A Discussion of Cultural Rot

RUSH: David in Atlanta, you’re next on the EIB Network, sir. Hello.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thank you very much, sir.

RUSH: You bet.

CALLER: Mega dittos.

RUSH: Thank you.

CALLER: The thing with Huckabee, I think a large part of support for Huckabee is coming not just because he’s a Christian, but I think that plays into it in that the things he’s actually done, which fit Christian values, concerns, but I think a lot of it is frustration with family values voters over the GOP having treated Christian conservatives like you have rightly brought out that the Democrats have been treating blacks for years, that is, making the other side the bogeyman but not really dealing with our core concerns and doing anything about things like right to life and avoiding a governmental stamp of approval on things like homosexuality.

RUSH: Gay marriage, this kind of thing.

CALLER: And to me, that’s —

RUSH: Can we go through some of these things, though. Look at Terri Schiavo. A lot of Republicans stuck their neck out on that and they got whacked. How can the Christian right say that the Republicans abandoned them on Terri Schiavo? From Jeb Bush to Tom DeLay to President Bush and they got whacked for it. There have been Republicans who have proposed same-sex marriage amendment, they have been ridiculed and whacked for it. You might think they didn’t really mean it, and you might have a point, but at least they proposed it and they held some votes on it. There have been people out there who have been fighting this embryonic stem cell movement, and a lot of them got whacked. So I’m not so sure that it’s true to say that you’re being taken for granted and the things that you believe in have seen no efforts expended on them. I think they have. In terms of right to life, there’s really not a whole lot a president can do about that other than appoint judges to the US Supreme Court, and I think that actually there’s been a whole lot of movement in that area. I think abortions are becoming less and less frequent, and there’s more stigma attached to them now.

When I started this program in 1988, abortion wasn’t quite a badge of honor, but it was an achievement. The feminists own the argument here: It’s an illness, this is a sign of liberation, a sign of women controlling their own lives, their own bodies, it’s getting rid of subjugations, getting rid of oppression. It’s not that way anymore. There’s a stigma attached to it. My friend Pete Wehner did a piece on how the culture is actually improving, teen sex declining, teen pregnancy declining, drug use declining. The only measurable factor, cultural indicator that is not showing success is divorce. Even our math and test scores are getting better. They’re getting better relative to our own base lines. They’re not improving so much against other countries, but the cultural news is actually improving. This is my point. It’s much better out there than people think and yet this obsession with dealing with the worst aspects of things and the pessimism, the doom and gloom, it honestly frustrates me.

CALLER: Well, there is one aspect in which I myself fall prey to the doom and gloom, and that is something that I think is — I will admit that there are some times when Republicans have stood up for family values issues, and I’m grateful for that, but I think there was one that’s very insidious, and I don’t think we talk about it enough or are working quite hard enough against it for fear of being called hateful, and that is on the homosexual agenda. Because, to me, it’s the ultimate in federalism. I think that the left is actively working at destroying the family so that children are controlled by the state. And I think that governmental stamp of approval on some sort of homosexual union is one of the biggest steps in destroying that —

RUSH: Hang on through the break. I want to say some things to you.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Back to David in Atlanta. All right, where we left off with you, I think we finally got to the nut of it. You have a great fear that there is a movement by the militant and activist homosexual or gay community to destroy the family so as to redefine normal to include their behavior, correct?

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: And you think that there is not enough of a bulwark among people that you have voted for to stop this?

CALLER: Right. As a matter of fact, one of the candidates that I’d like for president, other than Huckabee, that’s my one real beef with him is that he was against a marriage amendment.

RUSH: Against the same-sex marriage amendment?

CALLER: Thompson, and once I was told incorrectly.

RUSH: Thompson — I’m not sure on that. But let me ask you specifically here. I know that there are a lot of people who have similar fears or theories about this. But there have been efforts recently in the United States Congress, led by Barney Frank, to include gay behavior in hate crimes legislation. I don’t know if you’re familiar with it.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: Well, it went down the tubes, and it went down the tubes because of Republicans. It did not pass, and the president was going to veto it. That was a bulwark. Now, one of the problems I’ve got here with what you’re saying is, is that I can show you where you think nothing’s being done to preserve or support your agenda is in fact being done, and quite a lot of progress in fact is being made. Now, you may not know it because of your news sources. And you may watch television and you may watch movies where the things that you disapprove of are glorified, and so you think no progress is being made, and you look at these things in movies and television as a sign that the onslaught’s continuing for the mind and heart of the American people. And I think you’re right, I think in a lot of cases the left tries to numb those of us on the opposition and just say, ‘You know what, they’re never going to go away, we may as well just let them have what they want because we’re tired of fighting it.’ You want people to continue to fight it. My next question for you is, ‘What has Governor Huckabee said about the gay crisis that you describe that makes you think he’s going to do something about it?’

