RUSH: Michael Ledeen has an interesting post. I guess it’s a column that he’s put somewhere. He sent it to me. “What Would a Desperate Wimp Do?” It is a column exploring the similarities between Jimmy Carter at this point in his second term and Obama and how Carter was a wimp and what he did to try to revitalize and how that can be disastrous and dangerous for a nation, and if Obama gets to that point, what will he do? When a wimp seeks to prove manhood, look out. That’s the point.
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RUSH: Here is Peter in Paradise, California. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello, sir.
CALLER: Hello, Rush.
RUSH: Hi.
CALLER: I kinda wondered why you called Jimmy Carter a wimp.
RUSH: I may have in the past. Today I didn’t. I’m quoting from a column written by Michael Ledeen, which is headlined: “What Would a Desperate Wimp Do?” and the point of his column is that Jimmy Carter in the last two years of his term with the hostage crisis became a total wimp trying to become courageous to save his presidency, and it was a dangerous thing when a wimp tries to become courageous. He’s worried what will Obama do, but it was Michael Ledeen using the word.
CALLER: Well, I thought it was you, sir.
RUSH: Well, I did repeat it.
CALLER: Yeah. Yeah. You called Jimmy Carter a wimp.
RUSH: Well —
CALLER: Yeah, you did.
RUSH: All right, I did not, but if it fits —
CALLER: Yes, you did. Why don’t you just admit it?
RUSH: Because I’m not sure that I did.
CALLER: Yes, you did.
RUSH: I may well have, but I don’t remember. I know that I was quoting and reading from Ledeen’s piece when I talked about it, when the word came up.
CALLER: Mr. Limbo, you did. Why don’t you just admit it?
RUSH: What is the point?
CALLER: The point is you called him a wimp.
RUSH: So?
CALLER: Okay, you admit it.
RUSH: Even if I were to admit it, so what?
CALLER: You admit it, sir.
RUSH: So what? I don’t understand. I’m not conceding that I did.
CALLER: You’re not answering my question.
RUSH: I’d have to go check the tape.
CALLER: You are not answering my question.
RUSH: That’s because I don’t know for certain and I’m not gonna sit here and lie to you.
CALLER: You don’t know for certain?
RUSH: No, because I was reading from Michael Ledeen’s piece. What did you hear me say? What’s the quote? What did I say?
CALLER: You called Jimmy Carter a wimp.
RUSH: Snerdley, this is one of the worst actors that you have found.
CALLER: I’m not an actor.
RUSH: Oh, yeah.
CALLER: You think I’m an actor?
RUSH: Well, I know that my company is out hiring actors to call radio shows. They deny that they’re having them call here, but you’re making me wonder.
CALLER: Mr. Limbo, you called Jimmy Carter a wimp. Why don’t you just admit it?
RUSH: Okay, you know what, for the sake of this, to see where this goes —
CALLER: Yeah?
RUSH: Okay, I did, called him a wimp. So what?
CALLER: Okay, you just did.
RUSH: What?
CALLER: You know, Jimmy Carter served honorably in the military.
RUSH: Yeah?
CALLER: He was the governor of Georgia.
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: And he was the president.
RUSH: Yes, sir.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: Did you serve in the military?
RUSH: What did you say? Have I been in the military?
CALLER: No, you haven’t.
RUSH: No, I haven’t. That’s what you asked me?
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: No, I’ve not been in the military.
CALLER: No, you haven’t.
RUSH: No.
CALLER: Yeah, you ran from it.
RUSH: No, I did not run from it.
CALLER: Yes, you did.
RUSH: What is the point?
CALLER: The point is you wouldn’t even —
RUSH: What so offends you about Jimmy Carter being a wimp?
CALLER: He’s not a wimp.
RUSH: Oh, that’s what offends you, he’s not a wimp.
CALLER: Well, you’re the one who called him one.
RUSH: Well, I’ve got the transcript in front of me now, and I didn’t. I was reading from Ledeen’s piece and you may not have — see, this is irrelevant to me, but you are claiming I said something I didn’t say. I was reading from Michael Ledeen’s piece.
CALLER: You did.
RUSH: He called him a wimp.
CALLER: You’re evading the whole thing.
RUSH: Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. I’m not evading anything.
CALLER: Yes, you are.
RUSH: I’m trying to be accurate. I’m telling you if I called him a wimp I’ll stand by it. I just don’t know. One thing I do know is —
CALLER: You just called him a wimp three times during this conversation! What are you talking about?
RUSH: (laughing.)
CALLER: Oh, man. You know what?
RUSH: You know, you are a shining example of liberal reasoning in debate, i.e., the absence of both.
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RUSH: Hey, Snerdley, I just got an e-mail asking me if today is “Open Line Stupid.” One guy, a subscriber to Rush 24/7, sent me an e-mail through his iPhone app and wanted to cancel his subscription because of the Jimmy Carter wimp call. “I’m not paying good money to sit here and waste two minutes listen to idiocy like that.”
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RUSH: In Bend, Oregon, this is Mark. Great to have you on the program, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Hi. Quite an honor, Rush.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited to call and I feel very lucky to get through. The reason I called is I wanted to say to the nation that I think Jimmy Carter is a wimp. I thought that he was a wimp when I was 12, and I still think he is, and so when that guy called in I just wanted to call and tell you I had your back on that one.
RUSH: Well, I appreciate that. You know, some of you got very, very upset over that call. I read the e-mail. There are really lots of e-mail. People were upset over that. I was not letting the guy goad me, but when somebody says I said something, and I’m not sure, I want to find out. If I said it, I’d be glad to discuss it with him. But I look at a call like that differently and I failed. See, where some of you (this is empathy) just get livid over that, I was enjoying it. That was one of the most enjoyable calls of the day, until Carrie called in to tell us the secret to Charlie Sheen and women. This has been a very eye-opening day. This is why when one guy asks if it’s Open Line Stupid today or not, to me those are all fun, or we wouldn’t take the call. But, Mark, you want to call him a wimp? I’ll call him a wimp. He is a wimp! There’s no question about it.
Habitat for Humanity? Give me a break.
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