{"id":225969,"date":"2009-07-24T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-24T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?p=225969"},"modified":"2017-03-17T13:33:42","modified_gmt":"2017-03-17T17:33:42","slug":"exclusive-rush-unleashed-parts-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/07\/24\/exclusive-rush-unleashed-parts-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Rush Goes On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BEGIN PART TWO TRANSCRIPT, JULY 24, 2009<\/p>\n<p>GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: We went to Rush\u2019s Florida studio for a rare face-to-face interview, and tonight Rush goes &#8220;On the Record&#8221; about Governor Sarah Palin\u2019s resignation. Does the radio powerhouse think the governor is a quitter?<\/p>\n<p>First, Rush Limbaugh on the Capitol Hill health care battle.<\/p>\n<p>(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Do you have any problem &#8212; I do &#8212; with members of Congress voting on a bill this important and not actually reading it page by page? I know it\u2019s long &#8212; I mean&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/plugins\/rush-ampmedia\/views\/external-player.php\/43265\/43769?id=4255636\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Do I have a problem with it?<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: I\u2019m just &#8212; that\u2019s &#8212; that\u2019s where I\u2019ve &#8212; I don\u2019t know how you vote yes or no without knowing what you\u2019re voting on.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Depending &#8212; if you\u2019re a Democrat, you vote yes or no because Pelosi and Rahm Emanuel and Steny Hoyer are threatening you! Henry Waxman, in the Energy and Commerce Committee, where a large part of this bill was put together, was being asked some questions by Republicans on the panel. He said, You can\u2019t expect me to know everything in this. Yes, we can expect you to know everything in it! You\u2019re the ones putting it together.<\/p>\n<p>Well, there are people reading it, Greta, and we\u2019re finding out what\u2019s in it and people are being told. You know, we\u2019ve reached a point here where Washington has become this massive magnet, the center of attention in government, and just the presence of people there makes them better, makes them smarter. The details don\u2019t count. They\u2019re smart. We\u2019re idiots. We aren\u2019t capable of taking care of ourselves. We aren\u2019t capable of making the proper decisions to do the right thing in life. We need as much of that control by them.<\/p>\n<p>So the details &#8212; Obama last night didn\u2019t know the details. He didn\u2019t care about the details because it\u2019s not about health care. It\u2019s about an ideological attempt to control freedom, limit it as much as possible.<\/p>\n<p>I know that sounds hard to believe. Why would &#8212; people don\u2019t want to accept that the United States would ever elect &#8212; the people of this country would ever elect somebody who has that agenda. Well, we have!<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Is there anything President Obama has done so far that you think, That\u2019s good, that\u2019s smart?<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: No. I\u2019m embarrassed by him. He\u2019s whining. Last night, he continued to blame Bush. Oh, we inherited this and we inherited that and we &#8212; I\u2019ll tell you how bad it\u2019s gotten. The New York Times today does a little fact-check article that blows him out of the water &#8212; The New York Times! (INAUDIBLE) Politico, a piece on the horrible questions. I think some of the press is starting to get guilty consciences about &#8212; about the irresponsible way the guy has been covered and not been covered.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know him personally. And none of this is personal with me. I &#8212; this is about America. This is about the country. I &#8212; he\u2019s my president, too. And I &#8212; I hoped very publicly that he would fail.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Why do &#8212; why do you &#8212; the DNC is running an ad quoting you as saying that you hope he fails.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Yes. Well, he already has. He has &#8212; this is a very two- pronged thing. He has failed. Can you tell me what he\u2019s doing is working? I don\u2019t &#8212; know you don\u2019t want to sacrifice your journalistic objectivity.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Look, I\u2019m hoping. I\u2019m hoping that&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Well, hope isn\u2019t going to get &#8212; hope is an excuse for doing nothing!<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: I know, but I\u2019m saying that, you know, look, I thought that the better idea, when we need to put money into the system, was to get rid of some of the taxes on people\u2019s weekly incomes.