Rush Limbaugh rarely has guests on his show, but his week he made an exception, when multi-millionaire mogul Donald Trump joined him to discuss the latter's possible presidential run (FREE audio):
Afterward, caller reaction was divided, especially after Trump told Rush he'd donated to former Obama White House insider Rahm Emmanuel's campaign for mayor of Chicago.
Limbaugh also made a vital point, while discussing the situation in Wisconsin – that listeners had to stay focused on the most important, immutable fact and ignore the Democratic/union sideshow of spin (FREE audio):
"Now, look, folks, at the end of the day we have the most important characteristic on our side, and that's reality. Reality and truth," Limbaugh said. "For instance, the case of Wisconsin. No matter what the Democrats say, no matter what the fraudulent polling data says, no matter how the media spins it, no matter how many fake polls they publish, Wisconsin is still in debt to the tune of $3.6 billion. Wisconsin still cannot afford to pay public sector union people twice what the taxpayers of the state are earning. The taxpayers of that state simply cannot afford to pay public sector unions what they are paying. It cannot sustain itself. That's the reality. Now, they can spin it, they can spin it all they want, but eventually reality is going to catch up with them."
Michael Savage
Popular freshman Congressman Allen West, R-Fla., has taken up the cause to lift the ban preventing Michael Savage from entering the United Kingdom.
In a letter to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, West writes: "Madame Secretary, please do not let the United Kingdom's policy to be used as a model for other countries around the world. Please let our model of freedom of speech be the impetus of change around the world."
Selwyn Duke reviewed Savage's latest book, "Trickle Up Poverty," for the New American and observed: "Some may say that Savage's belief (if I read him correctly) that this is the 11th hour for our nation is overly pessimistic, while others may say it's more like 10 to midnight. Whatever the case, however, most traditional Americans will agree that if the ideas in 'Trickle Up Poverty' trickled up to our government, we could at least start to approach a new dawn."
Sean Hannity
Troubled actor Charlie Sheen became a media obsession this week, as his career seemed to spiral out of control. Surprisingly, Sean Hannity revealed on Wednesday that he'd just exchanged emails with Sheen and told a caller "I found a different side of him that I thought I'd find" (FREE audio).
Later in the week, Hannity tackled the topic of energy independence, and slammed the Obama administration for ignoring all the practical things that could be done today to manage this national security issue (FREE audio).
Joking that "even a broken clock is right twice a day," Hannity congratulated a "liberal writer" at the Washington Post for expressing disillusionment at what she called "Obama's 'Where's Waldo?' presidency."
Mark Levin
Factually-challenged filmmaker Michael Moore is easy to mock, but when Mark Levin does it, as he did this week, it's at least entertaining to listen to (FREE audio).
On a more serious note, Levin took up the attorney general's refusal to investigate voter intimidation accusations against the New Black Panther Party.
"If we're not going to pursue race cases," Levin asked rhetorically, "then why do we have a Civil Rights division?"
Levin also spent a lot of time talking to Dick Morris about the latter's new ideas for "defunding Obama's socialist agenda" (FREE audio).
Laura Ingraham
Laura Ingraham posed a sharp rhetorical question to "potential GOP candidates" for president: "If you think Obama is ruining the country, then why aren't you running?" (FREE audio).
Wisconsin State Rep. Michelle Litjens called in to tell Laura about Monday's troubling incident, in which her legislative colleague Gordon Hintz allegedly turned to her and said, "You are f---ing dead."
(FREE audio).
Also this week, Senator Lindsey Graham remarked on Obama's growing vulnerability in terms of reelection, and Dick Morris talked about the 2012 campaign (FREE audio).
Glenn Beck
J.E. Dryer has penned one of the better conservative "think pieces" examining the Glenn Beck phenomenon and the extreme feelings the broadcaster provokes in so many. Entitled "Glenn Beck, History, and Why Tolstoy Was Wrong," this mini-essay is a calm and thoughtful critique of Beck as America's self-appointed history teacher.
Some saw the comment as offensive, but Glenn Beck let Attorney General Eric Holder off the hook for seeming to single out "his people" (i.e. African Americans) for special consideration during a recent press conference (FREE webcam).
And now, from the left side of the dial ...
"Liberal talk doesn't work. Period."
That's what the general manager of an El Paso, Texas, station declared recently.
"They finally pulled the plug," reports radio industry blogger Art Stone, "and are bringing in Laura Ingraham, Dennis Miller and Dave Ramsey. The only markets where liberal talk clings to hope is large university towns with a reputation for far left politics."
The most amusing line in the story was the one explaining that the station failed, "even though most of the daily lineup was local people who were working for free." It's the "even though" part I object to. Volunteerism is all well and good, but I'd contend that the programming ultimately failed because the staff had no "skin in the game" (as President Obama liked to say.)
Alas, progressives keep insisting they can operate outside the basic rules of capitalism (not to mention human nature) – then wonder why their projects continue to crumble.