RUSH: Lamar Alexander on the Senate floor this morning, warning Obama he’s going down the Nixonian path with this enemies list business.
ALEXANDER: Based upon that experience and my 40 years since then, in and out of public life, I want to make what I hope will be a friendly suggestion to President Obama and his White House. Don’t create an enemies list. It’s a mistake for the president of the United States and for the White House staff. If the president and his top aides treat people with different views as enemies instead of listening to what they have to say, they’re likely to end up with a narrow view and a feeling that the whole world is out to get them — and as those of us who served in the Nixon administration know, that can get you into a lot of trouble.
RUSH: I have to wonder about this. I’ve seen the obligatory stories from the mainstream press criticizing this. ‘You shouldn’t focus on Fox. All you’re doing is elevating them. We as members of the media are not comfortable with singling out other news organizations. We members of the media, we don’t remember this ever happening before: A single news agency being targeted by an administration. We really don’t think this is good,’ and so here goes Senator Alexander saying, ‘This is a dangerous road, President Obama, a Nixonian path. You’re likely to end up with a narrow view if you don’t listen to what your opponents have to say.’ For crying out loud! I know what he’s doing. I know he’s not this naive. (interruption)
Can I explain…? What do you want me to explain, Snerdley? What? Lamar Alexander? He’s just getting it on the record here on the Senate floor that the president and his aides are conducting an enemies list. He’s getting it out there in the official record and so forth and actually having the weight of an elected Republican Senator say it. But this is not going to… The Obama people aren’t going to say, ‘Oh, my God! Enemies list? Lamar Alexander said we’re acting like Nixon! We better stop.’ That isn’t going to happen. And these guys in the Obama administration… Look, folks, Alinsky Rules for Radicals: When faced with an opponent, get rid of the opponent. You don’t debate the opponent. You don’t consider the opponent’s ideas. You say, ‘I won. Screw you. Get out of the way, and whatever I have to do to get you out of the way is right.’ It’s happening right before our very eyes. Here’s more from Lamar Alexander from his Senate floor speech this morning.
ALEXANDER: As any veteran of the Nixon White House can attest, we’ve been down this road before, and it won’t end well. An enemies list only denigrates the presidency and the republic itself.
RUSH: It’s already happening.
ALEXANDER: These are unusually difficult times —
RUSH: Yeah!
ALEXANDER: — with plenty of forces encouraging us to disagree.
RUSH: Yeah!
ALEXANDER: Let’s not start calling people out and compiling an enemies list. Let’s push the street brawling out of the White House and work together on the truly presidential issues: Creating jobs, reducing health care costs, reducing the debt, creating clean energy.
RUSH: This is like telling the KGB to stop spying on people. This is like telling Castro to stop torturing dissidents. It’s like telling Kim Jong-il, ‘Hey, you better not launch that missile.’ It’s like telling Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ‘You better not! You better not or we’re going to really get into some diplomacy.’ What? Tell these guys to stop their enemies list? (stifling laughter) Don’t make me laugh, although I can’t help but laugh. Anyway, I know he knows these words are not going to have any impact; he just wants to get the words on the record. But this is how these people operate! There won’t be an opposition by the time they get through.