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Yes, well, that&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: I thought &#8212; I &#8212; you know&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: That hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: All right, but I thought that was a faster infusion of cash into the system, you know, so people had more take-home pay. Now&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: They have less!<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Well, we &#8212; the president and the Congress decided on a spending &#8212; a stimulus program instead. I didn\u2019t think that was fast. I didn\u2019t think that was immediate. But I certainly hope that it\u2019s successful.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: It won\u2019t. It can\u2019t possibly succeed. It cannot possibly! This was my point earlier.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: I will admit that it has so far not given any of the&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: It can\u2019t possibly! They are now even predicting unemployment is going to go double digits, 10 percent!<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Well, it\u2019s worse in Michigan than 10 percent. And it\u2019s worse&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Well, I think it\u2019s worse in the country.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: And it\u2019s worse in the inner city than 10 percent. It\u2019s much&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: And who runs the inner cities and who &#8212; Democrats! In the blue states, in these blue cities, we\u2019re going straight down in a wrong direction. And this is not by accident! These people are not competent. Their ideas do not work. We don\u2019t need to turn this country into a banana republic!<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: And I will concede that that 10 percent number does not include the people who have given up.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Exactly right.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: So that number grossly underestimates&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: It could be 15 or 20 percent.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: And it is deeply disturbing. However, bet that as it may, is that, as I said, is that more than anything else, I want the stimulus program to work because I want those people employed. But I don\u2019t see the number &#8212; I don\u2019t see it there right now. It is &#8212; it is not&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Well&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: It is not convincing me at the moment.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: This is interesting. See, I know it won\u2019t work. I don\u2019t have time for hope. I don\u2019t have time to sit around and hope. Hope is an excuse for doing nothing.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: But &#8212; I know, but it\u2019s already in effect. That\u2019s the problem.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: They\u2019ve already passed it.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: But &#8212; but it\u2019s &#8212; it\u2019s &#8212; 2010 is coming up, and most of the money hasn\u2019t been spent.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Only 10 percent has.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Right! So what &#8212; what &#8212; what the hell is it about anyway? You&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Which brings me back to &#8212; which brings me back to I wish they had read it. That\u2019s why &#8212; so many voted on it that didn\u2019t read it.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: No. Greta, you\u2019re giving them way too much benefit of the doubt. This is on purpose! This was done to stimulate the Democrat Party! This was done to stimulate state government! This was done to stimulate the power of Washington, D.C.! It was a sold bill of goods, untrue, like cap-and-trade is, like health care reform is, like everything else they\u2019re doing. None of it is true! There was never any intention to create jobs!<\/p>\n<p>Where are the shovel-ready jobs? Where\u2019s all the work on the infrastructure? It ain\u2019t happening! Caterpillar\u2019s still laying people off! None of this &#8212; you can sit and hope &#8212; I don\u2019t mean you personally. You can sit and hope all day, and this is not the way you do it.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Well, I&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: He has already failed. Now, let me finish this thought. He\u2019s failed, but not the way I hoped. He has failed literally. He has failed the American people. He has done nothing for them that they thought was going to happen when they voted for him! They don\u2019t have jobs. They don\u2019t have rising incomes. They don\u2019t have the seas being lowered. He actually promised that. We &#8212; none of &#8212; we don\u2019t have anything positive happening.