RUSH: Did you see where the largest refinery may be shut down for two weeks in Houston because of the recovery here from the, not really the hurricane, the flooding. You can argue that it’s a man-made disaster down there, not a weather disaster. You get in trouble if you do that. I mean, Katrina was a man-made problem. They hadn’t kept up the levees. They were stealing the money, rather than plowing it into refurbishing the levees. And the levees gave away.

And there’s some people out there saying Houston, hey, it’s a man-made problem. They should have never built the city there. If they hadn’t built the city there there wouldn’t be any flood and if there was a flood there wouldn’t be any people there, so this is a man-made problem.

Anyway, that refinery shutting down, oh, my friends, you haven’t seen panic until you see what they’re gonna do with that story. You’re gonna see stories “no gas by Labor Day,” and that’s gonna cause massive lines at gas stations all over the country as the news spreads that the refinery, largest refinery closing for two weeks will mean no gas. Labor Day, I mean, that’s Monday. Do you realize that? I mean, tomorrow is the 1st of September!

Anyway, greetings, my friends, great to have you. Rush Limbaugh here at the Excellence in Broadcasting Network. Our telephone number, if you want to be on the program’s 800-282-2882. And the email address, ElRushbo@eibnet.us.

So I’m watching the recovery efforts and you know what I’m noticing? I’m noticing that when the going gets tough and when there’s work that needs to be done, who are the first on the scene? Individuals. Private sector individuals. You got people that own tree companies sending trucks to the region to get trees out of the roadways. You have individuals just diving in to rescue anything and anyone they can: Pets, human beings, families. It is an amazing thing.

The LA Times has a story today that is interesting in its own right: This disaster has refocused the Drive-Bys into doing what they should be doing each and every day, and that is the news. Her theory — it’s a female. I don’t have it right in front of me, I’ll get her name in a minute, doesn’t matter — her theory is that with so much coverage of actual news, actual events surrounding Hurricane Harvey, that there isn’t time anymore on cable news for the way they usually make news. I think this is incredibly insightful, by the way.

She says, “The amount of time pundits and strategists and analysts and opinion makers have been on TV is way down.” And she also observes that that’s become a recipe for making news. In other words, the Drive-By Media now relies on whatever they see on Twitter. They’ll make a story out of a tweet. They’ll have a guest, they’ll have their roster of analysts and strategists, and they’ll put ’em on and somebody will say something outrageous and that will become a news story. Or they’ll see something on Facebook or they’ll have a poll, or anything. Anything to create controversy as opposed to real news.

But her point is now that there’s so much actual information to learn and impart in Houston with Hurricane Harvey that they don’t have time to be doing “the news” the way they have. And I find this intriguing because my whole point about the media for the longest time is it’s not news anymore. Whatever else it is, it isn’t news. It’s usually the advancement of the left-wing agenda.

Now, I know, look, she’s not entirely right. I mean, the cable networks are taking time now at night to get in some of their panels, and they are discussing other things in the news out there. But I thought it was an interesting take from somebody in the Drive-Bys. She’s a contract reporter for the LA Times, which means she’s not on staff. It means when they don’t have anybody available, they call the first name on their contract list, “Hey, we need 500 words by tonight. Can you do it?”

“Sure. What are you paying?”

“Nothing. We’ll give you a byline.”

“I’ll do it.” And that’s how you end up with a story like this.

Anyway, what I’m noticing as I watch Houston, I’m seeing all kinds of boats, large, small, surface, submarine. I’m seeing boats. I’m seeing trucks, monster trucks. I’m seeing tanks. I’m seeing helicopters. I’m seeing that the combustion engine, the internal combustion engine has taken center stage and that without it the rescue and recovery efforts would not be 20% what they are. If we were relying on sources of information that the American left has been demanding we shift to, we would be so far behind in this rescue effort as to probably not even be making a dent in it.

Man-made internal combustion engines enable rescuers. Rescue vehicles are pouring into Houston to save lives. You know, Houston has experienced floods before Harvey. They’re not that uncommon. By the way, we touched on this earlier in the week, and it always serves to remind. The Galveston hurricane and flooding that occurred in 1900, that was between 6,000 and 12,000 people dead. The death toll varies 6,000 to 12,000. What did they not have in abundance in 1900? The internal combustion engine, 6,000 to 12,000 people died.

