Yeah, and after that, and we'll get back in order number six.
Yeah, greetings, my friends, and uh welcome back.
I've been I've been watching the uh news networks here.
It's stunning.
All of the news readers and all the reporters and all the analysts at CNN are just ecstatic.
They're all smiles.
And John Boehner has been re-elected Speaker of the House.
Why even Nancy Pelosi is happy?
What in the world does that mean?
Well, I don't know.
But I'm just gonna tell you this.
I would feel a lot better if everybody were ticked off at whoever was elected speaker.
I if the Washington established, including the media, I'd be much happier today if the media, if CNN was ripping whoever was elected speaker.
Then I would know we got the right guy.
But they're all smiles.
Oh yeah, the establishment, they pulled another one out, folks.
They hung in there, they hung tough, and the establishment lives to triumph another day.
They literally, they're all smiles.
Look at Pelosi.
It's almost as happy as if she'd won herself.
The drive-by's at CNN are all happy.
Oh man, it's it's a it's a it's a sight to behold.
Welcome back.
It's great to have your Rush Limbaugh here executing assigned host duties.
I do the assigning flawlessly, zero mistakes.
Here's Jerry Jones this morning in Dallas on the radio, talking about Governor Chris Christie being an omnipresent guest in the owner's box at Cowboys Games.
He's a cowboy fan through and through.
I met him through the Cowboys, and I'm excited about it.
And uh he's part of our mojo.
I want him there all the way.
I don't know how we uh in any way can even think about going up there without having him.
With the way we're playing and and uh the mojo.
He's got enough mojo to pull this thing out, he ought to be looked at as president of the United States.
Jerry Jones, if he can if it if Christie's mojo.
He must be talking about the side hugs.
If he's some of Christie's mojo is being the uh deciding factor in the cowboys winning these football games, well, he obviously can be president of the United States.
I told everybody that Christie did not force his way in this box, you can't do that.
This the other box you can.
You can I mean if you're a governor, you call Jerry and say, hey, man, I'd love to come to game.
He'll invite you and he'll put you down there with the hundreds of others that are guests of his in his other big time party box.
But you have to really rate, and I'm this is not a criticism.
I I think it makes sense.
This is this is Jerry Jones' business.
That that box of his during game is his office, and he's got his football people in there.
He's scouts and uh, you know, the communications people down to the sideline and and all that.
I'll tell you one thing hasn't happened to keep a sharp eye out for.
Now we've seen Christie in the owner's box.
We've seen him give Jerry Jones a high five that was ignored.
Well, it looked like it was ignored, but I think everybody's so ecstatic, and Christie held up high five and Jones started hugging his son Stephen, so Christie got on the act, and it was a three-way man hug with Christie coming in on the side.
And then after the game, there was a single file procession of Jerry Jones' son Stephen Jones into the Cowboys locker room, and Christie was in the front of that line.
He was leading that line into the locker room.
He was not side by side with Jerry Jones.
He was he was in front of Jerry Jones.
Now it makes sense that in the line up in the on the way to the locker room, people would stop Jerry congratulate him and Christie would keep walking and so forth.
But Christie was still on his own.
He didn't have any, he didn't have to wait for permission.
He had the lanyard, he was ready to go.
He walked right in that locker room.
That's another tough take.
You can't just walk into an NFL locker room.
That it's like getting the old.
In fact, it's easier to jump the fence at the White House, apparently it is to get into an NFL locker room, and I'm not kidding you.
The one thing that we've seen, we've seen Christie on the field pre-game with Jerry Jones.
But as we all know, Jerry Jones takes frequent trips to the sidelines during games.
Usually When things are not going well and the team needs to be inspired by the presence of the owner.
Now, the next game is at high noon central time, Lambeau Field, where it's going to be between three and ten degrees on Sunday.
No snow in the forecast.
That's for Saturday and Monday, but on Sunday supposed to be just this bone-chilling cold.
What if?
And I think it likely to happen now with all the attention and knowing Jerry Jones the way I do, he's going to have fun with this.
