The video: Former President George W. Bush interrupted his book tour for a 25-minute on-air chat with conservative radio king Rush Limbaugh. (Listen to the interview below.) After joking that he wouldn't be lobbing "softball questions," a not-exactly-confrontational Limbaugh asked Bush if he's using a teleprompter on his tour. Bush took the opportunity to defend the TARP bank bailout, immigration reform, and his presidency, deny making derisive digs at Sarah Palin, and compliment Limbaugh on his golf game.
The reaction: If you're looking for "excessive flattery and deference and a complete lack of follow-up questions," says Ryan Colpaart in Double Dutch Politics, Limbaugh's "pathetic" interview of his golf buddy Bush is for you. I don't know, says Andrew Malcolm in the Los Angeles Times. The surprisingly "relaxed and comfortable" ex-president was actually quite revealing on the Iraq War. Why wouldn't he be comfortable? asks Steve Kornacki in Salon. "The closest Rush came to putting the former president on the spot" was immigration reform, and even then, RINO-killer Limbaugh showed that "the Bushes are one Republican establishment family he's willing to make excuses for." Listen to the first part of the interview:
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