know which party that is. And this is why this party is constantly defending itself on this. Let's be honest, folks. Patriotism is equated with supporting the military when the U.S. is at war. Which political party the last three years has done its best to secure defeat of its country and the U.S. military at war? Democrat Party. One party has a track record that deserves to be examined when it comes to patriotism, and they know it. They know they're weak on national security. Which is why they gave us Kerry the last election, they thought he would overcome it. Which is why they're now trying to devalue McCain's hero status and his war service and that's why they send their candidate out to Independence, Missouri, to do a defensive speech on patriotism, because they know. Here's another from Obama.
OBAMA: Of course, precisely because America isn't perfect, precisely because our ideals demand more from us, patriotism can never be defined as loyalty to any particular leader or government or policy. (Applause). As Mark Twain, the greatest of American satirists and proud son of Missouri, once wrote: "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it." (Applause). That's what patriotism is.

RUSH: Wait a second. He just contradicted himself here. Patriotism can never be defined as loyalty to any particular leader or government or policy. And then he quotes Mark Twain: patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. This is a huge contradiction. Which political party is it that is suggesting to us that terrorists deserve constitutional rights, the same constitutional rights accorded United States citizens. We don't have the right to spy on terrorists. Which party is it that wants us to sue phone companies that allow terrorists to be spied on? Which party is it that's doing its level best to discredit any intelligence gathering technique that is used in order to improve this nation's security? No wonder they feel defensive about this. Which party was it that was saying that the surge would never work? Which party was it that claimed the surge wouldn't work? Which party was it whose supporters ran a full page New York Times ad on General Betraeus?
Which party was it whose members accused Petraeus of lying before he opened his mouth? Which party has as a member a man who avoided voting on the MoveOn.org resolution in the Senate? Barack Obama and the Democrat Party. Remember the vote on condemning MoveOn.org, guess who didn't vote? He wasn't there, he didn't vote. It was Barack Obama. Which party has accused troops of murder and rape? The Democrat Party. Which party has members that have accused Club Gitmo operatives of torture and being like Pol Pot's regime and the people who ran the Soviet Gulags? That would be Dick Durbin and the Democrat Party. Which political party has tried to kill -- and they failed -- war spending bills with poison pills and other techniques? It would be the Democrat Party. So no wonder they feel defensive about patriotism. Here's our final Obama sound bite from his speech in Independence today.
OBAMA: Surely we can arrive at a definition of patriotism that however rough and imperfect captures the best of America's common spirit. What would such a definition look like?
RUSH: Okay, so now not only are we being lectured to on patriotism by Obama, we're being told that only he can redefine it. He's going to redefine patriotism for us. What he says after this doesn't matter. We don't need the Messiah to redefine patriotism. We know it when we see it. We know it when we don't see it. And we see it plain as day when we don't see it. So he wants to redefine it. They want to wipe out any status that McCain enjoys as a war hero or a servant to his country. The next bite we have to take a break after this. McCain is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and here I think is McCain's response to Wesley Clark saying being shot down over Vietnam does not qualify you to be president.
MCCAIN: I think that kind of thing is unnecessary. I'm proud of my record of service and I have plenty of friends and leaders who will attest to that. But the important thing is, and if that's the kind of campaign that Senator Obama and his surrogates and his supporters want to gauge, I understand that, but it doesn't reduce the price of a gallon of gas by one penny. It doesn't achieve our energy independence, make it come any closer. It doesn't help an American stay in their home who are in risk of losing it today. And it certainly doesn't do anything to address the challenges that Americans have in keeping their jobs, their homes and supporting their families.
RUSH: What the hell is this? This is the Clinton response. (doing Clinton impression) "That's right Limbaugh and your side's learning my techniques pretty well. How do you like it when your side sounds like I do, Limbaugh? I just love that; that must make you mad. That's right. Remember when I said no attack ever fed a hungry child when Bob Dole tried to talk about my lack of character. Here's your boy McCain out there. McCain is out there saying, 'Hey, they can challenge me all they want, they can tell me I'm not qualified to be president, but that doesn't put one more drop of fuel in your gas tank.'" Did he sound a little hurt there? I'm not sure. Anyway, he thinks this kind of campaigning is unnecessary.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: We'll start with Michael in Naperville, Illinois. Nice to have you on the program, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Real quick. I'm furious about this General Clark saying this stuff about John McCain. In his 20s, John McCain was serving his country. He got shot down and was in a prisoner of war camp for five years. Barack Obama in his 20s, by his own words, was sitting around, smoking pot and doing cocaine, snorting cocaine. I mean, this guy served his country while Barack Obama was trying to find his racial identity during his 20s and John McCain was serving his country. I'm furious about this.
RUSH: No, you're not. You're not curious at all. You're trying to make a blistering point which you've done very well.

CALLER: I'm furious, not curious!
RUSH: Oh, sorry. Then you ought to be furious about it.
CALLER: I'm furious. I mean, this guy was sitting around doing nothing while John McCain was in the service.
RUSH: He's still done nothing! What has he done since? Seriously, what has he done? He's "organized communities" in Chicago. Eh eh, we all know what that means. What's he done? He's senator in Illinois, and he bailed out of 130 votes. What's he done since? What's he done? What's he accomplished? He's a smooth talker and he makes people feel good.
CALLER: You know what, Rush? I think if a lot of people would have known about his drug use and Reverend Wright stuff, he wouldn't have been elected senator, here. Frankly. Nobody brought it up during the campaign.