I think if Jerry Jones sees the need to visit the Cowboys sideline during the game, so I like near the end of the first half.
He'll take Christie with him.
And they'll both be down there on the sideline.
And then you wait.
You wait a little Twitter go nuts, turned inside out, hashtag after hashtag.
I mean, Jerry Jones of Parnham Bailey here at P.T. Barnum.
He's got he's got this all working exactly the way he wants.
I mean, the NFL stop and think about it.
Here we've got, for NFL fans, this is the absolute best weekend of the season.
You've got the divisional championship games or the playoff games here.
On Saturday.
And you know what's interesting about this?
This from an inside baseball media standpoint.
Arguably the best games on Saturday and Sunday are the early games, not in prime time.
The early game Saturday is the Patriots and Ravens.
You'd think normally that'd be the night game on Saturday, but geography is a problem.
You've got two teams that play in the Pacific time zone.
That presents a problem.
So on Saturday night prime time, the Seattle Sea Seahawks and the Carolina Panthers.
Okay.
Still, it's big weekend.
And on Sunday, the Cowboys are not in the late game.
The Cowboys are at high noon?
Central time?
One o'clock?
One o'clock is purgatory in the NFL.
When they schedule you at one o'clock, it means your game doesn't matter during the regular season.
Well, not that, but you fans know what I mean.
And yet here we go.
One o'clock Eastern time.
It's a Cowboys and the Packers.
And the late game is, and the NFL thinks this is the big attraction of the weekend, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck.
The Broncos and the Coates, as Phil Sims says.
So it's weird scheduling.
But this is the Nirvana weekend.
Four games.
No wild card games.
These are actual playoff games.
And what's everybody talking about in the NFL?
What is it?
What they're talking about is Chris Christie in Jerry Jones box and the officiating in the Dallas Detroit game.
That's whatever, those are the two primary topics in social media.
The NFL, not these upcoming games, but Chris Christie and his side man hugs in the box with Jerry Jones and the officiating in that game.
And people are saying the NFL is missing it up.
This is bad marketing.
You don't want games in the past now.
You don't want what Chris Christie was in the box being a stuff.
You don't want the officiating being there.
You want the games coming up to be the focal point.
And they're not yet.
They will be.
They will be.
Did you see, did you see the cable ratings for those two college games on New Year's Day?
It was like 29 at highest-rated cable TV programs ever.
Oregon and Ohio State got no, or who knows, Oregon.
That's right.
That's right.
Jameis Winston and his own version of the butt fumble play.
Florida State, that's right.
29 million people.
Now it wasn't on conventional network over the air TV, it was cable only.
But you wait Monday night this college championship game, also at Jerry Jones Stadium.
Will Jerry be in his box?
That depends on whether the Cowboys win the day before.
But Monday night you've got this first ever college playoff championship game at Oregon versus Ohio State, right?
This coming Monday night.
When do you see the numbers on that?
Oh, it's this weekend is it for football fans.
This is Nirvana.
Even the Super Bowl, I mean, it's big and all that, but just for strict football, four games, divisional playoffs.
This is it.
But the Saturday night game is a puzzler in terms of the scheduling.
But I'm not going to say any more.
I'm not going to say, okay, I'm going to take a break here when I come back, the Christian heart of American exceptionalism.
This is from yesterday's stack, as promised.
Don't go away.
Great to have you back.
Yeah, Jameis Winston, Florida State.
I actually said it was the version of uh butt fumble, more like Garrol Your Premium.
That backwards pass that was uh intercepted or fumble, whatever it was.
But did you hear what happened to this guy, Jameis Winston after the game?
Oregon players surrounded him and started chanting no means no.
Now, you women out there know what that means.
But this guy's been accused of uh what sexual what not harassment, sexual what?
Rape?
You've been accused of rape.
Yeah, Jameis Winston at his at his probationer hearing said, oh yeah, when you hear a woman moan, that means yes.
I'm sorry, accused.
I'm sorry, Brian jumping to his defense here.
That's your that you're I'm glad you jumped to his defense.
I don't want to be accused here of convicting only the accused.
He was accused of sexual it's uh uh what's the term?
