RUSH: Let’s go to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This is Jim. It’s nice to have you on the EIB Network, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Great to talk to you.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: This is such a fabulous idea of yours, and it will be my privilege to make a contribution to it. But I got to thinking, what if George Soros donates $20 million or $30 million, you gotta match that!
RUSH: No problem.
CALLER: (laughter) Well, okay!
RUSH: But it’s not going to happen.
CALLER: But I wouldn’t put it past them.
RUSH: It’s not going to get that high. Soros is not going to send $20 million or $30 million to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation.
CALLER: Hey, you don’t know what they’d do to get at you. Look at what they’ve done in the Senate.
RUSH: How would that be getting at me?
CALLER: Well, to get Rush in the position of saying, ‘He didn’t match that donation.’
RUSH: (laughing) I see where you’re going. So you think I should put a limit on it?
CALLER: Yeah, maybe.
RUSH: You know, it’s interesting to see the way people think. You know, we’re on the lookout. We know full well. We suspect —
CALLER: Rush, you’re too big.
RUSH: We suspect —
CALLER: They don’t mind spending that kind of money, especially Soros and Slickmeisters and all these other guys. I would hate to see that happen.
RUSH: Do you really think they would spend $20 million to $30 million on this just to get me in an inability to match?
CALLER: Well, just look at what’s happening in the last couple of months.
RUSH: Nah. If they’re going to spend that kind of money it’s because they want the letter back. (laughing) That’s why.
CALLER: It is so good.
RUSH: But, you know, the $20 million, $30 million, you know (sigh), a book, couple speeches? It’s not a biggie, not a big deal. Don’t worry about it. I appreciate the concern. I really do.
CALLER: It’s just the thought crossed my mind and keep up the great work you do, Rush. We love you.
RUSH: Thank you so much. I appreciate that.
RUSH: This is Sunana from Encinitas, California. Hi, Sunana.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. I got a great idea for you.
RUSH: Yeah?
CALLER: I think that once you match the donation, you should get a certified copy of the receipt and put it on your website and then challenge the Clinton campaign to post the certified receipt of the $80,000 in Norman Hsu money that they were going to give to charity.
RUSH: You know, that is an excellent point, because nobody demands that they follow up on this. Nobody. All these campaigns — in fact, some of the campaigns are now saying, ‘We’re not going to give it back. We’re going to keep it. It was given if good faith. Who cares?’
CALLER: Correct.
RUSH: But some of them have said, ‘Yeah, we’re going to give the money back to charity,’ but nobody ever demands proof that it went to charity.
CALLER: Exactly.
RUSH: Not a bad idea. Just think, the ideas are limitless here, and we’ve got any number of suggestions that are pouring in on how to make this bigger. We don’t want to lose focus here on what this is actually all about, though, in the process.
RUSH: Glenn in Fort Myers, Florida. Hello, sir.
CALLER: Rush, it’s an honor. Wow. Great. You know, I think the libs tried to counter with their Air America thing, and that fell on its face. So now they’ve gotta do something to kind of get you out of the way, and that’s what this whole Dem thing from the floor is all about. It’s just another one of their ways to try to get rid of Rush Limbaugh.
RUSH: Well, it’s that, but it’s not unique. This is the first time the Senate… Well, it’s actually not the first time. Tom Harkin has said some pretty derogatory things in the debate over my program being on Armed Forces Radio. But this is probably the first time such Senate action has taken place. I know they’re frustrated that little Air America hasn’t amounted to anything, and it won’t. They’re frustrated that none of their liberal hosts have been able to crack the market, even with decent funding. They just haven’t the slightest clue about the private sector. They don’t have the slightest clue about radio. You know, look, this continues to make the point, folks: If they don’t have a monopoly, they can’t thrive. They cannot flourish if they don’t have a monopoly. I’m sorry to be repetitive here, but this effort here targeting me, believe me, is just the first of many, and it’s designed to discredit me and to try to damage my reputation. But, more importantly, what this is really all about is an effort to make it impossible for me to do business. And without the business side of this, all the rest of it is academic. But, beyond that, I hear all of you, and I read your e-mails, and, ‘Boy, they’re really coming after you this time, Rush. I hope you’re taking care of yourself.’ Folks, understand what this is. I’m speaking to you here as one who loves the country and one who loves the Constitution. Forget that it’s me for a second, and forget this notion that, ‘Well, don’t worry about Rush. Rush can take care of himself.’ Everybody says that, and it’s true. Stop to think what this is. The United States Senate, 41 members sign a letter literally trying to deny me free speech via pressure on my syndication partner here in the radio show. A private citizen. The Constitution exists to protect citizens from the government in this way. They’ve really, really crossed the line here.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I’ll try to put this in perspective before I move on here. Condemning private citizens: The United States government, the United States Senate is condemning private citizens. Do you think it ever occurred to the 41 Democrats who signed the Harry Reid letter to condemn the actions of, say, Sean Penn, or Danny Glover, or Kevin Spacey, or any of the other Hollywood elite who travel to the foreign lands of our enemies — such as Iran, such as Iraq, such as Venezuela, such as Cuba, and come back, give aid and comfort to these tyrant dictators? Would it ever occur to them? Of course not! Of course not! Because the American left is sympathetic to those people. ‘Ah, they’re just poor little communists. We made ’em that way, stealing all their resources, robbing them of their health care and so forth,’ which really helps put this into focus as well. The Democrats in the Congress and the Senate are still playing to the fringe lunatics in their base, still raising money for the primaries. Literally, this was a fundraising effort, too, in addition to everything else that it is, and it was an attempt to deflect the whole negative blowup that was the General ‘Betray Us’ ad in the New York Times prior to General Petraeus’ testimony.