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Obama’s Cabinet: Clinton Retreads

by Rush Limbaugh - Nov 25,2008

RUSH: Overland Park, Kansas. This is Joe. Joe, thanks for waiting. You’re next on the program.

CALLER: Rush, dittos, thanks for having me on your program. Hey, I’m calling about the revival of the Clinton nation, the appointment of the Clintonistas to the Obama cabinet positions, and I think there’s an angle on this that has never been explored — at least, not that I have heard yet. Rush, I think it’s time to give credit where credit is due regarding the revival of the fortunes of the Clinton nation. You’ll recall that it was about seven months ago Hillary Clinton’s national star was on the wane, and it looked like she was about to pass from the scene in terms of being a national leader of the party — not just Hillary, but Bill as well — and one man is really responsible for the revival of that star, and I’m calling to give credit to that man. That man is you, Rush.

RUSH: You’re obviously referring here to Operation Chaos.

CALLER: Absolutely. Yes.

RUSH: I appreciate it. People try to credit me for a lot of things, justifiably so, but how can you credit me for all these Clintonistas in an Obama cabinet? Now, granted Operation Chaos continued the viability and the possibility of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign and made the race much closer, but it stops there. How can you say that Operation Chaos influenced The Messiah to populate his administration with all these Clinton retreads?

CALLER: Well, Rush, that’s where I think you have to connect the dots a little bit. You recall that Hillary had lost, what was it, 13 consecutive primaries and Obama had all the momentum — and then suddenly Operation Chaos was launched and the tables were turned and Hillary started winning all those. In fact, Obama’s star, there was concern that maybe he was ready to fade away. I think what happened is — and I think it’s clear now in the wake of all that’s happened, all the appointments — is that some sort of deal was struck, that there was an agreement reached between the Obama and Hillary camps with all those discussions going on, that he would bring her in and put her in a prime position of leadership and bring her team in as well. All I can say is that never would have happened with all the animosity between those two camps. That never, ever would have happened. We’d never have seen Hillary in a position like that unless Obama had been forced to do it.

RUSH: Ah. Now, now, now, now, now, now. I appreciate the effort here to launch my importance to even higher levels, but the Clintons — and I really resent this on your part, Joe — the Clintons do not need me to practice the time-honored art that they knew and perfected for two decades of intimidation and threats. They do that whether they had power, and they do that whether I did Operation Chaos or not. Any number of instances they could have reminded Obama about, that they were involved in, had nothing to do with me. So while it may well be that Hillary’s viability was revived and maintained during the scope of the campaign, the whole course of it, I really think we have to draw a line and be realistic here and say that I — El Rushbo, speaking to you live from the office of America’s Anchorman — really cannot be blamed in any way for Obama’s cabinet choices.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I mean, let’s look at the Obama cabinet, shall we? The media is out there, ‘Oh, what a great cabinet!’ They can barely contain themselves. ‘Oh, we are so excited. I’ve got the vapors, Mabel! We are so excited. It’s such a competent bunch of people. Oh, wow! We are moving forward. This is going to be great.’ Okay, Eric Holder, attorney general, supported pardoning terrorists and Marc Rich. Obama chooses associates of Robert Rubin who was on the board of Citigroup, which would be broke but for tens of billions in taxpayer subsidies just made to it — and he walked out of there in 1998 with $107 million in consulting fees while he’s on the board taking it down the tubes. He chooses Bill Richardson, who, as energy secretary, was a no-growther who helped create the energy crisis. He chooses Hillary. Now, get this. He chooses Hillary as secretary of state. It was Hillary who exchanged spit with Yasser Arafat’s wife some years ago. Remember how that angered the Jewish community? I mean, it was a wet one. (kissing sound) The media won’t say any of this, folks, because they want you to believe it’s a great cabinet Obama is putting together, but it’s retrograde.

Here is Scott. Scott, is there actually a town in Michigan called Ramblank?

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: Okay. I just wanted to check, because Snerdley, every time I get a call from Lubbock, Texas, he would write Lovett — L-o-v-e-t-t — because he hadn’t heard of Lubbock. I haven’t heard of Ramblank. How do you spell Ramblank?

CALLER: It’s Grand Blank, G-r-a-n-d.

RUSH: Oh, okay. All right, see, I knew he hadn’t heard of that, either, ’cause he got up here is Ramblank, and one word, R-a-m-b-l-a-n-k.

CALLER: It’s just outside of Flint.

RUSH: Well, the problem is that not enough people — you know, Michigan is in such a recession that people aren’t interested in it anymore and that’s why people don’t know the towns there. Anyway, what did you call about?

CALLER: Well, you were talking earlier about looking for Change in Arkansas. And the reality is I think the change Obama is looking for is actually in France. There are two cities in France named Change.

RUSH: There is a Change, France?

CALLER: There are two of them. So I think that may be what Change he’s looking for, go in that direction.

RUSH: See, France is going conservative. France is going right wing. That’s not the kind of change he’s looking for. Sarkozy called The Messiah naive about his foreign policy and this sort of thing. I appreciate you doing the geographical search. This is why I say, don’t try this at home. It was a joke. He’s putting all these Clinton people in, okay, there’s a Hope, Arkansas, and Obama was for hope, and then he was for change. I said, ‘Is there a Change, Arkansas,’ because what we’re getting is Arkansas retrogrades in The Messiah’s new change and hope cabinet.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I read the most hilarious thing last night. I didn’t print it out and bring it in here because — (interruption) I’m now hearing it’s going to be a negotiated item once we get unionized with Card Check in here, the fact the staff is standing up when I approach the microphone, you go ahead and think that way. You think card check’s going to get in here, we don’t have enough people here to qualify. You want to unionize, the battle’s on. As I was saying, ladies and gentlemen, last night I was reading Show Prep, and I came across the funniest thing. I didn’t print it out because it was so obviously a parody, but I wish I had printed it out because it reads like a genuine news story. Let me ask you a question. Who is the one obvious person not yet named to the Obama cabinet from the Clinton administration?

Who is the one person that Obama has not yet named who was prominent in the Clinton years? Exactly right. Monica Lewinsky. They even brought back Alice Rivlin to do consultancy. I’m sure that Madeleine Albright will be prancing around over at the State Department doing some things under cover and behind the scenes, figuratively under the covers. But Lewinsky — this little humorous satirical story had Monica Lewinsky being appointed to a position at the State Department for a host of valid reasons. She has exhibited amazing oral skills, which are crucial to the acts of diplomacy. She is very, very economic, saves everything, including her wardrobe, which would go a long way to help Obama’s plan to cut budgets and so forth. But there were other things in it and it was just hilarious. I still have it on my home computer. I’ll print it out and I’ll bring it in tomorrow.