RUSH: Terry in Mesa, Arizona, great to have you with us. Hi.
CALLER: Mega dittos, Rush, from the only desert Southwest red state.
RUSH: Thank you, sir.
CALLER: Hey, earlier you had said there were certain people that had kind of ruined I think it was the Republican Party? McCain, Colin Powell —
RUSH: No, there’s a story today in USA Today, and it’s based on a Gallup poll that suggests that the party’s in trouble because its leader, me, and all the other so-called leaders, according to the poll, are bald white guys.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: And what I said was that this is a party out of power, not because of me or bald white guys. This is a party out of power thanks to McCain, thanks to Colin Powell, and the moderates.
CALLER: Okay. Well, that’s where I wanted to touch on real quick. I’m a white guy, fortunately I’m not bald, I’m 47 and I still have all my hair.
RUSH: Doesn’t matter. Sonia Sotomayor still has you in her crosshairs.
CALLER: (laughing) Okay. Well, what I wanted you to do is give me a litmus test. Give me a litmus test. I believe I’m a true Republican. I have as much disdain for Barack Obama and his policies and all of his knuckleheads in the White House as much as anybody in the conservative movement, but I just want to make sure I pass the litmus test because I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like I don’t.
RUSH: Well, I don’t have litmus tests.
CALLER: You don’t have —
RUSH: I don’t have a litmus test. I just know a moderate Republican from a conservative Republican, but you’re going to have to tell me what you believe.
CALLER: Okay. I believe in gun ownership. I don’t think that there’s an issue with gun ownership.
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: I don’t believe in abortion, but —
RUSH: Hang on just a second. I’m going to make a little column here.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: I’m going to put an ‘M’ and a ‘C,’ and I’m going to check these off as you go along and I’ll tell you after if you pass or fail the test.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: Okay. So you oppose gun control?
CALLER: Yeah, I oppose gun control. I mean I think you have a right to own guns.
RUSH: Okay. That’s good, ’cause the Constitution says so. What did you say on abortion?
CALLER: Abortion, I don’t believe in abortion with the exception if a mother’s life is in danger —
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: — or a woman has been raped. With those extreme exceptions.
RUSH: In the case of rape, though, it’s not the baby’s fault, but I don’t want to argue abortion. What else?
CALLER: I don’t believe in higher taxes, that’s for darn sure.
RUSH: All right.
CALLER: You know, A, I believe in our country. I’ve always been very proud of our country.
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: I’m a little disgusted by our politicians.
RUSH: All right.
CALLER: You know, I believe in people’s right to work. I believe in, you know, the right to work. I don’t believe that just because you’re part of a union that, you know —
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: — you’re given a free ride.
RUSH: You’ve done a pretty good summary here of your views. Let’s go to people. Colin Powell.
CALLER: Well, let’s put it this way, before he backed Barack Obama in the presidential election, I would have voted for Colin Powell. I used to have people say, ‘Oh, is the reason why you’re not voting for Barack Obama is because he’s black?’ No. ‘Cause I would have voted for Colin Powell because I thought the man —
RUSH: Okay, all right.
CALLER: — but now I’m not sure know I’m not so sure because I think he’s double-crossed the Republican Party.
RUSH: Okay. Now, let me ask you as a subset of the Colin Powell question, what specific policies and agenda items of General Powell’s have you heard that you agree with?
CALLER: Well, I believe he’s for a strong military. I believe he’s, you know, protection for the United States. You know, as far as other policies, I really can’t go into them that in depth and I apologize.
RUSH: No, you shouldn’t apologize. He hasn’t said, that’s why you don’t know.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: And you’re even guessing about his supposedly support for the military because he wears the uniform. But you really haven’t heard him say anything about any of the issues you’ve listed. You could not tell me — and nobody can — you could not telephone what Colin Powell thinks of gun control, what he thinks of abortion, what he thinks of taxes. You could. I’m sorry. Take it back. Colin Powell did come out for bigger government and higher taxes when he endorsed Obama.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: Okay, John McCain.
CALLER: John McCain, well, I believe he’s a true and blue American. I voted for him personally, but who was I going to vote for otherwise?
