The conservative talker spent a second straight broadcast mocking Eastwood’s now infamous “Halftime in America” Chrysler ad that aired on Super Bowl Sunday. Today, Limbaugh played a parody on his popular radio show to keep the story alive despite Eastwood’s protest that the commercial wasn’t meant to support President Obama’s auto bailout policies.

When somebody tells me Clint Eastwood did a halftime commercial for Chrysler, I expect it to be something like this,” Limbaugh told his 20 million listeners before audio of an Eastwood impersonator began:

Limbaugh’s is audio only, but video parodies from other sources were created for the Internet, including one from the Second City Network that appears to be a subtle attack on GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

One also wouldn’t know that Eastwood calls himself a libertarian. For Eastwood’s speech, with its calls for unity and marching together from halftime to what I take to be a touchdown, is precisely the kind of collectivism libertarians shy away from.

This is at odds with Eastwood’s maverick persona. As a consistent Republican voter, he stands apart from the Hollywood liberal herd. When the country was cheerleading for an Iraq invasion, Eastwood opposed it on “practical considerations.” While Hollywood emptied their wallets for Obama, Eastwood criticized him.

Eastwood’s libertarianism has always slipped through via his film canon. With the sheriff bashing unarmed citizens in “Unforgiven,” Eastwood sounded a warning against gun control, then and now. In last year’s “J.Edgar,” Eastwood revealed that there was a decided terrorist threat from leftists in the post-World War I period, while at the same time showing the civil liberty abuses of Hoover.

But now, the actor’s message has moved from the honor of being one against the herd to urging us all to join one.

If Eastwood would stick to his libertarianism, his football analogy would be pitched as follows: It is halftime, America, and the opposing team, the Obama administration, is on the five yard line. We are the only thing between them and a socialist touchdown.

How did Clint Eastwood and the people around him not see the partisan storm coming with this ad? Eastwood’s a smart guy, as a Hollywood survivor and former mayor, he understands how politics works.

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Because Obama’s decided to eliminate moral hazard and socialize losses for anyone who employs the unions who fund his campaigns, Chrysler obviously wrote a thinly veiled thank you in the form of a reelection ad for their benefactor, and convinced a Republican icon to deliver  it.

Reuters:

Before he emerged in a controversial Super Bowl ad as the gravelly voice of Chrysler’s resurgence, Clint Eastwood was a critic of the government bailout that saved the U.S. automaker.

“We shouldn’t be bailing out the banks and car companies,” actor, director and Academy Award winner Eastwood told the Los Angeles Times in November 2011. “If a CEO can’t figure out how to make his company profitable, then he shouldn’t be the CEO.”

The two-minute Chrysler ad “Halftime in America” won attention for its focus on American resilience, but raised eyebrows for the way critics said it echoed one of the central themes of President Barack Obama’s reelection bid.

Eastwood, a longtime Republican who now describes himself as a libertarian, told Fox News on Monday he was “certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama.”

The ad was meant as a message “about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it,” Eastwood said, according to a transcript on Foxnews.com.

“If Obama or any other politician wants to run with the spirit of that ad, go for it,” the actor added.

The White House, which said it was not involved in making the ad, did say that the message highlighted the “simple fact” that Obama had rescued the U.S. auto industry.

“He was not willing to allow – did not believe it was necessary to allow – the American automobile industry to collapse and disappear,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters.

Eastwood’s manager Leonard Hirshan said the actor has not changed his views on the auto bailout.

Nothing good happens when the federal government gets into bed with private corporations.

It might be half-time in America, but we’re losing because President Quarterback is in over his failed head.

Now, it’s Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne’s turn.

Marchionne told WJR radio in Detroit this morning “politics had nothing to do” with the instantly controversial clip.

Democrats and the White House embraced the ad narrated by actor Clint Eastwood that said the United States could learn from the Motor City’s economic woes, while a former adviser to President George W. Bush criticized it….

“It has zero political content,” Marchionne said. “It was not intended to be any type of political overture on our part. We are as apolitical as you can make us… I wasn’t expressing a view and certainly nobody inside Chrysler was attempting to influence decisions.

But the 81-year-old screen icon worked nearly as fast to shut down the notion his ad was meant to be taken that way.

Here’s the erstwhile Dirty Harry setting the record straight to a producer from Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor”:

I just want to say that the spin stops with you guys, and there is no spin in that ad. On this I am certain.

l am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was OK.

I am not supporting any politician at this time.

Chrysler to their credit didn’t even have cars in the ad.

Anything they gave me for it went for charity.

If any Obama or any other politician wants to run with the spirit of that ad, go for it.

Judge for yourself:

“The Obama reelection campaign couldn’t buy a better endorsement.”

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THR:

The Super Bowl is televised advertising’s equivalent of the Cannes Film Festival, so White House political strategists must have been smiling when what’s generally being hailed as this year’s best spot — the Chrysler “Halftime in America” commercial — subtly echoed the themes of President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign.

Just to ice the cake, the gritty two-minute spot featured actor/director Clint Eastwood, whose politics usually put him on the Republican side of the aisle. In the spot, Eastwood’s voice narrates an account of Detroit’s comeback and, then, when his unmistakably craggy face appears on screen, talks of how America has arrived at half-time in its struggle back from the financial precipice with good things to follow in the coming second half.

Hearing Eastwood make that point naturally invoked memories of his star turn as an irascible, but good-hearted retired auto worker in “Gran Torino.” It’s a message, moreover, that only can encourage the incumbent, who recently spoke in the Motor City and talked about deserving a second term—a theme he hit again in an address Sunday.

Full story here.