RUSH: You can't go back and relive it. Besides, the Clintons gave it their best shot in New Hampshire. Remember Bill Sheehan running the Clinton campaign said, "Not only was he using drugs, he might have been selling them." They tried everything. It didn't work.
CALLER: Mmm-hmm. When is one of the guys from the news media going to ask him if he ever did sell drugs?
RUSH: (laughing) You know, the chances are slim and none, and slim left town. Come on, you know better t han that. The Drive Bys in the media are devoted to cleaning this guy up to allow him his pirouettes on policy, to allow his policy recalibrations. They're doing everything they can to sanitize the guy and they're furthering all these Obama camp notions that McCain really isn't that big a hero. "He might have shot at innocent civilians, might have done a propaganda movie! He might have been turned by the North Vietnamese. He might actually be a traitor," is where they're headed with this -- and of course the Drive Bys will react, "Wow, what an interesting take! Why, we've never thought of that. We've always bought the hook, line and sinker bit that McCain was a big hero. But maybe, maybe these left wing bloggers have a point."
Of course they don't have to come to a conclusion they can just start doing their investigative pieces. This is all about ripping McCain's hero status apart so he doesn't have that advantage over Obama, then redefining patriotism so that Obama's lack of it in terms of supporting the U.S. military and so forth is cancelled out. By the way, something else. You know I don't like talking about myself much on this program. But one of the things that Obama said in this speech is something that the Clintons have invented back in the '60s, and that is that dissent equals patriotism. You've all heard this. "Why, this country was founded on dissent. Why, we were dissenting against the king! Why we refused the high taxes." Yeah, we were dissenting against tyranny.
Liberals are dissenting against liberty! When they dissent it's against freedom. So here's Obama defining patriotism as dissent, as protest -- and yet wasn't that long ago that the Messiah was down here in Florida. Where was he in Florida? Was it Jacksonville? Was it Orlando? Where was it? Tampa? It doesn't matter where it was. He called me a xenophobe and then lied about my position on illegal immigrants. He mentioned me and Lou Dobbs. So we dissent against amnesty for illegals, and we get attacked, not praised as patriots in the Obama world. Never forget: When liberals start defining patriotism, folks, the definition equals whatever they support. And whatever they oppose is not patriotic, and that's why Obama did the speech today. He went up there to redefine it. And basically it's whatever he believes. Here's what is it Bager, Dancer? Danger? There's somebody named Danger on the phone from Perry, Georgia.
CALLER: Yes, sir, Perry Georgia.
RUSH: How did you get the name Danger?
CALLER: My parents were hippies. First, I have to say Rush is one of my top ten, all time favorite guy names.
RUSH: (laughs) Hell, thanks so much. That's very cool.
CALLER: Yes, I'm pretty cool. I like to think, anyway.
RUSH: What's your middle name, Danger?
CALLER: Um... Michelle.
RUSH: Danger Michelle. Okay.
CALLER: Something like that.
RUSH: Your parents were hippies.
CALLER: They don't like it when I tell people that.
RUSH: Are they still hippies?
CALLER: No, sir.
RUSH: Okay, good.
CALLER: (chuckles) Well, anyways, first, I'd like to say I'm a 23 year old punk rock conservative. So I've got it rough with my friends. But I wanted to comment on what General Wesley Clark said. How can he say that McCain wasn't tried and tested? He certainly was. He was a prisoner of war. He came as close to making the ultimate sacrifice for his nation that one can make, and still live the talk about it. I mean, if that's not a patriot, I don't know what is.
RUSH: Do you think it's a qualification, however?
CALLER: (dog barks) A qualification? I think so.
RUSH: To be president, yeah?
CALLER: Absolutely. To think enough of your country that you're going to go out there and risk your life to fight for its name? Absolutely.
RUSH: Well, I would agree with you when you add the sum total of McCain's political resume. Now, we can disagree with his policies on certain things.
CALLER: Then we can compare it to Obama's personal resume.
RUSH: There is no resume.
CALLER: Yeah, so it's pretty...
RUSH: That's the point. Do your punk rock friends like Obama.
CALLER: They most certainly do. I get it rough from them.
RUSH: I'm sure you do.
CALLER: I'll tell you what.
RUSH: I bet they don't even know why they like him. I'll bet you it's just he makes them feel good or he speaks well or he's young, or something like that.
CALLER: I can tell you why they like him. They like him because of MTV, VH1. Obama is... Evidently he's in the scene.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: It's hip to like Obama.
RUSH: Danger, thanks for the call. I appreciate it.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: I've never, ever had a caller named Danger that was so innocent and harmless.
END TRANSCRIPT
Read the Background Material...
• National Review: General Recklessness
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjNiNzRhOTVlZmViMjZjMzRkYmQwY2ViMDJhNTRmYjE=
• IHT: Democrat with Military Background Assails McCain's Credentials
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/29/america/campaign.php
• Politico: Some on Left Target McCain's War Record
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11429.html
• Bloomberg: McCain Says Obama's Word 'Cannot Be Trusted'
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aMRbGWMknFKs
• Newsbusters: Can Andrea Mitchell Really Believe Clark Was Freelancing on McCain?
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2008/06/30/does-andrea-mitchell-really-believe-clark-was-freelancing-mccain
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.
other extreme right wing Neocon GOP talk radio ideologues just like him and I have personally heard him encouraging ALL Democrats to do the exact same thing:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7191#comment-111351
Gen. Clark on media response from 2/11/05 when I saw him speak!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on June 23, 2006 - 5:35am.
