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April 4, 2006 - Rush Limbaugh Program
36:26
April 4, 2006, Tuesday, Hour #1
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Welcome to today's edition of the Rush 24-7 podcast.
All right, now, let me see if I understand this.
The immigration compromise on illegals here will focus on those who've been here five years or more.
Arlen Specter says they're looking at the roots concept.
You know what this boils down to is we're importing a bunch of people without high school degrees.
And if we want, like Rich Lowry says at National Review Online, if we want to do that, just go to the public education system.
We get countless millions of people without high school degrees in this country or the equivalent anyway.
Greetings, folks.
How are you?
Hubba Hubba Duba Duba.
Glad to have you with us as we kick off another three-hour excursion into broadcast excellence.
I am Rush Limbaugh amidst billowing clouds of fragrant aromatic first and secondhand cigar smoke, premium cigar smoke, phone number.
If you want to be on the program today, 800-282-2882.
Email address, rush at EIBnet.com.
Looks like Zarqawi, Abu Musab Zarqawi, has been dumped in Iraq.
There's some fissures over there in the Al-Qaeda movement.
You won't hear about this too much in the mainstream press.
Gasoline prices are up sharply ahead of the peak season.
Happens every year, folks.
Generally, it coincides with springtime.
It's a seasonal phenomenon.
Gas prices go up, and as we get to the summer driving season, they'll trickle back down as they always do.
But we're getting stories in the Washington Post today about gouging.
We got a lot of Cynthia McKinney news today.
The Atlanta Urinal Constipation newspaper has even editorialized against her.
She's just an idiot.
You know, she's just a plain idiot.
And everybody knows that Democrats don't even want anything to do with her.
They're afraid that she's going to drag them down.
She and Nancy Pelosi aren't even speaking, according to the Hill, Capitol Hill newspaper.
All the global warming crowds starting to get all revved up because temperatures are getting warmer out there.
And all these hurricanes and so forth, rather tornadoes.
You know, one of these tornadoes destroyed a place very close to where I grew up, Carruthersville, Missouri.
I mean, destroyed half the town, apparently.
These are just 200-mile-an-hour winds.
And we got a hurricane forecast coming out from this guy, the expert at University of Colorado, Bill Gray.
And it's interesting to note that last year, the original prediction from the expert, and this is not a slam on Mr. Gray.
I just want to make this point.
I happen to like Mr. Gray.
I've never met him, but I like him when I see him on television.
And I really like him because he's saying trying to attach hurricanes to global warming and surface sea temperatures is absurd.
It's going to take decades of more data before we can establish any connection like this.
Now, they'll report this guy's predictions out to Wazoo when it comes to the number of hurricanes as though he's never wrong and he's an expert.
But when he goes against the ingrained drive-by media template that global warming is making them more secure or more extreme, they'll ignore that part of what he says.
But last year, and last year we had 27 named storms.
Remember that?
We had to go into the alpha and beta numbers.
We'll never forget it here in Florida.
But his original prediction last year was for 13 storms.
I mean, for 2005, yeah, 2005, it was 13 storms.
He raised the forecast in May of last year to 15.
And it wasn't until August 5th, almost halfway through the season, that Dr. Gray increased the prediction to 20 storms.
And we ended up having 27.
Now, here's the world's foremost authority and expert, and it takes him halfway through the season to forecast a number that does even really get close.
20.
Original is 13.
Then he bumps it to 15, then to 20, and we get 27.
Now, the point is, nobody knows.
Nobody knows for sure.
And try this.
British scientists report observing some of the largest waves ever measured, reportedly so big, some computer models indicate that they shouldn't even exist.
Well, what are we supposed to do?
Believe the waves or believe the model?
They actually went out.
The observations occurred February 8th, 2000 aboard the Royal Research Ship Discovery during a scientific expedition in the North Atlantic.
They were 155 miles west of Scotland when a series of gigantic waves hammered the vessel.
The waves, the witnessed waves of crew, witnessed waves up to 95 feet from the trough to the crest, the highest waves ever measured by a scientific instrument in the open sea.
And Der Spiegel says this new data may be troubling for shipbuilders since scientists' data suggests giant waves may be much more common than has been thought.
We don't even know the height of the waves over the whole planet out there.
