Rush Limbaugh and other hate radio talkers have aggressively attacked the candidacy pf Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Today on his radio show, Limbaugh responded to the explosive New York Times story on McCain’s relationship with lobbyist Vicki Iseman by spinning it as a victory for hate radio.
According to Limbaugh, this episode is the predictable consequence of McCain shunning him and other hate radio pundits:
The important question for John McCain today is, is he going to learn the right lesson from this, and what is the lesson? The lesson is liberals are to be defeated. You cannot walk across the aisle with them. You cannot reach across the aisle. You cannot welcome their media members on your bus and get all cozy with them and expect eternal love from them. You are a Republican. [...]
There’s a great opportunity here for Senator McCain to learn the right lesson and understand who his friends are and who his enemies are. He’s had that backwards for way too long.
Listen to Limbaugh’s comments here:
Right-wing pundit Laura Ingraham was similarly self-righteous today, stating:
I ask the McCain campaign this question: Do you think you need talk radio now? Do you think that talk radio’s important to set the record straight, or do you think a press conference, where the media is shouting question after question at you — do you think that’s going to put an end to all of this?
Right wing pundits still don’t like McCain, but they’re willing to give him a second chance — as long as the senator is willing to see the light and change his ways. David Brody of CBN believes that this New York Times “hit job” may seen as “a conservative badge of honor” and “could actually help John McCain.”
Always classy, Limbaugh ended his segment by saying that he wasn’t surprised that The New York Times published an unfavorable piece on McCain. “It’s as predictable as Ted Kennedy finding a bar at happy hour,” he said.
Transcript:
RUSH: Would you give me a break? You’re surprised that Page Six-type gossip is on the front page of the New York Times? Where have you been? How in the world can anybody be surprised at the New York Times? I cannot believe how everybody’s missing this! I even have guys from The Politico, Jonathan Martin saying, “You got a reaction?” I sent him a couple paragraphs, and it’s being misinterpreted a bit. I guess I wasn’t clear enough. Anyway, greetings, folks. Here we are with another three hours of broadcast excellence at the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies. It’s great to have you with us. The telephone number is 800-282-2882. The e-mail address is ElRushbo@eibnet.com.
What have I always said that today is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt? It is this: If you let the media make you, you are subjecting yourself to the media being able to destroy you. Senator McCain — the important thing about what has happened here in the New York Times, the only important thing to me — I don’t care what’s in this story. The story is not the story. The story is that this paper endorsed McCain, sat on this story and now puts it out just prior to McCain wrapping up the nomination. And McCain says he’s disappointed. Why? Why is anybody disappointed or surprised but this? They are who they are. A snake is a snake. A tiger is a tiger. The New York Times is the New York Times. Folks, if you expect me to be angry about the story and angry at the New York Times, you have tuned to the wrong radio show. I refuse to get mad when something I have predicted is going to happen, happens. I refuse to get mad when something I know is true, is true. It’s a total waste of energy.
The important question for John McCain today is, is he going to learn the right lesson from this, and what is the lesson? The lesson is liberals are to be defeated. You cannot walk across the aisle with them. You cannot reach across the aisle. You cannot welcome their media members on your bus and get all cozy with them and expect eternal love from them. You are a Republican. Whether you’re a conservative Republican or not, you are a Republican. At some point, the people you cozy up to, either to do legislation or to get cozy media stories, are going to turn on you. They are snakes. If the right lesson is not learned from this, then it will have proved to be of no value. There’s a great opportunity here for Senator McCain to learn the right lesson and understand who his friends are and who his enemies are. He’s had that backwards for way too long. He has thought the New York Times is his friend. He has thought Chris Matthews and these other people in the Drive-By Media are his friends. They aren’t. That’s the lesson today.
The story is not the story. The story is the Drive-By Media turning on it’s favorite maverick trying to take him out. The media picked the Republican candidate. The New York Times endorsed that candidate while they sat on this story, and now with utter predictability, they are trying to destroy him. This is what you get when you walk across the aisle and try to make these people your friends. Why should any of us be surprised or even angry at what the New York Times is doing here trying to take out John McCain? Those of you who listen regularly should have been expecting this all along because it’s utterly predictable. It’s as predictable as the sun rising in the morning. It’s as predictable as Ted Kennedy finding a bar at happy hour.
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