RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank all of you for your e-mails of support regarding this interview that Colin Powell did on CNN yesterday. The whole thing wears me out. It’s nothing new except now it’s coming from ostensibly the Republican Party. Now, Snerdley is livid, many of my staff and friends are livid. To me, it’s not that big a deal. I think Powell’s premise — and I understand what’s going on — I think Powell’s premise is all wrong. The Republican Party needs to stop listening to me. Basically, what that means is the Republican Party’s gotta throw you overboard; the Republican Party can’t win as long as it is defined by people like you and me, those of you in this audience. The simple fact of the matter is, folks, what makes this funny to me is that the Republican Party’s not listened to me in the last two years. And you might even say in matters of policy and so forth, the Republican Party hasn’t been listening to me for the last six years. And you might even say that the Republican Party is in the situation it’s in precisely because of the people like Colin Powell and John McCain and others who have devised this new definition and identity of the party which is responsible for electing Democrats all over this country.
So I think it’s actually somewhat funny. I really do. They’re not listening to me, and I don’t do this program for these people to listen to me. They misunderstand the whole point of this program and what we do here. The Democrats and the liberals always have, and I guess McCain and Colin Powell are showing their true colors. Here is Colin Powell telling the Republican Party what to do after he voted for Obama! I know what really has Colin Powell upset, it’s because I said his endorsement of Obama was about race, and I’m not supposed to say those things. These things are supposed to go unsaid. The Republican Party nominated Powell’s perfect candidate. The guy’s going after moderates, independents, Democrats, a guy who is not conservative at all, McCain, didn’t stand up for much conservative, and he’s out there now saying he won’t support Palin if she seeks the presidency again, or he might not.
Colin Powell, ladies and gentlemen, insists that conservatives and Republicans support candidates who will appeal to minorities like I guess McCain who led the effort for amnesty. He insists that conservatives and Republicans move to the center like McCain, who calls himself a maverick for doing so. General Powell insists that conservatives and Republicans provide an open tent to different ideas and views, like I guess McCain, who repeatedly trashed Republicans and made nice with Democrats. I mean, their tent’s big, they just don’t want us in it. John McCain is and was Colin Powell’s ideal candidate. All these moderates, Bill Weld, all these moderates that crossed the aisle and voted for Obama, they got their ideal candidate, and they got their ideal campaign in McCain. Once McCain was nominated as the Republican candidate, largely by independents and Democrats voting in Republican primaries, Colin Powell waited ’til the last minute, when it would do the most damage to McCain and the Republicans and endorsed Obama. And when I said it was largely about race, that’s what set ’em all off, you’re not supposed to say these kinds of things. This is supposed to go unspoken.
So if we try to understand Powell’s thinking, which is difficult since it’s incoherent, we should have all voted for McCain in the primaries, and once he was nominated, we should have voted for Obama for president. That’s what we should have all done, if you listen to what Powell said on CNN yesterday. There’s something interesting — and Snerdley picked up on this — he said that Powell in the CNN interview is talking to Republican leaders about tossing me out, when I’m not in. (laughing) This remains to me to be the funny thing here. It would be one thing if Republicans were listening to me and going down in flames, but they’re not, and they haven’t for the longest time. So Powell is talking to Republican leaders about tossing me out of the party, and people should stop listening to me and helping Democrats with any legislation that might be aimed at taming talk radio. This is what Snerdley thinks he meant by virtue of what he said in that interview. He did say he’s talking to the leaders — leaders of what? The Republican Party? He’s getting together to talk with the leaders about me? When was the last time I was on a ballot? When was the last time I raised money? When was the last time I wrote a plank in the party platform?
I wish my parents were alive. I say this at least once a week. They wouldn’t believe, here we are, ladies and gentlemen, in the midst of an economic crisis, an automobile potential bailout, now we got this Bernard Madoff thing that’s happened, and this is fascinating, this is overwhelmingly fascinating to me, when you understand what happened, all of this going on, we got reporters in Baghdad throwing a shoe at George W. Bush and the Drive-By Media here in this country is very excited about it. Fact of the matter is, ladies and gentlemen, this incident shows that we have succeeded in Iraq. Had this guy thrown his shoe at Saddam Hussein, he would have been shot five minutes later. This guy is still alive to be made a star by the Drive-By Media around the world. Long live freedom; long live democracy.
