RUSH: Right now, in Minnesota, it seems like you can get arrested for opening a business but you can't get arrested for looting one. But given what happened there, you have to understand the literal outrage that some of these people are feeling.

The rioters... I've got a story by Victoria Taft at PJ Media: "PJ Media: Rioters Are So Angry About Police Killing That They... Stole Baby Clothes and Air Fryers from Nearby Target." See, on the other side of the glass here there is raucous laughter. (laughing) There is. It's multiracial laughter, by the way, occurring on the other side of the glass.

"Protesters broke off into riotous mobs who smashed their way into Target where stole every imaginable thing. The rioters' righteous anger impelled them to grab ... an air fryer... Nothing says the police like frying up some grub or, as one woman did, grabbing baby clothes. Another guy must have checked out a friend's wedding registry before rioting because he walked out with several sets of bedding," and he didn't even get the best!

He didn't even get Boll & Branch because they're not available retail, or maybe he was planning to stay overnight in the Target and needed some new sheets and bedding stuff to sleep on before awakening the next day to continue the rioting. This is the way people deal with these kinds of things. For example, the media... The media is viewing Minneapolis looters as protesters.

But Americans protesting to go back to work? Why, those are dangerous lunatics! Americans demanding to be let out, Americans demanding that their jobs be reopened, Americans demanding to go back to work are being treated as major problems -- major lunatics, great threats to the health of America -- whereas the people looting stores in Minneapolis are called "protesters."

And if you take a look, look at who has been savagely condemned by the media. It's people reopening their businesses. Not the people burning businesses. Not people looting them. Not the people tearing them down. In the media's world, the people reopening their businesses are being savagely condemned -- or people going to a swimming pool in the Ozarks, or people going to a beach somewhere.

They're being condemned by the media as risky, as dangerous, as uncaring lunatics. And in the media's world, this is all because the looters and the rioters were properly triggered. Their actions are completely understandable in Mediaville, in the media world because they were properly triggered, and so they are labeled "protesters."

"Protests that turned violent," now. Whereas opening up businesses and going to pool parties "too soon" is "premeditated manslaughter." You remember the stories that were written claiming that people opening up too soon, going to back to work too soon or going to a public pool or a beach, "Why, those people... Those people are engaging in potential manslaughter!"

I remember the stories. They were being accused of having so little compassion and concern for their fellow citizens that what they were doing might end up in other people dying. So I have a question for the media. Who is more dangerous, looters and rioters in Minneapolis (or wherever they may be) or the people in a swimming pool in the Ozarks? (interruption)

"Were the looters and rioters wearing their masks?" (chuckling) I don't think so. But you know how they end this? (interruption) Looters and rioters were distancing properly? (interruption) The media says they are. Remember, they've been properly triggered. So they don't have to obey any of the distancing or of the mitigation rules. They can ignore Dr. Fauci and the Scarf Queen because they have been properly triggered.

You know this mask thing... This mask thing... I was gonna get into this later. The controversy over this mask thing... You know how the left hates MAGA hats? Oh, my goodness. Folks, they hate them! They hate anything with Make America Great Again on it. Well, if you want to end the mask controversy, just make up a bunch of 'em -- Make America Great Again masks -- and I guarantee you the American left will be demanding you take it off.

There ain't no way they're gonna put up with mass numbers of people showing up with MAGA masks. You remember all these people had those vagina hats that they were wearing and all this symbolic stuff after Trump was inaugurated and the first travel ban, and they're storming JFK airport and Manhattan in the hundreds of thousands.

They were fools -- they were literal fools -- and they're still out there.

But this mask controversy on the left you have the mask is necessary for safety, and on the other side you have people... You're not gonna have me walking around in a state of permanent, constant fear. Like I said yesterday, if six-feet separation is enough to protect you, then why do you need a mask? And if the mask is the magic that they're saying it is, why do you need to separate by six feet, if you're wearing masks?

I mean, there's so much contradictory stuff. Look, folks, the police who killed George Floyd in Minneapolis are gonna get their day in court, and I hope it's good and hard. But what about all the people who've been killed in nursing homes? They were consigned to their deaths. They were consigned to their deaths by blue state political leaders, otherwise known as governors -- and particularly in the state of New York.

They were consigned.

They were sent there.

It's grotesque incompetence, negligence on the part of blue state governors, and it's so widely known now to be the case that these blue state governors are doing all kinds of twisting and pretzeling to try to blame Trump for that, that Trump made 'em do it, that Trump had some policy that made them do that or they wouldn't get federal money or some such thing.