We got computer models to predict that, and they're totally wrong.
But we are supposed to believe every computer model on global warming, especially giving the most credibility to those showing the biggest threat of disaster.
L.A. Times, Hollywood souring on Hillary Clinton.
We'll have the details for you.
New York City is losing black people, according to the census.
That's got to make the Dems pause just a little bit.
Some pause some.
Well, I don't know where they're going.
I'll get to the details of the story here in due course, Mr. Sterling.
I think they're down 30,000.
It's not a significant number given the population of New York, but it's the first time ever the black population has decreased.
Look, everybody has been emailing to me today.
What's the inside scoop on delay?
I don't know what the inside scoop on delay is.
I don't know that there is any inside scoop.
Let's go with the audio soundbites.
Let's get started because the media is the drive-by media.
They can't contain their glee.
They got rid of Newt.
Now they think they've gotten rid of delay.
It's part of the destruction of the Republican Party.
And they're into a little argument here over who broke the story.
Chris Matthews last night on Scarborough Country.
Joe Scarborough says we got some breaking news right now with me on the phone.
I'd like to bring in Chris Matthews.
Understand you have some breaking news.
I just was on the phone show with U.S. Congressman Tom DeLay of Texas, who's fighting for re-election.
He told me tonight, just a moment ago, that he's going to withdraw from the race tomorrow.
But I have to tell you, when he spoke with me tonight, he called me up and he said, you've always been fair with me, and I wanted to get this story early.
It'll be breaking tomorrow.
So this morning on the Today Show, Katie Couric, a little interview with Chris Matthews about his big scoop.
Anyway, congratulations on breaking the story and thanks so much, Chris.
Thank you.
But this morning in the Fox News Channel, John Scott was hosting and they interviewed Mike Allen of Time magazine.
Mike Allen claims that he broke the story, put it on the Time magazine website yesterday.
There's no indication of that.
This appears to be a very personal decision.
Mr. DeLay was in a good mood yesterday when I showed up.
There was an Easter bunny on the door of the house, another Easter bunny on the kitchen table where we sat down.
Okay, so Mike Allen of Time magazine says he was at Delay's house and looking at the Easter bunnies yesterday.
And that's when he found out of Matthews gets called last night.
Matthews thinks he broke the story.
You think Delay might have called President Bush first?
Bush just didn't leak it.
But Bush probably got the first call.
Charlie Gibson, good morning, America today, announces this decision by Tom DeLay as though delay has died.
George, this is a real passing in Washington.
It's a real passing in Washington.
Is this not great?
And Bill Schneider, old buddy Bill Schneider, CNN, just can't hide his glee.
Since 1994, the Republican coup, they got rid of Gingrich.
Now they get rid of Delay.
And now they just know that they're going to take back the House.
Miles O'Brien, the host, says to Bill Schneider, does this deprive Democrats of a foil that they wanted?
Well, in some ways it does because his race won't be the centerpiece of the House races in the midterm election.
His race would have eaten up an enormous amount of resources.
He would have been, as you described it, a poster child of the Republican Congress.
He's the face of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, as Newt Gingrich used to be.
And that did not do the Republicans any good.
He ended up stepping down.
DeLay didn't really help the Republicans.
He stepped down as well.
So excited, but let me correct Bill on one.
This is what happens, these people, when they get caught up inside the beltway and forget what goes on out there in the real country in the heartland.
Yeah, Newt was the face of the Republican Party, but Delay wasn't.
Delay wasn't that well known outside Washington, particularly, I mean, he is now with the Ronnie Earle political hack indictments.
But before all this happened, Delay was, you could do a name ID number on him survey on the people of the country, and he wouldn't come anywhere close to where Newt was.
He did not go out on television all the time.
He was articulating Republican policy, conservative policy.
He was doing it behind the scenes.
He had the nickname the hammer, and they've always hated him in Washington.
They are fooling themselves if they think that Delay is the same in terms of being the face of the real.
And this is not to cut Delay, folks.
Now, don't misunderstand me.
I'm just saying that they don't understand the reality of the circumstance.
Delay never wanted to be the face of the Republican Party, never tried to be.
