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Aug. 8, 2014 - Rush Limbaugh Program
33:21
August 8, 2014, Friday, Hour #3
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Hi, welcome back my friends.
Wonderful to have you here, Rushland Boy and the Excellence in Broadcasting Network.
And I consider to think of myself as one of the most fortunate people in this country doing what I was born to do each and every day.
It's like they always say, you'll never work a day in your life if you do what you love.
And I count my lucky stars, I was able to find that early on.
Even though about a million people didn't think I was good enough at it, I stuck with it because I loved it so much.
And here we are.
And it's just the biggest thrill of the day, every day to be here with you all.
Live from the Southern Command in sunny South Florida, it's Open Line Friday.
800-282-2882.
If you want to be on the program.
Now, I am assuming that my statement on conflict might have some of you, if not confused, disagree it with me.
It was exactly one hour ago.
And trying to make an overall larger point, I said that talking about the fact that our country was founded by people who knew and expected there to be constant conflict.
And my statement that politics and compromise is not how we solve problems.
Politics is the vehicle, but victory in politics is how we solve problems.
Not compromise.
Even in compromise, even if you want to say that there was a compromise, somebody lost in a compromise.
Somebody won.
It's always the case.
You might hear, you know, in compromise, nobody gets everything they want.
Well, somebody got more than the other guy did.
Always and without doubt.
And then I said, it may well be that the problem in our country with our politics right now is not that there's too much conflict, but too little.
And I was speaking within the context of our politics in Washington.
And I assumed that you knew that that's what I was referring to.
If you didn't, and might have thought that I meant just in general, I can see where you would think I'm wrong, or you might be curious, disagree, want to ask me further about it.
So rather than wait for a call to ask me with a specific situation, let me give you one to just show you I know what some of you probably did in reacting.
And let's use this ole miss situation as an example.
Because there is a situation where the conflict is unnecessary.
This has been totally manufactured.
It is an artificial conflict.
Everybody was chugging along.
Everything was fine.
And one day somebody decided the name of the school is racist and slave-rooted.
And therefore, it has to go.
Just like Redskins has to go.
Now somebody's trying to get a movement going in Cleveland to get rid of the Indians on the same basis.
And after that, they'll go to Atlanta for the Braves.
And then after that, they'll resume their efforts on the Tomahawk chop.
But let's stick with this situation in Mississippi and Ole Miss.
This Ole Miss thing and in a lot of other places where supposed politically incorrect names are involved.
In this instance, we have a conflict I don't want more of.
And thus I was not talking about this kind of.
But nevertheless, the conflict has been brought to us.
And once again, this situation is going to be resolved by somebody losing and somebody winning.
But I think the real point in a circumstance like what's going on in Ole Miss, the vast majority of people in Mississippi and in the rest of the country are not offended in the least by the name Ole Miss.
In fact, many people from there have a favorable historical route to it.
They don't think it's harmful.
They don't think it's insulting.
And they don't intend it to be.
It's just the name of the school.
It's the alma mater big whoop.
And they're not offended by it.
But the left comes along and presumes to assert the rights of people who they want to be offended, but who really aren't.
The same thing is happening with the Redskins.
There are a lot of people who are not bothered by it at all.
But if you listen to the sports media and all the others in the we got to get rid of the name camp, they act like everybody's offended.
They presume to make the case as though everybody's offended.
And the only people that aren't offended are the owners of the team and the people that work at the team.
And therefore, that's a minority.
And we've got to get rid of the name.
I think the same thing's happening in this old Miss mess.
They are presuming, and it's a tactic, by the way, this presumption is a strategic political tactic to act, to presume as though, oh my God, yeah, people have been offended by this for years.
They just haven't said anything about it.
And in this way, they assert the rights of people in Mississippi who they want to be offended, but who really aren't.
And then they presume to speak for them when they really aren't.
And then they create the illusion that a whole lot of people are offended by it, who really aren't.
And then this creates a conflict which is artificial because the whole thing is a lie.
The presumption that everybody's offended by Ole Miss, the presumption that everybody's bothered and offended by the Redskins name is what animates the whole movement to change the name.
Because it lives on an assumption, which is false, that everybody's offended by it.
And this, in fact, is one of the things that really bugs me is these damn leftists presuming to speak for everybody.
