Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said Thursday that Republicans had "lost" on the issue of gay marriage, no matter what the Supreme Court decides in a pair of high-profile cases this year. 

Limbaugh said that gay marriage has become "inevitable" because Republicans "lost the language" on the issue.

"I maintain to you that we lost the issue when we started allowing the word 'marriage' to be bastardized and redefined by simply adding words to it," Limbaugh said.

"Because marriage is one thing, and it was not established on the basis of discrimination. It wasn't established on the basis of denying people anything. 'Marriage' is not a tradition that a bunch of people concocted to be mean to other people with. But we allowed the left to have people believe that it was structured that way."

The Supreme Court this week heard oral arguments on two high-profile gay marriage cases involving California's Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act

Limbaugh made similar statements on his show Wednesday, when he said that the "genie is not being put back in the bottle."

Limbaugh offered an unusual comparison when explaining why he thought Republicans had lost the issue. He said that members of the party had not been steadfast in holding up the definition of marriage in its traditional sense. It would be like if he suddenly wanted to "be an Obama," he said, "so that I, too, can take a vacation every month on a big 747."

"Being an Obama would make me happy," Limbaugh said. "The Declaration says we have the right to 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Well, I would be happy if I was an Obama — and they won't let me be an Obama! So the law has to change. ... This is what we're hearing about with marriage."

Here's audio: