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RUSH: In West Virginia, this is a story from The Politico. The Democrat Senate candidate from West Virginia, Governor Joe Manchin — this is the Sheets Byrd seat — says that he didn’t understand key details of Obamacare when he publicly endorsed it last March and he’s now withdrawn that endorsement in West Virginia because he didn’t understand what was in it. ‘Reaching as far as they did in the — in the weeds of the bill that we didn’t know about, no one else knew about until it came out — knowing that, I would not have supported that or voted for that at that time,’ Joe Manchin said on Fox News Sunday. Well, all of us, the members of the great unwashed, we knew the details. Why didn’t he? We knew what was in it, and he’s a Democrat. Joe Manchin’s a Democrat. I don’t believe he didn’t know what’s in it. He knew what was in it. Joe Manchin is all for it. I love all these Democrats now trying to sound like Ronald Reagan or at least trying to sound conservative because Obama is the kiss of death, Obamacare is the kiss of death. Here’s the Democrat candidate, West Virginia, (imitating Manchin) ‘I endorse Obamacare, I’m all for it. Oh, sorry, take it back, I didn’t know what was in it.’ Well, Governor, we did.

Bo Snerdley knew what was in it. Brian Johnson, EIB broadcast engineer, he knew what was in it. American after American, millions of Americans knew what was in Obamacare, and tried to stop it, Governor. Why is it you had to wait until it was passed to find out what they put in the weeds, when we knew what was in the weeds before it was passed? It’s a bit of a stretch for us to believe, Governor, that you didn’t know what was in the bill. You are just trying to play both ends against the middle. Endorse it and now walk back the endorsement, whatever is popular at the moment is the position you seek to occupy. ‘The health care reform is far overreaching in areas that I don’t agree with — the 1099 part of that, the mandates. Also, the firewall’s not strong enough for abortions. I’m pro-life. And we’re just a different type of Democrat here in West Virginia.’ Of course, Mr. Manchin’s only a different type of Democrat when he’s running for election. After he wins election, the rest of the time he’s the very model of a liberal Democrat hack. How did he get to be elected governor if he’s just a different kind of Democrat? Are there different kinda Democrats in West Virginia? Bob Byrd was not a different kinda Democrat. He’s the kind of Democrat that had to run, become a member of the Klan in order to get elected in West Virginia. That’s according to Bill Clinton.

Now, lest we forget, Mr. Obama even deigned to wear a US flag pin when campaigning in West Virginia, so obviously Democrats will go to any extreme to bamboozle the locals there. Obama puts on an American flag going in to campaign for Manchin. Yeah, we gotta tell these West Virginians we’re really Americans. Can you imagine the conversation? Robert Gibbs goes to Obama, ‘Look, we’re going into West Virginia, you gotta put this on.’ ‘What?’ says the president. ‘Yeah, you gotta put this on. Manchin, you know, we’re trying to pull off this notion he disagrees with you on health care, they’re different kinds of Democrats in West Virginia, they don’t mind the American flag, so you gotta put this flag on your lapel.’ Obama says, ‘I do?’ ‘Yeah. Yeah. Just go in there, talk about fiscal discipline and, by the way, Mr. President when you go to West Virginia don’t tell ’em what your plans are for the coal business. Don’t tell ’em that you can feel free to be in the coal business but you’re gonna go bankrupt. Don’t tell ’em that, Mr. President. They’re different kinds of Democrats in West Virginia. You gotta wear that flag pin in there.’

