Not being a psychiatrist or a psychologist, I can’t do any better with this than I have. (program observer interruption) What, Mr. Snerdley? What was…? (program observer interruption) Mmm-hm. Hm-hm. Oh, I don’t want to talk about that. Mr. Snerdley said he did say one thing: They have nobody on their side there is a compliment to me and Hannity and Laura Ingraham and all the others out there, Levin. It is not for me to say that. If he wants to say it, you know, that’s fine, but I’m not gonna sit here and give (program observer interruption). They don’t have anybody helping them put it in perspective for them, but that’s not what he meant. He meant their problem, their ideas are sound; they just don’t have anybody that can explain ’em. He says what I’m good at is making our ideas “sound good.” They don’t have anybody that can make our ideas “sound good.” Well, my ideas sound good because they’re good! Their ideas sound bad because they’re bad. There’s no way you can paper these ideas over. They’re… They’re…
I want to be nice. It’s just cockeyed. I don’t know if this guy is Walter Daum’s cousin or uncle or son or not, but I mean this is striking stuff. Before I go to the break here… Here, this is a perfect time to do this. This is something else here I have: Media-created truths. This guy just gave us what he thinks are truths, but these “truths” were created by his media and his party, the Democrats — and when I say “the media,” I would call these “big losers in the election,” the media-created “truths,” and “truths” I have in quotes as though they’re not really true. You can’t see it because this is radio, but I mean it to be sarcastic. I mean, it’s like media-created Barbra Streisand which is being passed off as “truth.” For example: “John Edwards is a superstar.” Remember when he was chosen? “Oh, wow! He’s going to win the South!” John Edwards is this: “He’s young! He’s vibrant! He is going to give John Kerry the energy he doesn’t have!”
Well, the truth is, he was not a great campaigner and is not. He’s not even a good campaigner. He will be less of a threat to Hillary in 2008 than Algore would be. “Bush stole Florida in 2000.” This is a “truth” that animated these people for four years, energized them for four years. Can you imagine getting energized and impassioned all the way through seething rage and hatred over a lie? I mean, it’s one thing to tell yourself a lie. It’s another thing to believe it for four years and actually ruin your party. Did you see Bush’s victory margin in Florida this year? (300,000+ votes) I think we’ve made it official. Bush didn’t steal Florida. Al Gore tried to steal Florida. The truth is that Al Gore tried to steal Florida. Bush didn’t steal it. They tried every which number of ways to steal it. That’s the truth out of Florida. Another media-created “truth:” Debates determine winners. No explanation necessary about that.
Another “truth:” the Internet has replaced talk radio. I’m not going to explain this, but this is simply the left attempting to deemphasize me. May I be bold and say this is an attempt on the left to say, once again: “Limbaugh has faded. Limbaugh is unnecessary. Limbaugh’s day has come. There’s the Internet!” Talk to Howard Dean about it. The media knows what Democrats have to do to regain power. The media? Yep. Seems to me the focus of the media every type the Democrats lose ask, “What’s wrong with America, and what has to happen to get the Democrats back in power?” Well, what liberals have to do to regain power? They don’t even know what they have to do to regain prestige! Before they regain power they’re going to have to regain some prestige, and an audience. They don’t even have an audience that they can count on — and, of course, the media “truth” of all “truths:” George Bush is a lightweight, party-going, frat boy, draft-dodging, AWOL-from-the-National Guard with no gravitas…and I don’t want to respond to that because about 60 million of you already have.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: We may as well stick with the theme, ladies and gentlemen. Let’s go to audio sound bite #1 as C-SPAN’s Washington Journal this morning. The guests included Simon Rosenberg, the founder and president of the New Democrat Network and Harold Ickes, founder of Americans Coming Together, and they’re discussing why the Democrats lost, and this is what Simon Rosenberg said:
RUSH: Stop the tape. Stop. Stop. You know, I think you guys are going to have to go deeper than this, Mr. Rosenberg. If that’s indeed what you think you are, then you might ask yourself why it’s happened. Could it maybe be because of what you say and people are smart enough to make up their own minds? I don’t know who’s out there saying you are “ungodly” and “unpatriotic.” People have questioned your judgment, and I know that you have allies which wanted “under God” taken out of the Constitution. You don’t want the Ten Commandments posted anywhere. The things that you do and say, Mr. Rosenberg, are what give people the idea that you may be these things — and unpatriotic? Nobody’s ever said it. People just question your judgment. Now, if you want to throw out unpatriotic, I mean. you had a candidate who continually ripped his own servicemen in Vietnam in 1971.
