RUSH: Dawna in Cleveland, Tennessee. Great to have you. You’re next. Welcome.
CALLER: Hello, Rush. I’m so happy to talk to you. I am a liberal for 35 years from New York. I live in Tennessee. My husband is a retired sheriff, listens to you all the time. And in the car I had to listen also, and eventually I perked up, and you turned me around. Your words, your understanding just flipped me. And it is such a profound change.
RUSH: I can imagine.
CALLER: I have you on in my house every speaker, every computer all the time when you’re on the air ’cause you have inspired me. There’s no words to describe it other than that.
RUSH: I’m speechless, too, which is not a very frequent circumstance, but I appreciate that more than you can possibly understand. How did it happen? When did this happen?
CALLER: Well, you know, it happened when you were talking about being deaf and you said something profound, that real people can never be totally deaf. And I heard that, and I thought, “That is really deep.” And, for some reason, it perked me up to say you’re deeper than what I thought ’cause I hated you, and then I —
RUSH: Ha!
CALLER: –started listening and slowly the earplugs came out and I’m listening. My husband —
RUSH: Now, wait a second. Hang on here just a second, Dawna, ’cause this fascinates me. Here I am each day emitting vocal vibrations, brilliance and resonance on political issues, and yet it was an observation I made about deafness that convinced you that I am a deep and serious person and not a frivolous malcontent?
CALLER: Absolutely. You made a statement. No one can replicate being deaf. You can be blind. You can’t replicate it. That just hit me.
RUSH: Isn’t that fascinating. I remember it. Let me repeat it very briefly what it was. I was explaining because I’ve experienced it — I’m totally deaf and I learned that deafness is the only disability where the person who has it is blamed for it. When someone can’t hear, other people accuse you of not paying attention or not caring enough, or not really focusing. “You can hear! I know you can hear! You just don’t want to hear me!” And the reason for that — and this is what you heard, most people, well, 99.99% of all people cannot relate, cannot possibly understand total deafness because you cannot replicate it. You can put headphones on, you can stuff things in your ears, but you cannot replicate total deafness.
You can pretend to be blind by closing your eyes and trying to imagine living that way. You can imagine being a victim of paralyses and sitting in a chair not being able to walk, but you cannot imagine total deafness or even hard-of-hearing if you’re not because you can’t replicate it. And that’s why you would never say to Ray Charles, “I know you can see. What am I wearing? You’re just faking it.”
And you would never say to somebody in a wheelchair, “Get up and walk!” Well, except Joe Biden would. You wouldn’t say to somebody, “Get up and walk! I know you can.” But people that can’t hear are routinely accused of faking it or not pay attention, and it’s because you can’t understand it if you aren’t. And that is what opened your eyes to me, huh?
CALLER: Yes. Yes. It was so profound. It hit me, and then I realized the depth, and then it became inspirational every time I listened to you. It just kept opening my eyes to things. And I just loved it. My husband’s thrilled, okay? Retired sheriff, he had his hands full. He’s thrilled. (laughing)
RUSH: (laughing) Listen to her laugh. You’re well aware how frustrating it was, you being a liberal for your sheriff husband and now he’s thrilled that you have come over to the other side.
CALLER: He believes it. His best friend still questions it. It’s so funny ’cause it’s true. And they talk to me and I talk to them, and they look at Jim and they go, “How did this happen?” And Jim’s like, “Rush. It was Rush. Rush Limbaugh. He came and helped her. Rush Limbaugh is her voice.” And it is. It’s all through my house. Every computer, from time you’re on at 12:06 to 3 o’clock, every computer and radio in this home has Rush Limbaugh on.
RUSH: Man, that’s just great. That is much more than I would ever believe. Still sitting here after 30-some-odd years, I’m still amazed at the things that make people change their minds. I would have never, in all of my years, if somebody had given me a chance to guess, “What do you think it was that made me change my mind about you?” I would have never guessed that, in all the things. So you live and learn.
CALLER: It really was profound. And I am medically inclined, so I perked up. It’s amazing how that can open up. And then everything else just came in.
RUSH: Obviously it is. Well, look. God bless you, and thank you. You know, there must have been divine intervention in you getting into the program today, because this was incredible. And I can’t thank you enough. I appreciate the fact that what happened to you happened and why, and that you’re still out there and blaring it on every speaker that you’ve got. You’ve made my day. You really have. And everybody needs to have their days made, and you’ve made mine. Thank you so much, Dawna.