What’s going on here with this Colin Powell thing is that the Washington establishment — Powell’s not a Republican. McCain’s not a Republican. These guys are not even mavericks. They are Washingtonians. Washingtonians have their own culture and their own desires, and it is to matter. They don’t care who’s in power, they just want to be closely associated with whoever is. That’s the name of the game and they want press adulation. They want to be loved and adored by the media, they want fawning treatment, they want to be thought of as something special, unique, dignified and so forth, and that’s the Washington establishment. These guys are Washingtonians. And what is a Washingtonian? Who are these people? Ladies and gentlemen, they have driven this economy into the toilet. Washingtonians are tone deaf in terms of how you and I actually live and the things that matter and are important to us. Washingtonians are grabbing as much power for themselves right now as possible. Washington does not live in the rest of the country, does not live in the same world we do. What they’re doing now is looking for ways to silence opposition. They don’t care about the timid ineffective opposition. They like Republicans and conservatives who are ashamed of their views and their fellow citizens. What they want to do is silence people like me because they can’t abide debate or opposition or challenges to their status and their authority.
So General Powell, let me explain something. The fact is Republicans did not listen to me. They listened to you. They have not been listening to me for years. The Republican Party nominated your ideal candidate. They nominated your guy, a moderate, who’s willing to buy into an endless array of liberal causes, from global warming — there’s an AP story out today that says we are cooling this year, and by the way, record lows in Denver, we have record lows in Montana. We actually have a story on global warming from the AP today, and in the last couple paragraphs it says — Rachel, you’ll love this, because I know you think Algore is a genius — it says here that this cooling perfectly illustrates how the world is warming. Folks, we got more problems than you can possibly imagine. That’s just lunacy. That is just insanity. And that’s modern journalism. We’re freezing our butts off. We have our fifth cold front that went through here, and we normally haven’t had the first one yet. Five cold fronts! Cold for us, but I mean look it, weather is weather. Record lows in Denver. And all of this freezing cold points out how the world is so rapidly warming, it perfectly illustrates it, the guy says.
He quotes a scientist here that says species are going extinct like never before, and I’ve got a story about 70 brand-new species discovered in the Mekong Delta. We can’t trust anything that we see in the media anymore. It’s all agenda oriented, and it’s all oriented toward the agenda of Washingtonians. As long as you are a Republican, but you buy into an endless array of liberal causes, global warming to amnesty for illegals, and somebody who has the same fetish for compromising principles that you do, then they are going to love you. Then you turn around and you stab this person in the back by endorsing the most liberal Democrat candidate ever nominated days before the election, General Powell? You want to lecture me about how the Republican Party needs to stop listening to me when they are not? They are listening to you. I also have to question something here. How can he say he’s a Republican? He gets the perfect Republican nominee, exactly the kind of candidate he wants, it’s McCain, and then he sabotages McCain a few weeks before the election by endorsing Obama. How can you even claim to be a Republican, General Powell? When have you ever stuck your neck out for Republicans and conservatives? Never. I mean sabotage George W. Bush with the Armitage leak and Scooter Libby, that’s just one thing, but Ronald Reagan, Bush 41, Bush 43 all helped advance General Powell’s career.
Now, there are exceptional military men and women throughout our nation who could have served as national security advisor or chairman of the chief joints of staff, to quote Rita X, many ex-military people who could have been the secretary of state. Hell, Hillary can do it, anybody can do it. I’m sure you did a good job, General Powell, certainly nothing exceptional, you’re no George Marshall. But I can’t think of a single occasion where Secretary Powell stepped up to the plate for the Republican Party or the conservative movement. I think of many times when he has not done so or even worse. I’ve noticed on the one hand General Powell claims to stand above politics as a big claim to fame. Yet, on the other hand, he jumps in from time to time, but only to attack the conservative base of the Republican Party. When’s the last time, the first time, when is any time he has let loose or criticized a liberal Democrat on any issue? Now, here’s the problem. General Powell, and folks, this problem I think is systemic in the Republican Party in Washington. People like General Powell seek to ingratiate themselves with the people who despise the Republican Party and despise the conservative movement. They’re out there preaching moderation all along the way, when instead you should be preaching principle.