I'm having a sexual uh yeah, we all know what it is.
I can't think of what it is, but it's sexual.
Anyway, the Oregon's sexual assault is close enough.
Not the word I'm looking at, but it's it's anyway.
Oregon State or Oregon players know me.
But this is the guy during his probation hearing said, how did you know that she was giving her consent?
Because, Judge, she was moaning.
And these libs get mad at me.
Yeah, Judge, she was moaning.
Everybody know that when she moans, she is liking it.
And the judge, you know, some retired Florida chief judge, Supreme Court just said, not been my experience, but okay.
Yeah, Judge, she moaned.
That's on.
All right.
William Gallston writing in the Wall Street Journal on December 30th, the Christian heart of American exceptionalism.
And this is quite a piece.
If this piece had appeared outside the week between Christmas and New Year's, I think it would have gotten a lot more notice than it has.
His point is that we Americans are exceptional in our belief of Christianity, and that we believe it more than anybody will tell you.
In this year-end holiday season, it's timely to reflect on American exceptionalism.
Although the phrase is much abused in partisan polemics, it should not be discarded.
United States does not, sorry, United States does continue to differ from most other developed democratic countries.
And the heart of that difference is religion.
The durability of American religious belief refutes the once canonical thesis that modernization and secularization necessarily go hand in hand.
This is all the more remarkable because our founders drafted a deliberately secular constitution.
And I think that's a good question.
In 20 quietly revolutionary words, Article 6 declares no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
Now, consistent with that prohibition, newly elected officials from the president on down may choose either to Swear, that is, take a religious oath, or to simply to affirm their loyalty to the Constitution.
In 1789, this secular national constitution perched uneasily atop a Christian population residing in states, the majority of which had established an official religion.
Now, these establishments have disappeared.
But despite the enormous growth in the nation's diversity over the past 225 years, Christian conviction in America remains pervasive.
If you doubt this, if you doubt this, take a look at the survey the Pew Research Center released without much fanfare two weeks ago, which would have made that around December 16th.
Among the principal findings in the Pew Research Center poll are these.
73% of U.S. adults believe that Jesus was born to a virgin.
81% believe that the baby Jesus was laid in a manger.
75% believe that wise men guided by a star brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And 74% believe that an angel announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds.
And fully 65% of Americans believe all four of these elements of the Christmas story, while only 14% believe none of them.
Now, although Republicans are more likely to espouse these beliefs than are Democrats and Independents, each group endorses them by a two-thirds majority or more.
Did you catch that, folks?
Now, these are striking numbers that Mr. Galston cites here.
Although Republicans are more likely to espouse these beliefs than are Democrats and Independents, each group, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, endorse them by a two-thirds majority or more.
As expected, conservatives are more likely to espouse them than are moderates and liberals.
But here again, majorities of each group endorse each belief.
Among liberals, 54% profess a belief in the virgin birth.
What about the growth of secular thought in young Americans?
Well, as the Pew Report dryly notes, there is little sign of a consistent generation gap on these questions.
And actually, that's an understatement.
70% of adults 18 to 29 believe that Jesus was born to a virgin.
69% of adults 18 to 29 believe that an angel announced his birth.
80% of those 18 to 29 believe he was laid in a manger.
And 74% believe that the wise men made their gift-laden trek.
Now, to be sure, the most educated Americans are less likely to profess belief in the Christmas story.
But even among adults with postgraduate degrees, 53% affirm the birth of Jesus, with comparable or larger majorities for the story's other elements.
Now, Mr. Galston writes that these public beliefs have constitutional consequences.
When it comes to church and state, many Americans are soft rather than strict separationists.
When asked whether religious symbols like Christian nativity scenes should be permitted on government property, 44% said yes, whether or not the symbols of other religions are present.
An additional 28% said that Christian symbols would be acceptable only if accompanied by symbols of other faiths, and only 20% took the position that no religious symbol should be allowed.
You hear that?
Only 20% took the position no religious symbol should be allowed, and they are carrying the day in the public square.
We are being governed or ruled by a real small minority.
