Rush: Obama trying 'very hard' to be impeached

obama points

President Obama is trying "very hard" to coax Republicans into impeaching him. That according to talk-radio giant Rush Limbaugh, who says Obama's actions letting illegal aliens into the U.S. is part of that strategy.

"He is really trying to goad the House Republicans into impeaching him. Really trying, I mean, very hard," Limbaugh said on his national broadcast Monday. "It's become obvious. It's so obvious, he's not fooling anybody."

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Limbaugh noted he happened to see a headline Monday on CNN which stated on screen: "GOP wants to impeach Obama."

"I looked at that and I said, 'No, that headline is a lie,'" the talk host explained.

"And so I turned on the sound, and that headline went with a story about Obama trying to goad the GOP into impeaching him. The graphic, the headline on screen said nothing about Obama. It just said GOP wants to impeach Obama. So even without them doing it, they're gonna get blamed for it.

"CNN and other Drive-By Media are going to report this – not as something Obama is trying to make happen – they're going to report this as something the Republicans want to happen so that they get creamed by it even if they do nothing. Remember, there is no journalism anymore. There is only advocacy disguised as the news."

Radio host Rush Limbaugh

Limbaugh's comments echo the sentiments of U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, who told WND on Saturday, "President Obama is begging to be impeached."

Stockman's comments became the lead story over the weekend on the popular Drudge Report.

"For all I know, Obama is preparing to process 5 million illegal immigrant kids and teenagers into the United States," Stockman said upon observing border operations near McAllen, Texas.

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"He wants us to impeach him now," Stockman theorized, "before the midterm election because his senior advisers believe that is the only chance the Democratic Party has to avoid a major electoral defeat. Evidently Obama believes impeachment could motivate the Democratic Party base to come out and vote."

Chuck Todd, chief White House Correspondent for NBC News and host of "The Daily Rundown" on MSNBC, went even farther, saying the White House is actually "praying" for impeachment.

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Monday, Todd criticized House Majority Whip, Steve Scalise, R-La., for refusing to rule out a Republican effort to impeach Obama.

Scalise actually made the same point – that Obama's camp benefits from impeachment talk – on "Fox News Sunday," but he would not say impeachment is "off the table" for House Republicans.

"The most excited person yesterday was Dan Pfeiffer," Todd laughed, referring to the White House senior aide who mentioned Republicans impeaching Obama last week, a move some have said was meant to stir up impeachment talk so disheartened Obama supporters would rally to president's defense and vote Democrat in the 2014 midterm election.

"Steve Scalise is right: The White House is praying for impeachment," Todd said. "They want this. They see nothing but political upside to this."

Watch video of Todd's comments below:

Scalise's original comments can also be seen below:

The chorus of voices projecting impeachment as a political advantage for Democrats is growing. Others to make similar remarks include:

Former U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., who wrote in an editorial in the Washington Times, "Secure in the knowledge that impeachment is not the same as removal from office, Mr. Obama brings up the topic on his own and with bold defiance. … Impeachment would be his crowning badge of victimhood, the ultimate symbol to rally his base, asking that they protect him by guaranteeing a Democrat majority in the U.S. Senate."
Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn.: ""Every political analyst, almost, that's really looked at this ... has said that nothing would fire up the base of the Democrats more than an impeachment action. … If you want to help the Democrats keep control of the Senate, this would be one way to do it, to start impeachment action."
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace, "This might be the first White House in history that is trying to start narrative of impeaching its own president. … The White House wants to talk about impeachment; they want to go out and fundraise off of that."
Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: "Republicans are drastically overreaching with their lawsuit and impeachment talk, and the result has been a massive surge of enthusiasm from our grass-roots supporters."
Justin Barasky, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee also chimed in, "Republican Senate candidates who legitimize impeachment talk not only motivate donors, but they reinforce just how out of touch they are and how much they're focused on partisan political battles instead of helping their states."

Historical precedent suggests the Democrats may be on to something. No president has ever been successfully removed from office through impeachment, and after the last attempted ouster – of Bill Clinton in 1998 – the president's party picked up five seats in the House and held ground in the Senate, a rarity for a second-term president. The Post quotes several scholars suggesting the reason was particularly minority voters coming out in defense of the impeached president.

Nonetheless, recent polls indicate a majority of Republican voters support impeachment, and the GOP is warning there comes a point when a president can go too far.

Andrea Bozek, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told the Post, "If Democrats think the president's blatant disregard for the Constitution is a reason to celebrate, they're even more out of touch than we thought."