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I wanted him to fail in implementing the stimulus because I knew this was going to happen. This is my point, Greta.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: I think that\u2019s &#8212; but that\u2019s where &#8212; is that you\u2019re rooting for failure. I\u2019m rooting for success, but I don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to get it because we don\u2019t have the numbers right now.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: No, no, no. I am rooting for American triumph. I am rooting for American success. For that, Obama must fail. It\u2019s now six months later. Look, what Obama\u2019s doing is failing. It is a disaster for people, for individual Americans. It is a disaster! I did not want this to happen! I want everybody to succeed. I want everybody to be prosperous.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Me, too.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: This is not how you do it. Is this how the country was built? Is this how we came out of the \u201982 recession? What did we do then? We cut tax rates from 70 percent to 28 percent in the \u201980s. We cut capital gains. We got out of people\u2019s way. We turned the American people loose.<\/p>\n<p>Obama has contempt for the American people! He wants the government to be the central focus of America, not the people! And plus, he\u2019s got a deep resentment for the rich and the people who\u2019ve achieved. They need to be punished. We\u2019re going to take their money in taxes and the wealth destruction and redistribute it to others in the form of cap-and-trade and the form of health care reform, and whatever issue he comes up with that\u2019s clouded (ph) in his mask of so-called compassion.<\/p>\n<p>So he has failed. And the sooner people admit this and realize it, then the sooner we do something about it. So if only 10 percent of the stimulus has been spent, let\u2019s say the Republicans pull a rabbit out of their hats and win the House back in 2010, or take away the majority in the Senate &#8212; and neither of the two are out of the realm of possibility &#8212; we can stop this.<\/p>\n<p>We can cancel the &#8212; now, he might veto any bill that the Republicans would write that would cancel the rest of the spending on the stimulus, and say. turn it into a tax cut, which would be very indicative, too. But look, elections have consequences. So we got what we voted for or what the majority of the American people voted for.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: What does it mean big picture politically if the health care does not pass, if he can\u2019t even get his &#8212; enough Democrats? Because there are enough Democrats there, if he got them all, to pass it. What does it mean to him big picture politically?<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Well, I\u2019d have to probably side with Jim DeMint that this &#8211; &#8211; this is his centerpiece. This is what it\u2019s always all been about for the Democrat Party, going back to the Clintons. If he doesn\u2019t get this this time, he\u2019ll just come back and try for it next year, or later in this term. They\u2019re going to keep fighting for this, Greta.<\/p>\n<p>This is why I think it\u2019s wrong for people on our side to start getting giddy about the polls showing most people opposing this, and so forth. These people never give up. They never go away. They\u2019re not going to stop until they get this done. That\u2019s why they have to constantly be politically defeated. And that\u2019s what the future elections are all about.<\/p>\n<p>So I don\u2019t think Obama\u2019s a quitter, either. I do think Obama has a problem with criticism. I think he\u2019s led a charmed life. I think he thinks he\u2019s above criticism, being laughed at, and so forth, and being rejected. And if this happens, it\u2019s just going to fire him up even more.<\/p>\n<p>And Rahm Emanuel is going to be sending more dead fish to more Democrats to warn them not to vote this way the next time. So it\u2019s &#8212; this is &#8212; it\u2019s a constant battle with these people who want to take over the country for themselves. It\u2019s never going to end.<\/p>\n<p>(END VIDEOTAPE)<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Up next, Rush says there is a battle raging inside the Republican Party. Could a third party be coming? And who does Rush think is the leading Republican candidate now? Rush on that, Governor Sarah Palin\u2019s future and much more.<\/p>\n<p>Plus: Did President Obama apologize? The president changes his tune after saying the Cambridge police acted &#8220;stupidly&#8221; for arresting a Harvard professor. But is the firestorm still growing? We report, you decide.<\/p>\n<p>(COMMERCIAL BREAK)<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: More with Rush Limbaugh on the future of the Republican Party.<\/p>\n<p>(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Do you hold yourself out as a conservative, not necessarily a Republican?