RUSH: We’re going to start in Jacksonville, Florida, with Liz. Thank you for waiting. I appreciate it. Welcome to the program.
CALLER: Hey, Rush, longtime listener. I still have my Dittohead cup from last time you were here in Jacksonville.
RUSH: Oh, that’s going back to 1989.
CALLER: Yes, sir. That’s how long I’ve been listening. But I wanted to weigh in on Governor Sarah Palin if I could.
RUSH: Feel free, feel free, of course. I know it’s going to be tough because what is there to say after the first hour and a half of this program brilliantly executed by me, but give it a shot.
CALLER: Well, I wanted to first just start off by just saying thanks to John McCain for choosing a vice president who I really think represents the voice of conservative women in America. I think it was gutsy, I think it was bold, what he did. I was able to listen to her acceptance speech because admittedly she was not who I thought he was going to pick, so I made a point to watch her acceptance speech, and I had an instant connect to her. And, Rush, I identify with this lady. She’s a working woman, she’s married to the same man for over 20 years, great moral values, and I applaud, I applaud the way she and her husband have handled this situation with her daughter. All of us have known families who have been in the same situation. And they handle it responsibly, they told her daughter, ‘This is what you need to do,’ and I applaud it. It endears me to her, and I’m just excited about —
RUSH: A lot of people are. You are sharing and reflecting an attitude that a lot of Americans have, not just conservative women, not just conservatives. There are a lot of people who are admiring this woman because of the things that you said. She is intact, she is secure, and she can take care of herself. If she’s demonstrated anything, it’s that she can take care of herself. She’s tough, and she is committed, she’s secure and confident in her beliefs and her values and really, you know, in life circumstances and controversies, debates, decisions, it is confidence that gets you through things, it’s confidence, knowing your subject, knowing who you are, knowing what you think is best for yourself, family, your friends. That’s what carries you through. Those things do not lead to indecision. Lack of confidence, fear of having people discover that you’re not who you say you are, fear of having people discover you’re dishonest, that leads to lack of confidence, and you can see it in insecurity and uncertainty. I think we see a lot of that, by the way, from Obama. If it’s not written, it’s a little bit challenging. I need to repeat this, folks, very quickly just so you understand. If you remember what was it like when Clarence Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court, it was an all-out effort to destroy him because of what he meant to liberalism, what his ascension to the high court would mean to the liberal civil rights coalition. Sarah Palin is an even larger threat to liberalism. She’s the antithesis of everything they believe, and they will stop at nothing to destroy her. In the process I’m hoping they destroy themselves.
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This is Angie in Clarkston, Michigan. Thanks, Angie, for waiting. Great to have you here.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s an honor to talk to you. I’ve been listening to you for about 11 years, and I have three girl Rush Babies that listen to you all the time.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: And I just wanted to bring up another pregnancy. This pregnancy would be one of Stanley Ann Dunham, I think — yeah, Dunham. And she got pregnant right about the same age as Sarah Palin’s daughter, and she gave birth to Barack Obama.
RUSH: Yes, she was an unwed mother, she was —
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: — a single mother. I mentioned that at the top of the program, absolutely. If they want to bring up this family stuff, the Obama family is going to be a little bit more risky to explain than Sarah Palin’s.
CALLER: Absolutely.
RUSH: I wonder if the Drive-Bys — no. They wouldn’t suggest that Obama’s mom should have aborted him, being a single mother, right? They wouldn’t go back and do that now, would they?
CALLER: If they had then we wouldn’t have his gracious presence with us now.
RUSH: Yes. Yes, I know. Well, you know, I’m flattered you caught that, because people ask me, ‘How do you stay so optimistic?’ Because more and more people are starting to see how the Drive-By Media and the Democrat Party operates. You didn’t have to be told about that. You just instinctively went to it, I’m proud of you, made me happy.
CALLER: Well, I’ve been reading that book, The Obama Nation, so I’ve been reading about his childhood and his upbringing.
RUSH: Jerome Corsi wrote the book.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: They’re trying to destroy Jerome Corsi, too.
CALLER: Yes, they are.
RUSH: Okay, Angie, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
CALLER: Thank you.
RUSH: You bet. This is Mary. Look at this. It’s been all women today. Is it by accident or are you just being overwhelmed with calls from — (interruption) well, all right, here we go. This is Mary in Soldotna, Alaska. Am I pronouncing that right?
CALLER: That’s correct, you are.
RUSH: Well, thank you very much. Welcome to the EIB Network. Great to have you here.
CALLER: Well, it’s good to have finally heard the ring instead of busy signal, which I’ve gotten for years.
RUSH: Well, there must be some reason for you to get through today of all days.
