RUSH: Moving on to Chicago and Andrew Greeley, who I’m told is a Catholic priest in Chicago. He had a column on December 8th in the Chicago Sun-Times about Barack Obama and the headline: ‘If He Does, He Better Be Ready to Face Nasty Opposition — ‘Should Barack Obama run for president,’ Mr. Greeley, or Father Greeley, opens his piece, ‘it will be a tough call for the senator and for those who admire and respect him personally. If he runs he has a good chance of winning because he represents what Americans want in their president at this very troubled time in their history, a man of firm principles but not an ideologue–‘
Yes, he is, Mr. Greeley, but that’s not the point. ‘–a moderate –‘ No, he’s not, Mr. Greeley. That’s not the point. ‘–who can sympathize with his opponent’s position.’ He sympathizes only after he defeats them, Mr. Greeley. At any rate, the piece went on: ‘A second reason for not running is that the political rhetoric in this country is toxic. Attack ads, negative campaigns, personal assaults are an essential part of American politics, but why should Obama fear any of this,’ ladies and gentlemen. He’s done nothing wrong. He’s exactly what everybody wants. He may get the media anal exam but it won’t find anything. He’s perfect. ‘Bloggers, radio talk show hosts like the poisonous Rush Limbaugh who calls the Senator Osama Obama,’ and that is the point.
This is beginning to stick out there, and the reason it’s beginning to sick is because leftists and columnists and Democrats and apparently priests like Andrew Greeley get their sources of information on me not from me, but from websites whose primary purpose is to misquote, misrepresent, and ultimately dehumanize me. So, Mr. Greeley, father Greeley, I hope you have been contacted, I hope you have your radio on. I would like to play for you — again, this is about the 20th time we’ve done this. I would like to play for you an audio sound bite from January 11, 2005, the National Press Club. Senator Kennedy has just finished a speech and has been asked a question. The question is irrelevant. Here is Senator Kennedy’s answer.
KENNEDY: There you go. Why don’t we just ask Osama bin Laden? Uh, Osama Obama! (giggles) Obama what is — since he won by such a big amount.
RUSH: And it was at that point, Mr. Greeley, that we began to have fun with once again another humorous verbal misstep on the part of Senator Kennedy, a prominent Democrat who referred to ‘Obama Osama.’ Every time he does it I get caught repeating it. It was Senator Kennedy who referred to him as ‘Osama bin Laden,’ and then ‘Osama Obama,’ and we then produced a parody tune. In fact, Ed, if you can find that parody tune during the break, we should play that for father Greeley as well and anybody else out there. Do I expect this to change the record? No. The record will remain that I called Obama Osama, when it was Senator Kennedy who actually said this first at the National Press Club, and I find it interesting that no one there at the National Press Club chose to report what Senator Kennedy said. Our microphones were there, and we heard it, and we have played it, made a little parody song. Here again, audio sound bite number one, Ed, this is Senator Kennedy, January 11th, 2005, National Press Club, answering a question from the media.
KENNEDY: There you go. Why don’t we just ask Osama bin Laden? Uh, Osama Obama! (giggles) Obama what is — since he won by such a big amount.
RUSH: And, by the way, Father Greeley, Mr. Greeley, there was lots of laughter at this answer. People found it very humorous that Senator Kennedy made this faux pas, this Freudian slip or what have you. But note the anger on the part of Democrats when they’re told that I originated this. No sense of humor whatsoever, which is the case most of the time.
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RUSH: Speaking of Ted Kennedy, now I’ve poisoned Ted Kennedy. I put the words in his mouth, and of course, I’m a mean-spirited SOB because I took a harmless slip of the tongue and have now blown it up into an insensitive, mean-spirited, not funny attack on both Senator Kennedy and Obama. This is how it will be played, ladies and gentlemen. Because there’s no sense of humor on the left, absolutely none, zip, zero, nada. Yes, Barack Hussein Obama. Senator Kennedy, by the way, dropped yesterday his public commitment to support Senator Kerry in the 2008 presidential race, saying he won’t wait indefinitely for Kerry to declare his intentions while the Democratic Party field takes place. Now, a lot of hubbub has been caused over this, and Senator Kennedy has since said (mumbling impression) he will still support Kerry ‘if he announces in a timely fashion.’
Kennedy’s office issued a statement ‘clarifying,’ a typical ‘clarifying statement.’ They didn’t do this after the January 11, 2005, National Press Club appearance, saying that Kennedy will support Kerry if he declares his candidacy in the near term, though Kennedy aides declined to define that schedule. Then it says here, ‘Kennedy’s comments come at a difficult time for Kerry. Early polls show him far behind the leading Democrats in potential presidential fields, and many party activists want Democrats to look for a fresh face in 2008.’ They found it. Folks, there’s no way that John Kerry — who has the face of a St. Bernard, who has not made the rescue on a snowy mountainside, very sad. There’s no way he can compare or compete in any way, shape, manner, or form with Barack Obama. It just can’t be done. I’m not sure Mrs. Clinton can, either. I’m not sure anybody can compete with Barack Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, just don’t think it can be done, and certainly, certainly not Senator Kerry. Senator Kennedy knows this. He doesn’t want to attach himself to a losing horse two terms in a row.
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