Rush: Obama Upset by "Imam Obama"

From The Rush Limbaugh Show Wednesday:

RUSH: Obama ostensibly, (CNN's) Wolf Blitzer knows, unhappy with my referring to him as Imam Obama.  So then Blitzer said to (Democrat political advisor) Donna Brazile, "When you hear Rush Limbaugh calling the president not just Barack Hussein Obama, but Barack Hussein Imam Obama, what do you think, Donna?"

BRAZILE:  Well, first of all I'm not going to react to Rush Limbaugh.  I think the reason why Rush Limbaugh says those things is because he knows that the mainstream media and others will, you know, salivate and want to discuss it.  But, you know what?  In this polluted, volatile political season, unfortunately those kind of comments by Mr. Limbaugh and others will always attract media attention, and it's a sad statement about where we are today.

RUSH:  Awe, let's get the violins out. It's a sad statement about where we are today.  What she's admitting here is that the Media Tweak of the Day works.  That's what she's talking about here. (imitating Brazile) "Well, you know, Limbaugh knows the mainstream media, they're gonna salivate, they're gonna want to discuss what he says. It's polluted the volatile political season, those kind of comments are always gonna attract media attention." The Media Tweak of the Day works.  So (GOP political pundit) Mary Matalin had her two cents.  Blitzer said, "Are you as appalled at Rush Limbaugh, Mary, as Donna Brazile is?"

MATALIN:  From the very first week of the Obama administration the Democrats have been trying to demonize Rush Limbaugh and they succeeded only in driving people to his show where they find out that he's not hateful, he's not angry, he's a common-sense conservative and he's a wickedly brilliant satirist.  And when they take this humor-impaired, grassy knoller approach to Rush Limbaugh, they make themselves look bad.  He was calling it -- making those imam remarks in satire in response to Obama's support for what was then the Ground Zero mosque, and within three days of that the mainstream press was blaming Rush Limbaugh for the doubling of Americans who are confused about the president's religion.  That's not Rush Limbaugh's issue.  You cannot blame one radio show for the confusion of a third of America.

RUSH:  She's talking about the fact that 20% of the American people think he's a Muslim.  And we didn't do that poll, the Pew people did that poll.  And then the Democrats tried to blame me, 20% of the people think he's a Muslim because I, El Rushbo, called him Imam Obama, but the poll was taken days before I introduced the Imam Obama term to the American mainstream political discourse.  So she's exactly right, Matalin has nailed it here.