Anyway, never mind that. That doesn’t matter because that happened before we were born and things that happened before we were born are not important. Right? Next on the media I’m hearing is Hurricane Harvey caused by climate change. And the Drive-Bys are so invested in this.

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RUSH: When has there not been climate change? I mean, that’s the question. The only thing that’s changed since 1900 as it relates to hurricanes is the prevalence of air, land, and sea vehicles powered by fossil fuels, 6,000 to 12,000 people die in the Galveston hurricane in 1900. What did they not have?

They did not have rescue, air, sea, land vehicles powered by fossil fuels. I think the real disaster — and I’ve said this countless times before. Liberalism is a man-made disaster and we are every day engaged in trying to rescue people from it. Every day here at the EIB Network, behind the Golden EIB Microphone, our efforts are to save people from the man-made disaster of liberalism, which is epitomized by groups like Occupy Wall Street and Antifa.

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RUSH: Now, many, if not most of the rescues in Houston were by individuals. And I’m wondering, are those people licensed? For example, are the people rescuing pets, are they licensed? Has the ASPCA or some government agency approved of these efforts? Are these just people on their own? Are these just people engaging in this activity without the proper credentials? Rogue rescuers. Do these people even know what they’re doing? Are they qualified? The government has not sanctioned their talents or ability nor given them permission.

I mean, for crying out loud, shouldn’t rescuers have to pass a state or federal test and pay a state or federal fee before they’re allowed to properly help others? How do we know their equipment is safe? How do we know that the rescue vehicles they’re using are not destroying the planet? How do we know that the rescue vehicles they’re using are not causing climate change? How do we know they’re carrying the sufficient number of life jackets if they’re engaged in water rescues?

How do we know anything about them unless the government has investigated and sanctioned them? Well, that’s another thing. These rescuers, how do we know they’re not discriminating? How do we know that rescuers are not saying, “I don’t like those people because I’m a bigot,” and they move on to another group. How do we know that’s not happening? I gotta take a break. Think about it for a second.

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RUSH: Yeah. So I got an email. I knew this was gonna happen. I got an email, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, Rush, we heard you, we heard you. Greatest U.S. natural disaster, the Cat 4 hurricane Galveston, 1900, 6,000 to 12,000 people died. But what happened since then, Rush?” Oh! I’m glad you asked. Just to repeat. Galveston, Texas, 1900. There’s a point to this, folks. Hang in there. Oh. Did we know what the gender mix of the rescuers, the gender and racial — for example, do we have enough transgender rescuers in order to be able to spot other transgenders in distress.

Do we have a proper percentage of African-American and feminist rescuers so that African-Americans and feminists are not left behind? Do we have the proper percentages and mix — does it reflect the population of Houston? And if it doesn’t, why not? Why this kind of discrimination in the rescue effort? Serious questions for a serious country.

Okay, so 1900. Category 4 hurricane hits Galveston. Between 6,000 and 12,000 people died. Texas economy was still rebuilding. Another Cat 4 hit the same area 15 years later, August 1915. Then only one year later another Cat 4 hit Texas in August of 1916. So three Hurricane Harveys, two of them in consecutive years. There was no climate change. Nobody’s even thinking about it. What would people alive today who happened to be living back then, what would they be blaming? Would people alive today be able to handle what happened between 1900 and 1915 with no internal combustion rescue vehicles?

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RUSH: I’m sure the Republican Party’s happy to see this next story. All Houston students, ISD students, I know what ISD stands for. I could find out. Obviously it is the Houston Unified School District, the high schools, middle schools, all that.

“Houston ISD students will be eating free this year, as families are sure to be recovering from this disaster for quite some time. The district has received approval from the United States Department of Agriculture –” See, that’s how you do it. Now, why isn’t some United States cabinet level authorizing these rescuers? Why aren’t we doing everything according to political correctness with the rescue efforts? I’m asking this sarcastically, in case you can’t tell.

“The United States Department of Agriculture and the Texas Department of Agriculture to waive the required application process for the national school lunch and breakfast program. The decision will allow all 218-thousand students to eat all school meals for free this school year.”

So the Republicans cannot be accused of starving children in Houston, at least. I’m sure Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, very happy to see this development in Houston. “Despite the waiver parents are still being asked to complete the application,” even though they’ve made this blanket decision that every student in Houston — And, by the way, it’s three meals. It is breakfast, it is lunch, and it is supper. Did you know that they were serving supper in public schools? Well, they are in Houston. They’re calling it supper. Not dinner.