His work was done behind the scenes, hammering people, twisting people's arms, threatening them, all this, you know, the things that the Democrats accuse Republicans of do when they're winning and praise Democrats for doing when they win.
All right, well, listen to DeLay and what he has to say about all this.
We come back after our first time out.
By the way, welcome to all of you on the Ditto Cam at rushlimbaugh.com.
It's scheduled to be on all three hours today.
Sit tight.
We'll be right back.
America's Anchorman, America's Truth Detector, and the Doctor of Democracy on the EIB network, Rush Limbaugh.
Oh, before we get back to the audio soundbites, we're going to talk more about United 93 today, the movie, the controversy over the trailer, because is it universal or paramount?
Whatever.
The studio has sang it universally.
Yeah, it's universal.
The studios come out and say, we are not going to pull this trailer, and we are not going to pull a movie.
And besides, there isn't one family member, the 9-11 families, who didn't want us to do this movie.
So you got a bunch of people.
Believe me, folks, the opposition to this movie and the opposition to this trailer so far, I mean, these people may tell you it's because their emotions can't handle it, but it's politics.
It is pure politics, pure and simple.
The last thing that these leftists in this country want is for people to be reminded once again that we face serious consequences and are in a war because after all, their political party's been out there saying it's not necessary, that Bush lied.
This is all trumped up.
So we'll get into that as the afternoon or the morning, depending on where you are, unfolds.
Here is three sound bites from Tom DeLay here.
First Fox News this morning.
DeLay was asked, you never backed away from a challenge before.
That's how you got your nickname, the hammer.
Why not face up to this one?
The challenge has always been in the interest of the conservative cause and the Republican majority.
And I'm more interested in growing the Republican majority than my own future.
I can still be out there working for the Republican majority and the conservative movement and not jeopardize this seat.
Take him at his word on this.
I think what he could do if he really wants to tweak these people is announce sometime soon he's going to take over Jack Abramoff's business.
He's going to become a lobbyist.
I think he's serious about the Republicans maintaining the majority.
And the word going around is that his election now would be nasty and it would take a lot of money.
What happens now is you have a, he's going to retire, resign now.
He's not going to serve out to November.
He's going to resign now a couple weeks or whatever.
What happens this special election?
So you get a Republican who will be running as an incumbent in November, as opposed to a Republican running for an open seat against the Democrat.
This could take a lot of the wind out of Democrat sales.
They can sit there and tell themselves that this is a big success story.
Remember, the Democrats, especially the kooks on their blogs out there, they have substituted emotional satisfaction for real victory.
And that's what they got here.
They think this is a real victory because they hate delay.
They hate the hammer.
And they got him.
He finally got him.
Ronnie Earl is going to be feted at dinners and speeches.
You wait and see.
Ronnie Earl be the new American hero to the left.
But they haven't won anything yet.
They haven't won the seat.
Thinking they got rid of delay is something it's like a sucker punch to them again.
And they're going to think they've won something when they haven't.
Also on Fox.
Next question.
You've seen these charges in the paper.
A couple of your close associates, former staffers.
Your former deputy chief of staff, former PR mana, pleaded guilty.
They're apparently cooperating with federal investigators.
Is that part of your reason for resigning?
No, the Abramoff affair has nothing to do with me.
The Justice Department has told my lawyers I'm not a target of this investigation.
What those men did have greatly disappointed me, but it has nothing to do with me.
I know that the left has used it to try to brand me with guilt by association, but I have always served, I think, honorably and ethically.
I've never broken a law, the spirit of the law, nor a House rule.
In fact, I'm the most investigated man in Washington, and they still have not been able to charge me with anything because there is nothing there.
Talking about the House Ethics Committee there, not Ronnie Earle.
Finally, a question, does Ronnie Earle win by your resigning?
He may win this battle, but in the end, we're going to give him a pretty good Texas whooping because the charges against me are frivolous.
I've been indicted on laws that didn't exist at the time.
He knows that.
This is totally a political operation using our criminal justice system for political purposes and political gain.
It's absolutely outrageous that Ronnie Earle has abused the Texas judicial system.
But in the end, we will beat him.
He will once again, as he has many times, be embarrassed.
And he will embarrass Travis County, and he will embarrass the Democrat Party of Texas.
All right, we've got some people that want to react to this.