<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Yes, by all means.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: So&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: The Republican Party doesn\u2019t even like me today.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Well, I was going to ask you about the Republican Party. Why aren\u2019t they going to like you?<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Well, the Republican Party has got its own battles. There\u2019s an internecine battle going on in the Republican Party for who\u2019s going to lead it and what its identity is going to be. And the friction in the Republican Party is all about social issues or abortion.<\/p>\n<p>The country club, blue-blood Rockefeller types and the quasi-inside- the-Beltway conservative media are just embarrassed as they can be to be in the same party with a bunch of Billy Bobs, and so forth, from what they consider to be the hayseed sticks who are pro-life. It just bugs them to death.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been encountered by them at parties. I\u2019ve had some of these blue-bloods come up to me and poke me in the chest, What are you going to do about Christians? I said, What do you mean, what am I going to do with Christians? &#8220;They\u2019re destroying our party. This abortion stuff, we\u2019re never going to get the women, and it\u2019s killing us. We\u2019ve got to get it &#8212; they\u2019re just embarrassed to go to a convention with them, and so forth. I said, Well, they\u2019re 24 million votes, and if you want to let the Democrats have them, you\u2019re never going to win a thing.<\/p>\n<p>They also don\u2019t like conservatives. The New York\/Boston\/Washington corridor, axis of the Republican Party does not like conservatives. They didn\u2019t really like Reagan. They tolerated Reagan. They thought Reagan was a dunce, too.<\/p>\n<p>They like the whole D.C. Beltway mentality of elitism and sharing power and all being on the same team. We\u2019re just in different parties and will trade positions now and then as to who wins. But they\u2019re not really ideological. The conservative wing of the Republican Party is the only time when it\u2019s dominated that the Republican Party has been victorious.<\/p>\n<p>And I, of course, am not an elite. I\u2019m not a country club, blue-blood Rockefeller type. I\u2019m considered unsophisticated, and you know, sort of &#8212; We don\u2019t want Limbaugh. We don\u2019t want to be associated with Limbaugh, that radical (INAUDIBLE) So the Republican Party is going through these battles right now. And you know, Palin is out there exciting people, and some people all right starting to talk about third party.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019ll tell you, I &#8212; I\u2019ll tell you how bad the Republican Party &#8212; the trouble it\u2019s in. When people say &#8212; when Republicans, when our opinion leaders, say Colin Powell is the model Republican, that\u2019s when I say, OK, gang, you leave the party and you form the Colin Powell party because I don\u2019t know how in the world we have a man who endorsed the Democrat candidate, campaigned for the Democrat candidate, did so at a strategic time to destroy McCain\u2019s candidacy, when McCain is an ideal Colin Powell moderate &#8212; how can it be that a guy who went all the way in the bank for the Democrat candidate is the ideal Republican? How can it be said that that\u2019s where we build our base, with moderates?<\/p>\n<p>Show me the book in the library &#8220;Great Moderates in American History.&#8221; There isn\u2019t one! Moderates, by definition, don\u2019t have an opinion until they decide where the consensus is, the majority is, and go with it. So if that\u2019s &#8212; if the future of the Republican Party is that, that\u2019s why there\u2019s bubbling talk of a third party.<\/p>\n<p>And by &#8212; don\u2019t &#8212; I\u2019m not &#8212; let Colin Powell and whoever else thinks he\u2019s the piece de resistance &#8212; let them leave the Republican Party and form their own third party. Right now, I don\u2019t know what Colin Powell stands for. I don\u2019t know what Obama\u2019s doing he agrees with or disagrees with. Well, he did &#8212; he doesn\u2019t like all the spending. But then last December, he said the American people want higher taxes and bigger government. That\u2019s not Republicanism.<\/p>\n<p>(END VIDEOTAPE)<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Next, Rush says that someone is terrified of Governor Sarah Palin and trying to destroy her. But does Rush think the soon-to-be ex-Alaska governor is a quitter? More with Rush next.<\/p>\n<p>Plus: Gates-gate explodes! Cambridge police stand their ground after police &#8212; after President Obama said they acted &#8220;stupidly&#8221; by arresting Harvard professor Henry Gates. But the president is saying something different tonight. The police and the president in their own words coming up.<\/p>\n<p>(COMMERCIAL BREAK)<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Continuing with Rush Limbaugh on Governor Sarah Palin and much more.