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: I mean, was he my first choice —
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: — for presidential candidate? No, he wasn’t but —
RUSH: Sarah Palin.
CALLER: I believe she’s a great American as well. I believe she’s come from nowhere to be somewhere.
RUSH: Okay. Me.
CALLER: You?
RUSH: I’m serious. What do you think of me and my radio program and the way I conduct it?
CALLER: I think you conduct a fairly honest radio program. Every now and then I do get a little frustrated at some of your ramblings on but —
RUSH: About what specifically?
CALLER: Well, sometimes I think you just carry on too much about certain things. You just pick a subject and you keep beating it to death. Rush, don’t get me wrong.
RUSH: No, no.
CALLER: I believe in your message.
RUSH: No, I understand, I understand — there’s a specific reason I’m asking. There’s no wrong answer here.
CALLER: No, I understand that. I understand.
RUSH: But give me an example of something that I just don’t let go of, I just beat it to death.
CALLER: (laughing) Oh, man now you’re gonna really put me on the spot.
RUSH: It should be easy to remember because somebody that won’t let go of a subject, somebody just beats it to death irritates you and people generally remember why they’re irritated.
CALLER: You know, Rush, over the years of me listening to you in the car and whatnot, you know, I can’t give you any specific things.
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: I just felt like sometimes you get on something, you start beating it to death, you know what, it’s in a funny way and I’m not patronizing you, by the way. It’s in a funny way and I know a lot of times it’s very serious. Well, for example, I know for right now you — today, for example, you’ve been harping on the thing about A-Roid [sic], and you’ve been talking about him ‘knocking up’ Sarah Palin’s daughter. Now, first of all, that’s a huge insult. You kept referring to it, and I know it was a pun. I know you were saying, ‘Oh, well, that’s a huge insult to A-Roid [sic],’ you know?
RUSH: A-Rod.
CALLER: I understand that. But, you know, where I come from he’s A-Roid. I’m a true and through baseball fan, so —
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: But anyway —
RUSH: So basically I haven’t mentioned Letterman and what he said about Sarah — see, are you irritated at Letterman for saying it?
CALLER: Oh, I’m hugely irritated, and I used to like David Letterman, I used to love to watch his show. But I gotta tell you, he has gone off and taken the other train. I mean he’s just horrible.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: And to make a comment like that, I mean ‘slutty airline outfit,’ and then to also —
RUSH: Be careful — wait. We’ve talked about it enough, you’re beating this subject —
CALLER: I’m sorry. (laughing)
RUSH: We’ve talked about this. I think, you know, Letterman, when his train came in, he was at the airport. And you say he took the wrong train, he’s not even on the train. Here’s the results of your test.
CALLER: Okay, I’m all ears.
RUSH: You are not in the slightest way a moderate Republican.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: So I’m curious why you call yourself one.
CALLER: Well, you know, I mean there’s certain things that I like. For example, solar and alternative energies. I like that. Do I want it crammed down my throat? No. But I think for people that can afford it, you know, go out and get it.
RUSH: But it is being crammed down our throats and so is the stupid windmill garbage. It is being crammed down our throats. Every aspect of our lives is going to be crammed down our throats once they get health care nationalized. All right, well, look, I appreciate your subjecting yourself to the test. Most people wouldn’t have done it and you were very honest about it. I just want to tell you, you probably call yourself a moderate because you think you deviate from the conservative stance on global warming or environmentalism. I’m like you, if somebody wants a windmill, fine, just don’t make me do one and keep the government out of my backyard with one. Don’t ream me for using the electricity I pay for. Don’t ream me for using the water I pay for. Don’t tell me how to live. If you want to buy a lawn mower with two seats on it thinking you’re saving the planet, that’s fine, I’ll try to tell you you’re not saving the planet, you can still buy the car. But that’s the big difference. We don’t tell anybody how to live their lives. We get out of people’s way, as conservatives. We’re dealing with people who want as much control over the way we live our lives as possible. All right, a brief time-out. We’ll be back and continue, and, by the way, if anybody else out there can tell me, other than being for high taxes and bigger government, what Colin Powell stands for, issue by issue, I would like to know.