RUSH: John Kerry, the secretary of state, is in Berlin, ladies and gentlemen. And while he’s there he’s probably reminiscing about the good old days of the Cold War wishing that there were an East Berlin that he could visit. You know, hang around with the buddies. You know, go to East Berlin and say, “Hey, you know me? I’m the guy that threw the fake metals from my Vietnam War service over the White House fence. Remember me?” There is no more divided Berlin, but that didn’t stop John Kerry. He was speaking with students in Berlin about freedom of speech.

The United States secretary of state out representing the United States of America. He is our emissary to foreign countries. He is our guy out there representing America and what we stand for. And what is it that we stand for? What did John Kerry think was one of the most important things he could convey to students in Berlin? Well, we know. We have the audiotape, and here it is.

KERRY: In America, you have a right to be stupid if you want to be, and you have a right to be disconnected to somebody else if you want to be, and we tolerate it. We somehow make it through that.

RUSH: (imitating Kerry) “And if we’re Democrats, we damn well depend on it.” Now, can you imagine the secretary of state, can you imagine Henry Kissinger (imitating Kissinger), “The one thing that we as Americans very much appreciate is that we have the right to be stupid. Of course, I am not stupid, but most everybody else is, and that’s why I’m secretary of state.” Can you imagine, even Madeleine Albright, can you imagine any secretary of state, of all the things you could say to some students. “In the United States, we have and you have the right to be stupid?” What he didn’t say is that, “And we as Democrats depend on that. We actually encourage ignorance and stupidity. We tolerate it. You have a right to be disconnected.” (laughing)

I don’t know, folks. We have a right to be stupid. He also told them in Berlin how he lost his diplomatic passport when he was 12 years old after sneaking out to the Soviet-controlled East Berlin. He actually did go there. I was not joking. That’s why I’m sure he wishes it were still divided, he could go back and visit his friends. He said he snuck out of the American embassy at age 12 “for a clandestine bicycle ride into the Soviet-controlled eastern part of the city. ‘I saw the difference between east and west. I saw the people wearing darker clothing. There were fewer cars. I didn’t feel the energy or the movement.'” And that’s exactly what we’re trying to build in America. We want it darker. We want fewer cars. We don’t want a whole lot of energy because we’re trying to save the planet. (laughing)

Oh, my friends, does this not inspire you? Does this not encourage you? And he said (paraphrasing) “I was stupid. I shouldn’ta done what I did. I got on my bike and I went out there and did stupid things. And we in America have a right to be stupid. You have a right to be stupid, like I was, if you want to be.” Now, compare this. Here is John Kerry, John Forbes Kerry, who, by the way, once served in Vietnam. You may not know that. In Berlin talking to students saying, “In America you have a right to be stupid if you want to be.” Ronaldus Magnus went to West Berlin. You know what he said? “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” JFK went to Berlin, and he said, “I, too, am a Berliner.” “Ich bin ein Berliner.” “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” John Kerry: “In America, you have a right to be stupid.” (laughing)