RUSH: I spent a lot of time in the airplane, so I’m watching a lot of news. I essentially flew ten hours for a four-hour dinner. It’s cool. It was fun. Out to California. And I noticed something. And at first it kind of went over my head, because I don’t make things about me. Other people are doing that, but not I. I kept noticing all these pundits on all these chat shows saying, ‘Yeah, the press, they really want Obama to win. They really want Obama to do well.’ And of course it kind of went over my head. I know they want him to do well. The press right now is obviously pulling for Obama. There’s no question about it. They like excitement. They like something other than what the conventional wisdom is. They like unpredictability and so forth. And then, listening to one of these pundits, I got smacked upside the head. One of the pundits said, ‘Yeah, the press, national press corps, the Washington press corps, they want Obama to do well. They want the black guy to do well.’ And I said, ‘Whoa, wait a minute.’ Let some guy on ESPN say that about a quarterback, that the press wants a black quarterback to do well, and the country shuts down for three days. The whole NFL season got hijacked because of that guy on television making that claim that the media wanted a black quarterback to do well. He really wasn’t all that great, what everybody was saying, but they just wanted him to do well. The same thing is being said about Obama. He doesn’t have all that much experience, and he probably is not the most qualified, but we really want him to do well — shazam! Nobody says a word.
In fact, as I say, it went over my head, folks. But let that guy on television say it about McNabb, and the country shuts down for three days, NFL goes into a major tizzy, and the season gets hijacked. Speaking of Obama, I’ve been catching a lot of heat for a lot of things as your host, but I’m going to tell you people something from the bottom of my heart. I have never wavered. I do not moisten my finger, put it up in the wind to see which way the wind is blowing and get in front. Meaning, I never try to anticipate what you want or what you think and say it just so that you will like me and listen. If it ever gets to the point that 99% of you think that I’m all wet or wrong about something, and I don’t think I’m wrong, I’m not siding with the 99%. I’m going to stay true to my principles, convictions, using my intelligence guided by experience. One of the things that I have been catching heat over is this. For the course of this recent campaign, when it has been said of Senator McCain that we can’t afford to entrust the presidency to anybody else because the war on terror, the war in Iraq, he’s the one guy that’s not going to buckle and Hillary and Obama are going to pull us out of there. They’re going to secure defeat. I’ve always said, ‘No, you’re wrong.’
The Democrats would love to saddle us with defeat while our president is in the White House. They would love to saddle Bush with the defeat. They would love to gum up and sabotage the war on terror so that Bush would take the hit to improve their electoral chances in 2008, but once they get into office, they’re not going to pull out of there. They’re not going to secure defeat. They’re not going to raise the white flag on their watch. This is all smoke and mirrors. And people say, ‘You’re crazy. You don’t know what you’re talking about.’ I said, ‘I’ve heard ’em say it.’ They said it in a debate. They were all asked a question, ‘Will you commit to getting all troops out of Iraq by 2012, the end of your first term?’ Edwards, Richardson, Hillary, Obama — the only guy who said yes was Kucinich. They all said no. Edwards, ‘I will not make that pledge.’ I made this statement, by the way, because I think — let’s just stick to the Republican side — it’s silly to assume we only have one candidate who’s going to do the right thing on American foreign policy.
It’s absurd to think we’ve only got one candidate who’s going to prosecute the war on terror correctly and defend and protect the nation’s safety, security, and Constitution. But, nevertheless, that’s where we are. I think it’s absurd. I think it’s ridiculous. I think any of the people on the Republican side could be just as — other than Ron Paul. I mean, you always have a wildcard in every deck. But of the serious contenders here, never any question. The only thing about Huckabee is you wonder about his experience with it, being a governor. I don’t even think he ever called out the National Guard. When Bill Clinton ran for president, he said (doing Clinton impression), ‘I do have military experience. You know, Limbaugh’s out there saying I loathe the military and I do and all that, but I have experience. I’ve called out the National Guard on riot gear a couple times. I understand what it is to deal with the military.’ He was using that example. I don’t even think Huckabee has done that. I’m going to play this audio sound bite of me, and this is from January 31st of this year.
RUSH ARCHIVE: The dirty little secret is, there is no Democrat presidential candidate who is going to saddle himself or herself and their party with defeat in the war in Iraq and the war on terror while they’re in the White House. They would love to have been able to pressure Bush. They’re not going to be able to do that. They would have loved to have been able to pressure Bush to get the troops out so they can say, ‘Bush lost the war. Bush admits it was horrible. It’s a big mistake.’ But when they’re in power and they’re in the White House, I will guarantee you they are not going to pull troops out of there unless they can claim that victory has been had, I guarantee you. So there’s no candidate, other than Kucinich — Huckabee, Romney, McCain, Hillary, Obama — all five are going to leave troops where they are.
