CALLER: Hey, Rush, how you doing?
RUSH: Fine.
CALLER: Tony from Cleveland.
RUSH: Yes, sir.
CALLER: You know, I kind of listen to you talk from time to time, and I don’t think that you’re dumb, but that would mean that you’re pure evil, and I was just wondering how you felt about that.
RUSH: Snerdley, here we are on the verge of the lifestyle section and I have to answer a question from somebody who thinks I’m pure evil? He wants to know what I think of his opinion of me as pure evil? I think you are dumb.
CALLER: Well, no, I mean I’m not trying to say that. Okay, I’ll try to jump in the conversation here. If you want to know the benefit on Vietnam, I guess the benefit would show that, you know, the American people would actually stop —
RUSH: No, no —
CALLER: — an unjust war there.
RUSH: No, no, no, no. If you’re going to talk about Vietnam, it’s going to be as idiotic as what you just said to me being evil when it comes to oil. What do you mean I am evil when it comes to oil?
CALLER: Well, okay, I don’t think I mentioned oil to you. I just talked about it to your screener, but yeah, I mean, have you ever seen an oil company going under? Have you ever seen oil companies on hard times?
RUSH: Why do you want them to? Do you want them to all be like Ford? Do you want them to go under? What do you want? And why?
CALLER: At least you’re talking about Ford, because Ford wants to talk about losses but at the same time they’re buying out DaimlerChrysler now.
RUSH: What do you mean talking about Ford? It’s a major American corporation and it’s hurting, and I don’t hear you guys celebrating this or being happy. Why do you want oil to go under?
CALLER: I’m sorry. Do I want oil to go under?
RUSH: Yeah, you said, “When has it ever gone under. I haven’t seen it go under.” Why do you want it to? And, by the way, if you go back to the eighties in Louisiana, domestic oil did go under. There are a lot of people in this country in the domestic oil business, who lost everything because of regulations and plummeting prices. It has gone under. Where were you? You should have been happy and celebrating.
CALLER: I think I was about ten years old at the time. Sorry, I’m a little bit younger there.
RUSH: No excuse. Not good enough.
CALLER: Why am I against Big Oil? Probably, most likely because of the record setting of profits and the massive consolidation of wealth in this country where I believe now it’s up to 50%.
RUSH: All right, thanks for the call, Tony. I hearken back to our 20-year-old who called from Miami. I’m having the same conversation he had with his boss, and it’s just as big a waste of time. What was his name? What was that young guy’s name. I hope he is still listening to the program. Jack was his name? This was going to be the same conversation I was going to have with the big-time Hollywood mogul at the big party at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Wednesday night when he wanted to get my mind right about oil. What these conversations are worth, ladies and gentlemen, is people learning the intellectual vacancy that exists on the part of those people who have this hatred for Big Oil. Profits. What did he say, the consolidation of wealth in this country? Don’t do that to me again when I’m getting ready for the lifestyle section.