{"id":21677,"date":"2003-10-03T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T07:15:32","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T07:15:32","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T07:15:32","slug":"we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/","title":{"rendered":"We Do Not Have Free Speech, Folks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Those who don\u2019t see everything in black and white, they\u2019re the ones that, by God, if you don\u2019t say it in the black and white they accept, then there is no gray area for you. You\u2019re finished, especially if you have the opportunity to say things that might influence others. So as a result there\u2019s been a genuine chilling effect. There\u2019s a chilling effect in the classroom. There\u2019s a chilling effect on campus. There is definitely a chilling effect at the workplace. There\u2019s a chilling effect in the media. I mean, the media is one of the greatest practitioners of political correctness. Here\u2019s the media – which is constitutionally enshrined, constitutionally guaranteed its freedom of speech – and even in the media you\u2019ve got people saying “back off, going to offend somebody.” <\/line>You know, if you\u2019re not offending somebody, you\u2019re not saying anything. Really when you get down to this, if you go through it – when you were young, were you ever obsessed with a desire to make everybody like you? We all are at one point. None of us wants to be disliked. We all want to be liked. We all want to be popular. We all want to be the focus of activity in a room. We all want to be the life of the party. But hey, how long did it take you to learn when you were very, very young that not everybody is going to like you? Well, what are you going to do about that? Are you going to be who you are or are you going to try to change who you are from person to person you meet so that they\u2019ll like you? <\/line>If you choose the latter, there won\u2019t be a you after a while. There won\u2019t be a core you. You\u2019ll be an interchangeable robot. You\u2019ll be what you have to be to get along with that person or group over there, or what you have to be to get along with that person or group over there. But if you don\u2019t succumb to that, if you\u2019re going to be who you are, comfortable in your own skin, and if you\u2019re going to be comfortable with what you believe – and, by the way, another aspect of this, make no mistake that this is a factor, too. There are some people that just do not like somebody that\u2019s sure of themselves. <\/line><\/p>\n

