RUSH: Here’s Erin in San Diego. Erin, welcome to Open Line Friday. Nice to have you here.
CALLER: Good morning, Rush, and may I call you my very own Rush. I just want you to know that first of all I am a fully recovered Democrat, absolutely 100% recovered. I don’t even have to work the 12 steps anymore.
RUSH: Were you a born Democrat, is that what happened to you?
CALLER: Well, I was born in Minnesota, so, you know, that was tough, right? But I started to see the light a little bit, then I got married to a wonderful man, World War II veteran, volunteered when he was 17 to go and fight those Nazis, and I used to say to him, ‘Would you please turn Rush off? He’s absolutely inflammatory.’ And now I say, ‘Would you please turn Rush on? I don’t want to be alone?’
RUSH: What was inflammatory?
CALLER: Oh, well, you know, you’ve got a big booming voice and quite a personality on you, and I just thought that it was, you know —
RUSH: I know what it was. I know exactly what it was. And I’ve had people say, ‘Well, if you know what it is that makes certain audience members, especially women, not like it, why don’t you stop doing it?’ And I said, ‘Well, if I stop doing it I’d have to stop being me.’ What it was, I’ll bet you money, was you just revolted that somebody is so damn sure of himself on everything.
CALLER: (laughing)
RUSH: You just thought, ‘Who does he think he is?’ Because most people don’t have the courage or guts to come down one way or another on an issue. They want to maintain some gray so they can be perceived as open-minded. Closed-minded is when you have firm beliefs and so forth. And of course when I add to it my trademark braggadocio, people just go, ‘The hell with him, who does he think he is?’
CALLER: (laughing)
RUSH: But then the regime comes into power and all of a sudden a full nation of people who used to think one thing about me, now realize I’m right.
CALLER: Oh, boy.
RUSH: I appreciate that. Erin, it’s a courageous thing you did, and to call here and admit it. Great trend.