First up from West Caldwell, New Jersey is Glenn.
West Caldwell, New Jersey, by the way, is where the Sopranos live and operate and bust kneecaps.
Glenn, welcome to the program.
Great to have you with us.
Thank you, Rush.
I am still angry, even though he tried to explain himself.
I am still angry at Delay because he is giving up.
Yet another Republican gives up when the going gets tough.
And I am really getting tired of the Republicans, when it gets tough, when things get to be dicey, when they really want their conservative base to stand behind them to support them, they give up in face of the Democratic opposition.
And it's really starting to get on my nerves that the person with the largest cojones, as it was, using Wes Caldwell language, in the House gives up.
Well, look, I understand the sentiment, and you obviously don't believe Congressman DeLay when he says that Ronnie Earl has nothing to do with this.
Let me give you something else to consider.
And I'm not trying to talk you out of it because I don't know either.
I'm not, you know, the initial reaction all of us had was, oh, Ronnie Earle wins.
But DeLay is not in a political fight here.
This thing with Ronnie Earl is taking place in court.
It is political.
It's politically oriented.
And I think most of it is politically timed.
There's no question about it.
But it's a little bit more serious than your average run-of-the-mill electoral battle.
On the other hand, this race setting up that he would have to run in November for re-election with a Democrat, the Democrats, the Hollywood left, everybody is already pouring money into that race.
And for Delay to win it, he would have to siphon a lot of money from outside the district that normally he would not have to spend.
It would take it away from other candidates.
I do think that he is very much concerned the Republicans hold on to the majority.
Money is the mother's milk of politics.
The more it takes for his one re-election, the less others will have.
And there are some stories that the Republicans right now think they're going to lose at least eight seats.
I hate that kind of thinking, but that's what they're thinking.
So another thing he's done is taken himself off the table as the target.
The Democrats can say, whoa, wow, we won Ronnie Earle.
Congratulations.
Got rid of Tom DeLay.
But they don't now have a foil.
They don't now have the face and focus of evil to base these November elections on, using Tom DeLay all over the country as though he's running for president or something.
And it's going to take a lot of ammo away from the Democrats in their effort to take back the House of Representatives.
And I do think that when it comes down to it, Delay, including what he chooses to do in the future personally, I do think he is hell-bent on maintaining a Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
I mean, he thinks his staying in the race, fighting an election campaign at the same time this Ronnie Earl thing is going on, would be a detriment to that concept.
And I think that would be a factor in him pulling himself out.
And it may be, and I'm just, you know, Glenn, I'm not trying to talk you out of it, just giving you another idea, something to think about.
It may be a pretty big step here.
It may be a pretty, I don't know, sacrifice, but pretty big thing for him to do for the party.
We'll be back in just a second.
Yes, making the complex understandable.
You see 24 last night.
Did you watch 24, Mr. Snurdy?
Oh, come on.
What about your T-Vote, did you say?
It's T-vote.
Oh, come on.
You didn't see it last.
Well, I can't tell you anything about it.
I can't tell you anything about it.
But last Thursday, Joel Cernow and Howard Gordon were here.
And they said, don't miss Monday's episode.
There are four or five episodes a year where we just totally turn things upside down on everybody.
And last night was just like they said.
It was just one of those episodes.
It was just At the end of the episode, I sent Serno a note I said, you just can't keep doing this to us.
It was terrific.
All right, let's see.
Michael in Los Angeles, nice to have you on the program.
Welcome.
Well, thanks.
But the defense that you're basically putting up of Delay is not really going to work for him.
He would never have considered dropping out if the charges were as frivolous as he claims.
It can't be denied that it comes right on the heels of the guilty plea of his near associate.
The House of Cards is falling.
He knows it, and he wants to get out of there before it gets worse and worse and worse.
All right, so you consider this a victory for your side?
Well, a victory for honesty, justice, truth, fair play, those things for sure.
Before the verdict is, yeah, yeah, yeah, before.
Before the verdict.
Listen to you.
It's a good thing you're not on a jury.
You've already got your mind made up.
You haven't heard any of the evidence.
He's already guilty simply because he's resigning from Congress.
And you think truth and justice in the American Way has worked its miracles here.