But it doesn't hide the fact of what real Americans, and I don't mean realist false, but what Genuine Americans believe, according to the Pew survey.
And Mr. Gallston writes, Democrats should pay careful attention to these findings in reaction to the excesses of the religious right in recent decades.
Many secularists and strict separationists took refuge in the Democrat Party.
Their voices are important, but if the party takes its bearings only from their concerns, it risks serious misjudgment.
Many Americans believe that religion has a legitimate if limited role in public life, including politics.
Many Americans believe it's wrong, not always, but usually, for laws and regulations to coerce individuals contrary to their conscientious beliefs.
Goes on to cite some other numbers.
Here, public religion research institute, 2014 American Values Survey, country split down the middle.
Forty-six percent of Americans are more worried about the government interfering with the ability of people to freely practice their religion than they are about religious groups trying to pass laws that force their beliefs on others.
But a political party that wants to build a durable majority should listen carefully to all of this and seek policies that acknowledge the legitimacy of their concerns.
Goes on to point out that the root of American exceptionalism is found right here in America's religious beliefs, which are far more Christian than anybody would actually ever believe.
And we're back.
America's real anchor man and doctor of democracy and America's truth detector.
Here with half my brain tied behind my back, just to make it fair.
And we go to Oh, Tallahassee, Florida.
This is Susan.
Susan, welcome to the EIB network.
Hello.
Hi, Rush.
Happy New Year.
Same to you.
Thank you very much for calling.
I I I was telling Mrs. Snurley that I'm extremely upset about what you said about Jameis Winson.
First of all, the uh word you were searching for, I believe was he was accused of sexual assault.
That's the word.
That is exactly the word I was looking for.
I'm sorry.
You're right.
But but second of all, you know, uh when we heard you um talk about how he was um exonerated like last month and and it was because you know he's okay, he's a kid, and he said, Well, the reason I she said yes is because she was moaning.
Well, I just said bravo, kid.
I mean, let's face it, that's the truth.
And when you s all of a sudden today you mocked him for the same exact thing.
No, I did no such thing.
I just want you to know he was cleared three separate times for this bogus.
He's also the starting quarterback for the football team.
Sorry?
He's also the starting quarterback for the football team.
Of course he was cleared.
Right.
No, uh wait, are you insinuating it's because of the quarterback that he was cleared?
No, I just said it.
I just pointed out that he's the starting quarterback.
And by the way, I didn't mock the guy.
I happen to be the one, I was one of the first to report that he'd been exonerated, but he did say, do you know how much trouble I've gotten with the feminazis out there for for making obvious comments about male-female relations?
Here this guy comes along and says, how do I know she enjoyed a judge?
She was moaning.
If I had said that, there would be an all-out destroy rush movement going on right.
And you call, hey, the kid's right, let's cut him a break.
Well, nobody ever cuts me slack like that.
No, but I I absolutely loved when you brought that up.
You're the only one who did.
I mean, moaning means you're happy.
Uh uh, okay, at least in my book.
Not today.
I'm telling you, in modern feminist literature, and if you go to college, moaning does not.
Traditionally, you're right.
I'm even going to get trouble for agreeing with you here.
But I'm telling you what what the feminist movement is doing on college campus in the classroom to women, I guarantee you, women moaning in sex is being taught that there is pain involved, and it's probably near rape because they're being taught that all sex is rape on college campus today.
Look at are you aware of this so-called epidemic of college rape?
Yes.
Well, it's not happening.
But they're creating it in the minds of all these young women all over America go to college and get raped.
And they've never stood up for the ma the mail ever.
It's always guilty until proven innocent.
Exactly right.
And and this poor kid, the the way they mocked him.
I mean, he's gonna run off to the NFL now when he's uh at twenty years old.
He should stay another year.
They they've just terrorized him.
He's talking to the biggest fan on ourselves.
has he made that decision yet.
He has to make a supposedly in the next two days.
Yeah, I thought he had nine or ten days to make the decision to go.
I think it's a little sooner.
And personally, we're all praying that he doesn't go.
Yeah, you want him back from the championship run.