Principle is what got you where you are. Moderation is what keeps you where you are with this great reputation, great image but no substance, no principles, no core belief. If somebody had to tell you who Colin Powell is, what would they say? What does he stand for? What does General Powell stand for? What does John McCain stand for? You don’t know. There aren’t any core beliefs you can go rat-tat-tat down the list and say, yep, this is who they are. Was Abraham Lincoln great because he saw compromise during the Civil War or was he great because he insisted on total and complete victory? Great people take stands on principle, not moderation. Some of us think that individual liberty, limited constitutional government, and increased support for the military by civilians are principles worth defending. Maybe General Powell can enlighten us, since he’s failed to do that so far on the great liberal or moderate Democrat principles that seem to intrigue him. What is it about Obama that intrigued him? What are these principles? Or was it the way Obama speaks?
General Powell says we need to reach out to Hispanic, blacks, and Asians. Well, how do we do that? What kind of message does he suggest? I never hear the ‘how’ to do it. I just hear we need to do it. And in my mind, we already have the blueprint for how to do it. We have done it successfully. We abandoned the blueprint. It’s called individual freedom, liberty, and not seeing them as Hispanics and not seeing them as Asians and not seeing them as blacks or minorities, but rather seeing them as Americans, human beings. Liberals look at people and groupify them and then think of them with contempt. I mean are all black people identical thinkers, if we understand what one of them thinks we know how to get to all of them, is that true? Same thing with Asians? Same thing with Hispanics? General Powell has no vision. He is not in touch with the public in any meaningful way. He’s a Washingtonian. He’s not in touch with the public. He lives in a bubble so he doesn’t have to expose himself to contrary arguments. He just has to accept accolades from the people he treasures and values most, his buddies and the media. He doesn’t add anything to the public discussion. What has he added to the public discussion? What has he done to advance a principle? He is constantly peddling his identity and his reputation rather than anything substantive or insightful.
I’m sure he’s a delightful person with his friends and I’m sure he’s charitable with his time and his money, but he has no idea what he’s talking about when he presumes to dictate how Republicans and conservatives should build a governing majority. One of the things he said is he resents Sarah Palin because she kept talking about small towns. He said nobody lives in small towns and that’s why they’re small. ‘I’m from the Bronx. Something wrong with my values?’ he asked. What is this hatred for conservatives and small town people and Sarah Palin? It’s because they are effective. They represent challenges to the Washingtonians’ control of the Republican Party. I know a lot of people that are from the Bronx, General Powell, and if you think the values there in the Bronx today reflect the ones you grew up with, take a trip back and see if the street corners and the activities there are the same as when you were growing up, General Powell. Quick time-out. I spent more time on this than I intended to because we got other things to do.
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RUSH: Let me get this straight. The guy who has supported the Republican candidate for president should be thrown out of the party. That would be me. But the guy who bolted and sabotaged the Republican nominee by endorsing the Democrat candidate should stay in and be part of the team that determines what the Republican Party is going to be. The turncoat, General Powell, is the one who the party is gonna listen to? McCain’s a moderate. I supported McCain. Powell, who wants a moderate, did not support McCain. It’s unreal. It’s just incredible. Look, I’m trying to be a little humble here, but it’s hard when you got all this other stuff going on and Republicans out there now continue to trash me. It’s flattering; it is amazing. At the same time, it’s mind-boggling how I get under their skin. What I’m learning now, folks, it really doesn’t matter about party. It’s not getting under Republicans’ skin now. It’s getting under the skin of Washingtonians. It’s getting under the skin of the Big Government people. These are liberals. There’s no such thing as a moderate Republican. A moderate Republican is a liberal. General Powell, says, ‘I’m a fiscal conservative; I don’t like the social stuff.’ What’s wrong with the social side? It’s abortion. But it’s more than that, it’s Washingtonianism.