These damn liberals assuming everybody agrees with them or even if they don't trying to make it look like everybody does.
And And if you don't, you're an oddball cook, extremist, right-winger, or what have you.
In other words, this movement to get rid of the Redskins and the movement to get rid of the name Old Miss at Mississippi now are deliberately and gratuitously interjecting conflict in our society for the express purpose of dividing us so that they can get what they want.
Because they know that ultimately they're going to get their way by people giving up, who don't want the conflict, who don't want to have to argue about it anymore.
And they're figuring that's what's going to happen with the Redskins.
Peter King the other day, he was at Redskins camp and he saw all these people wearing Redskins gear and he was depressed because he figured since he hates the name, it everybody hates the name or they should.
And when he saw the Redskins jerseys and caps, he said, ah, geez.
And he says, you know, it's going to take a little longer.
Meaning, they're just going to have to keep pounding until finally you give up opposing them because you don't want to fight about it anymore.
And that, folks, is how they do it.
They just keep coming.
They just keep oppressing.
They keep pushing.
They keep accusing.
They keep presuming.
They keep attacking.
And they just make people give up.
Because they're tired of it.
Eventually, people say, not that big a deal.
Screw it.
Okay.
Then call it the University of Mississippi.
I don't care.
I'm tired of the argument.
And that's how they win.
But believe me, there is no compromise involved.
There's one side usually giving up in a circumstance like this.
And that's how the other side wins.
And I predict to you that that's exactly what's going to happen here in this old Miss thing.
You can see it.
It's exactly what's going on with the Redskins, the left and whoever it is that decides they don't like the name.
I think this is an exercise in power as much as it is anything.
I'll go a little further.
I think half the people offended by the name really aren't.
Because if they would have been offended by it, they should have been offended by it by whole life.
But all of a sudden, people are, and they fall on this, well, you know, Rush, the world is a changing place and the country is a changing place.
And I've heard the argument given that, you know, words change over time too, Rush.
You know, words evolve.
And so 60 years ago, 50 years ago, Redskins could have been fine.
And as society evolves, it becomes less and less fine.
And here we are.
It's tripe.
If people today are profoundly insulted by the name, why weren't they last year?
Why weren't they 10 years ago?
Well, the fact that they weren't and that they are now means something had to happen to make them offended.
What did it?
And I think there are many answers, but one of the answers, particularly on the part of the media, is this continuing desire they have to demonstrate their power.
And I think this Redskins thing, more than anything, is a bunch of leftists demonstrating they have the ability to categorize some owner as an absolute scumbag.
And the name of his team is a rabid insult.
And they're going to show everybody they've got the power to change that name.
And the way they're going to do it is presume, when they talk about it, that everybody finds it offensive.
But at every Redskins game this year, FedEx Field is going to be sold out and people are going to be wearing Redskins gear left and right.
And you're not going to see the evidence that everybody's offended by it.
The only place you're going to hear everybody's offended by it is in the media.
And the media is going to presume, hey, it's happening with Ray Rice.
All of these people that think everybody thinks that two-game suspension isn't enough.
The presumption is that everybody's mad at Goodell and that everybody thinks Goodell should have suspended Ray Rice Revenmore.
And yet, Ray Rice gets a standing O at the first preseason game in Baltimore last night.
The media looks at it.
Ah, damn it.
We might not win this one.
He got a standing O at training camp first day he showed up.
There were women wearing pink Ray Rice jerseys after he was suspended.
Media not happy.
He gets a standing O, big applause last night in Baltimore at M ⁇ T Banks or whatever the name of the stadium is.
He shows up.
Media supposedly surprised, I don't know.
But this is how this all works.
So in this case, folks, we have an artificial conflict.
And this kind of conflict we don't need more of.
That's not the kind of conflict I was referring to.
The kind of conflict I'm talking about that we don't have enough of is people standing up to this crap and trying to stop it.
The artificial conflict is old miss.
Time honor name.
Nobody gave a rat's rear end about it until one day.
And nobody really knows where it started.
And nobody really knows who started it.
It's just that one day, ole miss is unacceptable.
And the presumption is that everybody in the country is offended by it, and therefore it's got to be changed.
And so an artificial conflict has begun.
And people say, oh, come on, we got to stop.
Oh, geez, I don't want to fight it anymore.
It's okay.
Change it.
I'm tired.
