RUSH: We had a call last hour from a woman who described herself as an Amazon. She was in Northport Florida, right? She was going on and on and on about how she was fed up with the men calling this show — the Amazon — and how wussy the men sounded, and how complaining and whining and moaning that they sounded, and she couldn’t understand what they were upset about, living in this country. I was doing some show prep last night after I got home from dinner, and I was checking the e-mail at the Rush comments box for the 24/7 members. Somebody sent me an e-mail and says, “I didn’t write this, but I admire the person who did. It sounds like he’s a student of EIB and Professor Rush.” Now, it’s a long letter. I’m going to take a break; I’m going to read you excerpts of this when we come back. It does sound like it’s right off of this program. It could have been written by somebody. I have no idea who wrote it. That’s the only risk when people send me things that they have read, if they don’t send the author. This could be somebody famous that wrote this and I just missed it, but it doesn’t matter. Some of this stuff is really, really good, and a lot of people in this country need to hear it.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Here is this letter, and it’s a reaction to a story in Newsweek. “A recent Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain’t happy and want a change. So being the knuckle-dragger I am, I started thinking, ‘What are we so unhappy about?’ Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy people have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year? Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?
“Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all involved. Whether you are rich or poor they treat your wounds and even, if necessary, send a helicopter to take you to the hospital. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of having a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes; an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.
“This is all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy. Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people on earth who do nothing but complain about what we don’t have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here. I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession?
“Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander-in-chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn’t have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ‘general’ discharge, an ‘other than honorable’ discharge or, worst case scenario, a ‘dishonorable’ discharge after a few days in the brig. So why then the flat out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts.
“How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells. Just ask why they are going to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book and do a TV special about how he didn’t kill his wife, but if he did how he would have It’s insane! Stop buying the negative venom you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage,” and, I might add, every day is better than the one before. Whoever wrote this then said: “I close with one of my favorite quotes from B.C. Forbes in 1953: ‘What have Americans to be thankful for? More than any other people on the earth, we enjoy complete religious freedom, political freedom, social freedom. Our liberties are sacredly safeguarded by the Constitution of the United States, “the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.”‘
They’re at home watching it on TV, and they are weary — and it kind of dovetails with this Newsweek poll that 67% are unhappy and discontent, and 69% think we’re going in the wrong direction. Spoiled. High expectations. In fact, you know one of the theories the political scientists having trying to figure out ever since the election: how come for the first time in anybody’s memory a good economy was not a factor in the election? A bunch of theories are being espoused and floated to explain it. Let’s throw one out because — it’s relevant, but — I think as long as there are people whose daily dose of media is nothing but the 20 minutes they watch at 6:30 on one of the three networks, those people, despite of the evidence all around them as they live their lives, were convinced this country is a soup line. So, yes, we have to admit that the media did its best to pummel this country with bad economic news and shape the good economic news as poorly or ignore it as much as they could.
But there’s another factor in addition to that. Yeah, we had a recession or depression, whatever it is, a big downturn starting actually before 9/11 and then we had 9/11 and it exacerbated a number of things, but came out of it — and there didn’t seem to be any real appreciation for it. The media was telling people it was not substantive. It was a little transparent. Only the rich are were doing better. The average and the poor and the middle class were still lagging way behind. I think there’s also a new phenomenon to explain this, and that is: a good economy, a roaring economy with plenty of job opportunities is now expected. It’s not appreciated. It’s just thought to be what people are entitled to. This is the United States of America, and corporations exist so I can have health care! My company exists so I have a job, so I can have a home, so I can have kids and they can have health care — ad if something gets in the way of that, like an economic downturn, then there’s anger and rage and they want to blame whoever’s in power for it, and then after the downturn ends and things are brought back, there’s no appreciation. There is simply: “This is the way it’s supposed to be. Nobody gets any credit for this. “We are so affluent that we have the highest expectations of people on the planet, and we meet them, and we get accustomed to them and we take it for granted, and that’s where we are.