“In addition to free lunch and breakfast the district will be providing free supper as well. District officials say the waiver will give families one less concern and allow their limited funds to go toward recovery efforts.”

Now, they still have to fill out the form, even though there’s a waiver. They have to fill out the application for free meals because, in order for this to actually happen, they have to prove the numbers. And so the application must be filled out by parents. No child will be turned away. As I say, that I say wonderful, wonderful thing as far as the Republicans are concerned, because at least in Houston they cannot be accused of starving children. Dallas another story, but Houston, Republicans off the hook.

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RUSH: In Austin. How about that? David in Austin, Texas. Welcome, sir. You’re up.

CALLER: Yeah. Hey, Rush, great to finally get through to you.

RUSH: I’m glad you finally made it in here. Thank you.

CALLER: Longtime listener, first-time caller. I’m sorry?

RUSH: I’m glad you made it. Thank you.

CALLER: Yes, sir. Anyway, I have been listening to you for years and I grew up in a yellow dog Democrat household, and your inspiration has given me the courage to come out of the closet as a conservative, and I love listening to you. You’ve given me a lot of education and direction on how to listen to the media and information.

But, anyway, I was out in the car today, and as I always do, have you on, and you started talking about what’s going on in Houston, and, you know, as you normally do with your rhetorical attitude of, “Hey, we should regulate all these helpers and volunteers,” it’s like, that’s ridiculous. It’s something that, you know, I think people in the country don’t understand Texas. Texas is different than the rest of the country. We help each other. People help people. It doesn’t matter what your religion, your sexual orientation, your race, it doesn’t matter. If you need help and we can help you, we’re gonna do it.

And that’s the culture of Texas. That’s especially the culture of Houston. Houston will come back stronger, as it always has in difficult times. And people in Houston are opening up their hearts and their homes and their businesses to those in need. Jim McIngvale, Mattress Mack, I don’t know if you’ve seen the news, he’s opened up his place anyone that needs a place to stay. He sells mattresses and furniture and he’s opened up his place with food and didn’t ask questions. “If you need it, here we are.”

And that’s who Texas is; that’s who Houston is. And that’s something that, you know, no regulator can change. You know, give people the opportunity to do what they know in their heart is right, and we’re gonna do it. So I just wanted to make that comment based on what you started out talking about earlier.

RUSH: Well, you got it. You know I was being facetious there. You called it rhetorical, but I was being a smart aleck. Smart ass, for people that don’t know what a smart aleck is. I was just jamming the liberals. But I gotta say something to what he said. I touched on this earlier this week. There is, folks, a distinct Texas culture.

Now, I don’t mean to be putting down any other state, and I’m not trying to wax eloquent here about it. I’m just telling you that there is — we’re talking about natives, and even the people who’ve moved there, there is an identity attached with Texas. There is a sense of unity there about being a Texan. I don’t see it in Illinois. Nothing against Illinois, and I don’t see it in New Jersey. I see mostly people that want to get out.

In California, you might have on the left a sense of — (interruption) Snerdley just said anybody that has been to Texas knows what I’m talking about. And I wouldn’t have known this or thought it until I had been there enough times. I started going, well, first time I was in Texas, doesn’t matter when, but I’ve been there enough times, and I’ve seen it in action, and there is something to what he’s saying about this.

And this is not meant to be exclusionary or in any way a slight to people that live in another state. It’s just in the United States, you might ask, you might ask right now, what unites us? In the not-too-long-ago past, that would have been easy: Love of country, patriotism. That no matter what, there is a distinction and greatness about the United States and a great pride about being an American. And so when we were attacked, 9/11, World War II, Pearl Harbor, there was a sense of unity.

The question, “what unites us today?” is not easy to answer, because we may not be united. I’m not talking about just the political divisions of Democrat, Republican, left, right. We have a percentage of our population — I don’t know how large it is — that does not like this country, that doesn’t like anything about it and is trying to overthrow it, undermine it, transform it, change it. I’m not in unison with those people. I don’t have one thing in common with those people in terms of how I see the United States of America.

So when you talk about, “What does unite us?” that would be a fascinating question, would be a fascinating discussion What does unite us? Because I’m telling you, folks, there is genuine hatred for this country, but you’ll only find that hatred on the left. This is why so many people are outraged at the media.