Meanwhile, you’ve got a real conservative running against Manchin, John Raese. And polling data on this race has gone back and forth, too. You would believe one week Raese’s out of it, next week he’s way up, outside the margin of error. These polls are used for fundraising, stifle enthusiasm on the Republican side. But get a grip. Look, I’m addressing all of you Americans in West Virginia, your governor wants you to believe that somebody scammed him on Obamacare, and it was wasn’t until it was actually passed that he found out all that rotgut garbage they put in there so now he’s walked back his endorsement? Do you want somebody that easily fooled? Do you want a Democrat that other Democrats can so easily roll like they did Governor Manchin? He said it. ‘I didn’t know what was in there until it was passed.’ But most of you in West Virginia did. Most of us in the country class, we knew what was in it before it was passed. And so did Joe Manchin, so did Obama, Pelosi, they all knew what was in it. That’s why they supported it.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Now, let’s stay focused on Governor Manchin of West Virginia, who’s running for the Senate. ‘I didn’t know what was in that health care bill. I didn’t know what was in the weeds here ’til it was passed. I’ve withdrawn my endorsement.’ Now, he is, and he was at the time of the health care debate, the governor of a state — and, ladies and gentlemen, it was state governors who were among the first to publicly oppose Obamacare because of the onerous mandates heaped upon the states. The states were going to have to shoulder an increasing amount of the financial burden, particularly in Medicare. Therefore it was state governors who led the charge and are now leading the effort to get Obamacare repealed. But somehow Governor Joe Manchin of West Virginia was blissfully unaware of all of the damage that Obamacare was going to do to the states — until he began to run for the Senate, and then, shazam!

He found out what they put in it in the weeds. But as a governor he had no idea. Now, the flag pin comment. ‘What are talking about flag pin, Rush?’ Well, March 12th, 2008, campaign city, Charleston, West Virginia: ‘Barack Obama supported a flag lapel pin and talked up patriotism Monday as he campaigned in blue-collar West Virginia.’ Now, if it’s news — if it’s the lede in a story that the president of the United States put on a flag pin to go into West Virginia — it’s obviously unusual. If it’s the lede. That’s why I was saying Gibbs goes to Obama and says, ‘You better put this flag pin on. We’re going to West Virginia. I mean, you gotta make it look like you care in there.’ It also says, after he put on the flag pin and talked up patriotism, he ‘shot a solid game of pool.’

He went to a pool hall with a flag lapel pin in there, talking patriotism, campaigning for his self for president of the United States and West Virginny.

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RUSH: I’m still getting grief on this flag pin stuff, this little routine that I did. I’m still getting grief in the e-mail. (interruption) Well, I think I’m if we go to grief because I’m saying that Obama put the pin on, the flag lapel pin on only to fool people. And people think that that’s insulting that I’m saying that about the president of the United States. Well, let me just read you the whole story, or at least more of it. This is May 12th, 2008, folks, from the Associated Press. ‘Barack Obama sported a flag lapel pin and talked up patriotism Monday as he campaigned in blue-collar West Virginia. He also shot a solid game of pool.’ Now, that’s the lede! When is it a lede story that the president wears an American flag lapel pin? Come on, you libs. Somebody tell me: When’s that a story? You know, it was a story when Tom Brokaw put one on.

Tom Brokaw said, ‘I can’t show favoritism this way.’ This is back during the presidential campaign. I mean, this shows just how far Democrats are willing to go. A presidential candidate would put on a flag lapel pin to get a vote. A Democrat would do that. That would show you how far they’re willing to go. That will show you the risk Obama was willing to take. Stop and think about this. You have Barack Obama, who wants to be president of the United States; he’s campaigning. He goes into West Virginia. He takes the inordinate risk of wearing the American flag lapel pin. I mean, that will show you just how far they’re willing to go, folks. They will… (interruption) Yeah, can you imagine when he got home?

Michelle says, ‘Honey, what is that on your jacket?’

(doing Obama impression) ‘Oh, that? Yeah. That’s an American flag lapel pin.’

‘Why are you wearing that?’

‘Oh, well, you know, I had to go to West Virginia.’

‘Oh, yeah! Okay, okay, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Barack, you know, that’s really gutsy of you. I’m really proud of you.’

Can you imagine that conversation in the White House? Jonathan Chait, New Republic: ‘A GOP House Will Lead to Impeachment.’ I warned you people: You’re gonna get bombarded this week with every conceivable story about how the Republicans are either a bunch of extremists or cowards. They are either going to impeach Obama or they’re going to work with him. Take your pick.