I think that we need to answer all of Gen. Clark's calls to action about Limbaugh and then forward them on to people who we know:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/blog/32
Phony Soldier?
Submitted by Wes Clark on September 28, 2007 - 11:11am.
http://ga4.org/campaign/rushlimbaugh/
"My challenge to you is to force Rush to invite Jon Soltz onto his show and say all of this again, right to the face of someone who served in Iraq."
http://securingamerica.com/node/2734
Take Rush Limbaugh Off Armed Forces Radio
DUMP RUSH
October 2, 2007
http://ga4.org/campaign/dumprush/
Make no mistake how about powerful and influential that Rush Limbaugh's huge talk radio media empire really is:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/13708
How Rush Limbaugh won a political victory in the "Phony Soldiers" controversy!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on October 23, 2007 - 9:27am.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/13578
ANALYSIS: Why Rush Limbaugh is so powerful & what many media pundits do not get!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on October 10, 2007 - 1:47am.
scum who needs to be dealt with:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/13578
ANALYSIS: Why Rush Limbaugh is so powerful & what many media pundits do not get!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on October 10, 2007 - 1:47am.
Nobody should have to take his crap and bullying tactics and that especially goes for Gen. Clark in my opinion!
Limbaugh and other "talk show" talking heads reach down to, the gutter. Yes they need to be responded to but not by giving them the time of day, dismiss the drug taking fat boy out of hand, he's slime, like Scooter Libby and Karl Rove, he is out of jail because he has the best defense his money can buy, no one can begin to say anything like that about the General or Senator Obama, that should speak volumes to character right there.
and people like him. I personally saw him make these comments when he came to Dallas, Texas to speak:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7191#comment-111351
Gen. Clark on media response from 2/11/05 when I saw him speak!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on June 23, 2006 - 5:35am.
This is what Rush Limbaugh and the extreme right wing are missing on purpose because they are trying to use Gen. Clark for their own political purposes as a way how to try and score points against Obama. The truth and the context of Gen. Clark's comments are meaningless to them because of that:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0806/30/acd.01.html
ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES
Politics and Patriotism; Obama and Bill Clinton Connect
Aired June 30, 2008 - 22:00 ET
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: "James, is McCain's service record fair game?
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, first of all, I don't know what the Obama campaign is apologizing for, because what Wes Clark said in response to Bob Schieffer say: "I have to say, Barack Obama had not any of the experiences either, nor has he ridden a fighter plane and gotten shot down."
Clark: "Well, I don't think riding a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president."
I don't -- why are we apologizing? By the way, Wes Clark has 30 medals. He's got a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and everything else.
(CROSSTALK)
BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good qualifications.
CARVILLE: And the idea -- the idea -- and I have no idea what the Obama campaign is apologizing for. There's nothing controversial in what General Clark said.
BENNETT: Well, I'm with the Obama campaign, so James needs to talk to them and they will tell him why...
(CROSSTALK)
BENNETT: ... yes, because I will tell you, those -- what you cited for Wes Clark is the point, James. He's got excellent qualifications. That's the beginning of a resume to run for president.
CARVILLE: Again, as I pointed out earlier, my uncle won the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart, but, if he were alive, he would be the first person to tell you that doesn't qualify him to be president. It qualifies him to be a hero. It was honorable service.
And there are many other ways that John McCain may very well be qualified for president. But General Clark, first of all, was responding to a direct observation. And the observation that he made, in my mind, was a completely legitimate observation. The fact that I served two years in the Marine Corps doesn't make me qualified to be anything...
CARVILLE: It was responding. It was not a snide and nasty comment. He was merely responding to an observation that Bob Schieffer was making, which is not being reported in the press. It's being reporting as if that General Clark just went out and said this. He was making a very legitimate observation.
(CROSSTALK)
BENNETT: Talk to David Axelrod. He will explain it...
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: I would love for someone to explain why we're apologizing for a patriot who made what I think is a completely legitimate point..."
These people know nothing about context, the bottom line is that they are really using Gen. Clark as a tool to try and score cheap political points against Obama:
http://www.foxnews.com/yourworld/index.html
Say Sorry
June 30, 2008: Veterans group (Pete Hegseth of the Neocon Vets for Freedom) calls on Gen. Wesley Clark to apologize to John McCain
---------------------------------------------
http://www.foxnews.com/ontherecord/index.html
Obama-McCain-Clark Controversy
June 30, 2008: Karl Rove on the latest uproar in the White House race
Jon Soltz of VoteVets.org who supports Gen. Clark has debated Neocon Pete Hegseth from the first video above on foreign policy issues:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/13087
VIDEO: Jon Soltz had another good debate with Neocon Pete Hegseth on Aug. 20!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on August 22, 2007 - 6:10am.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/12786
IRAQ WAR DEBATE: Jon Soltz of VoteVets.org vs. Pete Hegseth of Vets for Freedom
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on July 26, 2007 - 3:51pm.

Those two are great company for Obama to find himself in, n'est-ce pas?
FOX News is mostly "The McCain Network" just like how MSNBC is mostly "The Obama Network." It is hard to find truly sound and objective journalism today!
It would have been really nice as well as being a very fair question if someone at FOX News asked Karl Rove about the dirty tactics that he and the Bush campaign pulled on John McCain back in 2000!
the bus today in his latest smear on Gen. Clark:
MCCASKILL: "Senator Obama has been very clear. It is inappropriate in any campaign ever to devalue anyone's service to our country. That's what they did to John Kerry four years ago. He will not be a part of it. This campaign will not be a part of it. I think he respects the service of General Wesley Clark. I think Senator Obama understands that General Clark is speaking from his own perspective. But for this campaign, for the Obama campaign, it is never about devaluing someone's service to our country. Patriotism is about serving your country and your community, and that's what Senator Obama wants this discussion to be about."
