RUSH: Ed in Columbus, Ohio. Great to have you. Welcome.
CALLER: Rush, I cannot believe I actually got through to you.
RUSH: Well, you did. I congratulate you.
CALLER: Before I get to my question I really want to congratulate you on your Two If By Tea. I ordered one when you had that free shipping.
RUSH: Yeah?
CALLER: It came in just beautifully.
RUSH: Well, we still do have free shipping.
CALLER: Well, it was the one you had about… well, maybe a month ago, and I ordered it spur of the moment. There is one problem with your product, though. It evaporates too quickly.
RUSH: Well, put the cap on it!
CALLER: Oh, is that the problem?
RUSH: (laughing) What he’s drinking it too fast. “It’s too good” is what he means.
CALLER: It really is.
RUSH: I appreciate that. I keep trumpeting this: Wait ’til these new flavors are ready. They are just as good if not better. I can’t wait.
CALLER: Well, I will. When you release them, I will promise you I will order some.
RUSH: Thank you very much, sir. Appreciate that.
CALLER: My question is this. And I’m very, very scared. But here’s my question. Are the Republicans forming a circular firing squad?
RUSH: No. Not knowingly.
CALLER: Well, my problem is this: Obama is destroying our country.
RUSH: Yeah. I know.
CALLER: I see it.
RUSH: They don’t think that. Let me help you: They don’t think that. When you say the “Republicans,” the RNC, powerful elected Republicans and friendly media, Republican so-called conservatives, do not see that. They don’t see the country being destroyed. They don’t see it the way you and I do. They just don’t. I don’t know how to explain this to you because I don’t know how you not see it. But they don’t see it that way. It’s just the latest ebb and flow of a standard political cycle.
CALLER: I see it because my employer just could not get work. And rather than go on to unemployment, I said, “To hell with it. I’ll just retire,” but I see the country going downhill. I’m a Vietnam veteran, I put my life on the line for this country, and he’s destroying our country.
RUSH: What happens is — to stick with the Republicans — Republicans always run against each other in the primaries, but the problem is — and for those of you who heard this explanation yesterday, please bear with me because I have to explain this again and make sure as many people as possible understand it. The Republican Party is not a conservative movement. The conservative movement is independent of the party. It is in the party, and the effort that’s underway to take control of it. There’s a battle going on within the Republican Party as well as the battle going on between all of us and Obama — and depending on the day the Republican Party establishment is more fearful and angry at conservative Republicans than they ever are at Obama, and now is one of those times.
The Republican Party, for whatever reason — don’t ask me to explain why. I’m just telling you what it is. They think that conservatives equal instant defeat. They think that conservatives send independents and moderates away in droves. They are animated by the Goldwater landslide defeat, not the Reagan landslide victories. Those were an aberration. They are of the opinion that conservatives are fringe people, outside the mainstream, and they can’t let the party be taken over by them — and so that is what you call “the circular firing squad” is this internecine battle that’s going on as the conservatives attempt to assert themselves in power within the party.
It doesn’t matter how often the powers that be in the party are wrong, it doesn’t matter how many likes a they lose; they are always gonna think this. They are always going to have this opinion of conservatives. It’s not quite as much animus aimed at us as the Democrats have, but we’re not blood brothers. It’s taken me many years to figure this out that we’re not all on the same team. Look at what they think in 1994. Look at what they think of it! You’re asking me.? They think the guy that brought it about is a nut.
Most people look at Newt, you know what they associate him with? Most people associate Newt with the first guy in their lifetimes that kept government in check, that balanced the budget. That’s why Newt’s liked! That’s why they look past Newt’s baggage. The Republicans don’t look at Newt that way. They see him on the cover as “the Gingrich who stole Christmas.” They see him as an easily demonized enemy. They see him as a big problem for their own credibility. They see him as a reason they get made fun of just like the Christian right, and just like the Moral Majority. They never liked having that coalition in the party.