Nothing of the sort is true! You know, right and wrong -- the concepts of right and wrong -- are so easy to see if you aren't blinded by politics. But if your world is governed by politics, if your world has no reality because it's governed by politics, well, that's how you look away at people like Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Clinton, all of them.

Bill Clinton's still Teflon in all this stuff, and it's all because of politics mattering first. Politics is why the Barack Obama FBI looked away from Hillary Clinton's lawbreaking. Politics drove Obama to spy on the Trump campaign. Politics drove Cuomo to consign a bunch of elderly people to nursing homes. You know, nothing that's happened so far this year -- nothing that's happened in 2020 -- is all that complicated. It's very easy to understand.

But if you're governed first and foremost by politics, therefore corruption, then you are blind to reality and blind to the truth. Look, one more thing about this Minneapolis situation and George Floyd. I mean it. I hope these cops are dealt with good and hard. I can't... I've seen the video like everybody else, and it makes me so mad I can't see straight.

I don't know... I still don't know what precipitated it. I don't know why they had George Floyd on the ground. I don't know, but I don't care what it was, unless he fired a shot at them, and even then, there is no... What policy? What policy is there anywhere that mandates that kind of treatment of a suspect or prisoner who is totally under control?

(interruption) Okay. All right. So he passed a counterfeit bill in a store.

Fine.

That doesn't come close to justifying what happened to him, with people watching that cop for five minutes kill the guy! There's no other way to describe what happened. I understand people are out there calling it murder. It makes me so mad, I can't see straight. So, I ask, how does something like that happen? There has to be some police manual or handbook.

Look, you people in law enforcement know I'm at the top of the list of people who support you and understand how hard your jobs are and the rigors and the arduous circumstances you have to go through every day. I still, given all of that, do not... I cannot find a way to explain that. I can't find a way to justify it. I don't care what the guy did. If it's all about a counterfeit bill, it's even... Look, I gotta take a break because I'm up against it on time. Back in a moment.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: RUSH: I got an email during the break, "What made you so mad about the video of George Floyd?" What makes me so mad about the video? A... You know, these are blue states. This is a blue state where this happened. This is a state-run by Democrats. This is a state-run by leftists. This is a state-run by people who believe in utopias, and they openly promise them -- and they particularly promise every minority group in the world that they're gonna protect 'em.

And who are they gonna protect 'em from?

They gonna protect 'em from you and me, us meany conservatives and Republicans. We pose the biggest threat to them. That's what these blue state leftists in the media and in politics all say as they defame us and impugn us. And yet look at what happens to minorities in these blue states. Now, I know it's not exclusively happening in blue states, but that it's happening in them -- and look at the way the elderly are dealt with.

The Democrats have been running out my whole life claiming Republicans are gonna cut their Social Security; Republicans are gonna kick them out of their homes. Now look what happens! Democrat governors consign them to their deaths during a pandemic by sending COVID-19 patients into nursing to infect everybody. No, I'm not saying it was on purpose.

I'm saying it's incompetence, and then when it happens -- and these are the people we're told are the smartest and the best and the brightest. They are our betters, these liberals in the administrative state, both the federal government and state government. And we're told that they're the elites and that we are the unessentials and the nonessentials -- and yet look what happens!

These are the people who run around saying they care more about people that we do -- they have compassion and we don't -- and look what they do. Even if it is incompetence, then when they're caught, what do they do? They turn around and blame us! They blame us and the people we elect. There is simply no explanation for George Floyd dying on the ground because of a cop with pressure on his neck -- via a knee -- for five minutes while people are around and witnessing and watching and videoing it on their iPhones.

That's how we see it, and nothing changes what the cop is doing. So I'm asking myself, "There's gotta be a policy somewhere that dictates this -- and if there's no policy, it means that the cop may have a big problem." But it's in a blue state. This kind of stuff is not supposed to happen in the blue states. It's not supposed to happen with liberal Democrat leadership.

I can't tell you how mad it made me. There aren't words. There is no excuse for it. (interruption) Yeah. The guy's... (interruption) Well, that was Eric Garner. Eric Garner in New York. "Officer, I can't breathe. Officer, I can't breathe." That's what Eric Garner said, "Officer, I can't breathe," and, by the way, that resonates with me on a personal level -- and it was unnecessary.

The guy in no way threatened or posed a threat to virtually anybody. But if you want to give people the benefit of the doubt, okay, there may be a manual or there may be something in training that deals with how to subdue and how to maintain submission while reinforcements arrive or whatever. It's just inexplicable to me.