You know, you\u2019re not supposed to be that firmly decided to things, supposed to have a little gray area, supposed to have a little open-mindedness, supposed to have a little allowance for the fact that you might be wrong, not supposed to be dead set on the fact that you\u2019re right. That will really offend people. But you quickly learn that if there is a core you, and it\u2019s simply a matter of odds that there\u2019s going to be at least one person – and in reality thousands more – who don\u2019t like you, who don\u2019t agree with you, whatever, and what\u2019s happened is that there\u2019s a majority opinion in the media of people who simply have been able to set the speech codes. <\/line>They\u2019re not written anywhere, they\u2019re not established, there\u2019s no book or any of that, but we all know what it is. I mean, the term “political correctness” is not just something that exists because people like the way the syllables sound. It\u2019s a real thing, and it does affect the way people think. It affects the way people talk, and all I\u2019m saying is I\u2019m not going to let it affect the way I talk. I\u2019m not going to let it affect the way I think. I\u2019m not going to apologize for the things that I think I\u2019m right about that I\u2019ve taken the time to think about. But if it can be demonstrated to me I am wrong, I\u2019m not too proud to admit that, either. But to say that there are those among us who ought to shut up and lose their jobs because of this? <\/line>You know, I\u2019m fortunate; I didn\u2019t need the ESPN job. That was a weekend gig for me. That was just a thrill, something I wanted to do on the side – although I approached it with as much energy as a full-time job because I took the opportunity seriously. But still, if I lose it, I lose it. I can afford to. A lot of people can\u2019t. So a lot of people don\u2019t tell you what they really think. A lot of people come off as really wishy-washy, marshmallow, Milquetoast, because they\u2019re afraid. They\u2019re afraid to say something that might offend something who is more powerful than they are or who is intimidating or what have you. They\u2019ve seen it happen and they don\u2019t want to go down that road. So they just clam up, shut up or try to get along as best can be. <\/line>Fine, if that\u2019s what everybody wants. But there are times such as during political campaigns. Political campaigns, the world of politics, that\u2019s how we manage the affairs that determine our future. This is where we all get together and determine what we as a people are going to be governed by, who we\u2019re going to be governed by, and how, and what we\u2019re going to be supporting. If some of us are afraid to say so, and if candidates are afraid to actually be who they are – and, you know, there are examples of that running around even today – then, you know, we\u2019re not being presented honestly to people who are presenting them to us. So, I mean, there are some bad aspects of this above and beyond just the fact that it\u2019s plainly wrong to want to punish somebody for an opinion you don\u2019t agree with.<\/line><\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT <\/line>You know, a point was made to me, strangely enough by an executive. This is a very positive thing for me – just kidding in there, John. An executive made the point to me during the break what the First Amendment says, what the whole Constitution says, what the whole Bill of Rights says. Now, this is, I think, after you get past the humor of it, this is somewhat serious. The First Amendment of the Constitution says Congress shall make no law abridging the right of free speech, people to assemble, and blah, blah, blah. There\u2019s a number of clauses in the First Amendment. <\/line> But as I have said over the course of the many years that I\u2019ve been hosting the program, the purpose of the Constitution is to limit government. The Constitution does not limit us. The Constitution is a document that limits the role of government in our lives. That\u2019s why I\u2019m a big believer in limited government. That\u2019s what the Constitution does. I\u2019m a constitutionalist. The Constitution does not spell out how government gets big, doesn\u2019t spell out how government can usurp power. It\u2019s all about how government shouldn\u2019t and can\u2019t! The government that will make no law respecting the right of free speech. <\/line>And yet, what is it, two or three? Two, I know for sure, two presidential candidates, two Democrats running for president actually suggested that I be fired! These are people who, if they were to be elected, would swear an oath to uphold the Constitution. They\u2019d be the nation\u2019s chief this, chief that, chief executive, and here they are in total defiance of the Constitution, demanding that a company fire somebody. The Constitution says government can\u2019t do that. That\u2019s really how besmirched the document has become.<\/line>And there\u2019s another thing, folks. You may not remember this, even you subscribers, but back in March we seriously endorsed Al Sharpton for the Democratic presidential nomination, the Limbaugh Letter. We weren\u2019t joking. It was a serious nomination. We thought Sharpton was a great representative of what that party is. We thought Al Sharpton should be the next Democrat nominee for president. And here\u2019s Al Sharpton running around demanding that I be fired. This is a hell of a way to treat supporters Al. There\u2019s no gratitude with these people at all. Jason in Fort Pierce, Florida. You\u2019re next on Open Line Friday. Hi.<\/line><\/p>\n

CALLER: Thanks, Rush. I want to know, did the pressure from the Democratic presidential candidates to resign over the comments on ESPN affect your decision at all, and do you think that they would have gotten involved if he say Chris Berman or Steve Young would have said the same thing?<\/line>RUSH: No, I don\u2019t…well, in essence that is sort of what happened as I\u2019ve been told. You mean if Chris Berman or Steve Young had demanded I be fired?<\/line>CALLER: Yes, would the Democrats have gotten involved with it? Would they have had any comments to make on it at all or do you think just because you were labeled as a Republican.<\/line>RUSH: No, I think the presidential candidates were simply piling on. I think Sharpton and Wesley Clark saw an opportunity to get their names attached to a big story. It\u2019s a big story happening in the Philadelphia media and they\u2019re trying to appeal to people in their party who think like they do that the government ought to have a right to shut certain people up and so they\u2019re going out there, “Okay, you can vote for me. I agree! I think guys like Limbaugh should be shut up,” and there\u2019s a bunch of Democrats who agree with that.<\/line>As I explained earlier, the reason I resigned – and, folks, I\u2019ve got to tell you something. It\u2019s just tough because I\u2019m not, I don\u2019t want to indict any news organizations or cable channels here. But, you know, things happen to you, and your perspective changes a little bit based on participatory experience. This ESPN story is being touted. I\u2019ve got a number of television sets here in my broadcast complex, and I\u2019m watching these various networks deal with this. They just 20 minutes ago did a segment on this whole ESPN thing. It was a debate. Larry Elder was on with – I don\u2019t know – Ellis Henican is who it was, yeah, and Henican said, “Well, if he\u2019s so innocent, why did he quit?”<\/line><\/p>\n

