Via Greg Hengler. If, like E.J. Dionne, you’re dumb enough to believe that the media hypes Rush’s controversies because it’s secretly right-wing rather than overtly left-wing and intent on framing Obama as centrist and “reasonable” by comparison, then you’re probably also dumb enough to believe he’s in constant rotation on MSNBC because the brain trust there finds him genuinely relevant and interesting. This is, of course, part of the Rahm/Carville/Begala strategy of tarring the GOP with every distortable soundbite to exit Limbaugh’s lips; no surprise that a network known for bowing to Obama — literally — would be willing to lend a hand. Today’s soundbite du jour comes from last night’s Hannity:

No, I don’t back away from anything I’ve said about President Obama and his policies and his plans. I don’t know him personally. I don’t wish him ill as a human being. But he’s my president. He’s all of our president. His ideas and his policies matter.

I can’t remember who said this, but you know this is something that I’ve thought long and hard about repeating in this interview with you: If Al Qaeda wants to demolish the America we know and love, they’d better hurry because Obama’s beating them to it.

Why he insists on gratuitously provocative comparisons like that knowing how the left will use them to make Republicans squirm is beyond me, but it sure does keep his name in the news. Exit question: Are Rush and MSNBC co-dependent?

Update: John Ziegler keeps it short and to the point.