And as I say, I probably am angering some of you in law enforcement who may think that you have an explanation for this that I just don't know and haven't heard. I'm not criticizing law enforcement. This cop, yeah. It's just so unnecessary. The guy was a good guy. He wasn't a problem. Okay, so he had a counterfeit bill. Big whoop.

As I point out, there are people in this country today opening up their businesses who are being held out as a greater threat to the country than the looters and the rioters. And that's a whole different story. But you're gonna have some people say, "You know what, Rush? I can understand the looting. I can understand it. This is outrageous what happened here."

But it didn't happen to the looters. What are they gaining by destroying the stores in their own neighborhoods? How does that constitute protest? It doesn't. It demonstrates abject rage. It's not how I would deal with it, but... (interruption) I know. I know. I'm just trying to be very careful here, Mr. Snerdley. I know that they're opportunists and I know they're taking advantage of the situation and so forth.

And it comes in the midst of an economic shutdown where nobody has anything anymore, and they're simply taking advantage of the opportunity here -- and some of them may be legitimately outraged. They're two separate things, as far as I'm concerned, when you start commentating on them or analyzing 'em. Let me get a phone call in quick.

Andrew in Minneapolis. You're up first today. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.

RUSH: Hey, Rush. You're right on this. I live in south Minneapolis with my wife. We've been here about eight years. I'm heartbroken when I saw that video. I almost couldn't finish it, and those cops should be made an example of. But Minneapolis has been run by radical left-wing Democrats for years --

RUSH: Yep.

CALLER: -- and the MPD has always had a small percentage -- like I think a lot of departments do -- of people who don't respect the community. You know, maybe there's some prejudice. Maybe some of that. But how has that not changed with all of the radical, left-wing policies in this city? I'm deciding whether I want to stay in Minneapolis right now. Do I want to leave? I'm more scared of the protests and the fires and the unrest that's now been created than I am of the coronavirus today.

RUSH: I... Look, I understand and hear you. The dash, I mean, some people are looking at Minneapolis today as the worst city in the country right now. But, folks, I am not trying to be political when I point out that leftists, utopianists, and all of these, "We're superior to everybody else," people are running this city. They're running that state, and look what it is.

And it's not just there. Go to any place where leftists and liberals have had unchecked power at either state or city or county level, and you're gonna find similar kinds of problems.

CALLER: Mmm-hmm.

RUSH: You're gonna find human circumstances exactly opposite of what they promise, particularly when it comes to the lives and the circumstances of minorities.

CALLER: Yeah, and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of living in this beautiful city with all these great lakes and these great people and trying to connect with people of all different races, colors, origins, beliefs, and trying to live under the tyrannical rule of the leftist city council and mayor and governor of the state and really trying to participate. This stuff still happens, and it still ends up as people carrying TVs out of the Target that my wife and I go to. You know, it's just... It's crazy to me. I don't... I'm giving up. I don't know what else to do for this city.

RUSH: Where you gonna go? Got any idea? Where do you want to go?

CALLER: (chuckles) Well, I'm from up north. Northern Minnesota is God's country is anyone will tell you. You know, we've always thought about that as a possibility. But I love the Twin Cities. I love my teams down here and love so many friends and family down here. But I'm at a loss today. I don't know what to do.

RUSH: Well, I can understand the despair at seeing something like this, especially since you said you live relatively near where it happened. It's... You know, I keep searching for words to describe the anger and I felt over it -- and the disbelief when I first saw this, and I realized what I'm watching. "This guy's gonna die in five minutes." It just... It goes far beyond senseless. Anyway, Andrew, I'm glad you called. I appreciate you taking the time.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: You know, this guy George Floyd, if he'd been passing counterfeit FISA applications, he might still be alive. Instead, he's passing counterfeit bills? (interruption) Well, I'm just saying. This just... I cannot describe how this ticks me off -- and you know what, folks? I will bet you that every good cop that you or I would run into, retired or active, would also say this is indefensible.

I would make that wager, and I'll bet you that in police departments all over this country a lot of cops and a lot of chiefs are boiling over at how this circumstance has now made their jobs in all these other cities practically impossible. This one stupid, senseless, unnecessary -- I mean, totally unnecessary -- act is going to have the potential of paralyzing police departments around the country.

I mean, it's just a disgrace. It's just an absolute disgrace, and I'm sorry for harping on it. But the fact that it's happening in a blue state... I watch these mayors and these governors and they get up there they do their press conferences and they talk about, "It's time for healing. It's time for us to come together as one."