<\/p>\n<p>(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: So who\u2019s your &#8212; who\u2019s your candidate?<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: I&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Right now.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: I don\u2019t &#8212; too early. And it\u2019s unrealistic for people to think we should have one. In 2001, six months after Bush was inaugurated, did the Democrats have their leader? Did the Democrats have somebody going to run around and get the next &#8212; no. They were in a state of disarray, thinking the election had been stolen from them.<\/p>\n<p>In 2004, six months after Bush beats Kerry, who was the leader? Who was rallying the Democrats? Howard Dean was out there doing things at the local level and the state level. It was assumed back then that Hillary was the next (INAUDIBLE)<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: But not in terms of horse race. I\u2019m looking at who do you sort of, from an ideology point of view, do you think is the smartest or best candidate in your mind now?<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Well, that\u2019s &#8212; I don\u2019t want to answer that criteria, smartest and best. I\u2019m looking right now at who can win. And I look at who excites crowds. And I also, I think, Greta, that the state-run media and the Democrat Party will go a long way in telling us who they are most afraid of.<\/p>\n<p>And I don\u2019t think they\u2019re afraid of Mike Huckabee because they never talk about him. I don\u2019t think they\u2019re afraid of Mitt Romney much, although if he surfaces, they\u2019ll go after his religion again. But they\u2019re trying to destroy Sarah Palin. They\u2019re literally trying to destroy not just her career but her reputation.<\/p>\n<p>Now, if they\u2019re not worried about Sarah Palin, why do this? I think they &#8212; the Democrats are telling us who right now they are most afraid of, who they think can beat Obama. It\u2019s not hard to understand why. You covered Palin a lot during the campaign, largest crowds on the Republican side, the most enthusiasm. People were revved up and fired up, in some cases even more than Obama rallies.<\/p>\n<p>And the Obama rallies were just cult &#8212; they were just showing up to be part of the story. They didn\u2019t care what Obama was saying. It\u2019s just he was Obama. Sarah Palin was exciting people on substance.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: She quit, though.<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Doesn\u2019t matter?<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: No. Doesn\u2019t matter. Might be a very smart move. I think she\u2019s &#8212; I think she\u2019s a step ahead of people. I think &#8212; lookit, regardless what her plans are (INAUDIBLE) politically inclined or if she wants to come earn some money &#8212; if they\u2019re political, her opponents are all down here on the lower 48 on television every day. They\u2019re making speeches every day. She\u2019s up in Alaska, she can\u2019t compete with them.<\/p>\n<p>Also, I think she told the truth about the ethics stuff was getting in her way of governing. I mean, none of these ethics charges have been proven true. It\u2019s pure harassment. And if she just wants to earn money, then she\u2019s got to come down here and do that, as well.<\/p>\n<p>I think the fact that she quit, you know, that\u2019s &#8212; that\u2019s too easy. That\u2019s conventional wisdom &#8212; Oh, she\u2019ll never go anywhere. She\u2019s quit. They\u2019ll run ads saying, When the going got tough, she quit. All that can be obviated by what she does between now and then. And I don\u2019t know what her aspirations &#8212; I\u2019ve never met her. I\u2019ve never talked to her.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Never met her?<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: No. I\u2019ve never talked to her. I don\u2019t &#8212; none of this is, you know, personal to me. I care about the United States of America. I care about the American people. I want our exceptionalism and greatness to be promoted, revived, and so forth. And whoever comes along &#8212; if it was a conservative Democrat to come along and do that, I\u2019d be there if they were genuinely conservative, whatever party they were in. It\u2019s not about &#8212; it\u2019s not about personalities. It\u2019s not about horse races. It\u2019s about the country.<\/p>\n<p>The country &#8212; we\u2019re a great country at risk in a very dangerous world. And we\u2019re now also under daily assault &#8212; the American economy, our private sector, is under daily assault by its own government. This is frightening. Never thought I would see this in my lifetime. I never thought I would see purposeful policies to harm people economically.