Shame on Claire McCaskill for even implying that this is true about Gen. Clark and for giving Rush Limbaugh this kind of unnecessary ammunition to use against him!
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_070108/content/01125110.guest.html
Dole Fires Off Firebrand Letter; Webb, McCaskill Recast Reality
July 1, 2008
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Bob Dole has issued a statement. "On Face the Nation on Sunday, General Clark called Republican presidential candidate John McCain untested and untried, claimed that McCain had no executive responsibility, belittled his leadership of a naval unit because it wasn't a wartime squadron, and stated, 'I don't think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.' The attack by General Clark on Senator McCain's war record and qualifications for the presidency is beyond comprehension. Clark's absurd remarks signal further erosion in our nation's political discourse. He should have stayed in bed Sunday morning. It is unfortunate that a former general who ran for the presidency on his own war record thinks that it is appropriate to attack a distinguished veteran and former prisoner of war in this way. Senator McCain's entire life has been devoted to public service. His achievement and experience constitute unparalleled qualification for America's highest office." I love Senator Dole on this, but what does it say, that the one firebrand in the Republican Party is Bob Dole, and it's two days after the fact. But, better late than never. Audio sound bite time. Jim Webb last night on PMSNBC jumping into this fray.

WEBB: John McCain's been a longtime friend. If that is one area that I would ask him to calm down on, it's that. Don't be standing up and uttering your political views and implying that all the people in the military support them, because they don't, any more than when the Democrats had political issues during the Vietnam War. Let's get politics out of the military, take care of the military people, and have our political arguments in other areas.
RUSH: Get politics out of the military? John McCain needs to calm down? This from a rookie Senator Jim Webb. Needs to calm down, don't be standing up and offering your political views and implying that all people in the military support them. This is again more smoke and mirrors. None of this McCain is done. But Webb gets up and says it, the Drive-Bys report what he says, and that becomes the official record of what McCain says, i.e., what Webb says that McCain is doing. Who infused politics into this? Who infused the military into politics? It was Clark who claims, by the way -- grab audio sound bite number four. Here's Wesley Clark last night on MSNBC, asked for his response to being criticized for his remarks.
CLARK: I wasn't representing the Obama campaign in anything I said yesterday about John McCain. I want to assure you, I would never, never diss someone's service. When people choose to serve in uniform, I honor it. I came home from Vietnam on a stretcher. I was shot, I took a burst of AK, I got four rounds, so I think I know a little bit about what it's like to honor men and women who serve in uniform. And I do, and I would never dismiss somebody.
RUSH: Twilight Zone time. This is after he did diss somebody. This is after he did diss somebody specifically on the basis of their military service. Claire McCaskill on MSNBC Live today, the infobabe asked her, "General Clark is not backing down from those comments that were critical of Senator McCain. What's the campaign's response to hearing that he's not stepping away from those comments?"
MCCASKILL: Senator Obama has been very clear. It is inappropriate in any campaign ever to devalue anyone's service to our country. That's what they did to John Kerry four years ago. He will not be a part of it. This campaign will not be a part of it. I think he respects the service of General Wesley Clark. I think Senator Obama understands that General Clark is speaking from his own perspective. But for this campaign, for the Obama campaign, it is never about devaluing someone's service to our country. Patriotism is about serving your country and your community, and that's what Senator Obama wants this discussion to be about.
RUSH: What does this remind you of? Here we have two Obama supporters, Claire McCaskill from Missouri, a senator, and Jim Webb, both recasting reality. Obama, (paraphrasing) "Our campaign never said anything, why, we would never do this. We're not going to put up with this. We would never, ever do it." Webb said, "McCain's gotta calm down." I wish McCain would act in a way just one day that somebody could legitimately say calm down and have it mean something. The Official Obama Criticizer nailed this in his critique in the first hour of this program. Barack Obama and his campaign, he is the first black Clinton. He will not be the first black president because that's Clinton's. But he is the first black Clinton. That is exactly what's happening here. Living in an alternative reality, and knowing full well that the Drive-Bys are going to cover for you and make reality whatever it is you say in response to things. So Clark gets a total pass. Obama gets a total pass. Obama gets treated as though he has rebuked what Clark has said, when he hasn't, and then Webb goes out and says that McCain's the one that needs to calm down. Meanwhile, the only official response from some elected Republican has been Bob Dole's.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Here's Wayne in Prescott, Michigan, nice to have you on the program, sir.
CALLER: One month early, but congratulations on 20 years of excellence in broadcasting.
RUSH: Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.
CALLER: I have dittoed everything you have a said except for one thing you said yesterday.
RUSH: What's that?
CALLER: About McCain's reaction.
RUSH: Yeah?
CALLER: I believe that he might have been more or less biting his lip and trying to keep his composure, and I think that this is what they're trying to do is get him to fly off the handle.
RUSH: Well, let's listen to it again. We happen to have McCain's reaction. You can listen to it with me here, Wayne.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: You want to do that?
CALLER: Yes, sir.
RUSH: Yeah, and then you can tell me if you still have your same opinion.