I'm not a racist.
It's okay.
And they get rid of the name.
I'm not a race.
It's okay.
Okay.
Don't call it Redskins anymore.
Okay.
Okay, I'm not a racist.
I'll vote for Obama.
Okay.
I'm not a racist.
I'll vote for Obama.
Okay.
That's how it happens.
And it ticks me off.
There's not enough standing up to this crap.
This artificial, presumptuous, never-ending assault by people on the left that everybody must conform to the convoluted, oftentimes depraved way they think.
And that's what happens on this program every day.
That's what we stand up to and say, stop.
Every day, I get up and I look at people and things and traditions and institutions that I believe in and hold dear under assault.
I don't get up and plan attacks on people.
I don't have time.
We're all too busy defending ourselves against all these baseless charges.
Mean-spirited, cold-hearted, heartless, racist, sexist, big homophobe.
That's what we are called every day.
And it's done on purpose.
It's designed to put people on defensive and to get them to do things to try to prove they're none of that.
And the things that you do to prove you're none of that help liberalism advance its agenda.
And I don't.
And the whole thing just makes me livid.
And I just think if everybody or just a few more people could see this for what it is and how it operates, That a lot more people would end up standing up to it.
And time to head back to the phones.
This is Michael in Jackson, Michigan.
Welcome, sir.
I'm glad you called.
Hello.
Hello, sir.
God bless you and yours.
Thanks for being there, and please keep fighting the good versus evil fight, would you?
Thank you.
Sir, I can't do anything else.
I think I'm genetically disposed to opposing all this stuff.
Yes, sir.
I'm not going anywhere.
Yes, sir.
Good.
Great.
I have a fun Open Line Friday story for you.
Okay, cool.
Yeah, I get to do some interviews at the, we have a Motor City Comic-Con in the Detroit area.
And I got to interview William Shatner.
Oh, yeah, cool.
It was cool.
And, you know, everyone was star trekking him to death.
So I thought I'd ask him about his talk show, Raw Nerve.
And I asked him who his favorite all-time guest was.
And then I had a follow-up question of what was the best answer he got to a question from a guest.
And he said his favorite guest of all time was you.
Really?
Yes.
He loved your confidence.
He loved the fact that you brought your home broadcast toy that you had from when you were a kid.
Oh, yeah, the Remco Caraville.
Right.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
He really loved that.
He loved your confidence.
His favorite part of your interview, and it happened to be the favorite part because I think he interviewed you in the morning.
And then the same day he interviewed Larry Flint.
And he said the favorite thing that happened was in both interviews, and he got you both to cry a little bit by talking about your families.
He did.
I remember he was really, he had done his research on my family.
He was really interested in my grandfather and how much influence on me my grandfather had had.
He kept, he really bore down on that.
And I don't remember crying because I don't cry.
But maybe I got misty-eyed.
If he said that that happened, I'm not going to dispute him.
He said you did get misty-eyed.
Yep, exactly.
I just, I think it's great that he thinks I was his favorite guest.
Oh, yeah, he went on and on about it.
He really loved it.
He loved doing that show.
My favorite part of the show was that love seat deal that he had that he made everyone sit in.
Well, it's an S-flavored, S-shaped desk so that the guest is facing him, but you both have a tabletop in front of you because you're sitting in the middle section of the S.
And it was the weirdest.
I'd never seen anything like it.
And the interview was shot in some home somewhere in the Hollywood Hills that was for sale.
They had commandeered some home that were sales, set this thing up in the living room because of the view outside the picture window of this house.
And he was, I got invited to his house for a couple of Monday night football games.
Very cool.
In fact, that's where I met John Voigt one night at a Monday night football game at Shatner's place.
Shatner's place is so far up the hill, and they don't let you drive up there.
Your car lets you off, or you park your car for people who drive.
And you walk up this dry, it's Heart Attack Hill.
Getting up.
There's no way anybody's going to ever break into his house because they're going to have a heart attack getting up to it.
And he's a vegetarian, by the way, but he's not militant.
He had this big buffet set up for everybody, but it was not just what he eats.
And there were a lot of people there.
And he's got this giant, like, I don't know, 20-foot screen in his media room.
It was really cool.
I think William Shatner is one of the most naturally, and you wouldn't know this much, Star Trek, but he's one of the most naturally funny people I've ever been around.