RUSH: And of course you people think I’m nuts and have lost it. Let’s go to 60 Minutes last night on CBS. Steve Kroft interviewed Barack Obama, and this is a line buried in this Obama puff piece on 60 Minutes last night. Steve Kroft says, ‘You will remove all troops by the end of 2009 regardless of the situation, even if there’s serious sectarian violence?’
OBAMA: No, I always reserve as commander-in-chief the right to assess the situation.
RUSH: Bingo! Here he had a chance, he’s running for the Democrat nomination, the kook fringe cares about this more than anything else. He had a chance to continue to appeal to them. Nope. Because this is 60 Minutes. You can’t go on 60 Minutes and not say anything, real well. You gotta say something on 60 Minutes when they ask you questions. So he was asked, you going to get out about 2009, regardless? No. Didn’t even hesitate. No. As commander-in-chief, I reserve the right to assess. Translation: Let’s say he’s elected. Second week in office, first week in office, the fringe kooks of the Democrat Party are demanding, they’re marching in the White House, ‘Out of Iraq now.’ Obama says, ‘I hear you. I’m sympathetic. But I didn’t know a bunch of stuff until I got here. The Bush administration had not been forthcoming with us. As you know, they tried to hide a bunch of things. And I hope,’ he will say, ‘I hope that we can leave soon. My hope is that we will be able to get out of there as soon as possible, but I have assessed the situation, and I am telling you tonight that this is not the best or the right time to do it. But I hope that I will be able to revise this policy in coming months.’
Mark my words, folks. So look, don’t misunderstand. I don’t want a Democrat in charge of foreign policy. I don’t want a Democrat liberal in charge of US military. Don’t misunderstand. I’m just telling you that the idea that there’s only one person out there that’s going to do the right thing when it comes to Iraq and the war on terror instinctively is — you’re whistling Dixie.
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RUSH: Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. Robert, thank you for holding on, sir. Hello.
CALLER: How you doing, Rush? Thank you for taking the call.
RUSH: You bet.
CALLER: Yeah. Yeah, what sets me up, gets me kind of peeved is all this talk about the surge is working. It is not working! So we just happen to find — come across this e-mail or mail out in Iraq that Al-Qaeda is claiming they’re getting —
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: — their asses kicked. We’re also getting, uhhh — just like we found these Iranian naval ships who are attacking our ships. That turned out to be a hoax, just like there was no WMD. There was no Iranian… uh, Nigerian paper showing that Iraq was trying to buy uranium.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: That’s all bull.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: Now this month alone we had 38 killed. Friday we had five soldiers killed in two separate bombings.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: The government is not being held, uh, what this surge is supposed to do. It’s not happening. So where is the surge working?
RUSH: All right. I don’t even want to argue with you about it. It’s a waste of time. I’m not going to change your mind about it. Your mind’s made up and therefore closed. But are you looking for an improvement if Hillary or Obama win?
CALLER: I’m looking for them to get us out of there. Hell, yeah.
RUSH: It isn’t going to happen, pal. Let me just warn you: It isn’t going to happen. Not right away, it isn’t going to happen.
CALLER: Why? Well, do you think — I think McCain will pull them out just as… He’s only saying he’s not going to pull them out just to win the Republican votes, but I think he’s also going to pull ’em out. It’s common sense. We’re spending trillions of dollars over there. Our economy is going down the tubes just to build another nation. Build America; forget Iraq. I don’t care what happens to Iraq. Build America.
RUSH: Oh, come on. Do you really think this? You know, Robert, you sound like a reasonably intelligent guy but a closed mind. Do you really think America is being short-changed with the money being spent to defend and protect this country?
CALLER: Against Iraq?
RUSH: This is not against Iraq. Iraq is simply a theater in overall war on terror, and we’re beating ’em. And we’re cleaning their clocks, and it is working, and it is happening. But why the pessimism? Why are you so desperately desirous for your country to lose? Why are so you desperately desirous for your country to be thought of as a quitter?
CALLER: It’s not… Well, you’re trying to word it that way, but I’ll give you why I see things that way. I have this guy who works with me. His son has been in Iraq for less than two months, and his first week there his — his truck, his Hummer was hit by one of these explosives. He survived because he was sitting in the front. That same night they took him out of the hospital, put him right back into that Humvee. Three weeks later he was shot three times in the same path. Our soldiers are like it’s target practice. Why should they be getting potshot at?
RUSH: (sigh) Whoa.
CALLER: Yeah, I know, it’s hard — it’s hard (unintelligible) to take in.
RUSH: You know, if you want to start anecdotal stories about soldiers, Marines, airmen, and sailors —
CALLER: Mmm-hmm.
RUSH: — I know more than you do, buddy.
CALLER: You know more propaganda than I do, but — but — but give me something that’s tells me we’re winning.