CALLER: Well, that he actually is promoting to do federally what they have done in Arkansas, which is to have an amendment that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Now, I agree, you’re right, as you pointed out, that there are things that Republicans are doing to work against that, but as you also said, they’re not really high-profile things to people who don’t — for instance, people who don’t take the time to listen to you most of the time. So I guess what I was trying to say that, part of the point I was getting to, is I don’t think the support for Huckabee is as far away from issues as you seem to think, that a lot of it is issue-based. One of the things that frustrates me about him, though, is that as primarily a populist, his conservative solutions seem to a lot of the time be buried in the middle of speeches where I wish he’d be putting it out front.

RUSH: You’re talking about Huckabee?

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: Well, who knows. That may happen as time goes on down the road. A lot of things are going to change now, Obama as the front-runner is going to get more scrutiny, it’s just the nature of the beast, and so is Huckabee coming out of Iowa with a lot more momentum now. Not enough to win New Hampshire, but enough to take South Carolina. But he’s going to get a lot more attention now in a way that only happens to people that win, including surprise wins in presidential primaries. So we’ll see how it all shakes out. It’s still very early. Only one state, and they haven’t even voted, they caucused. Only one state. So there’s a lot left to happen here, and we’re going to be keeping a sharp eye on it. Look, I’m glad you called, David. Thanks very much, I appreciate it.

Jim in California. Hi, and I’m glad you waited, sir.

CALLER: Hey, thank you, Rush, for taking my call.

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: I appreciate it. I’m a longtime conservative, and I kind of support Fred Thompson, and I don’t mind Mitt Romney, but I really firmly believe that Mike Huckabee is a religious bigot, rightfully so, I think that he is.

RUSH: Oh, now that’s really helpful. How is Huckabee a religious bigot?

CALLER: Well, I have friends that are Mormon or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints friends, and when an evangelical, which I’m not, is asked whether or not he believes that someone is a Christian or not, and he can’t simply come out with a straight answer and say yes or no — no my religion doesn’t believe that they are, or yes my religion does — then he simply becomes an insignificant racial religious bigot towards other religions.

RUSH: You mean like in the New York Times magazine interview when he said, ‘Well, don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and Lucifer were brothers,’ is that the kind of thing you mean?

CALLER: Not just that. That, but also when he’s asked directly whether they’re Christian or not, and simply won’t take a stand and won’t say that they are or won’t say that his religion doesn’t believe that they are. And doesn’t cross that threshold because it’s just simply a nod and a wink to his religious —

RUSH: All I’ll say about that is he knows his audience.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: Look, we’ve discussed Mormonism on this program, and after I gave my analysis of Romney’s speech on religion and the founding of this country, I was inundated. I don’t tell you people everything that happens here. But I was inundated with e-mail from people who said that they were a Christian writer, evangelicals or whatever, and they were chiding me for being fooled, because they believe that Romney’s religion is a cult. This is a serious divide. There’s literally no question about this. There is a serious divide in religions, particularly on the right. The left doesn’t really care about it. It’s just one of the multiple arguments based on ideas and beliefs that exists on the Republican side of the aisle right now. But I think Governor Huckabee, other than that one comment about Jesus and Lucifer being brothers, I think he’s tried to come back from that, or back off of that, and suggest that religion ought not be a factor in the race, but there’s no way it’s not going to be. (interruption) Huckabee saying he’s the Christian leader? I know his ad said he’s the Christian leader. I know, and he stands in front of the fish symbol, the ictus and the cross that wasn’t a cross that was the bookshelf and so forth. He knows his audience. He’s connected to them. I mean this is something that — you know, I wish more politicians had the ability to connect. I really do.

I’m tired of politicians talking over people, at people. You gotta give him credit for this. He has managed to connect to his audience, and, just like the Drive-Bys, cannot separate you all from me because the Drive-Bys did not make me who I am, there’s nobody that’s going to be able to separate Huckabee from his audience, from his voters. That’s going to have to happen on their own volition. I’ve learned this long ago. You just can’t talk emotional ties away. Take it to the individual, a man or woman who love each other but one of them gets really mad, you can’t go in there and say to one of them, ‘Your husband is a jerk.’ She can say it but you can’t. You go in and tell someone, ‘Your husband is a jerk,’ and they get mad at you, even though you may be right about it, who knows, and vice versa. So these are very, very, very delicate things, and I’m telling you, when you call here and say Huckabee is a religious bigot, you’re just cementing the ties between his supporters because you’re insulting both of them and they’re not going to sit around and take being insulted like that, pure and simple.