On his radio show recently, Rush Limbaugh doubled down on his infamous statement that, “I hope Obama fails.”  He took bizarre delight in bragging that he “was the only voice saying ‘I hope he fails,” and I was severely criticized for it.”

In discussing Obama, Rush further said that at least with George W. Bush, “We didn’t have someone hell-bent on destroying the economy.”

Here’s the audio:

There is nothing subtle about what Rush is saying. He suggests that George W. Bush didn’t ruin the economy but Obama has. This demands a brief history lesson and a comparison of George Bush to Barack Obama.

Bush inherited perhaps the strongest economy in decades, with record low unemployment (4.2%), record low poverty rates, every segment of the population becoming more prosperous, and a budget surplus projected to eliminate the national debt in 20 years.

After eight years Bush had given us two recessions, doubled the unemployment rate, increased the poverty rate, wiped out the budget surplus, doubled the national debt, and left us with a trillion-dollar annual deficit, a complete collapse of the financial system, and unemployment skyrocketing out of control as 750,000 people were thrown out of work in a single month.

This left Obama to inherit the worst economy since the Great Depression with unemployment on pace to reach 20% by the end of his first year.

Yet Obama stemmed the tide of the out-of-control recession in only a few months. The rate of job loss improved every month after the stimulus was passed until unemployment began declining a year after Obama took office. Over 3 million new jobs have been created, businesses are now reporting record profits and the stock market has nearly doubled in value.  While the recovery was slow, there is no denying that the economy has done nothing but improve every month for the past 2 straight years.

If Rush had gotten his way and Obama had actually failed, we would have 20% unemployment, the stock market would have bottomed out, the U.S. auto industry would have ceased to exist, Osama bin Laden would be alive, and thousands more Americans would be dead or dying in Iraq.

Rush knows fully well that if President Obama had failed, the entire country would fail. This is what Rush was hoping for. Some people might consider that to be treason. If treason is defined as a violation of allegiance to one’s country, his words surely fit this definition.

Rush Limbaugh makes a living as a highly paid radio entertainer. Because he is an entertainer and not a journalist, he says this gives him license to say any outrageous thing he wants to without repercussions.  What’s strange is the fact that many people in the Republican party actually consider him a leader of that party.

When you read about Rush Limbaugh and start to understand his background, it becomes abundantly clear how he ended up where he is. He flunked out after only two semesters and one summer of college, so he apparently didn’t have the capacity to succeed in any academic career.  He basically stumbled into right-wing politics because it benefited his goal of becoming a successful talk radio host.

It’s tempting to say that I’m glad Rush failed, but the truth is, I really wish he had succeeded in college and managed to do something truly productive with his life. He may be a successful talk radio host, but he is nothing more than an obnoxious blowhard who contributes nothing meaningful to the national political dialogue.

One thing is undeniable. Rush Limbaugh’s hatred for Obama is so profound that he is proudly and openly rooting for the failure of the United States of America, no matter how many people are harmed in the process, and that’s just sad.

I suspect that if there ever is a successful terrorist attack on U.S. soil during Obama’s presidency, Rush Limbaugh will be jumping for joy.

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