RUSH: Debbie in McLean, Virginia, you’re next on Open Line Friday. Thanks for waiting. Great to have you here.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s great to talk to you, as a Rush Baby, who grew up to be a Rush Babe. I just wanted to ask you if you had ever considered as part of your low-information voter outreach, if you would consider releasing your previous books in e-book form so more people can read them because I know myself, I had to hunt and hunt for these out of print books so I could read it, ’cause I grew up with you, and, you know, since I was 9 years old listening, and I wonder if you would consider that as an outreach. My coworker, who’s like 10 years younger than me, she just graduated college, it’s her first job, and I introduced her to you and to Mark Levin and Chris Plante in our area and stuff, and she just loves it. She’s tearing through the Mark Levin books, and I just wondered if you would rerelease your books so people can hear your struggle and how you came to be who you are, how you rose to your grand heights in your own words and not have to hear it filtered through some liberal, you know, hater.
RUSH: You know, I really hadn’t thought of it, and that’s just a function of I never look back.
CALLER: Hm-hm.
RUSH: Those books are a “been there, done that” thing to me. And I’m always looking to tomorrow. I really hadn’t, I’m ashamed to admit this. It’s a great idea. I hadn’t thought of it.
CALLER: Well, I was just thinking, in an autobiographical sense, because you talk about how you started in California and how you came to New York, and I know, when I was reading it, I thought that was very interesting and even that you kind of —
RUSH: Oh, it is, it’s entirely compelling. There’s not an American story like it.
CALLER: (laughing) Well, it’s just, you know, like you always say, you know, we never want to read the books on how to fail, we want to read the books on how to succeed, and I keep hearing people call you asking for advice on their careers and things like that, and that would be a — I mean, no path is the same, obviously, but, you know, your story, I think, as you say, a very compelling one, and you’ve inspired me and my —
RUSH: You know what, it’s not just that. People like you, I hear from people who have somehow recently read one of those two books and say the same thing. You know, this is still applicable to today, and it is, because my books were basically about philosophy. They’re timeless. They were just tied to the era in which they came out, the Clinton years, but they work just as well now.
CALLER: Exactly, but your undeniable truths are in there, and that would be the list to go through, right?
RUSH: Yeah. You have a point. I’ve never thought of that. I look at the those two books as been there, done that. You know, people say, “Why don’t you write another book?” I’ve done that. Everybody else is writing books left and right.
CALLER: Well, in the interests of not writing a new book, you could be “recycling” like Diane Sawyer would like.
RUSH: That’s right. “Recycling!” You know, there were also audio versions of both books that could be released as audio version or as podcasts. Individual chapters as podcasts.
CALLER: My sister and I, when we get an e-book, we also sometimes, in addition if we really like the author, like with Mark Levin, we’ll also get the audio version, too, to read along with it. Obviously he doesn’t do the whole thing, but, you know, it’s nice to get their voice in your head, you know.
RUSH: Right. Well, I appreciate the idea. I appreciate the suggestion. I must tell you, nobody else, that I recall — it may have happened. But I don’t remember it. You’re the first person to suggest it, and it certainly is an intriguing idea. I appreciate the thought, Debbie. Thank you very much. We’re coming up on 25th anniversary, this show. Not gonna make a big deal about that. We did already on the 20th. But anniversary editions…
(interruption)
Oh, no, please. Now, we did that already, five years ago. We made a big deal out of it. I’m only gonna have one 25th anniversary? Well, what’s different? Why didn’t we do one on the 24th? I mean, what’s the big deal? Ah, yeah, right, right, 24 is a big deal, too, just as big as 25, and we didn’t do one on the 24th anniversary. You know, given the way things are going, we ought to do one every year, surviving all the crap. (laughing)