A lot of people want to know, even Snerdley came in and asked me today, ‘So what did you think of the NFL this weekend after all the changes in enforcement on the rules on helmet-to-helmet hits?’ And I said I think the girls responded very well. ‘One week after drawing heavy fines for illegal hits, James Harrison and Brandon Meriweather were praised by the NFL for clean play in Sunday’s victories.’ So the girls stepped up.


BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Still getting grief on the flag pins. Flag pins, still getting grief on this. All right. You libs, you continue to step in it. Two stories here. October 4th, 2007. This is six months before the May 2008 story where Obama goes into West Virginia, and the lead item in the story is he’s wearing an American flag lapel pin. And don’t think that you are distracting me from other things by getting me to focus on this because you are not. I am simply nailing this. ABC News, David Wright and Sunlen Miller, October 4th, 2007: ‘Obama Dropped Flag Pin in War Statement — Obama Stops Wearing Flag Pin, Says He’ll Show Patriotism Through Ideas.’ October 4th, 2007. ‘An eagle-eyed reporter for the ABC affiliate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, noticed something missing from Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama’s, D-Ill., lapels. ‘You don’t have the American flag pin on. Is that a fashion statement?’ the reporter asked, at the end of a brief interview with Obama on Wednesday. ‘Those have been on politicians since Sept. 12, 2001.’ The standard political reply to that question might well have been, ‘My patriotism speaks for itself.’But Obama didn’t say that.’ He said, (paraphrasing) ‘I’m gonna show my patriotism through ideas, not symbolism.’ So in October 2007 he had taken the lapel pin off, and that was a news story, the lead item. It’s the headline: ‘Obama Dropped Flag Pin in War Statement.’

Then you go to May, 2008, the lead item: ‘It’s Back.’ Obama’s wearing the flag pin and shooting a game of pool in West Virginia. So show you how far Democrats are willing to go. And then the date here is February 24th, 2008. So you have October 2007: takes the flag pin off. February 2008, AP: no flag pin, no hand over his heart. Is he exposed? ‘Sen. Barack Obama’s refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin along with a photo of him not putting his hand over his heart during the National Anthem led conservatives on Internet and in the media to question his patriotism.’ And in fact the AP’s headline was: ‘Obama May Face Grilling on Patriotism,’ because there was no flag pin, took it off October 2007. May 2008 it’s back. February 2008, it’s noticed that it’s not there, and he’s getting grilled on it. So don’t get on me because I happen to remember my history. Don’t get on me because I remember that whether or not he was wearing a flag pin was the lead item in news stories. When he decided to go into West Virginia to campaign, it was time to put it back on. He wasn’t going to let his patriotism speak for itself in West Virginia. He’s gonna put the symbol of it on the lapel. Just that simple.

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RUSH: Long Beach, California. John, thank you for waiting, and welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER: Thank you. Nice to talk to you. Rush, I don’t know if you remember this, but around 1993 you did a rally here in Long Beach, California, and I interviewed you for the local newspaper.

RUSH: That would have been —

CALLER: ’92, maybe.

RUSH: — national conservative forum, right?

CALLER: It was before ’94, though, because we had talked about what was going to happen in ’94. I remember interviewing you.

RUSH: In Long Beach, yeah, we had Bob Bork there.

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: Yeah, okay, the national conservative forum. I remember that.

CALLER: We had an advance guy that was very sharp that I don’t know if you remember him, but he was a good guy, set it all up. You were just emerging on the national scene at that point.

RUSH: Right, right.

CALLER: Anyway, I thought it was a great interview. I wanted to mention, because I don’t know how much time I have, I’m a West Virginia Democrat, which is different than most Democrats, although I live in California, nobody’s mentioned this, and I think because you were in Pittsburgh you might understand this concept more than most. You know how rabid the West Virginia mountaineer fans are about their team.