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RUSH: Robin, Las Cruces, New Mexico, great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hello?
RUSH: Hi.
CALLER: Hi. When I called, I was so furious at Colin Powell’s remarks and I’ve calmed down a little, but my response is how dare he tell you what he thinks. When I remember his public statement, when he was keeping us twisting in the wind about whether he would run for president, that he had decided not to because of his wife’s concern for his personal safety.
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: And I believe Saturday Night Live calls this ‘p-whipped.’ And the very idea that he should tell you what you should do or the Republican Party what it should do just blew all over me.
RUSH: Well, I appreciate your loyal support. He can tell the Republican Party what they should do.
CALLER: Well, he can’t tell you —
RUSH: Look, Colin Powell is a Washingtonian, and his happiness derives from how much he is loved and respected by fellow Washingtonians. I’ll never forget back in the days when the Republicans wanted him to run for president, he would not admit what party he was a member of and he wouldn’t tell us what he thought about anything because he was worried that his approval numbers, which were pretty high, would plummet.
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RUSH: I hold here my formerly nicotine-stained fingers a piece from National Public Radio, and it is by Matthew Continetti.
Matthew C. says in his headline: ”Why Conservatives Shouldn’t Be Cheery’ — The only age group that went for McCain was 65 and older. That’s not what you would call a good sign for the Republicans’ long-term future.’ Now, get this: ‘The GOP’s problem is that it obstinately refuses to address the problems facing those Americans who do not listen to conservative talk radio.’ Whatever the hell that means. I don’t even care what it means, but the interpretation here is that who and who are on the same page? Colin Powell and National Public Radio are on the same page, advising the Republican Party. And this is classic what’s going on amongst Washingtonians. The Republican Party is being told what to do by liberal Democrats, including General Powell, who is a moderate liberal Republican. I find all this fascinating. I have nothing to do with what the Republican Party does. I have nothing to say about it. And the Republican Party nominated McCain. I thought all these people, NPR, Colin Powell, used to love McCain. They got the candidate and they got the campaign they wanted. Then they abandoned the very candidate. And does the candidate get mad about it? Hell no. Nothing about this makes any sense in the real world.
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RUSH: Here’s Burt. Burt in Detroit. Nice to have you on the EIB Network, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Hi. Thank you, Rush. You don’t have to explain everything because you have a smart audience. You know, didn’t you have some statistics that showed that your audience is a little better educated, they’re more thoughtful, they’re active listeners, thinkers.
RUSH: Yeah, yeah. Annenberg, Kathleen Hall Jamieson has done some studies and found this, and so has Pew. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, has found that people that listen to this program are more informed than people that watch television news shows or read papers. Yes, the most informed media audience out there, exactly right. Good memory you have there, sir.
CALLER: Well, I’m just thinking, you know, they show that Hillary Clinton’s voting demographics were less educated and so forth. Is that what Colin Powell wants for the Republican Party? He wants to sort of dumb down the Republican Party and move the demographics down?
RUSH: No, that’s not what it is. They don’t want any opposition. There has been a resentment of conservatives and conservatism in the Washingtonian class of the Republican Party for a long time. This criticism of General Powell is truly mindless. When you look at it just on its face, the Republican Party should stop listening to me. They haven’t for the longest time. This attempt to impugn the audience of this program and others like it is typical Washingtonian. They look at average people, the people who make the country work, with contempt. The things he said about Sarah Palin, he felt personally insulted that she kept talking about people in small towns and their values. Everybody knows what she meant, everybody knew what she meant by that. But he had to go and take it personally about he thought he was being insulted because he was from the south Bronx and his values weren’t any good because he didn’t come from a small town. I think it’s all BS. I don’t even know that he really believes that stuff. You know, frankly, I’m surprised he gets this upset about this stuff. And he’s not even a Republican. He says he is, but he’s endorsing Obama. This is all crazy to spend a whole lot of time on, folks, because it’s so easily explicable, and it doesn’t have anything to do with what it sounds like it has to do with when these people start talking as he does.