What's happened here is you have a political partisan hack prosecutor in Texas who set out to try to destroy this man's career because he's effective politically, not because he's broken any laws.
He comes up with phony indictments, has to cajole grand juries.
Took him three grand juries to find one that would indict him.
He had a foreman in that grand jury who said afterwards, yeah, I made up my mind when I saw some television commercials on TV about Delay.
I don't like the guy personally.
So you go ahead.
If you think Truth, Justice, and the American Way has won out, examine your own words, and you'll find out that Truth, Justice, and the American Way are not even on the table yet.
There's another factor here, by the way, folks.
Tom DeLay had a safe district.
He's in Sugarland, Texas, which is one of the countless suburbs of the great city of Houston.
And he agreed when they redistricted the state, and that, by the way, the redistricting of Texas is under a Supreme Court hearing right now that they've taken the case to determine whether or not the redistricting that the Republicans did there was constitutional.
But in the process of doing this, Delay sliced off a large segment of his safe district in order to make it easier for other Texas Republicans to win.
He gave up a sure, safe seat.
He's got a district now with a lot more Democrat voters in it.
And that's why one of the reasons why he's facing an uphill race in an uphill reelection battle in November, you couple that with this legal case that he's got to deal with.
And it's possible that my theory out there as to why Delay did this holds up.
I understand all of you, though, who, if you're upset because you think he caved, that's a natural reaction, the first instinctive reaction that I think everybody had about this.
But let's go back and visit the ports deal, examine your first reaction to that, and then where you were three or four days later after listening to the voice of reason on the issue, me.
Richard in Queens, New York, you're next on the EIB network.
Hi.
Yeah, thanks, Rush.
God bless you.
Listen, you know, just we seem to be explaining away.
I'm an ultra right-wing conservative, and something has gone awry with the message of the Goldwater, Reagan, mostly Goldwater, conservatives, where the republic is gone.
There's something wrong with you're explaining away the truth.
Everything can be explained away, but the taxes are too high.
Spending is too high.
It's out of control.
And we explain it away when George Bush can't do anything wrong.
This guy is the worst thing for the Republican Party, the conservatives, and he's not doing a good job.
Everything is explained away with this guy.
Wait, wait, now, now, hang on here just a second out there, Richard.
You're all over the ballpark here today.
I thought you were upset with me because you think I'm defending Delay, and now you're upset at me because I'm bootlipping George.
I've led the charge on this spending business.
I've led the charge on Hamlet, the immigration.
What the hell are you talking about, George?
You haven't done it.
You haven't done it.
You've done a disservice to the Republic to the conservative Americans.
I love this.
I have done a disservice.
How am I?
Tell me, detail this disservice for me.
What am I doing wrong?
For instance, Delay.
Hey, you think Delay, if he wasn't guilty, he wouldn't be stepping down?
His first who was first who was some nut job, some nut job prosecutor in Texas.
Now he's stepping down.
It's always that something's always explained away with this guy, with everyone.
Well, you know, I, you know, Richard, I'm sorry, but I bring some experiences to this story that maybe you haven't had.
Maybe you have.
I don't know.
But I have a whole different opinion of prosecutors now.
I used to be like everybody else.
I presumed anytime somebody was charged with something, they're guilty.
I mean, that's just not even political bias.
That's just human nature.
Everybody figures law enforcement is always the good guys, and they're out getting bad guys.
And when they come up and announce charges or an indictment, why would they waste their time if this wasn't true?
I mean, this is horrible.
I've had a little experience with this, and I have a whole different view about it now.
And you're out there assuming guilt, like everybody else does, simply because there are charges.
Now, you're adding to it the fact that you think that's going to harm the political movement that you believe in.
And so you're just mad as hell, and you're not going to take it anymore, but you don't know who to take it out on.
So you're calling me because I am the most influential person you can reach and you know and you want to and you want to spank me for all this.
I can take it.
You know, I'll bend over and grab the ankles for you.
But the Abdale, is that what he said?
I'm just explaining everything.
Just explaining everything away.
George, I'm not trying to explain everything away, and I'm not trying to make excuses.
I'm trying to give you another point of view that you might want to think about instead of running, jumping to conclusions here when you don't know what things are.
I have allowed that this is the normal human reaction for people to have, but when you don't know, you don't know.