CALLER: Oh, maybe so. I originally called because last week you had a caller, he was from Homer, Alaska.
RUSH: Yes.
CALLER: And you asked him a specific question, and what he picked out was so mundane, I mean it was on everyone’s mind. You asked him what were Sarah’s accomplishments here, and he had an ability to tell you a whole litany of things. And he picked out oh, you know, ‘She’s going to send us some money.’ Well, yeah. It’s a small part of a much larger plan by the state —
RUSH: Well, but wait a minute.
CALLER: — to help us out.
RUSH: No, I knew what he was talking about at the time. Alaskans — she gave them a rebate on rising gasoline prices added to whatever it is you guys already get for allowing the Alaska pipeline and other things up there, but she was simply saying, she made it a point in her announcement to say that she didn’t keep the money as a governor and put it in government coffers; she sent it back to the people who were experiencing this rapid increase in gasoline prices. Remember, Obama at the time the gasoline prices were skyrocketing up, said, (paraphrasing) ‘I’m not really worried about the price but I am concerned about how rapidly it went up.’
CALLER: Yeah, it was disgusting.
RUSH: She turned it back to the people, that’s all. No different than a tax rebate.
CALLER: Right, which was the original idea of the original permanent fund in the first place, because the oil revenue of the state, according to Hammond, our governor at the time, belonged to the people. And so the people get a tiny little portion of the interest, and that’s what that dividend is about, but I wouldn’t have chosen that as her most important accomplishment. Frank Murkowski was expected to be a really good governor, and he was just a bust. She beat him in the primary, and she filed his deal that he had made with the gas companies — or the oil companies, she filed that right in the trash.
RUSH: Yeah, she redid it.
CALLER: And she most recently turned down an arrangement by two other oil companies who wanted to build a pipeline without any input from the state at all, and just finished the deal in a special session. And so she will be remembered for the $40 billion gas pipeline that will be built.
RUSH: Well, that’s an excellent point, and I got a little note here today from Frank Gaffney, who is the guy who runs the Center for Security Policy. Frank Gaffney is a brilliant defense analyst, national security analyst, he’s one of us. And he’s written a rejoinder here to people accusing Sarah Palin of having no experience. He goes pretty much to what you were just saying here, Mary. He writes: ‘Listening to her critics, one might think that John McCain’s chosen running-mate is a complete ignoramus when it comes to matters of national security. In fact, Sarah Palin’s background in Alaska, including most recently her service as that state’s governor, suggests that the judgment of the Republicans’ candidate for Vice President with respect to this portfolio is likely to be substantially better than that of either Barak Obama or Joe Biden. Consider the following factors: Gov. Palin has spent much of her adult life dealing with matters long central to the Alaskan experience and now of surpassing importance to the nation as a whole — namely, energy security and how we can provide for it. Having managed her state’s department responsible for oil and gas exploration and exploitation, having negotiated a long-delayed natural gas pipeline through Canada to the Lower 48 and having been married for nearly two decades to a blue-collar worker in Alaska’s North Slope oil fields, she knows more about the subject than all three of the others on the two parties’ tickets put together. If Gov. Palin can bring to bear her insights into the need for expanded, yet environmentally sensitive drilling, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) — together with an appreciation of the need to introduce fuel-choice in our transportation sector, the object of the bipartisan Open Fuel Standard Act introduced in both the House and Senate shortly before the August recess — she will demonstrate unsurpassed leadership in what is, arguably, the single most important national security challenge of our time.’ Energy production, use, dependence, independence, she does it, she has demonstrated it. I love this that Gaffney said, (paraphrasing) ‘She’s got more experience on national security issues of crucial importance than all three of the other people on both tickets combined.’
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RUSH: Here’s Kathy in Sarasota, Florida, next on the EIB Network. It’s great to have you here, Kathy. Thank you for waiting, too.
CALLER: Thank you, Rush Limbaugh. After hearing you talk today, I just want people to know that as an American I am super proud that she’s running. She’s a true American woman. No matter what problems she’s been confronted with, she’s accepted them and she’s dealing with them, and I’m proud of her. She didn’t give up the child that’s retarded. Her daughter made a mistake. They’re doing her daughter a favor right now, putting her mother down, because that daughter is going to stand proud and say, ‘Even though I made a mistake, my mother didn’t judge me, either,’ and that’s what a proud American does. Don’t judge people! We need to stand up for our young people and be proud of what they make. We’ve all made mistakes, and I’m proud that she’s going to the White House because she is going to the White House, ’cause she is a true American. And she’s going to be McCain’s best asset, and I hope everybody that’s listening to your program today knows that.
RUSH: Don’t doubt me. They do. Don’t doubt me.
