RUSH: Here’s Ralph in the Jersey Shore. Ralph, thank you for waiting. It’s great to have you here. Hi.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. How you doing?

RUSH: I’m okay. Doing pretty well.

CALLER: Well, I’m not. I’m very, very upset. First of all, I just want you to know that I’m a former US Marine Recon, Vietnam veteran, and to hear what I heard this morning on this radio, on this station from Geraldo Rivera, who, by the way, is very dangerous because he likes to make people believe that he’s a conservative, but, oh, my God.

RUSH: Wait whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What?

CALLER: Yeah. Geraldo Rivera —

RUSH: Hold it, whoa, whoa. Geraldo is trying to do what? Make people think he’s conservative?

CALLER: Yeah. Yeah, he’s middle of the road, but I lean to the conservative side, that kind of thing. This morning he said —

RUSH: How’s that working out for him?

CALLER: Well, here’s the thing. You know the poll you gave before about the veterans, like myself, that are gonna vote for Romney, it’s like 28% more?

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: His comment to that was, and I heard it with my own ears, that’s probably because they’re from the South, they’re religious, and not very bright. Probably Republicans. That’s his exact words. I was out doing my run this morning, I almost ran into a wall.

RUSH: Well, look, this should not be news to you. Ralph, you know full well that the Democrat Party even pre-Obama, pre-Geraldo, the Democrat Party has denigrated — and this has made me so mad over the years. I’ve talked about it on this program. They have claimed the only reason people join the military is because they’re either stupid or America is in such bad shape, it’s such an unjust country that that’s the only chance some of these poor people have to get an education, to get a job. America is such a forlorn place that the military is their only option. I read this and alternately, as you heard, they have really been insulting of military people. They’re shortsighted. They’re not very bright. They’re just a whole bunch of warmongering Second Amendment types, can’t wait to pull the trigger, all this kind of stuff.

And I’ve always asked myself, “Okay maybe you’re anti-war, but why denigrate these people? What’s in it for you to denigrate these people? They’ve done nothing but offer their lives in sacrifice for your freedom. Why do you find it necessary to insult them?” What is it that makes the left think they have to go out and personally impugn people like you? You’ve never done anything to them. All you’ve done is put yourself up as the line of defense for them. It’s always made me very angry. I said I’ve never understood it. Well, I do understand it. I know exactly why they do it. They’re just flat-out mean people when you get right down to it. And it’s really no more complicated than that. But there’s some ideological aspects to it as well. But it frosts me. Okay, so you’re anti-war. You may not like war. You may think we shouldn’t be in Iraq. You maybe think we shouldn’t have gone to Afghanistan. These people volunteered. So we even have to denigrate that.

We can’t say they volunteered because they’re patriots, because they want to guarantee and defend this country and protect freedom. No, no. It has to be something else. It has to be they’re stupid and have no other opportunity in life, or it has to be the country sucks and there’s no opportunity unless they do this. And they’re all a bunch of hayseeds, all a bunch of Republicans, you know, a bunch of people that have been fooled by religion. It really irritates me when these people get denigrated and impugned like this, and it always has. For crying out loud, Obama went out yesterday, he saw that Gallup poll. Obama’s Memorial Day speech was all about defending Vietnam vets.

He went back and relived Vietnam vets coming home and being spat on and disrespected, and he stood up for ’em. (interruption) By his fellow liberals, that’s the people that were doing it, exactly right, Obama’s crowd were engaging in all those, quote, unquote, atrocities against returning Vietnam vets. But he knows the trouble he’s in with the military, understandably so. So I tell you, if what you heard actually happened, that’s not helping Obama. Look, I’m glad you called, Ralph. I appreciate it.