RUSH: Here is Rosalinda in Seymour, Indiana. You are the first Rosalinda, and you are the first call from Seymour, Indiana, we’ve ever had.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s a pleasure to talk with you.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: I want to tell you a couple things. One was that you’re the reason why I even listen to talk radio today. This just started about six months ago, so I gotta thank you for that.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: And in honor of that and the fact that my husband is a Rush baby, we got a new puppy and we named him Mr. Limbaugh.
RUSH: You did?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Wow, I’m honored to be named after a puppy.
CALLER: He’s a beagle-boxer mix, and he’s the cutest thing ever. And my question to you was, I’m of Mexican descent, and I’m a Republican, but I’m just disappointed in seeing that the presidential candidates are not attending some of the forums that are focused on minority issues, whether it’s, you know, the African-American community or Hispanic community, so I just wanted to hear your thoughts on that, why a lot of people are for some reason not, taking advantage of both forums.
RUSH: Well, there are two schools of thought on this. The reason why the Republican candidates are not showing up at, say, the debate for the black audience — is that the Congressional Black Caucus debate — I forget which one it is. The Republican candidates are refusing to go. They are saying it’s pointless, all we’re going to do is get beat up with a bunch of lies thrown at us, a bunch of questions that are not based in fact; we’re facing an audience that doesn’t want to hear what we have to say. All they want is for us to be up there as sitting ducks so they can throw charges at us in the form of questions and always be on the defensive. It’s coupled with the fact that they don’t think that there’s any point to it because they’re not going to change any minds in there. The other side of the debate says, go ahead and go out there, why be afraid of this, go ahead and just take these questions that are lofted as charges and deal with them and try to forget the audience and forget persuading them, but remember the TV audience and take the opportunity of the TV audience to say what you want to say. Frankly, I think as presidential candidates, they ought to go.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: Even if it is a lost cause, especially since they know what it’s going to be, they can prepare for it.
CALLER: Exactly. And I think we criticize the Democrat candidates for not showing up on Fox News and some of their shows. And, you know, you can’t criticize them if you’re not going to uphold the Republican end of it.
RUSH: Yeah, but don’t compare those two. The Democrats aren’t going on Fox because they want to delegitimize Fox. They’re trying to take Fox out. They’re trying to make it so that Fox is not considered really serious news, and it’s worth no time going there. They’re whole purpose here, they look at Fox as an enemy, and they gotta take ’em out and they’re not going to elevate Fox. That’s their attitude about it. The Republican candidates, it’s purely issue-oriented when it comes to the minority debates, with the debate before African-Americans. They just think it’s a setup, and they’re right, but if you know it’s a setup, and you go in, you can deal with it appropriately.
CALLER: Yeah. Well, it’s an honor to speak with you and hear your show, and we’ll be enjoying Mr. Limbaugh here at home.
RUSH: Thanks, Rosa, I appreciate it. Yeah, I gotta tell you, I don’t know why this slipped my mind. Something happened this morning that has never happened in the ten years I’ve had Punkin. I slept really well last night. I remember nothing about sleeping, so it must have been really good. I woke up on my left side, I sleep on my left side, and that’s where the clock is, that side of the bed, and the moment I opened my eyes — this has never happened before — Punkin was looking right at me. Her head was on the pillow; her eyes wide open, just looking right at me. I had no clue she was there. I don’t know how long she had been there. She’d never done that. She’d never put her head on the pillow right at level with my eyes. My heart melted. I looked at that and I said, ‘Gosh, there’s something wrong here.’ It’s just never happened before. Normally she comes and starts climbing all over me and butting me in the head to wake me up to feed her. I wish somebody had been there to take a picture of this. But the moment I made a move, bam, she was up and leading me into the area where her food bowls are.
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RUSH: By the way, Rosalinda out there in Seymour, Indiana, I need to ask you a favor since you named your dog Mr. Limbaugh, your puppy. Since it’s a puppy you’re going to have to take Mr. Limbaugh to the vet for required things. Please do me and yourself a favor. When you call the vet, do not say, ‘Hi, this is Rosalinda, I need to bring Mr. Limbaugh in to be wormed.’ Just say, ‘I need to bring my puppy in for a checkup.’ For two reasons: A, you want your dog to be treated properly, and if the vet is not a fan, you never know how that would go, and the second thing is, it would just be better if you weren’t running around out there saying ‘Mr. Limbaugh needs to be wormed. Mr. Limbaugh needs to be neutered.’ I hope you understand what I’m saying.
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RUSH: It’s Ronnie in Houston. Hey, Ronnie.
CALLER: Hi. I’m going to go as fast as I can. You listen and then you come up with other ideas. One of the best ways to be awakened in the morning short of alarm clock is for a loving cat to head-butt you, I have it done almost every morning. The other one is that when you went over the ingredients of a Big Mac, you, I think now, if I wasn’t listening, I’m sorry, but I think you forgot the two beef patties and since that contributes to global warming, we want to remember that one.
RUSH: Yeah, but, you know, something about those beef patties, what’s always amazed me about McDonald’s — I thought I mentioned the beef, but maybe not —
CALLER: Maybe you did, but —
RUSH: All right, all right, all right, I’ve been a husband, you’re right.
CALLER: (laughing) You’re bad.
RUSH: I know. But those patties, you know, they’re rare. I have always been amazed that McDonald got soybeans to bleed.
CALLER: Okay. That’s good.
RUSH: Snerdley?
CALLER: Can I put one more thing in? Go Texans.
RUSH: Go Texans. You got a chance to actually go over 500. Ronnie, thanks much, think about it, soybean burgers, how in the world do the soybeans bleed? Yet the McDonald’s burgers do come out rare. Come on, you’re a soy expert, Snerdley.