The media will look at a group like this Antifa, which I think is an artificial, made-up group. I think this group is bought and paid for just like Occupy Wall Street. Where is Occupy Wall Street, by the way? Where is it? How long is this Antifa group gonna be around? Where was Antifa ten years ago? What were these people ten years ago? Now they’re Antifa, what it, anti-fascist? What brought these people to life? They weren’t born this way. Where are they gonna be in five years? Where were they during the Obama administration?

I mean, some of them would show up and protest whenever there was a World Trade Organization meeting or any kind of a global meeting, but they were never protesting against Obama and his administration. They were protesting against the same things Obama didn’t like about America. They’re all leftists. I don’t care what they say; there isn’t any love for country.

Why does Kaepernick make news? The point that I made yesterday about Kaepernick, everybody has the First Amendment guaranteed by the government, you can say what you want, but there are two things. You do not have the right to be heard. There is nothing that mandates you be listened to. You have to earn being listened to.

The second thing is just because you have courage, just because you supposedly have the guts to stand up or take a knee and publicly criticize your country doesn’t make you great, and it certainly doesn’t shield you from the consequences of what you say. There’s always consequences. If you’re gonna play in the NFL and you’re gonna make it known that you do not like America, that you’re criticizing America, and that you think America is mistreating blacks and you think the cops are murderous, fine, you can say that, but do not expect that you get a pass on consequences! Kaepernick is suffering the consequences, as does anybody.

But why does the media fall in love with people like Kaepernick? Well, it’s not just that Trump’s in the White House. Not just a Republican’s there. The media is always going to be fascinated by any group. Why does the media refuse to see the truth about Antifa? Why will the media shield and lie about who those people are? Because they’re trashing and criticizing America and the media, on balance, agrees with it. The media agrees it’s a racist nation it’s filled with bigots. So they’ll make heroes. They’ll assign courage to people who stand up and say it. And that’s what’s wrong with it at all. So what does unite us? But in Texas, being a Texan, what the guy said, I don’t know how to explain it, but it unites them there.

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RUSH: Here’s Tracy in Pewaukee. That right? Wisconsin. Welcome.

CALLER: That is correct.

RUSH: How are you?

CALLER: Yeah, that’s correct, Rush. Thank you so much for taking my call. It’s such an honor to talk with you today especially. And you are giving my father, Greg, the best gift he will ever get which is meeting on the radio with you, after he fought with me for 20 years to listen to you.

RUSH: Well, that’s great. Thank you.

CALLER: I have a snapshot of what I experienced today. I am calling from Pewaukee, Wisconsin. We are the hometown to J.J. Watt, and I just called after I brought up some donations to the high school where donations were just continuously flowing along with, you know, the money that’s coming in. And I’m not calling to say, “Oh, look at us.” I’m saying we are a snapshot, that we’re not the only city that’s collecting donations or money and wants to be there for Texas and wants to tell Texas we’re with you, Godspeed, and Louisiana, for that matter.

But we are the true America. What unites us is our country, and I don’t know where our donations are gonna go. I don’t know if the person who gets the peanut butter or the blanket is going to be a Republican or a Democrat or, you know, straight, gay, cat, dog, and I don’t care, because we want to help the people that are in need. And that’s what truly makes America. No matter what the media wants to tell us, we know the truth, and you speak the truth every day. So thank you.

RUSH: Well, that’s well stated. And you mentioned that J.J. and his brother T.J. are from Teewaukee. Did you change the name of Teewaukee because J.J. and T.J. are from there?

CALLER: No, but they probably would have if given the chance but, you know, we are only a city of about 13,000 people. We really are middle America, and we’ve seen a great governor in our state. We’ve gone red, and I don’t think that has anything to do with what’s going on and how J.J. is raising money. But he’s a good man, and he’s a good American, and he’s leading by example.

RUSH: He is. I mean, he started out with, I think, a goal of a million. Now his goal has gone up to over $10 million because donations are continuing to pour in, and not just to his foundation or website that’s been set up for this. But you’re right, people all over the country are donating and contributing to this. And without specific instructions as to where it’s to go, to whom it is to end up with or any of that. You just hope, as is the case with any charitable effort, you hope that the majority of the money actually gets to the intended recipients.