The Shatner that was on Boston Legal is that's who I found him to be in the off times of the, and he is a fun guy.
He was a lot of fun.
And that interview, that interview was, it was a two-hour interview that they had to pare down to like, I don't know, 45 minutes or some such thing.
I thought they'd make two episodes out of it.
But they didn't.
Folks, there are a lot of things going on with the left and their never-ending assault on the traditions and institutions that are harmless.
Don't hurt.
In fact, they're great.
And they go to the identification of either the country or a great tradition of the country or what have you.
Now, if there's one thing that I could try to get you to focus on here in recognizing this, it is this presumption behind every argument that everybody agrees with the left on this.
So in the case of the Redskins, the presumption is that everybody finds the name offensive.
The media's very attitude when they talk about it on television or they write about it on the web or in their publications, the attitude behind every story is that everybody agrees.
They never write about it from the perspective that they've got to start small and persuade a lot of people and it's going to be a big job.
They start presuming that that's already happened.
They start from the standpoint that they've already won the argument, that there isn't any argument, that all there is left to do is get rid of the name.
This is a very key psychological ploy, very key psychological element that is part of every effort the left makes in its assault on things, is this presumption that the argument's over and that a vast majority already agree.
And that's what probably depresses a lot of you, thinking you're in the minority, thinking, oh my God, my country's, I mean, I don't relate to my country anymore.
That's what it is that makes you think everybody accepts and agrees with all this leftist claptrap.
It's the psychological presumption present in the way all of these things are covered.
And that's what you have to actively fight and understand that that is a trick.
It is a technique that is designed.
Obama uses it all the time.
As a majority of economists on both the left and the right have already said, my economic plan is great.
Or, as I'm sure the leaders of those African countries would agree, they have no business getting this here.
Or, as every hospital and doctor that I've spoken to has agreed, Obamacare is the only way.
This is a technique.
It's how they do it.
It's how they make you think that you're in the very small minority, that the country's left you behind, that you're an aging dinosaur, and what you believe is long gone, and everybody else when it's not true.
These presumptions are always BS.
Now, a couple other things I want to get to here before we get out of here today.
General Motors says that there's a new Vault coming, but it's not going to be a mass market vehicle anymore.
You remember the Vault?
Their electric car.
Oh, no, I think they sold three, not five.
But at any rate, they are changing their entire marketing.
They're going to show the Next Generation Vault at the Detroit Auto Show in January.
And the marketing officer, Tim Mahoney, said that GM considers the Vault will not be a mass market car anymore.
You know what that means?
No, it means that they can't make it cheap enough to be mass market.
It means it's going to cost a lot of money and that only dumb liberals will be able to afford it.
So, what this means is that they've got to find a niche audience of really, really dumb liberals to buy this thing because the majority of Americans are not interested in it yet.
That's what that means.
Now, you know, I am such a trendsetter.
I am so ahead of the curve on so much.
It seems like things happen in the media and been there, done that.
From writing books to being suspended to whatever.
I am the trailblazer.
And as you know, pioneers take the arrows.
I have a story here of yet another ESPN employee who's been suspended.
This one is Dan Labetard, not to be confused with Don Leotard.
This is Dan Labetard.
He works out of Miami.
He was a writer for the Miami Herald.
And like all writers, figured there's much more money in broadcast than print.
So he ended up doing some work on ESPN on the network, and then they gave him a radio show.
So he's got this radio show in Miami on ESPN.
And as part of the radio, he's got suspended for two days.
Yesterday and today, ESPN released a statement.
Dan Labetard will be off the air for two days, returning Monday.
His recent stunt does not reflect ESPN standards and brand.
Additionally, we were not made aware of his plans in advance.
Well, what did he do?
He put up a billboard.
Apparently, he bought, I think it was a billboard, might have been two billboards.
I'm not sure which, but he put up a billboard making fun of LeBron James for leaving Miami.
And ESPN said, we can't have that.
He's suspended.
It can't offend LeBron.
LeBron James, far more important to ESPN than any host.
And the billboard is simply, it's a white billboard.
At the top, it says, you're welcome, LeBron.
The next line is in a red stripe with white graphics, love, Miami, and the pictures of the two NBA championship rings.
And that's it.
I do not know what's offensive about this.
You're welcome, LeBron.
Love Miami.