I only answered this two hours ago. I\u2019ve answered this two or three times. There has been a statement on my website, I answered it on the radio today, and the statement I gave ESPN explained why I resigned – and here\u2019s a news network debating, ‘Why did he quit?\u2019 They didn\u2019t even know. Now, the perspective is, here I am the subject of the story and I\u2019ve made it public for over a day now why I quit, and here is a segment on a television show with two quote, unquote, experts, don\u2019t know one of the answers to the questions they\u2019re debating. So it is going to have an effect on the way I watch this stuff in the future. <\/p>\n

But here\u2019s why I quit, resigned. I was told by the management at ESPN that some cast members of Sunday NFL Countdown were uncomfortable with all this attention, that they would prefer this just be a football show. They had gotten criticized by friends and family for not responding to me at the time this comment was made on the program last Sunday, and they\u2019ve been made to feel very unhappy about all this, uncomfortable, and don\u2019t want to engage in things like this on the show. And I assume that ESPN, just assumed maybe they might lose some. I don\u2019t know, I have no clue. But it was made plain to me that the staff, the cast that\u2019s been there for the longest time, was uncomfortable with all this. <\/p>\n

And when I heard that, I didn\u2019t want to cause or be the source of any discomfort for those people. I admire them too much. I like them too much. They\u2019ve become friends and it\u2019s their show. They\u2019ve been doing this, as I say, for a number of years. I don\u2019t want to be part of anything where something\u2019s forced on them. In fact, you know, before this all started, their tantamount approval had to be gotten before I could even be talked to and negotiated with about going on this program. They talked to all of the cast members and took their temperature on it, and they all said fine, that would be great. <\/p>\n

That attitude has changed. But I only resigned to limit the tension and the angst on the other cast members. As I say, this is what I was told by the management at ESPN. I have no reason to not believe that. I guess there could be something else to it, but I don\u2019t think so. So it\u2019s real simple. I didn\u2019t resign because I\u2019m not willing to fight. But I\u2019ve got forum here to do that, and if the other castmates of mine are going to be not happy and uncomfortable with whatever they think might happen, then it doesn\u2019t make any sense to be there anyway. So that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those who don\u2019t see everything in black and white, they\u2019re the ones that, by God, if you don\u2019t say it in the black and white they accept, then there is no gray area for you. You\u2019re finished, especially if you have the opportunity to say things that might influence others. So as a result there\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWe Do Not Have Free Speech, Folks - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"We Do Not Have Free Speech, Folks - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Those who don\u2019t see everything in black and white, they\u2019re the ones that, by God, if you don\u2019t say it in the black and white they accept, then there is no gray area for you. You\u2019re finished, especially if you have the opportunity to say things that might influence others. So as a result there\u2019s […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"description\":\"Excellence In Broadcasting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/\",\"name\":\"We Do Not Have Free Speech, Folks - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-19T07:15:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-19T07:15:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"We Do Not Have Free Speech, Folks\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"We Do Not Have Free Speech, Folks - The Rush Limbaugh Show","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"We Do Not Have Free Speech, Folks - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"Those who don\u2019t see everything in black and white, they\u2019re the ones that, by God, if you don\u2019t say it in the black and white they accept, then there is no gray area for you. You\u2019re finished, especially if you have the opportunity to say things that might influence others. So as a result there\u2019s […]","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/","name":"The Rush Limbaugh Show","description":"Excellence In Broadcasting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/","name":"We Do Not Have Free Speech, Folks - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-05-19T07:15:32+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-19T07:15:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2003\/10\/03\/we_do_not_have_free_speech_folks\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"We Do Not Have Free Speech, Folks"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21677"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}