RUSH: Here’s Olivia in Palm Springs, California. Hey, Olivia, it’s great you called. How are you?
CALLER: Hi, Rush. How are you doing?
RUSH: I’m good.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s really an honor to speak with you.
RUSH: I appreciate that.
CALLER: I’m a fairly new listener to your show. I’ve been listening for a few months, and I really… My real reason for calling in today was just to thank you and say that listening to your show has really opened my eyes to the truth and what’s really going on in the world around me. Since listening to your show, I’ve registered to vote, I started paying attention to what’s going on, I’ve stopped listening to a lot of the liberal-biased news and media, and I’m starting to really think and understand about what’s going on around me. And I wanted to thank you for that.
RUSH: So it could be accurately said that you have learned a new way to think about politics listening to this program?
CALLER: Absolutely. Yes, sir, that’s absolutely right.
RUSH: God bless you.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: God bless you.
CALLER: When I first started listening to your show, you were talking about Lois Lerner and Eric Holder quite a bit, and it seems to me like it’s all the same. I always believed for most of my life… You know, I never took time to read the Constitution or think about the law because I just sort of assumed that the people in charge would uphold it.
RUSH: Most people do.
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: You had trust in government. “The people there are honorable and they’re only trying to help and they got the best of intentions,” and yada yada yada, right?
CALLER: Absolutely. It wasn’t until I heard when you were talking about Lois Lerner and Eric Holder, and I started to realize that was not the case. Then I was upset. A lot of times I feel, Rush, like I’m watching my future be taken away from me. As a 22-year-old, I see these policies that are not fiscally responsible, that are not for the best interests of our future, and it worries me. I feel like I live in a world where everything I hear — the majority of what I hear — is a lie. I kind of feel like I’m not sure what to do just to save my future, or if there’s much I can do.
RUSH: Well, you’re doing it. You’ve made the first step, which is the hardest, and you’re understanding this and thinking about it the right way. But, Olivia, I have to ask you something. Because it wasn’t that long ago, three months ago, you hated everything I said. And what changed? What changed in you? Or what happened?
CALLER: You know, I’m really not sure. Well, I’ll tell you what. I grew up and my mom always listened to you — and I’m sure she’s listening now, so shouts to my mom in Pennsylvania. But she always listened to you when I was a kid, and I’d hear what you said on the radio, and I just thought you were an out-of-touch extremist. I hated it when she would listen to you on the radio, and I bought into all the lies. You know, I just missed the legal age of being able to vote, but I would have voted for Obama. I was all for him, you know? I bought into it: The hope, the change, the “we’re gonna end racism,” the peace and love. I totally bought into the lies. And I didn’t realize, I didn’t think about it, and —
RUSH: You wanted it to be true?
CALLER: Sure. Yeah.
RUSH: You wanted all that to be true.
CALLER: Sure. I absolutely wanted it to be true.
RUSH: If you had understood what liberals are, you would have known that they can’t make it true. They thrive on this division. Liberals prosper on the divisions in our culture and society. They win election on a divided country. But you said that I was extreme. What did I say or do that made you think I was so extreme?
CALLER: Well, because you were… Well, what I like about you now that I didn’t like then is that you know what you believe when it comes to things. You speak the truth and you’re not afraid to speak it emphatically. You’re not afraid to really put it out there. At the time, I didn’t see it as the truth, and I was really offended and bothered by it. Because I felt like you were everything they said you were and everything they continue to say you are.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: I didn’t think for myself. But listening to your show has encouraged me to think for myself in a new way.
RUSH: Well, this is a remarkable transition you’ve undergone here in just a few short months.
CALLER: Yes, sir. I mean, I think it was always kind of there, you know? As a young American, I was personally blessed with that. I was raised in a home where I was taught about action and consequence, right? I was taught the significance of working to provide for myself and taking responsibility. I mean, I’m fortunate enough to have had that experience. A lot of people that I know have not, and while I strayed from that for a while, I see how that’s important. I see how that’s important now, and I see how that’s important.
RUSH: This, I’ll tell, Olivia, this is a genuinely inspiring call, especially here on Brian Williams/Jon Stewart Day. To hear this call from you, it’s just exhilarating. It’s heartwarming. I really thank you very much.
CALLER: Yeah, thank you, Rush.
RUSH: You’re in Palm Springs. Do you work yet or are you still in school or do you know what you’re gonna do?
CALLER: I’m actually… I just started going to school. I work full time, though, so I go to school at night.
RUSH: You work full time and you go to school at night?
CALLER: Yes, sir.
RUSH: Fascinating. Cool. Well, look, I hope to hear from you again, Olivia, and I’m really gratified. Thank you very much for all that you’ve said, and I appreciate your being out there.
CALLER: Okay, thank you.
RUSH: You bet.