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: You know that, right, you lived in Pittsburgh. You probably went to West Virginia (unintelligible). although we’re not happy about them losing to Syracuse. I wanted to mention, though, Manchin force-fed, pretty much, a series with Marshall on West Virginia. He wanted to leave a legacy, and it was bad enough to play ’em seven times, you know, and all that, but now this year, in September, which I don’t think was a very wise political move for him.

RUSH: Wait, wait, wait, we’re going a little bit too fast for people, Marshall University, you’re talking about a series with Marshall University.

CALLER: I’m sorry. Marshall University is, you know, the West Virginia fans like 90% are Mountaineer fans. Marshall wanted to play West Virginia for years, and they wouldn’t do it, you know, because it’s like Kentucky and Louisville for years, they would say, I don’t think there’s much for us to gain by playing them —

RUSH: Exactly right.

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: This evolves around —

CALLER: Manchin forced the game, pulled rank, he wanted to leave a legacy, and he forced a game on the athletic director quite a few years ago, he pulled a power play, and made a lot of Mountaineer fans unhappy and it didn’t cost him in the governor’s race because, you know, it’s two or three percent perhaps that would vote against him, but in this race, anyway, in September, when the series is getting ready to end in a couple years, he made this play to be extended for ten years, and a lot of Mountaineer fans got really upset about it, and I know it sounds weird to many people, I think people in Nebraska might understand, you know, and Alabama or somewhere college football’s huge, a lot of Mountaineer fans I think might take it out on him in that — I don’t think it was a good political move for him to make in September, you know, with the November elections, he was in a tight race with Raese. I think that two or three percent of people that make him pay for that series may be the difference in this election I guess is what I’m saying and it’s hard for people to understand that but I think he might.

RUSH: Yeah, but I want you to try to.

CALLER: Okay.

RUSH: I want you to try to tell people why people in West Virginia would take it out against Manchin if he forced the Mountaineers of West Virginia to play Marshall. What’s so bad about Marshall?

CALLER: It’s just the fact that there’s a lot of acrimony between the teams, the people in Marshall, we view them as — I didn’t even go to West Virginia, but I’ve been a Mountaineer fan my whole life, they view Marshall, they don’t have the athletic history, they’ve always wanted to play West Virginia, they couldn’t justify it financially, so they resorted to name-calling, and the coach of Marshall went on the state House steps and had placard up like that Bob Dylan video, holding up placards and all that about why won’t they play us, you know. And the athletic director, you know, negotiated in the press and all that, and West Virginia could never — they wanted to play ’em one and one, you know, one in Morgantown and one in Huntington, and they won’t do that, it’s not financially feasible because of the size of the stadiums and things like that. Well, anyway, Manchin, who wants to leave a legacy, you know, got everybody together, and it turned out they played five games in Morgantown, two in Huntington, and it’s gonna end soon. The Mountaineer fans thought, ‘Why is the governor, I mean, isn’t there something else to worry about, like coal mine safety or something, why is he making it at the top of the his agenda? Why is the governor of a state even involved in something like a football schedule?’

RUSH: Yeah, but explain to people what in the world Manchin saw as something positive for his legacy to make the Mountaineers play Marshall.

CALLER: I think Manchin views himself as — you gotta understand, it’s like a war hero, like a guy that it’s his state, it’s his own fiefdom, you know, he’s from a political family, his uncle was —

RUSH: Yeah, but doesn’t it stem from the fact that Marshall is the little guy?

CALLER: Marshall is the little guy that the way they conducted themselves, there’s a lot of things. You know, they’re not on the level with West Virginia and they have to support themselves financially on their own, they don’t get any state money, Marshall does and all that. And they agitated and it’s just not a popular series among the Mountaineer fans because they’ve been forced into it.

RUSH: Right.

CALLER: Anyway, the point being that the governor actually got involved in fomenting —

RUSH: It’s affirmative action.

CALLER: You know what?

RUSH: It’s affirmative action for Marshall, and it would be compounded if Marshall beat ’em. That’s what they live in fear of.