RUSH: I know more of these people, and I can tell you: To a man, they are honored and proud to be doing what they’re doing, and they know that they’re kicking butt, and they tell me this constantly. They’re a little frustrated why their story has vanished from the newspapers now that the news has turned good. They don’t understand it. I try to talk them up. Well, they do understand it, but they’re still disappointed by it. The casualties in this war are — all of them, of course — unfortunate, but war is war. These people joined knowing full well what was in store. This is why they deserve our respect and our honor and our awe and our devotion! They know what they’re heading into, man, and yet they do it; 99.9% of the rest of us wouldn’t. In terms of the numbers of casualties, a sense of proportion is needed here. We have lost more soldiers in training exercises in World War II than in four and a half, five years in Iraq. It’s unfortunate that people like you, otherwise intelligent, just seem compelled to have your country embarrassed, to quit, to lose. And I’ll tell you, it’s people like me that don’t understand this. We don’t understand people that want our own country to be a laughingstock in the world — and if we pull out of there and quit, the way you think your candidates are going to do, we are in for one of the biggest shocks and surprise; because we’re going to send a message to the rest of the world and to our allies: ‘You can’t count on us to finish what we start,’ and that’s one of the worst things can be said about us. It will embarrass the US military, especially when victory over there is at hand. McCain’s not going to pull us out of there. He’s the architect — in his mind the sole architect — of the surge. He’s going to see that through so that he can claim that he did it. Anyway, Robert, I’m glad you called. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you.
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RUSH: Let’s go to Massachusetts, the Mass Turnpike, and Margaret, nice to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Nice to talk to you.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: About three callers ago I think it was, the gentleman was talking about the money we’re throwing away in Iraq and he doesn’t care about Iraq. And my brain wants to melt when I hear stuff like that, not only because thank God for the soldiers and bless them all and you, what about the money that we throw away in this country? In fact, we’d be better off throwing it away than spending it on some of the things that we’re spending it on. We’re destroying the country spending money that — oh, it’s insane.
RUSH: You’re preaching to the choir here and to the converted. When I hear these liberals talk about all the money we’re spending on Iraq and how we could spend it on education or on social problems, we are throwing money at problems in this country and not solving them, and we’re compounding the problem by throwing more money at it. The idea that we’re short of money, when our government just proposed a $3.1 trillion budget, it tries my patience the same as yours.
CALLER: Even that rebate thing, how much is the processing cost on that when you get right down to it? How much is that going to cost us to get our money back?
RUSH: Forget that. Well, no, don’t forget it, but I mean that’s not the primary cost. The primary cost is it’s essentially — there’s no new money here being generated that’s supposedly being sent. In fact, the way to play this stupid stimulus thing is the Democrats are proposing it, right? They are proposing money be given to people for what reason? To stimulate the economy. Well, couldn’t we say to the Democrats’ proposing it, then why do you oppose tax cuts because tax cuts do the same thing. Tax cuts leave people with more of what they earn. If giving people 300, 600, 1,200, 2,400 bucks will stimulate the economy, why not cut their taxes permanently? ‘Well, we can’t do that, Mr. Limbaugh. The Treasury will run short of money and so forth.’ We got ’em if we just press ’em.
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RUSH: Ken in Winter Haven, Florida. Nice to have you with us sir, hello.
CALLER: Thanks, Rush, appreciate you taking my call. Just wanted to comment that Robert, several callers ago really irritated me talking about the surge not working. I have a son who is a combat Marine. Fortunately, he’s in Camp Lejeune. He got back okay. He did get hit by a hand grenade, but he’s all right. He told me when he first went to Ramada with his unit they were in 80 firefights a week. Eight months later they didn’t have one firefight in over two weeks. He said the surge is absolutely working very, very well. And it irritates me when somebody like this who doesn’t know what he’s talking about can pop his mouth off like that —
RUSH: Yeah, you know, it does me, too. Frustrating. These people are all over the place, though. They’re invested in their own nation’s defeat. They are invested in their own military’s failure. There’s nothing rational about it, and there’s an old saying. ‘It’s stupid to get into an argument with a fool because people will not be able to tell the difference.’
CALLER: Ain’t that the truth. I just wanted to let you know, like I said, my son was there. He was a combat Marine. He was in these fights. He knows all about it better than anybody, and we are winning over there. We’re doing a wonderful job, and I just wanted to get on here and voice my opinion. Thanks for taking my call.
RUSH: You bet. My pleasure. And God bless your son. Give him all of our regards.
CALLER: I also have two other boys, one’s in the Army, the other in the Navy. So I’m very proud of all of them.
RUSH: You should be. So are all of us.
CALLER: And I’m a veteran myself. Well, we appreciate —
RUSH: We’re proud of all of you.
CALLER: Thanks for helping us and keeping the spirit up towards the guy in the service. They appreciate it.
RUSH: Thank you, Ken. That’s why I mentioned the success of this in the first hour, that’s the hour that’s on Armed Forces Radio. I know it’s all anecdotal, but our good buddy Tazz, Joe Katuzienski, is over there. He’s in the Air Force, and he can’t tell me where he is, but he says we are kicking ass. We have these people on the run, and he says, ‘How come it’s not being reported?’ And I said, ‘Precisely because of that.’ That’s why the Democrats are not making it an issue.