MCCAIN: I think that that kind of thing is unnecessary. I'm proud of my record of service and I have plenty of friends and leaders who will attest to that, but the important thing is if that's the kind of campaign that Senator Obama and his surrogates and his supporters want to engage, I understand that, but it doesn't reduce the price of a gallon of gas by one penny; it doesn't achieve our energy independence, make it come any closer; it doesn't help an American stay in their home who are in risk of losing it today, and it certainly doesn't do anything to address the challenges that Americans have in keeping their jobs, their homes, and supporting their families.
RUSH: So you think that was McCain biting his lip?
CALLER: It sounds terrible the way he says it, but I do think that he was trying to bite his lip. I hope he was. Let's put it that way, I guess. I don't support him wholeheartedly like I would other candidates, but he's the best that's out there.
RUSH: Well, this is up or down on Obama. We can't afford Obama, any number of ways, can't afford him financially, can't afford him foreign policy. We can't afford Obama. We can't afford him in charge of the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary, any number of ways. I listened to this response, his qualifications have been assaulted and attacked, and his service as prisoner of war has been deemed to be meaningless. His flying fighter jets over Hanoi in the Vietnam War have been stated here at irrelevant and meaningless, and I don't know. I think I know when McCain bites his lower lip. When he's biting his lower lip he's mad, and I've seen him when he's mad. He wasn't mad yesterday.
CALLER: Well --
RUSH: I think what he's rather doing is trying to stay above the fray of all this. You may be right that he's trying to avoid getting sucked into their level down there and, you know, sucked into the level of Wesley Clark, who is a nobody, and perhaps if it had been Obama who had said this, that perhaps McCain would have had a more forceful response. But I don't think he was biting his lower lip.
CALLER: Okay, I will agree that way. He wasn't biting his lower lip, but he's keeping himself above the fray, and it's hard on him. That's gotta be extremely hard.
RUSH: Of course it is, but George W. Bush has tried to same thing. He's tried to stay above the fray. One of the reasons he does not respond to his critics is because he thinks that it demeans the office of the presidency. He thinks he's above it, that politics is politics and people are going to say dastardly, mean, diabolical things about any president, and you got a job to do, and all that stuff that people say doesn't matter. But the job of president also takes place within the realm of politics, and that means you have to get elected to it and you have to get reelected to it. That means your voters have to feel like they're being led, that somebody is out there leading them somewhere, standing up for what they believe in. If you're going to continually get ripped to shreds in a political sense like this and not fire back at it -- I mean the time is right -- there are wrong times to do it, wrong people to react to. It might have been better for McCain not to react to Wesley Clark. I mean Wesley Clark is a nonentity and a nonfactor. But the fact of the matter is, it is, whether he says it or not -- nobody will convince me otherwise -- a coordinated effort from the Obama campaign. You have Clark on Sunday reiterating his thoughts yesterday and today. You have Rand Beers, somehow noted foreign policy expert, worked for Kerry in 2004, coming along and seconding the impression and the notion left by Wesley Clark.
They're trying to do more than take McCain off his game. They're trying to do far more than that. They know they've got a wuss as a candidate compared to McCain, in terms of experience, military experience, understanding aspects of national security. They know Obama's a wuss. They know they can't build Obama up into something he's not. They can't make us believe that Barack Obama was at D-Day. They can't make us believe that Barack Obama was anywhere near Vietnam. They can't make us aware that Barack Obama is even been to a recruitment center. So what they have to do is tear down McCain in that area and make it sound like he's nothing, that it's no big deal. And that's why you're going to see more and more people citing the fact that he did a propaganda video while he was being tortured and that he might have ended up saying traitorous things to save his life. They're going to do everything they can to destroy that aspect of McCain's service and of his life because their own candidate can't compare to it in any way. So rather than compare and fall short, you tear down what your opponent is. And at some point, if you're in the process of being torn down, you have to make sure you take steps that that doesn't happen. I appreciate the call nevertheless, Wayne.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: This is Jeff in Albuquerque. Great to have you here, sir. Welcome to the EIB Network.
CALLER: It's really great to speak with you, Rush.
RUSH: Thank you, sir, very much.
CALLER: If I could also point out real quickly to some your listeners, that Albuquerque is north of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
RUSH: Be happy to know that.
CALLER: Well, you know, I just don't know what General Wesley Clark is thinking. John McCain, you know, flew for 23 missions in Vietnam, he's 22 and one. He was shot down in one of those missions. He was head of one of the largest squadrons in the Navy. He has 20 years of experience in the military. Over 20 years of experience in the Senate. Three of his sons serve or have served in the military. And what type of resume or service --
RUSH: Wait a minute. What do you mean? You don't know what he's thinking?
CALLER: I don't. It doesn't make sense.
RUSH: It makes total sense. In the first place, he's a liberal! Liberals are diabolically mean-spirited people. Number two, he's part of the Obama campaign. He wants some kind of job in the Obama presidency or administration. He is doing what liberals do. It's no different than taking on Robert Bork if you're Ted Kennedy. It's no different than what they try to do to judicial nominees in the Senate Judiciary Committee, liberal Democrats. Liberals are liberals. They destroy their opponents. They try to destroy their character and their lives and their reputations because they can't compete. Wesley Clark couldn't hold John McCain's coffee cup.
END TRANSCRIPT
Read the Background Material...
