Mark Steyn sat in for Rush Limbaugh on Monday and Tuesday. Learning that some children had been fined for running an "illegal" sidewalk refreshment stand, Steyn proposed a children's version of the tea party, called "the lemonade party."
Rush returned to the Golden EIB Microphone mid-week and reminded listeners what he'd said right after last year's Congressional elections: "Winners don't compromise."
He replayed that clip on Wednesday and added: "Which is why I have been asking the Republicans in the House and in the Senate, don't cave! You are the winners, you hold the cards. The public has not had a momentous opinion or attitude shift since November. They have not! This NBC News poll [suggesting otherwise] is a phony."
Michael Savage
The novel isn't due out until Sept. 13, but Michael Savage's first thriller, "Abuse of Power," is already getting attention from the likes of the Washington Times, who came out with this teaser blurb: "In the spirit of Vince Flynn, Brad Thor and Glenn Beck comes this lightning-fast, high intensity thriller debut."
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As of this writing, Savage's book is already No. 200 at Amazon.com.
As the debt-ceiling debate drones on, Michael Savage told WND, "Of course we should not extend the debt limit! What kind of insanity is this?
"If a family is broke and dependent on loans," Savage continued, "what bank would extend a new credit line until the family 1) sold assets; 2) worked out a repayment plan for existing loans? We will become a bigger 'banana republic,' like Argentina 20 years ago, if we increase our national debt."
The U.K.'s News of the World phone-hacking scandal has a personal component for Savage, who was banned from Britain when Rupert Murdoch's buddy Gordon Brown was prime minster.
Savage was struck by the "amazing" moment when Murdoch's wife defended him from a pie throwing prankster: "I look at this, and if that's not a metaphor for England today: A country that cannot defend itself against a pie thrower, let alone against radical Muslim terrorists" (FREE audio).
Sean Hannity
Hannity had strong words for the GOP leadership, as the debt reduction debate wore on:
"This is not what we voted for!" Hannity reminded listeners. "This is why Republicans were elected. I'm sick and tired of being lectured by the most irresponsible fiscal president in American history about getting down to business and solving the debt problem that he created. ... This is a moment of truth … a moment of principal. This is why you Republicans were hired."
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., had a lot to add on the topic, telling Hannity that the "Cut, Cap and Balance" plan "is the only plan on the Hill that will protect our credit rating. The House is going to pass that bill tonight and send it over to the Senate. We can't give up trying to balance the budget because that's like giving up on our country" (FREE audio).
Mark Levin
On the hot topic of "Cut, Cap and Balance," Mark Levin reminded Republican lawmakers that Americans are watching their every move and will vote accordingly. Levin warned again that Obama may use the 14th Amendment to pass the budget, a move Levin said should lead to impeachment should the president try it (FREE audio).
Calling him "one of the few congressmen I trust," Levin welcomed Florida's Allen West to the show. West explained why he and other black conservatives are so despised by their opponents (FREE audio):
"I grew up in the inner city, strong values, came from a strong military family and background – what we do is we totally invalidate the liberal social welfare policies and programs," West said. "I'm a threat because I'm the guy who got off of their 21st century plantation, and they cannot afford to have such a strong voice as mine out there reverberating and resonating across this country."
Laura Ingraham
Laura Ingraham made headlines this week for something that happened off the air. Over the weekend, Ingraham says, her baptismal cross and other items of jewelry valuing over $11,000 were stolen from her checked luggage at the Newark airport.
As reported in the Daily Caller, the story gets even more depressing: "She said the process for reporting these kinds of crimes is so cumbersome that many people don't have the time or willpower to get to the bottom of them. For instance, Ingraham said a Continental Airlines customer service employee in Newark told her that she shouldn't be putting jewelry in her bag in the first place."
Ingraham's guests this week included Tucker Carlson (who commiserated with Laura about the horrors of air travel) and Michelle Malkin, who talked about the feud between Allan West and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (FREE audio).
Glenn Beck
Beck's staff couldn't believe he'd waste two minutes in a recent speech to tell the audience that "life is like Angry Birds," the popular computer game (FREE audio).
That speech, delivered to Christians United for Israel, was praised by Beck's radio colleague Dennis Prager as one of the best he'd ever heard (FREE video).
And now, from the left side of the dial ...
As predicted here last week, Al Sharpton is indeed getting his own show on MSNBC. Sharpton likely welcomes the chance to get away from the increasing number of African-American callers to his show who criticize his race-baiting ways.
MSNBC has long been under attack by the NAACP and others for its predominately white on-air talent, but now the hiring of Sharpton is drawing criticism from some interesting sources:
"When rumors surfaced this week that Sharpton was under consideration for the MSNBC job," Richard Prince reported at TheRoot.com, "one [National Association of Black Journalists] member told colleagues without challenge, 'This would still be just another non-journalist media "celebrity" receiving a TV show based upon their name recognition, not their years of experience, training, ability and talent.'"
It sounds like, in trying to appease criticism from the black community by hiring the controversial (to say the least) Sharpton, MSNBC has merely made it worse. Why the executives at the network would think otherwise is a mystery.