And it's really dangerous to start assuming that you do know when you don't.
Here's Roger in Gainesville, Florida.
Nice to have you on the program, sir.
Welcome, sir.
Big Gator Ditto's rush, Ryan.
Yeah, how about that last night?
That was something Billy Donovan and the boys.
That's unbelievable.
Yeah, tell you.
I went to Tevo 24 for the same reason Snerdley did.
Anyway, I completely disagree with Glenn and all the others.
I think this was a move by Delay was a bold tactical move at a huge personal sacrifice to keep the Republicans strategically on course.
Delay is now off the headlines and off the big bugaboo guy of the left.
And he's going to later on in the spring probably beat Ronnie Earl in court.
So this is all going to work out.
Great move.
And I might also throw in another possibility, and people are going to smirk at this, but Delay might want to make some money.
He's going to need some money to pay off these lawyers.
And you can't pay these legal bills on what you make as a hammer in Congress.
So I've been thinking about this for quite a while, I'm guessing.
And I, you know, Roger, we have to admit here, even though you're on a big final four high, we could be wrong.
Delay could be guilty of sin, but I'm not going to assume it till I know it, particularly with the experiences that I've had.
But I do think you're right in agreeing with me that this could be a very selfless and bold movement.
And really, maybe not even selfless because he's setting himself up for his own future if he does succeed in maintaining a Republican majority.
He will have some clout with whatever he chooses to do down the road if that majority in the House remains on the Republican side.
True enough.
And I don't think Delay is guilty because if he is, everybody else in Washington and probably every state capital is because they all do the same things.
Exactly right.
Who are we talking about?
Tom DeLay here today.
And we got Cynthia McKinney and some of her aunties.
She admitted to criminal activity by using taxpayer money to fly one of my all-time favorite musicians, Isaac Hayes, down to Atlanta to open her office down there.
And she lied about it on the forum saying a thousand bucks was for paperclips and forms and office supplies and this sort of stuff.
But it was obviously first-class round-trip airfare for Isaac Hayes.
Now, there's admitted fraud.
There's admitted criminality.
And yet, what do you bet?
Nothing happens to Cynthia McKinney.
What do you bet on that score?
What do you bet?
Nothing happens to her.
They might do something on.
Yeah, she's going to make restitution.
Something might happen to her on the security guard business.
But this, yeah, that's an excellent point.
If Delay is guilty of something, then they all are.
Campaign finance laws, folks, thanks to Senator McCain, fine gold, are so screwed up, I'll bet you half the people running campaigns don't know whether they're breaking the law these days or not.
I know that's no excuse, but it's just perverted in so many different ways.
Ron in Marriesville, Michigan, welcome to the Rush Limbaugh program.
Hello.
Hello, Rush.
How are you?
Thank you very much.
I'm fine, Danny.
Under fire here, but I can handle it.
All right.
Well, as I was listening earlier and agreeing with Glenn, and I've actually calmed down listening to Roger and all the others, but it's all about perception, Rush.
There are, well, you have, what, 25 to 30 million listeners on a daily basis?
Yes.
Well, there's still those out there that work that can't listen to you for whatever reasons, although they should.
They're just not trying hard enough.
Right.
Well, that may be, but then maybe there's limits as to what they can listen to when they're in the office or whatever may be the case.
That's no excuse.
We make the program available on podcasts for people.
There's no excuse for not listening to this program unless you've bought into the phony criticism of this program and me by critics who themselves don't listen to it.
But we don't need to go there.
I mean, I'm sidetracking you.
What is your point about the numbers that don't?
I guess those that are on educated and that do not listen to you for whatever reasons is the perception that you have out there that the Republicans are caving in.
That's what the perception is.
I know my wife and myself, my brothers, we have the discussions.
And in the last few years, it just seems to be that, and you bring up Cynthia, will she be caught?
Will she be, you know, we just have the perception that the Democrats, the traps could be laid, but they're not going to get caught.
Whereas the Republicans, the traps are laid, and they take the bait, and then they cave in, and they just don't seem to have the guts or the fortitude to stick it out and defend themselves.
They just, you know, that's the feeling that we have.
All right.
Well, maybe if this is the perception, and you're right, in politics, perception is reality.