• Politico: Dole weighs in on Clark
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0608/Dole_weighs_in_on_Clark.html
• The Hill: Webb: McCain Should 'Calm Down' on Using Military Service
http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/07/01/webb-mccain-should-calm-down-on-using-military-service/
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_070208/content/01125108.guest.html
Obama Attacks McCain's Strength; GOP "Insiders" Starting to Worry
July 2, 2008
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Now, McCain has finally had it with Wesley Clark. He was taking questions aboard his Straight Talk Express, the airplane. Did you see what McCain did? He went out and bought a 737, or chartered one or leased one, and painted it with McCain logos and stuff all over it. And he's decorated the inside of the 737 to replicate his Straight Talk bus, his Straight Talk Express bus. He had people on the airplane the other day, and he said it was time for Obama to cut General Wesley Clark loose. That's right.

"'I think it's up to Sen. Obama now to not only repudiate him, but to cut him loose,' McCain said to a small group of reporters somewhere between Indianapolis, Ind., and Cartagena, Colombia. On board the plane, McCain was asked if Obama, who did not reject Clark's comments Monday, had done enough to repudiate the general." He didn't take the bait. 'That's up to others to decide. I'm not going to worry about the comments that General Clark made.'" Now, let me find this. Here it is. Go to audio sound bite number nine. Yeah, let's go nine, ten, 11, 12 looks like it here. Here is McCain on the Straight Talk Express airplane, and this is what he said.
MCCAIN: (airplane noise) I think it's up to Senator Obama to not only repudiate him, but to cut him loose.
RUSH: Now, it's interesting. You couldn't hear what he said? Well, then McCain needs to get a quieter airplane so our sound bites will work. Here's what he said. "I think it's up to Senator Obama to not only repudiate him, but to cut him loose." That's what he said. You couldn't hear that? I could hear that, how could you not hear it? I'm deaf! I am deaf and I heard it. This is really strange. So this morning on DNCTV, cohost Mika Brzezinski was interviewing Obama spokeswoman Linda Douglass. Now, do you know what Linda Douglass is? Linda Douglass is a Drive-By reporterette. Linda Douglass has worked everywhere. She's worked at CBS. She has worked at ABC. She used to be on the roundtable now and then with This Week with Brinkley and then This Week with Stephanopoulos.
She's been at various magazines, and she's done some time at CNN, and it wasn't long ago that Linda Douglass said, "You know what? You know what? It's time that I really went to work trying to implement the things I believe. I want to go to the campaign." Really? Linda, when did you not do that? Are you trying to tell all of us that when you were in the Drive-By Media you were not trying to influence and implement your beliefs? So she finally, I guess, got sick and tired of the lack of influence, even though she tried to exhibit it. She got out of the way. She joined the Obama campaign, and now she's a spokesman. So the Drive-Bys call another Drive-By for an opinion or a statement from Obama, and Mika Brzezinski said to Linda Douglass, "Wes Clark. McCain is saying Barack Obama ought to cut him loose. Is your candidate going to do that?"
DOUGLASS: The question is what does cutting him loose mean? I mean, he's not a member of the campaign. He doesn't have any official role in the campaign. Senator Obama said that he rejected, uh, what he said about, uh, John McCain. There's not much more that Senator Obama can do about, you know, General Clark, who's certainly expressed his own opinion on cable several times over and over again, but he's not part of the campaign. I don't know quite how you cut loose somebody who's not really part of the campaign.
RUSH: Come on. How stupid do you think we are? You mean to tell me, Linda Douglass, that if Obama were really distressed about what Clark said -- which he's trying to make everybody believe that he is. The Drive-Bys are already running cover for this operation, claiming that he's already rebuked Clark, which he hasn't. You mean to tell me that if Obama really detested this and called Clark and said, "Hey, look, man. I know you're not part of the campaign but this isn't helping. You gotta dial it back," that Clark would say, "Screw you, Obama! I'm going to go out there and say what I want to say." "No, you can't, General, because you say that stuff, you're hurting me. You don't say that stuff about McCain. You can say it about other people. Don't say it about him," and you think Clark would actually argue with Obama about it? The idea that Clark's an independent contractor and a surrogate is another one of these myths that float around and are attached to the Obama campaign. And here's Linda Douglass -- Drive-By Media extraordinaire, now spokesman for Obama -- insulting everybody's intelligence. "Well, well, what's there to cut loose? I mean, he's not attached. We can't make him stop." It happens all the time. Yesterday in Zanesville, Ohio, Senator Obama held a press conference. An unidentified reporter asked, "I wonder what you think about General Clark's comments both Sunday and today and even further, I'm wondering if you can say if you really think those kinds of comments are much different from the Swift Boat-types of questions Senator Kerry faced about his Vietnam experience."
OBAMA: I don't think that, uh, General Clark, you know, had the same intent as the Swift Boat ads that we saw four years ago. I reject that analogy. But what I've also said, repeatedly, is that Senator McCain deserves the utmost honor and respect for his service to our country.
RUSH: Yeah. Yeah. Well, this is a big nonfactor statement. "In the first place, I don't think General Clark had the same intent as the Swift Boat ads?" The Swift Boat ads were the truth. They are trying to now equate somebody being "Swiftboated" to being unfairly lied about; attacked, if you will; and of course the Drive-Bys are eager to help promote that myth and that revision of a definition. But then he goes on to say, "Look, I've also said repeatedly, Senator McCain deserves the utmost honor and respect for his service to our country." Fine. You have somebody out there speaking for you who's saying just the opposite, and you don't want him to shut down. So Obama gets it both ways. Obama gets to have it both ways. He gets to stand on the pedestal. He has the angelic, heavenly light flowing from the mountaintops; the countenance, making him look like he is surrounded by a halo.