CALLER: She’s wonderful. She will say a true American. And these people out there that are putting her down, they’re doing her a favor. Her daughter isn’t going to be botched up or hurt by her. She’s gonna stand tall and go, ‘My mom’s proud of me,’ and she’s doing the right thing and she’s gonna get married — and even if she didn’t get married and didn’t want the kid, there’s a family out there that’s looking for a child. She’s a great kid that could make another family happy. That’s the true American way, isn’t it, Rush?
RUSH: Of course it is. There’s no question about it, Kathy. Were you always on board for McCain before this pick anyway?
CALLER: Always. I’ve always been for him, always for McCain. I’m a Republican and I’ll always be a Republican.
RUSH: Good. All right. Well, I appreciate the call. Thanks very much.
CALLER: All right!
RUSH: (laughs) You can hear the enthusiasm that all of these women have calling here today. They’re fired up — and I’ll tell you, you know what? It’s interesting. Most of the ones that Snerdley has put up — I don’t know what all he’s getting in there; we reject 15 for every one we put up. I don’t know, but what I find fascinating here is these callers are spending more time rallying around and talking positively about who Sarah Palin is and what she is rather than whining and moaning at the Drive-By Media. I love that. And, by the way, there are a lot of Drive-Bys out there who are saying, ‘Gee, I wonder what Limbaugh’s going to say today because the last we heard from Limbaugh, nobody knew that Sarah Palin had a 17-year-old daughter who was pregnant. So what is Rush Limbaugh going to do now?’
That’s not a question for me. What are you Drive-Bys, what do you Democrats, what do you liberals think, that the woman has a 17-year-old daughter who’s pregnant and we’re going to say, ‘Get an abortion’? What are we going to say? Those of us who believe in the sanctity of life, how we going to find any problem with this? Ohhhh, maybe the promiscuity of her daughter? Is that what you’re thinking we might find a problem with? You misunderstand all this. We are not judgmental people. Kathy here just said this. We have cultural values that we think have determined the greatness of this country and we want as many people as possible to adhere to them, maintain them, defend them and protect them and so forth — and the sanctity of life is at the top of the list. ‘Cause once that goes then what else is worth it? If you’re not willing to do what you can to protect the sanctity of life, then what about freedom and then what about speech and all these other things?
You libs are always looking to find ‘hypocrisy’ among conservatives, and you think that when you find it that somehow all of conservatism is discredited. The fact of the matter is, we do have standards, we have values, and we have human beings who violate them. We have human beings that don’t live up to them. Clue, little hint here: Most human beings (in fact, all human beings) fail to live up to perfection! That’s where you liberals are so out of whack. You think perfection either in a country or in individuals is possible, when you’re running the show. And you think we’re sitting here all judgmental and so forth. We are judgmental when people make bad decisions that are destructive to the things that we hold dear. But there’s nothing destructive here in Sarah Palin’s life so far, and the desire that you have to find out some way that we can be shown as hypocrites and say that this disqualifies Sarah Palin, it’s a waste of everybody’s time — and it also demonstrates to us just exactly who you are, which we all know anyway, we’re just gathering more evidence.
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RUSH: This is Lennie in Charleston, South Carolina. Hi, Lennie, nice to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Yes, sir. Hello?
RUSH: Hello.
CALLER: Yes, sir.
RUSH: Great, sir. Go ahead.
CALLER: Yes, sir. I’d like to point out that Obama mentioned the capital gains tax eliminating it for small business but what it means is, it means the same thing that Jimmy Carter said about lowering taxes right when he was ready to lose. You see, if you eliminate capital gains tax of small business, it’s essentially useless, because who has the money for capital investments? The large business. I think they ought to rename it the national hindrance tax because it hinders, stifles, it absolutely destroys the economy. And if you ever talk to presidents or any president, I would put that through. And the other thing is push hard everyday for freedom of talk radio, otherwise it equates to the same as book burning, okay?
RUSH: Well said out there, Lennie. Why, that’s so well said, I don’t need to add much to it. Other than Obama doesn’t know what he’s talking about with capital gains. Capital gains he looks at as a fairness issue like the income tax. He says, ‘We’re only going to raise capital gains on the rich.’ Hey, Obama, how about all of the small business owners like Lennie here who file their tax returns as a subchapter S on their personal 1040 form? It’s why I say we cannot afford this guy, we can’t afford this guy any number of ways, we can’t afford Obama in the back pocket and we clearly can’t afford his incompetence in national security, and we cannot afford what he and his buddies would like to see this country become.
Nick in Linden, California, welcome to the EIB Network, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Hey, Mr. Limbaugh, I am 17 years old and I am a Rush Baby for 17 years.