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s what we have. No sane person, no economically literate or educated person would ever continue a program like this stimulus plan under the &#8212; under the notion of creating jobs. It\u2019s not going to do that. It\u2019s going to destroy them. And they wouldn\u2019t do health care on top of it, would not build up all this debt. It just &#8212; this is so nonsensical, it\u2019s so illogical, it so violates economic science, it has to be being done on purpose.<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Rush, your show is growing. You\u2019re gaining more listeners all of the time. Any &#8212; I mean, longevity in any of these businesses is always so amazing. What\u2019s &#8212; what\u2019s the secret? What &#8212; what do you think is your&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: Well&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>VAN SUSTEREN: &#8230; reason for your of success?<\/p>\n<p>LIMBAUGH: &#8230; one of the &#8212; I &#8212; I &#8212; when I started in 1988, I was it. And when I started my national radio show, there was only CNN and New York Times and The Washington Post and the magazines, and so forth. All this cable stuff hadn\u2019t popped up yet and the Internet hadn\u2019t popped up in big numbers. The blogs hadn\u2019t (INAUDIBLE) So I got a head start on everybody.<\/p>\n<p>And I was &#8212; you know, I made a deep connection with the audience. I mean, there was a whole bunch of Americans who were conservatives and never saw their viewpoint reflected in mainstream media news coverage. So here comes me. And I &#8212; you know, I\u2019m not a Svengali. I\u2019m not creating (INAUDIBLE) robots. I\u2019m simply validating what people already believe. And they\u2019re going, Yes, yes, I like this guy! He says what I think.<\/p>\n<p>So I got a head start, so I\u2019ve got this deep font of loyalty with this audience. And I &#8212; you know, it\u2019s been 21 years on August 1st. But I &#8212; when I sit down at that microphone, my expectations of myself are &#8212; well, I do everything for the audience. Everything I do is for the show. And I will never phone it in because I\u2019ve got too much respect for the audience. I will always give it my best shot every day.<\/p>\n<p>What happened yesterday doesn\u2019t count or 10 years ago doesn\u2019t count. I don\u2019t remember &#8212; if you had asked what I talked about yesterday, I could give you a broad paintbrush health care. Specifics, I don\u2019t know because I\u2019m thinking about tomorrow. And it\u2019s &#8212; I think it\u2019s a respect for the audience, respect for their intelligence, and a deep appreciation for what they have meant to my life.<\/p>\n<p>My parents wouldn\u2019t understand my life. They didn\u2019t think it would be possible for some guy who refused to go to college to have this kind of success. They came out of the Great Depression. This just wasn\u2019t possible.<\/p>\n<p>And I owe all of this to a devoted and loyal audience who stuck with me through all these years. Why they do it? It\u2019s a good show. It\u2019s a fun show. It\u2019s positive. People don\u2019t want to be beat up every day with, This caffeine product is going to kill you, or, The seas are rising and New York\u2019s going to get flooded. They want to hear about greatness.<\/p>\n<p>They want &#8212; people want to be inspired! People want to be motivated. They want their positive thoughts validated. They don\u2019t want to hear every day how everything\u2019s going to hell in a handbasket and there\u2019s a shortage of handbaskets. They don\u2019t want to hear this. That\u2019s what gets ratings on television.<\/p>\n<p>I have shown you get ratings on radio being positive, respecting the audience, being inspiring and motivational at times, when it\u2019s necessary. I just try to share as much of my life experience with everybody because I &#8212; it turned out pretty well. I\u2019m very proud of it.<\/p>\n<p>END TRANSCRIPT <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BEGIN PART TWO TRANSCRIPT, JULY 24, 2009 GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: We went to Rush\u2019s Florida studio for a rare face-to-face interview, and tonight Rush goes &#8220;On the Record&#8221; about Governor Sarah Palin\u2019s resignation. Does the radio powerhouse think the governor is a quitter? First, Rush Limbaugh on the Capitol Hill health care [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rush Goes On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, Part Two - 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:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/07\/24\/exclusive-rush-unleashed-parts-2\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Rush Goes On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, Part Two - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"BEGIN PART TWO TRANSCRIPT, JULY 24, 2009 GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: We went to Rush\u2019s Florida studio for a rare face-to-face interview, and tonight Rush goes &#8220;On the Record&#8221; about Governor Sarah Palin\u2019s resignation. 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