In the midst of the Republican race, we almost forgot about right-wing commentator Rush Limbaugh, but the Republican blowhard always manages to remind us he's still around. On Monday he said that the media are deliberately covering up the Obama family's secrets.
A new book titled The Obamas by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor was the target of Limbaugh's angst today on his radio show. The book describes various happenings in the Obama White House — most notably the tension between first lady Michelle Obama and the president's staff.
Limbaugh specifically zeroed in on a lavish, Tim Burton-designed Halloween party at the White House in 2009. According to the book, the White House downplayed the event to not seem out of touch with economically struggling voters. Limbaugh wondered why the mainstream media never reported on this event.
"No way the press didn't know about this," he said. "If we didn't know about this, what else is going on in there that we didn't know about … that the press knows about but is choosing not to report?"
While many would see Limbaugh's claim as a reasonable one because of the mainstream media's possible fear of bringing down the first black president with a potential bombshell, his next accusations were simply unacceptable: According to Limbaugh, the Obamas like "living high on the hog" and believe they are "owed this because of what's been done to [them and their] ancestors."
Do we really have to go through this again? The president has been criticized for the time he's taken for vacation, when it pales in comparison with the time off enjoyed by Ronald Reagan and Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, after three years. Unfortunately, those of Limbaugh's ilk will continue to fudge the facts and try to make President Obama look like an incompetent, high-spending, out-of-touch commander-in-chief. We can expect this narrative to continue through November — when Limbaugh may have to eat his words.
Read more at the Huffington Post.