RUSH: Well, super-duper, great to have you here, Nick.
CALLER: Yeah, hey, I just had a question for you. First one is me and my dad sent you a gift not too long called holy drinking water. Did you get it?
RUSH: I do not believe so, but don’t worry, my mail goes to 14 different places and sometimes it takes a long time to get it to me.
CALLER: Okay. Well, the other thing that I had to say is that, why is the media now more disrespectful and proving that they’re more immature than a high school journalism class? Because when they’re going after a 17-year-old girl that’s pregnant and trying to post that as a negative piece against her mother, doesn’t that just completely disrespect like everything about personal privacy and everything?
RUSH: Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. Presidential candidates have no privacy, their family has no privacy. They are suspects. But Nick, this is about destroying the mother. This is about destroying Sarah Palin. The Drive-By Media, the Democrat Party, are trying to ruin her life. This is what the Drive-Bys do. They run around wildly ruining people’s lives, and then after they do that they head on down the road to the next person who they want to destroy, the next issue they want to blow and up they do it. They don’t care how hypocritical they look, they don’t care how mean-spirited they look, the end result is all that’s important to them, and that’s making sure their people win.
Here’s Rosemary in Sunnyvale, California. I’m glad you called. Welcome to the program.
CALLER: Rush, it’s an honor. Thank you so much for taking my call.
RUSH: Yes, ma’am. You’re welcome.
CALLER: Yes. My slant on it is their outright guilt. This media, going after them, these professional women, today, where are they, you know, in their lives? Possibly they had abortions as teens, as Governor Palin’s daughter, or probably a baby was in the way for them to carry on their career, further their career, or what about these women with the Down syndrome babies? I think it’s pure guilt that this beautiful family and Governor Palin and all her achievements is putting it in their face.
RUSH: Well, now, you might have a point about that to an extent, because this, I don’t know whether it’s guilt, though. I think there’s certainly an element of guilt possible. But I think what this is is resentment. They resent this woman because she has a great American life and she’s happy, and she’s not taken the advice of all these women in the media, feminist leaders and so forth. We don’t know how many of the women you’re talking about have had abortions when they were teenagers. That’s tough to speculate on, or about. But I think what they see is resentment. I think they were blindsided. A real woman to them is someone like Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama who is a liberal. This is really no more complicated than liberal versus conservative.
CALLER: Yes. By the way, I think they make a beautiful pair on the ticket and how they look. I think they carry each other beautifully, and I think that’s envious of them. She does not make Senator McCain look old and feeble. I think they carry themselves well. He’s a man’s man.
RUSH: Yeah. And she’s a woman’s woman, and she’s a babe. She can wear skirts. She’s got definable ankles. She has high heels, and she had her baby four months ago. Well, look it, that comment may bother some of you, but we’re talking about why they’re mad. Don’t forget, Undeniable Truth of Life Number 24, folks, written by me in 1987. Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream. It’s almost like Obama all over, except this woman is young, Obama was young. This woman’s clean, articulate, looks good, all the guys swoon, and the Hillary babes are stuck at the secretary’s desk again with no chance to move up and get promoted because somebody’s always coming along. It’s so unfortunate. I think a lot of militant feminists are trying to change basic human nature because they think nature was so unkind to them in the first place. So there’s a lot rolled into this, but it is clear one thing is unmistakable, they hate Sarah Palin. They hate her. And if you want to be honest with yourself, there’s more than just politics involved as to why. And that’s all I’m telling you. I’m sharing with you how they think, not I think. Folks, don’t doubt me, you should know by now.
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RUSH: North Augusta, South Carolina, Becky. It’s great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush.
RUSH: Hi.
CALLER: I want to say, I can’t remember who I was talking to earlier, but I’m from Alaska, born and raised. I’m a proud Tlingit Indian from the southeast area. When I heard that the governor was being selected and then the confirmation was confirmed, I just cried. And let me tell you this from family back home. All I can say is (laughing) they’re looking forward for Biden and Sarah to debate.
RUSH: I’ll bet they are. I’ll bet everybody knows her is waiting for that.
CALLER: Well, let me tell you this much. I just hope that Biden has an oversized cup, because she will eat him up. He does not know what he is up against.
RUSH: Oversized cup ’cause…?
CALLER: (giggling)
RUSH: Yeah. Well, you know, Biden’s problem is going to be diarrhea of the mouth. The guy cannot shut up, and he’s not going to be able to avoid being condescending towards her.
CALLER: No. She knows her stuff. She knows exactly what she’s talking about. She relates. She doesn’t bull. She doesn’t have so many stories and in between like Biden does. She gets to the point so fast that —
RUSH: The contrast will be spectacular. There’s no question.