He gets to say all the right things, while his thugs head out there and do all of the dirty work. And who are these thugs? They are the standard-issue, regular, predictable Democrat Party hacks from previous administrations. Now, one of two things is going on here. Either Obama is an empty suit intellectually and doesn't quite know how to deal with this, or this whole thing is an orchestrated plan to have all these things said by people other than Obama. Remember. Remember, my friends. What did Obama do? What was it? Late last week, Obama went out there, and he said, "You wait. The Republicans are going to use race against me. They're going to start attacking me, and they're going to do racial things, and they're going to attack my preacher. They're going to attack my wife." Meanwhile, who has been attacked? McCain, who has not attacked Obama on anything, much less race! McCain. And so preemptive strike: Claim you're gonna get hit while your thugs out there do the hitting. It sounds to me like an orchestrated plan.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Yesterday in Zanesville, Ohio, we have Obama echoing McCain, echoing Clinton, saying Clark's comments don't keep Ohioans up at night, unidentified reporter: "Do you not feel that General Clark owes McCain an apology? And then secondly I'm just being curious, why have you not spoken to him? Have you tried to reach him?"

OBAMA: We're here to talk about how we can make sure that kids in Zanesville and -- and across Ohio get the support that they need in communities that are impoverished and start to rebuild. The fact that somebody on a cable show or on a news show like General Clark said something that was inartful about Senator McCain I don't think is probably the thing that is keeping Ohioans up at night.
RUSH: Very, very, very smooth, very clever. So let's throw some money at communities that are drowning in money, and let's make sure we continue to throw money at education systems that are drowning in money, so much that we know money is not the answer here, and let's just say what Clark said was inartful. See, I knew he hasn't called Clark to tell him to shut up, and he's not going to. There's another point about all this, though. You know, this campaign is irritating to me in a whole lot of ways. I can't tell you how irritating it is. This campaign is not getting the substance of anything that needs to be addressed in this country, it really isn't. But then, above and beyond that, it seems like every day or every week, one of these two candidates is asking for somebody to be repudiated or denounced or renounced. Come on, guys. This is the major leagues. This is as big as it gets in the politics business. To run around and act like a bunch of little namby-pamby college kids that just got out of conflict resolution class is demeaning; it's demeaning to both of you; it's demeaning to the race.
I know why Obama is doing it. You can't talk about anything. You can't talk about his wife. You can't talk about his mother. You can't talk about his middle name. You can't call him a liberal. You can't talk about his financiers. You can't talk about his preacher. You can't talk about his terrorist buddy that blew up the Pentagon. You can't talk about his big ears. You can't talk about anything, and he's doing that specifically because he's an empty suit. He wants his image of Messiah to continue to be what is noted about him, and it will be easy because, as our Official Obama Criticizer, Bo Snerdley, said the other day, the Republicans are so afraid in this campaign that they won't even call nighttime dark, much less getting into any substantive criticism of Obama, other than, (doing McCain impression) "I think it's time they cut him loose, I would renounce, if it was me, I'd renounce." This is just like a couple of kids. Here is a conference call yesterday with reporters. Former prisoner of war Orson Swindle said this during the conference call.
SWINDLE: We all know that General Clark, as high-ranking as he is, his record and his last command I think were somewhat less than stellar. The point being, General Clark ought to be ashamed of himself accident talking about a fellow serviceman.
RUSH: He's not ashamed of himself. He's doing this on purpose for a reason. He's a political hack and he's playing hardball and they're out there trying to win and they're trying to take away from McCain the number-one attraction that he has, and that is his character and dignity and heroic war service that has contributed to this status. They know exactly what they're doing, and then they tell McCain, he needs to renounce some of his supporters that say oddball things. In fact, there's a story here in Politico.com from last night, and the headline: "McCain Game Plan Worries Insiders." When I saw that headline, I said, "Well, I will be fascinated about this." "Four months have passed since John McCain effectively captured the party nomination, and the insiders are getting restless. Top GOP officials, frustrated by what they view as inconsistent messaging, sluggish fundraising and an organization that is too slow to take shape, are growing increasingly uneasy about the direction of the McCain presidential campaign." Whoa. The insiders? The insiders are worried? Now? How long did it take 'em to catch us and get up to speed? This is laughable. The insiders are getting restless? The insiders got exactly what they wanted! The insiders have a candidate who's going to go out and appeal to Democrats and independents. That is exactly what they wanted!
Why are they upset? What do they expect? What did they expect? "While the practice of second-guessing presidential campaign decisions is a quadrennial routine, interviews with 16 Republican strategists and state party chairmen -- few of whom would agree to talk on the record -- reveal a striking level of discord and mounting criticism about the McCain operation. 'It's not just message or not having just one single meta-theme to compete with Obama,' said a veteran Republican strategist with close ties to McCain's top advisers. 'It's not just fundraising, which is mediocre. And it's not even just organization, which is [just] starting or nonexistent in many states.' 'McCain's campaign seems not to have a game plan. I don't see a consistent message,' said Ed Rollins, a veteran of Republican presidential campaigns. 'As someone who has run campaigns, this campaign is not running smoothly. But none of this matters if they get their act together.'" It's not running smoothly. Why is it not running smoothly? These insiders should pay a little more attention to what those of us who really care about winning these elections might have to say.