CALLER: They almost did.

RUSH: They almost did.

CALLER: But anyway, it’s not even that, I think you’re right, if I think about it, it’s exactly right. It’s giving them something that — and they depend basically on playing West Virginia, you know, because the fans that play Marshall buy the season tickets just to go to the game, that one game, like Ohio State fans do. Anyway, I think this has not been said over a forum that’s as big as this, or any forum I’ve listened to, that this may —

RUSH: This wouldn’t show up in a poll. I mean this would not show up on a poll, either.

CALLER: No, but I think there’s resentment about that. And, you know, Raese’s run a good campaign because he’s made it a referendum between Obama and Manchin, basically, and tying him to it and Obama’s very unpopular in West Virginia, extremely unpopular.

RUSH: Well, I know. That’s why he wore the flag pin to try to overcome that. Well, look, John, I appreciate the call. Thanks much. You never know. I mean people take sports allegiances and college football — supposed to keep the politics out of it. I mean even on this show we get the stick-to-the-issues crowd when football comes up. But I mean even journalists have to call here to get the real story. Don’t forget, Marshall is the university, remember the movie We Are Marshall? The team was lost in a plane crash. They had to rebuild that program from absolute scratch and they went around the state and other parts of the country begging when the new team was formed, ‘Please play us,’ and nobody wanted to play ’em ’cause it was like playing Little Leagues. When they first put the team back together they had no prayer. So that weighs into this as well. There’s a whole lot of subterfuge here that would never make a political story. I’m not saying it’s a factor, but, if it is a factor, you will never understand why. People would never understand if Manchin is gonna lose the race and it’s by three points, nobody would ever say, ‘Yeah, it’s because of what he did scheduling a five-game home-and-away series with Marshall,’ because it’s not on the journalists’ radar. Even though they might know it they would not report it because it doesn’t even compute. Even I had to explain it. It’s affirmative action.

The plane crash was in 1970. The plane crash doesn’t have anything to do with this, but Marshall is still not — and it’s a very popular, I mean, Randy Moss came out of Marshall. He graduated. It’s the only place that would take him. Well, not the only, but I mean — wrong way to put it. He got into some trouble and Marshall took him, took a chance on him. Chad Pennington, quarterback for the Jets and now the backup quarterback for the Dolphins played with Randy Moss at Marshall. So they’ve got a great history, and they’ve got some players that have made the National Football League, but they’re a small program compared to the Mountaineers. The Mountaineers are in good shape. They love getting rid of Rich Rodriguez, the coach that walked out on a contract. He loved Rodriguez, he walked out. He went to Michigan, and Michigan is hardly noticeable now. So they’re licking their chops at West Virginia over that when they were originally upset. You know, we knew what role Manchin had in getting Rodriguez out of there if he had any role at all.

The bottom line is, despite all this, all you have to know in West Virginia is Manchin, a governor, claims not to know any of the horrible, rotten, anti-constitutional stuff in Obamacare, when it was other governors around the state who led the charge against it on the basis of it’s not being Constitutional. It wasn’t until after it was passed that Manchin says, (imitating Manchin) ‘You know what, why, I didn’t know what was in the weeds in that bill until the thing was passed.’ Everybody else did but him. And now he’s trying to play it both ways, he’s trying to explain, ‘I didn’t know what was in it, and I don’t endorse that bill,’ now that he wants to get elected to Robert Byrd’s seat.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I got an e-mail from West Virginia. ‘Dear Rush: That caller was spot on. I would go so far as to say, had Marshall beat West Virginia a few weeks ago, this thing would already be over. Manchin wouldn’t have a chance.’ And this is from a businessman in West Virginia. His name is Buck. Buck in West Virginia. Now, Marshall, they have a fairly impressive list of alumni in the NFL. Randy Moss. Troy Brown who played forever with the New England Patriots, a great player. Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich, the number two quarterback for the Steelers. And who could forget Pro Football Hall of Famer Frank ‘Gunner’ Gatski came out of Marshall.

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