What did I see, there are fake ICE agents roaming around telling people to evacuate their homes when they don’t have to, and then robbing them and stealing. I mean, all kinds of entrepreneurial activity surfaces during times like this, but this is obviously America coming together and trying to be unified over the circumstances there, which are undeniably tough. We see ’em on TV. Appreciate the call very much, Tracy.

Here’s Sean in Belle Harbor, New York. You’re next. Great to have you. How you doing?

CALLER: Hey, Rush, how you doing? Thanks for taking my call. I really appreciate it.

RUSH: You bet.

CALLER: Listen, I have a point to make, but before I get to that point, you know, while I’m on hold all your talking and what’s going on, other things come to my mind. I’m a surfer. I’ve been surfing since 1965, and we wait for the hurricanes. We look forward to hurricanes, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Anybody who has climate concerns should look at September of 1969 when we had something like 12 different systems coming up the coast, and we looked forward to this for surfing, obviously, and since then it’s not been the same.

So, you know, climate goes up and down, and I don’t think it’s — anyway. The point I’m calling about is you said something earlier about I think the Cajun Navy, and their effect coming in to help people out. I’m a fire department captain, retired. I was a captain of Ladder 120 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, and most of the people I serviced were poor and black. And never did we ever hesitate to slow down and think about what we’re doing when we were called to action to help these people out.

RUSH: Well, of course. Now, wait just a second out there, Sean. I was being facetious. By the way, I never said Cajun Navy. I’ve never uttered the term. I could only guess what it is. They call themselves this. This is the Navy from Louisiana, private boat owners coming over to — okay, fine and dandy.

Sean, I was being facetious when I was asking if the rescuers had received their federal government certification. I was being facetious when asking if there was an equal number of white, African-American, Hispanic, gay, straight, lesbian, transgender rescuers. I was being facetious when I asked if there was a proper percentage of rescued. In other words, were most of the rescued gonna be white or was somebody out there gonna make sure that an equal number of minorities are rescued?

I was being facetious because if that’s the kind of standard that we’re gonna have applied to all of us in universities and in our workaday world and so forth, then it better damn well be applied to rescues, I said. I was trying to illustrate the folly and the stupidity and the idiocy of it. I’m actually glad to hear that Sean fell for it because it must mean that some people who also heard it probably got a little mad. Anyway, Sean, thanks for the call. I appreciate it.

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RUSH: Jeff in Seattle, our next stop on the phones. Welcome, sir. Nice to have you here.

CALLER: Rush, it’s an honor.

RUSH: Thank you, sir.

CALLER: You were talking about Galveston, Texas, hurricane a couple hours back.

RUSH: Yes.

CALLER: It made landfall on September 8, 1900, and less than 90 days and 90 miles separates Galveston and that hurricane from the birth of the American oil industry at Spindletop up in Beaumont, Texas.

RUSH: Ninety miles, eh?

CALLER: It’s 90 miles and 90 days between the biggest hurricane and the birth of the oil industry. Think there’s a connection, maybe?

RUSH: What is your point?

CALLER: (garbled connection) I’m actually playing with you. The hurricane came first. So if there’s a God, he punished us in advance for the oil industry.

RUSH: Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, okay. I was thinking that you were… Okay. So before we even started refining fossil fuels —

CALLER: Yeah?

RUSH: — we had a hurricane that killed between six and 12,000 people.

CALLER: Yeah, and it’s only 90 miles and 90 days apart.

RUSH: Right. So how can we blame fossil fuels? Well, yeah. You know where I thought you were going with this was how silly, you know, the fossil fuel guys were to erect a refinery so close to where a hurricane hit. That’s where I thought you were gonna go with it. But I wasn’t thinking along the same wavelength as you were. It’s actually a good point if you’re trying to attack the global warming side of this. The hurricane came before the oil industry, which, of course… (laughing) I mean, every hurricane in the 1700s, in the 1800s , was before the oil industry. You know, there was a big hurricane…

Did you see the movie Key Largo? Edward G. Robinson was ravaged by a hurricane in that movie. It was on the movie screen. It was a hurricane. It was as bad hurricane, and that was before the oil industry. I’m being facetious about a hurricane on TV. I mean, to a lot of people, TV is the only reality they know. And if they see it there, it happened, whether it’s in a movie or not. I’m still struck by how many people associate what happens in a television show with reality, like the characters. It’s especially true of soap opera stars. If they’re ever run into at an airport, some of them get attacked by little old ladies with their canes. They start beating them over the head for what they did two weeks ago on the show.