You've been doing that for 50 years! You've been doing that for the 35 years you've been running these places. It's your standard campaign speech. "We must come together as one. We must put aside our differences. We must..." You people never accomplish any of these social justice objectives that you claim to exclusively own. All that happens is things get worse, and other people end up getting the blame for it all.

Let me go back to the phones. This is Larry. Larry's in Cleveland. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hi.

CALLER: Hi, Mr. Limbaugh. Thank you. Thanks for covering this story. This latest example of a death caused by a bad cop, they go on every year. They affect people of all different races and colors who are killed by bad cops. There's a virus in police departments across this country. Good cops know who these bad cops are.

Their partners know who the bad cops are. Their sergeants, lieutenants, captains and department chiefs know who the bad cops are. But they don't do anything about it. They don't do anything to get them out of the department before these deaths by bad cop go. You hear very often that police departments and police chiefs decry the snitches-gets-stitches belief in many, many communities around this country.

They decry the fact that people don't come forth and tell what they saw as witnesses. Well, hell. The good cops in these departments are doing the same damn thing. They know who the bad cops are. They don't come forward. They're just the same. They are telling us -- the people in this community -- that snitches get stitches. They won't turn into bad cops.

RUSH: Wait a minute. So you want to make the point that the good cops --

CALLER: Are doing nothing.

RUSH: -- in police departments are just as culpable as the bad cops?

CALLER: They're not turning the bad cops in. They're their partners. They're their seargents. What was said about the (crosstalk)

RUSH: How widespread do you think this is?

CALLER: (unintelligible)

RUSH: How widespread do you think this is?

CALLER: Every state.

RUSH: Every state, every police department you think has a certain percentage of bad cops in it that go rogue like this?

CALLER: Not every department, but many of them. And certainly in the bigger departments in the major cities when you have hundreds and thousands of police, there are a lot of bad cops. And we see examples of it every year in incidents like this that affect black men, that affect Asian men, that affect Hispanic men, that affect white men. They're getting killed by bad cops, and it won't end until the police start to police themselves, until they eradicate this virus that is in these departments across the country.

RUSH: Well, a lot of people probably share your opinion. Before you go, very quickly, do you think...? Since you... I'm only asking because you obviously are passion about it. You've thought about it. You have an opinion. Do you think there's a political component to any of this?

CALLER: There very well may be. I don't know enough about the major departments across the country. There very well may be.

RUSH: Because I think politics has corrupted everything. Liberal politics has corrupted everything. I don't think there's any denying that. Okay, Larry, I appreciate it. Thanks for the call. This is Robert next in York, Pennsylvania. Hi. Great to have you.

CALLER: Hi, Rush! Mega dittos. Hey, I just want to say that it was a shame that George got killed. But I think it was inevitable, because when you lock an entire country down for two months, and then give police the power to go out and arrest a mom for not wearing a mask in the subway like in New York, this is gonna happen -- and I think a lot of the people on the left were waiting for it and hoping for it.

RUSH: Now, this is an interesting take. So you lock the country down for two months, scare people half to death. If they start clamoring to be let out, you accuse 'em of manslaughter if they open up too soon. In order to enforce the lockdown for these two months, you have to give the cops -- and you're citing de Blasio in New York -- all of these amazing powers.

And so you're thinking you can't really blame them? This is the next logical progression. If you empower cops to this extent during something extraordinary like a two-month lockdown, you can't really expect something other than something like this to happen?

CALLER: Right! You know, if you give power to the police like that, then you're gonna turn the police into a police state, and a cop that thinks that the governor is gonna have their back if they go out to enforce these Draconian rules that are unconstitutional -- and, you know, they're doing it all across the country. They're locking down businesses that are just trying to survive.

RUSH: Oh, I know! I mentioned that at the opposing of the program. You can loot a business with impunity in Minneapolis, but you can't open up.

CALLER: Exactly. Exactly. And if you know anything about Cloward-Piven, they have eight steps to turning this nation into a socialist nation. And the Democrat governors are taking all eight of those steps. I won't list them, but anyone can look them up. Cloward-Piven, eight steps to socialism.

RUSH: Oh, yeah. We've discussed it. It's even worse than that. You've got two governors of these blue states openly acknowledging that they can thwart the national economic recovery by keeping their states locked down -- and they say it with smiles on their face, Gavin Newsom and Andrew Cuomo. I appreciate the call, Robert.

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