Yes, because he just deserves another chance after that terrible game.
But um uh believe me, I I just thank you for even mentioning his name in a in any positive way.
I just what happened to that game, do you think?
I mean, was that was that a one-off or is is uh or they just really outclassed.
Uh we're all thinking, okay, a lot of freshmen had never really been in the limelight of the freshman stars that had gotten through the whole season.
They said we had all these easy schools to play.
Yeah well, maybe we did.
Little bit of everything.
Too many cupcakes on the schedule.
Right.
So we're gonna have to have one more chance with Jameis.
You see, it's just it's his turn.
Do you think and I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but but so if I'm all wet, just feel free to say so as you already have.
But the guy was accused three times.
Do you think there are people out to get him?
And if so, who?
Well, the the whole country.
Uh everybody hates the kid, except for Florida State fans.
ESPN has been on his butt from day one because, yo, uh, they support, they uh they the SEC network is ESPN.
They're they're interlinked.
Oh that's every game we won was one less game the SEC was gonna win.
And their dream in this college playoff thing all SEC.
You guys are ACC and CNN is wedded to the SEC, and so Jameis Winston's A C C so he's yeah.
Arch enemy.
Yeah.
But um anyway, I I I just uh I'm an optimist and I believe uh he's gonna come back and get one more chance because he's a really good good you know, he's not even twenty years old yet.
He's not even twenty.
Right.
Or it might be tomorrow.
I think maybe tomorrow's his birthday.
But anyway.
Um are a big fan.
Sorry?
I said you are a big fan of his birthday.
That's not a big enough word.
But I want to people that understand.
I want you to say, Susan, one more time what you say is it might have gotten lost here in the early part of conversation where we're going back and forth, but you did confirm that he you you were glad the kid had the guts to point out the truth that when a woman is moaning in sex, she's enjoying it.
Yes.
Well, I mean, uh if you're saying no, does it sound like a moan?
Uh it's two words versus uh oh, I don't have to Oh my god, I'm on the radio.
I mean, uh a moan is a wonderful thing.
It's only it's the only thing I think a man would hope to hear.
That and a few expletives, but uh it's not no, that's that and a few expl expletives.
Susan, you're you're you're betraying your age here.
Yeah, I know.
I'm I'm a little long in the tooth, but uh I don't have a daughter, so I can uh I can say these things.
You don't have a daughter.
I only have a son, so what do I know?
The bottom line is he spoke the truth.
What could be more honest honest than saying she was moaning.
Yeah.
Well, I it has to be pointed out that the judge is a retired Supreme Court judge in Florida and accepted it.
So it must be his experience too.
But also but also uh uh Willie Meggs was the prosecutor, and everybody this is right before the national championship last year, if you recall, everybody thought they were gonna nail he was gonna nail the kid and keep him out.
He couldn't.
He couldn't.
There was just no evidence.
Yeah.
And she's gonna go for a civil lawsuit too, pr trust me.
She's not gonna get that either.
No.
And the way the way the media has treated Jameis, I mean, he may as well be, you know, the uh uh I don't know, who whoever the most conservative person in politics is right now.
It's a terrible thing.
He he he he's a wonderful young kid and Tallahassee loves him, and we all hope he comes back.
And we're gonna find out soon.
All right, Susan, thanks for the call.
Thank you, Russ.
Take care.
You bet, Appreciate it.
See, she was prepared.
She was prepared to really rake me over the colds out there.
Because she thought that I had insulted the guy.
I was just I wasn't insulting, but I guarantee you this.
If he had never said it, and I instead said it, can you imagine the fire storm out there that would exist over that?
Anyway, I gotta take a brief time out here, my friends, as time keeps rolling on.
It is the fastest three hours in media.
It turns out Jameis Winston's birthday is today, 21.
Which means he can drink.
Legally.
Yeah, yeah, I look, it's one of the things from yesterday haven't had a chance to get the Harvard faculty has had a cow over the new expenses that they are discovering in Obamacare, and what's fascinating about it is the Harvard faculty heartily endorsed Obamacare.