You had a candidate who met with the North Vietnamese. In fact, you know what’s in Kerry’s diary? It’s been learned it’s written in Kerry’s diary, he met with North Vietnamese terrorists — and Doug Brinkley had that diary, and he embargoed that because he was Kerry’s official biographer, and Kerry said, “Well, I’m not going to release the diary.” Well, no wonder! But they showed it to John Edwards, and John Edwards kind of panicked and said, “He really said that? He met with North Vietnamese terrorists?” I mean look, you guys, you’re the ones that nominated an anti-war candidate, and he was anti-this war, and he’s anti the war on terror. You know, you can go ahead and blame everybody else for what it is assumed people think of you, but you’d better start examining what you people are saying yourselves and the actions you’re taking and what you’re doing. Here’s the rest of what he said.
ROSENBERG: — do a better job at fighting for our values and our beliefs which I think are right in line with the majority of America. (deep breath) What we also have to understand is that their system for communicating their ideas through Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, it’s superior to our capacity to deliver our message to, to our — the people that need to hear from us, and so we’ve got a (deep breath) two-pronged battle ahead of us.
RUSH: All right. Now, I’m confused (deep breath) and I’m proud at the same time. I apparently am better than Dan Rather and Peter Jennings, than Tom Brokaw. I’m better than the entire editorial board and front-page reporting staff of the New York Times, Michael Moore, the Washington Post, the LA Times, you name it. This whole, huge old media doesn’t get your message “out”? They’re back to this again! They’re back to 2002, after the Wellstone memorial debacle. They didn’t get their message out. Mr. Rosenberg, I’m trying to help you here. You are getting your message out! You must understand this. You had a radio network that nobody cared about, you gave it months and months of pre-publicity before it ever went on the air.
When it failed to attract an audience, you pretended that it did! You made the people working there seem important when nobody cares when they’re saying, because it’s the same old hate-filled drivel that you’re saying, and yet you believe your message isn’t getting out. It is getting out, and it’s been getting out for 30 years, or 40, or 50! My feelings are starting to get hurt here, folks. I’m trying to help these people, and they simply will not listen. They want to rely on these old myths — and one of the myths is that I’m beaten. I mean, I’m happy that they think so, and I’m, you know, clearly, I’m a player. I mean, there’s no question about that, but, folks, come on! I mean (laughing) let’s be realistic. You gotta be realistic here at the same time. One more. Let’s get this, the Harold Ickes. We have a phone caller here who calls to Harold Ickes. He’s with Americans Coming Together.
C-SPAN CALLER: Mr. Ickes, I agree with you. The state apparatuses need to be better. Our candidates down here, the Democratic don’t say a word about the fact that they’re a Democrat or they run like crazy from the party, and here we are, every day, we get a barrage on our radio stations — I’m in a rural area — six to eight hours of Rush Limbow. [sic] Everyone gets the conservative word out, the conservative papers. There is no Democratic alternative, and I think people think there’s a big void.
ICKES: The conservatives, since the Goldwater debacle in 1964 have built a formidable communications operation. There’s just no question about it. Uh, they have focused on radio, regional media, local media, much more than we have, and we are way, way short on that, and I think that that is one of the great challenges of our party.
RUSH: They own academia. They own the major universities. They have controlled the public school system in this country. They control network radio newscasts. They control major old media network newscasts. Most local papers are liberal. Most. Now, maybe not in some of these rural areas, I wouldn’t know, but I didn’t think they cared about the rural areas anyway. If Harold Ickes were honest he would say to say woman from — Where is she calling from? I guess Louisiana. He could say, “You know, we don’t care about that. We think you should secede. Did you hear what one of our strategists? He said, ‘Now that we’ve fixed slavery, the South may as well just go ahead and secede.'” That’s what the Democrat attitude is on the South. That’s what if he were being honest he would have told her: “We don’t care about you, ma’am, and your local media. You’re a hick.”
END TRANSCRIPT