In this episode, “NewsBusted” covers: 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, Bush, Cheney, President Obama, Green Czar Van Jones, Obama Speech to School Children, GM, Chrysler, California Wildfires, Congressman Joe Wilson, Obama’s Health Care Speech, Associated Press, Katherine Heigl, Margaret Cho, and Charlie Sheen.

My grandparents were killed instantly. I lived.  My grandparents were driving an AMC Gremlin. I was driving a Dodge 3500 diesel dually pickup truck.

AMC is now out of business. Dodge Trucks are still selling well. The free market decided that we didn’t need AMC Gremlins.

I still drive a Dodge dually. We factor in safety versus miles per gallon on every automobile purchase that my wife and I make. Devo could not have said it better: “Freedom of Choice…It’s what you want!” Freedom to choose is a basic American right. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are guaranteed to me and 299,999,999 other Americans by the Constitution.

Mr. President, I did not give you nor the Federal Government permission to use my tax dollars to bailout Chrysler or GM. Neither did any of my friends. We did not have a choice in that matter.

We all knew that GM and Chrysler were headed for bankruptcy. So be it. It would be a hit to the American economy. Yep. Let’s take the hit and move on. I believe President Obama, that you knew that GM and Chrysler were headed to bankruptcy as well, but by giving them our money first, you were able to seize control of the American auto industry. In one fell swoop, you became the head of GM and Chrysler. You turned the United Auto Workers Union into GM and Chrysler owners. You nailed the coffin shut on Ford, the one manufacturer who turned down your money (…our money). How is Ford going to negotiate wages with a union that is now also their competitor?

Mr. President, you have created an army of Czars that are answerable only to you.  Our Constitution says that only Congress has the power to create taxes and they are answerable to the people. Not only does our new car Czar not answer to Congress, he won’t even go on Neil Cavuto. Where is the transparency, Mr. President?

But I digress. Your administration has already strong-armed the auto industry into accepting mileage compliances for their new vehicles. Michael Moore is giddy with the fact that the US Government now owns 60% of GM. He wants you to end the auto industry as we know it. According to him, GM should only produce bullet trains, buses and hybrids. If the two of you have your way, Americans will no longer be able to purchase a GMC SUV or a big Dodge truck.

Our family car is a General Motors Hummer H2. I am sure you are familiar with the brand and model; you just sold them to China. China may not want our debt, but they will still take our SUVs.

It is fairly common for us to get cut off and then flipped the finger by eco-saints whenever we drive into the city. Several times we only narrowly avoided a serious freeway accident. Quite often, Mr. President, these cars have bumper stickers with your name on them. These self-righteous “Earth Savers” feel completely justified in their actions as they curse at my children and me because they are only offending and risking the lives of people who are riding in a “planet killer.”  The fact that we heat our house with reclaimed wood, run almost 100% of our ranch on solar power, grow our own fruits and vegetables, and for the three weeks out of the year when our dirt road washes out, the only way in or out of our ranch is in a 4×4 Hummer or it’s equivalent, never enters into their sanctimonious consciousness.

I see this same kind of prejudice in your speeches and your actions Mr. President. I see this same arrogance as you steer our nation away from free enterprise and into the arms of the Central Planning Committee.

Last week, my wife was rear-ended by a driver who never even hit his brakes. His truck slammed into my wife at 50 miles per hour.

I thank God that the Germans put good steel in their vehicles and know a little something about engineering. If my wife had been driving an AMC Gremlin, she would probably be dead now.

Soon my children will be driving and buying cars of their own. Mr. President, will you allow them to have freedom of choice or will you doom them to take their chances in a 21st century AMC Gremlin?

The FCC has announced it will probe Arbitron’s new audience measurement system for radio stations – it’s called the Portable People Meter.  Arbitron is an independent company and the FCC has no jurisdiction over it.  But, acting FCC Commissioner Michael Copps and his fellow Democrat Jonathan Adelstein disagree.  Adelstein has been quoted as stating the commission has “clear authority” over broadcast signals, and “legitimate questions” to ask about Arbitron’s system, which relies on these signals, and operates as a currency for the industry. 

At the heart of the controversy is conservative talk radio.  Arbitron’s new PPM measurement system is showing that conservative talk is even more popular in the nation’s largest markets than previous measurements have shown while minority targeted stations are less popular.  But, the PPM doesn’t lie.  This is a pager-like device that the listener wears.  It registers whatever radio station is being heard in real time and encodes that information into a data base.  It is the most accurate means of measuring true listening habits ever devised. 

But minority stations are crying foul and we have a government that grabs its ankles in our politically-correct American culture.  Like many polling companies, Arbitron chooses its respondents based on landline access and minorities are claiming many in their ranks only use cellphones and are thereby disadvantaged and not fully represented in sampling statistics.  The PPM Coalition made up of Black and Hispanic broadcasters issued an “emergency request” that the FCC investigate.  Arbitron counters stating the Coalition’s petition is “replete with misstatements of acts, unsupported speculation and overheated rhetoric.”  And, Arbitron says a number of stations that target minority audiences have in fact increased their market rankings since introduction of the PPM. 

We’ll see how this plays out, but there is no argument that government now sees itself as the arbiter of what we choose to hear.  Government has truly become Big Brother in America.  The FCC is out of bounds on this probe and we can only hope the court system will prevail in what will surely wind up as a key fight for free speech rights in America.  Tommy Smothers once said, “The only valid censorship is the right of the people not to listen.”  It would seem the Federal Censorship Commission disagrees.

Brian Jennings is a longtime national radio programmer and author of Censorship:  The Threat to Silence Talk Radio.