The Harvard, this is such a classic story.
But I don't I don't have enough time to get into it in the detail that I want to.
But there's a potential pitfall in the story that I want to warn you about too.
It's not totally the story that it is.
These people at heart, the Harvard faculty, I get this.
Look at me.
The Harvard faculty are outraged that their deductible is 250 dollars.
They don't even know that most Americans are facing deductibles of ten times that higher.
The Harvard faculty has such a sweetheart deal, because the university picks up most of the cost even now, that they're deductible.
Single is 20 is 250 and 500 deductible for a family policy.
And they're outraged, they're complaining, they're whining, and they are responsible partially for the fact that we've got this.
So it's delectable to see here we have these brainiac elites who told us that we didn't know what's best for us, that they need to protect us from ourselves, save us from ourselves, that we needed this, and now that it's reality, they're bitching and moaning about it.
But the pitfall is that they think the deductible for everybody must be 250 dollars.
They don't know that the deductible is 5,000 for a lot of people.
So I'm gonna spend more time on this tomorrow, because I promised a couple other things.
One of them, does white wine really send women crazy?
And I guess there should be an addendum question.
Does white wine assist women in moaning?
Here's the story.
There was a time when an evening with friends was synonymous with a nice chilled bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.
Or four bottles, whatever it took.
But as the years have rolled by, that crisp glass of gooseberry flavored nectar has fallen out of favor.
No white wine for me sends me mental, is how it started, nor me, said another friend, and on it went.
In fact, over the last few years, nearly a dozen of my female, this is a female author wrote story, UK Daily Mail.
Over the last few years, nearly a dozen of my female friends have declared they can no longer drink what used to be their favorite tipple.
One was almost arrested, another broke her wrist, another very nearly got run over.
These are countless, there are countless other tales of tears, tantrums, subway journeys going disastrously wrong, and in fact, researchers at the University of Missouri Columbia found that not only do women get drunk faster, but their hangover symptoms were more severe, even though they drink the same amount as the men talking about white wine here.
You talk about unfair.
They drank the same amount as men, they got drunker and they got more hungover.
Many women say they can no longer drink white wine.
They complain it makes them upset, aggressive, accident prone.
And in fact, they're being driven crazy.
It's a new phenomenon.
Seven things the middle class can no longer afford.
Federalist papers, middle class has been hit hard economically over the past several years, and what?
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.
I was gonna make an observation with this Christianity business.
You know, I imagine a lot of you, when you heard the statistics of the numbers, the high percentages of people that believed all this, and you probably think it wasn't true.
Let me ask you a question.
If Christianity is not that popular in this country, why the hell did Hillary Clinton and Obama pretend to be?
Ask yourself that.
Why does every elected, practically, why do they all pretend to be or claim to be?
Don't doubt these numbers, folks.
Okay, here are the seven things the middle class, this is survey data, say that they can no longer afford.
Largely, it's from Business Insider, but it's actually a survey according to Statista, which is just a polling company.
They can't afford vacations, can't afford new vehicles, can't afford to pay off debt.
They have no emergency savings.
Number five, they have no retirement savings.
Medical care, they really can't afford it anymore, and dental work.
And those last two, by the way, it's being borne out.
Uh as health care expenses are getting more.
People are paying the fine and not getting the policy.
They can't afford it, and they're finally, you know what's happening?
Finally, people are going to the doctor less.
By their own admission, because they can't afford it.
And yet we hear about what a robust recovery we have going on.
We hear about how great the economy is, 5% GDP growth.
We find out most of that's due to health care spending.
And seven things the middle class can no longer afford.
There's a whole segment of this country that's largely been forgotten because the elites who are doing well, just assume everybody else is doing a version of well.
And they believe all these ginned up government numbers about recovery and unemployment and all that, but serious for national debt's up 75 billion trillion, 75, 7,000.
It's up seven and a half trillion dollars under Obama.
Just it's bad.
The good stuff just keeps piling up.
Hey, so we'll have even more to get to tomorrow, plus whatever happens between now and then.
The bottom line is, folks, there will never ever be a dull moment.