I guess the offense is: okay, LeBron, he came here, he got his championships, and then he said, Miami, and he's going back to Cleveland.
And so they're offended in Miami that he would leave.
And so Labertard puts up this billboard that supposedly is insulting and mocks LeBron James.
I don't see how it's insulting or mocking at all.
Hey, thanks for nothing, LeBron.
That's what the point is.
So what?
LeBron James is not harmed by this.
Anyway, this trend of being suspended by ESPN, I started that.
That's my point.
I'm the one who makes all these suspensions possible there.
Meeting and surpassing all audience expectations every day.
Rush Limboy here behind the golden EIB microphone.
Great to have you here on Open Line Friday.
Now, Ebola, the Ebola outbreak.
A couple of things here I just want to touch on based on what was discussed near the end of yesterday's program.
Remember yesterday, Obama had this press conference and he was asked, and I knew this was going to happen.
We've had these two Americans come home.
We give them serum developed here from the tobacco plant.
Love that.
Tobacco plant.
And it works magic on people with Ebola.
And so the press predictably said, well, why just a couple of white Americans?
Why didn't the people in Africa get Obama actually said?
Well, as the people in Africa will no doubt agree, they'd be the first to say that they're so, they're just not qualified.
Well, guess what?
The African leaders are begging for the stuff, as I knew yesterday would be the case.
They are actively asking for this serum.
And this piece, Ebola Outbreak, Should Africans Receive an Experimental U.S. Drug?
Christian Science Monitor.
This piece is of primary interest to me because there's this line in it that contradicts what Obama claimed the other day.
While doctors are hesitant to attribute their progress to the drug, health officials in Africa are eager to get their hands on even a little potential treatment.
But wait, it was just yesterday, just yesterday, that President Obama said, as I'm sure African leaders would agree, they are not nearly ready yet for this one.
So today they're speaking up and they want it.
And then from the French news agency, Ebola's spread to U.S. is inevitable, says the Centers for Disease Control, Hen Honcho.
Now, wait a minute.
All week we have been hearing from everybody, from the news media, from CNN, from everybody.
You people worried about Ebola, you need to give it up.
It's hard to get.
You don't have a thing to worry about, even though it's in this country for the first time ever.
No sweat.
It isn't going to happen.
Now, I'm not trying to monger fear here.
Please understand.
This article, we are told, French news agency, anyone who touches an Ebola corpse is another infection.
Now, how is that possible when supposedly the only way that Ebola can be contracted or transmitted is through bodily fluids?
But I keep forgetting we're not supposed to worry about this.
We've been told everything's okay.
We've been told that there's nothing to worry about here, that Ebola is hard to catch.
And yet, here's the CDC guy: Ebola's spread to the United States is inevitable due to the nature of global airline travel.
But any outbreak is not likely to be large.
And then, here at this, the last line in this story, Ken Isaacs, vice president of program in government relations at the Christian aid group Samaritans Purse, warned that the world is woefully ill-equipped to handle the spread of Ebola in the hours after death with Ebola.
That's when the body is most infectious because the body is loaded with the virus.
Everybody that touches the corpse is another infection.
Not that we all are going to be coming in contact with corpses, but this goes against everything we've been hearing all week, that you need to touch an open wound or some other kind of bodily fluid.
I don't think most of you are going to be hanging around corpses, Ebola, or otherwise.
But it sure sounds like Ebola can be contracted without an exchange of bodily fluids if you can get the disease from a corpse.
But I keep forgetting, I'm sorry, folks.
I keep forgetting we shouldn't worry.
We need to focus on climate change.
That's the real problem.
That and the offensive name at Ole Miss.
That's got to go.
Oh, you missed that?
Yeah, Ole Miss is what slaves were forced to call the wives of the plantation owners.
And it's so offensive.
That's why the University of Mississippi's got getting rid of Ole Miss.
That just started.
Well, we just heard about it today.
A brief timeout.
Sit-tot.
We'll be back after this.
Don't go away.
And finally, four new Ebola cases in Nigeria, all related to an American who brought the virus there.
His name is Patrick Sawyer, who's one of the deceased Americans with this disease.
So not trying to fearmonger, not at all.
Seriously, have a great weekend, folks.
Always a thrill and a delight to be with you.
Hope your weekend's great.
Be back here Monday.
See you then.
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