Maybe I ought to change my tactics here.
Maybe I ought to come out and start accusing Delay of being a quitter, a linguine-spined yellow-bellied sap sucker.
And then maybe those of you will think I'm wrong and have a different picture of it.
We'll be back in just a second.
Stay with me.
All right, folks.
I have been patient beyond the limits of my abilities here.
It's time to clamp down and to, because when you start attacking me, and I haven't done anything, start attacking me as what did George say I was doing?
Yeah, that's right.
You're explaining everything away, right?
All right.
For all of you who say that Tom DeLay should have hung in there.
Can we call a spade a spade?
You want to hear the truth?
I don't think Tom DeLay is running from Ronnie Earle in this case.
The fact is that there aren't enough Republicans in the House of Representatives who are willing to back him up, either in his caucus in the House or apparently in his district.
He's reading the tea leaves out there.
I mean, you can get mad at Delay all you want, but you have some Republicans in the House who want him out of there because they don't want his baggage and his media baggage.
They don't want all the attention focused on them that would occur if he's still there.
He can fight all he wants, you people, but if the Republicans in the House of Representatives are going to throw him overboard, throw him down the steps, as many of them have, he's simply trying to deal with reality.
If he doesn't have the support of his own party, what the hell is he supposed to do?
Now, he's stepping down.
The first thing that happened is his caucus insisted that he step down, so he did, after resisting it for a while.
Second, he did want to run, and he wanted to win re-election, but the numbers make it difficult here, if not almost impossible.
Why is it assumed that he must be guilty?
What does that have to do with it?
How does his withdrawing from this race influence his case when he's still fighting the phony charges?
What do the two have to do with one another?
Let's look at the case of William Jefferson, Democrat Louisiana.
William Jefferson is under federal investigation for all kinds of things.
William Jefferson hasn't resigned.
Does that mean that he's innocent?
If Delay is guilty because he steps down, you think he's automatically guilty because he steps down, then we also have to assume that Congressman William Jefferson, Democrat Louisiana, is innocent because he hasn't stepped down.
You really want to start thinking about things this way.
If there's all this concern about Delay caving in, then why weren't these voices raised when the Republican caucus threw him down the steps of the Capitol?
Why weren't some of you people on the phone here concerned about him caving in about the Republicans caving in when they wouldn't back him up?
So he resigns because he's measured things.
He's taken a temperature of the water.
And I don't know what's going on.
I can only assume that what he says is accurate and try to analyze it beyond that.
But I'm not going to sit here and assume just because he resigned, that means he's guilty.
I think if you're going to get mad at Delay, you need to get mad at some of the Republicans too who wanted him out of there, who threw him overboard and who weren't willing to back him up and stand behind him because they didn't want the light that Delay attracts also illustrating and illuminating them.
They didn't want anything to do with it.
Republicans were running away from him.
And as I recall, if I recall, I may have been one of the few Republicans that tried to stand by him and give him some support in this era.
Now, here I am getting abused by some of you people on the phone as, what did George say again?
Explain it.
Explain everything away.
Well, I'm not explaining everything away.
I'm telling you as it is right now.
So if you want to get mad, if you want to think people are caving in, then you focus on the Republican side of the House of Representatives because that's where all of this started.
And then you better be willing to call here and tell me that Congressman William Jefferson, Democrat Louisiana, is innocent because he hasn't stepped down back after this.
I'm sorry.
All right, I think we've about covered this.
But if we haven't, and if you still want to be a little bunch of chihuahuas yipping at my ankles, then you go right ahead.
Are you going to have 800-282-288?
Dawn's so upset at me the way I'm speaking to you people.
I'm not speaking to the whole audience this way.
I'm simply reacting to some of these little chihuahuas on the phone today who want to take all their anger out on me at what delayed is simply because I am not bucking under to all of this conventional wisdom.
You should know by now, folks, when I see a conventional wisdom tsunami form, I get out of the way.
I don't join it.
And there's still too much that's unknown here.
But I'm serious.
If you want to get mad at somebody, get mad at the Republicans in the House for not standing by their guy.
They didn't want him.
They didn't want the heat.
They didn't want the problem.
You know, you can say they're gutless.
You want to.
I wouldn't say it about delay yet, though.
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