"Example Of The Encroaching Loss Of Freedom"

The latest big name to come out against the TSA's Large Aircraft Security Program is, believe it or not, Rush Limbaugh.

The conservative radio commentator blasted LASP on his national radio show, noting that Tiger Woods, who has an endorsement deal with NetJets, will have to stop travelling with them to his appearances at PGA tournaments, because neither the G4 nor G-550 have baggage compartments big enough for a set of clubs that is inaccessible from the passenger compartment.

In a transcript from Tuesday's show, Limbaugh continues, "There is obviously no sympathy for this. Nobody's got any sympathy for anybody that flies around on a business jet these days. But it's just one more example of the encroaching loss of freedom and government control over everything."

Worth noting, Limbaugh himself has been known to fly around on a Gulfstream, so the issue is personal. But he ended the discussion on his show noting that listeners who've called their senators are brushed off on the premise that, "Sorry, this is national security, national security, national security."

Responding to his producer -- who apparently was trying to convince him that opposing such attacks on liberty was his job -- Limbaugh replied, "What is my job, Snerdley? My job is to attract the largest audience I can, hold it for as long as I can to charge confiscatory advertising rates, and I'm telling you, in order to do that you have to have empathy, and I have it, and I understand that people do not want to hear about a bunch of rich guys...not being able to take their golf clubs on a jet."

It's hard to tell from a written transcript whether Rush was tongue-in-cheek, which he often is. We're including an FMI link where you can read the transcript for yourself. It also inclues an interaction between Rush and a caller named Scott, who claimed to work for the FAA.

FMI: www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_022409/content/01125106.guest.html