Let me put this in perspective for you. Some of you are going to get mad at me here, but it's early and if you want to explain why the insiders are mad and why there's no game plan here, why there's no organization, here you go. We know that Obama thinks of himself as a messiah. We know that he thinks that the power and the force of his personality will carry the day. The dirty little secret is that McCain has a little of that in him, too. He thinks not of himself as a messiah but just his existence, just his presence on the scene is enough. There doesn't have to be a whole lot of organization. In fact, we've discussed on this program before, you think McCain's going to have any GOP coattails? Does he seem interested in running around and helping House candidates either raise money, Senate candidates raise money, get reelected? There are some people who think that McCain has it in for the Republican Party and has had it in for the Republican Party since 2000. That would be tough to prove and tough to quantify.
But if you don't have a message, and if you don't think you need a message, and if you don't have organization, if you don't think you need organization, then it's gotta tell you something. It has to tell us something, and that is it isn't unnecessary, "we don't think we need all that because we have the power of persona, we have the power of our own record, we have the power of my lifetime of public service. That's what will launch me." So you've got two massive egos in check here. One of the things that McCain did is farm out all these state party operations to freelancers. There is no national hub organizing all these states, and of course the states said, "What do we do?" Because there's no leadership or guidance, there's no memos, nobody is suggesting do this or do that. So everybody's on their own on the Republican side.
Quick phone call. Who would you suggest first, Snerdley? Bob in Philadelphia. Bob, I'm glad you called. Welcome to the EIB Network, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Good afternoon, Rush.
RUSH: Yes.
CALLER: Yesterday, I was trying to get through all day, it seemed a bit strange, paraphrase, Obama's -- when he discounted what he said. McCain went through torment for five years. Now, torment to me is when I can't find my car keys. Being a great Democratic liberal like he is, he refuses to use the word torture. Unless of course you're wearing panties on your head, and you're an Iraqi, now that's torture to them, but for what McCain went through, it's torment. I can't believe that no one else picked up on that.
RUSH: I'll have to check the transcript. I don't remember specifically -- I'm not denying it -- I just don't remember specifically Obama using the word "torment." Don't take this personally. But I do know that if he did use it, it's not a surprise. That whole patriotism speech, do you know what the template for that speech was, the race speech in Philadelphia, where Obama essentially threw the preacher under the bus and his white grandmother under the bus. I still maintain, anybody that has to schedule a speech during the Fourth of July week to explain their own patriotism must have some question about whether or not people believe they are patriotic. I think they've got some focus group data, some polling data that shows that a whole bunch of Americans think the Democrat Party has a different definition of patriotism than most Americans. There's a poll, almost 25% of the American people in a poll suggest there's a whole big difference in the way Democrats define patriotism and the way average Americans do. So there's no question Obama had to go out and do that.
In the process of doing his own definition of patriotism, to, of course, match his life and behavior, believe me, there is a concerted effort here to destroy this whole prisoner of war, honor, integrity, service, sacrifice aspect of McCain's resume. That's the purpose. So if he did, in fact, refer to what McCain went through as torment, that was just trying to downplay what it was. Do you think they're not coordinating, if Obama actually said torment, a couple days after Wesley Clark says, "hey, riding a jet," riding, not flying it, "riding a jet and getting shot down and being a prisoner of war, that doesn't qualify you for anything." So that's what they're trying to do because they know Obama is small, compared to McCain, terms of life achievements, accomplishment, character, they got nothing. And, as the case with liberal Democrats, they succeed, or they operate, not by building themselves up, rather by hiding themselves and trying to destroy the character and reputations, credibility of their opponents, wherever they might be.
END TRANSCRIPT
Read the Background Material...
• CBS: McCain on Clark to Obama: "Cut Him Loose"
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/07/01/politics/fromtheroad/entry4226535.shtml
• National Review: Does Patriotism Matter? - Thomas Sowell
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDE2YmQwYmJlZTllMzdjNGQyY2FlZGZhMTM4NjAxYWE=
• National Review: Courage Under Fire. General Clark Misses the Point
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NzU4NzNmNzY2ZjQ3MWMxODJiZjRiYjk4YTMzY2VmOTg=
• Politico: McCain Game Plan Worries Insiders
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11474.html
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.

with baseless attacks as I have credibly documented and he has the nerve to wrongly accuse Gen. Clark of attacking John McCain's military service:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/13599
Is Limbaugh saying "Wesley Clark is a total ignoramus and moron" the last words?
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on October 12, 2007 - 9:44am.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/13535
Limbaugh called Clark "Orwellian;" I think Clark should challenge him to debate!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on October 5, 2007 - 9:37am.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/13510
Neocon media rapid response has targeted Gen. Clark for attacking Limbaugh today
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on October 3, 2007 - 9:19am.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/12727#comment-244230
Limbaugh has attacked Gen. Clark by calling him "Ashley Wilkes"
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on September 28, 2007 - 11:47am.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/11989#comment-210599
Limbaugh's last "Ashley Wilkes" attack on Gen. Clark before this
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on May 16, 2007 - 1:05pm.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/11989
REFUTATION: Rush Limbaugh attacked Gen. Clark and lied about him on Wed., May 2!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on May 3, 2007 - 12:52am.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/9886
Swiftboat attacks on Gen. Clark / We will have to be ready to defend him soon!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on November 29, 2006 - 2:20am.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/5599
TRANSCRIPTS & ANALYSIS: Rush Limbaugh mocks Gen. Wes Clark & Eli Segal's funeral
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on April 19, 2006 - 3:58am.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/4249
Ashley Wilkes: Our Troops Rough Up Women / Rush Limbaugh publicly attacked Gen. Wes Clark on Wednesday, Feb. 1
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on February 2, 2006 - 1:51am.