Did Pat Robertson Take Rush Limbaugh Out of Context?

By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

Lots of you alleged that Pat Robertson's critique of Rush Limbaugh's "I hope Obama fails" remark took Limbaugh's words out of context and that Limbaugh was narrowly referring to Obama's social policies. Rereading the transcript from Limbaughs January 16 show, I'm not so sure. In some places, Limbaugh says he wants Obama's brand of liberalism to fail. In others, though, he says he hopes that Obama fails, without distinguishing between the president and his agenda. Limbaugh even acknowledges that saying " 'I hope he fails' ... would be the most outrageous thing anybody in this climate could say."

Read the transcript and decide for yourself. Here's the most relevant excerpt:

Why is it any different, what's new, what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what's gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it? I don't care what the Drive-By story is. I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: "Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails." Somebody's gotta say it.

Were the liberals out there hoping Bush succeeded or were they out there trying to destroy him before he was even inaugurated? Why do we have to play the game by their rules? Why do we have to accept the premise here that because of the historical nature of his presidency, that we want him to succeed? This is affirmative action, if we do that. We want to promote failure, we want to promote incompetence, we want to stand by and not object to what he's doing simply because of the color of his skin? Sorry. I got past the historical nature of this months ago. He is the president of the United States, he's my president, he's a human being, and his ideas and policies are what count for me, not his skin color, not his past, not whatever ties he doesn't have to being down with the struggle, all of that's irrelevant to me. We're talking about my country, the United States of America, my nieces, my nephews, your kids, your grandkids. Why in the world do we want to saddle them with more liberalism and socialism? Why would I want to do that? So I can answer it, four words, "I hope he fails." And that would be the most outrageous thing anybody in this climate could say.

• Read more by Dan Gilgoff.
• Read more about the Obama administration.

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