{"id":28047,"date":"2008-01-04T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T04:25:21","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T04:25:21","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T04:25:21","slug":"a_discussion_of_cultural_rot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/","title":{"rendered":"A Discussion of Cultural Rot"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RUSH: David in Atlanta, you\u2019re next on the EIB Network, sir. Hello.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thank you very much, sir.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You bet.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Mega dittos.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Thank you.<\/p>\n

CALLER: The thing with Huckabee, I think a large part of support for Huckabee is coming not just because he\u2019s a Christian, but I think that plays into it in that the things he\u2019s actually done, which fit Christian values, concerns, but I think a lot of it is frustration with family values voters over the GOP having treated Christian conservatives like you have rightly brought out that the Democrats have been treating blacks for years, that is, making the other side the bogeyman but not really dealing with our core concerns and doing anything about things like right to life and avoiding a governmental stamp of approval on things like homosexuality.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Gay marriage, this kind of thing.<\/p>\n

CALLER: And to me, that\u2019s —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Can we go through some of these things, though. Look at Terri Schiavo. A lot of Republicans stuck their neck out on that and they got whacked. How can the Christian right say that the Republicans abandoned them on Terri Schiavo? From Jeb Bush to Tom DeLay to President Bush and they got whacked for it. There have been Republicans who have proposed same-sex marriage amendment, they have been ridiculed and whacked for it. You might think they didn\u2019t really mean it, and you might have a point, but at least they proposed it and they held some votes on it. There have been people out there who have been fighting this embryonic stem cell movement, and a lot of them got whacked. So I\u2019m not so sure that it\u2019s true to say that you\u2019re being taken for granted and the things that you believe in have seen no efforts expended on them. I think they have. In terms of right to life, there\u2019s really not a whole lot a president can do about that other than appoint judges to the US Supreme Court, and I think that actually there\u2019s been a whole lot of movement in that area. I think abortions are becoming less and less frequent, and there\u2019s more stigma attached to them now. <\/p>\n

When I started this program in 1988, abortion wasn\u2019t quite a badge of honor, but it was an achievement. The feminists own the argument here: It\u2019s an illness, this is a sign of liberation, a sign of women controlling their own lives, their own bodies, it\u2019s getting rid of subjugations, getting rid of oppression. It\u2019s not that way anymore. There\u2019s a stigma attached to it. My friend Pete Wehner did a piece on how the culture is actually improving, teen sex declining, teen pregnancy declining, drug use declining. The only measurable factor, cultural indicator that is not showing success is divorce. Even our math and test scores are getting better. They\u2019re getting better relative to our own base lines. They\u2019re not improving so much against other countries, but the cultural news is actually improving. This is my point. It\u2019s much better out there than people think and yet this obsession with dealing with the worst aspects of things and the pessimism, the doom and gloom, it honestly frustrates me.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, there is one aspect in which I myself fall prey to the doom and gloom, and that is something that I think is — I will admit that there are some times when Republicans have stood up for family values issues, and I\u2019m grateful for that, but I think there was one that\u2019s very insidious, and I don\u2019t think we talk about it enough or are working quite hard enough against it for fear of being called hateful, and that is on the homosexual agenda. Because, to me, it\u2019s the ultimate in federalism. I think that the left is actively working at destroying the family so that children are controlled by the state. And I think that governmental stamp of approval on some sort of homosexual union is one of the biggest steps in destroying that —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Hang on through the break. I want to say some things to you.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Back to David in Atlanta. All right, where we left off with you, I think we finally got to the nut of it. You have a great fear that there is a movement by the militant and activist homosexual or gay community to destroy the family so as to redefine normal to include their behavior, correct?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yes.<\/p>\n

RUSH: And you think that there is not enough of a bulwark among people that you have voted for to stop this?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Right. As a matter of fact, one of the candidates that I\u2019d like for president, other than Huckabee, that\u2019s my one real beef with him is that he was against a marriage amendment.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Against the same-sex marriage amendment?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Thompson, and once I was told incorrectly.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Thompson — I\u2019m not sure on that. But let me ask you specifically here. I know that there are a lot of people who have similar fears or theories about this. But there have been efforts recently in the United States Congress, led by Barney Frank, to include gay behavior in hate crimes legislation. I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re familiar with it.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yes.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, it went down the tubes, and it went down the tubes because of Republicans. It did not pass, and the president was going to veto it. That was a bulwark. Now, one of the problems I\u2019ve got here with what you\u2019re saying is, is that I can show you where you think nothing\u2019s being done to preserve or support your agenda is in fact being done, and quite a lot of progress in fact is being made. Now, you may not know it because of your news sources. And you may watch television and you may watch movies where the things that you disapprove of are glorified, and so you think no progress is being made, and you look at these things in movies and television as a sign that the onslaught\u2019s continuing for the mind and heart of the American people. And I think you\u2019re right, I think in a lot of cases the left tries to numb those of us on the opposition and just say, ‘You know what, they\u2019re never going to go away, we may as well just let them have what they want because we\u2019re tired of fighting it.\u2019 You want people to continue to fight it. My next question for you is, ‘What has Governor Huckabee said about the gay crisis that you describe that makes you think he\u2019s going to do something about it?\u2019<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, that he actually is promoting to do federally what they have done in Arkansas, which is to have an amendment that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Now, I agree, you\u2019re right, as you pointed out, that there are things that Republicans are doing to work against that, but as you also said, they\u2019re not really high-profile things to people who don\u2019t — for instance, people who don\u2019t take the time to listen to you most of the time. So I guess what I was trying to say that, part of the point I was getting to, is I don\u2019t think the support for Huckabee is as far away from issues as you seem to think, that a lot of it is issue-based. One of the things that frustrates me about him, though, is that as primarily a populist, his conservative solutions seem to a lot of the time be buried in the middle of speeches where I wish he\u2019d be putting it out front.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You\u2019re talking about Huckabee?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Right.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, who knows. That may happen as time goes on down the road. A lot of things are going to change now, Obama as the front-runner is going to get more scrutiny, it\u2019s just the nature of the beast, and so is Huckabee coming out of Iowa with a lot more momentum now. Not enough to win New Hampshire, but enough to take South Carolina. But he\u2019s going to get a lot more attention now in a way that only happens to people that win, including surprise wins in presidential primaries. So we\u2019ll see how it all shakes out. It\u2019s still very early. Only one state, and they haven\u2019t even voted, they caucused. Only one state. So there\u2019s a lot left to happen here, and we\u2019re going to be keeping a sharp eye on it. Look, I\u2019m glad you called, David. Thanks very much, I appreciate it. <\/p>\n

Jim in California. Hi, and I\u2019m glad you waited, sir.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hey, thank you, Rush, for taking my call.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah.<\/p>\n

CALLER: I appreciate it. I\u2019m a longtime conservative, and I kind of support Fred Thompson, and I don\u2019t mind Mitt Romney, but I really firmly believe that Mike Huckabee is a religious bigot, rightfully so, I think that he is. <\/p>\n

RUSH: Oh, now that\u2019s really helpful. How is Huckabee a religious bigot?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, I have friends that are Mormon or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints friends, and when an evangelical, which I\u2019m not, is asked whether or not he believes that someone is a Christian or not, and he can\u2019t simply come out with a straight answer and say yes or no — no my religion doesn\u2019t believe that they are, or yes my religion does — then he simply becomes an insignificant racial religious bigot towards other religions.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You mean like in the New York Times magazine interview when he said, ‘Well, don\u2019t Mormons believe that Jesus and Lucifer were brothers,\u2019 is that the kind of thing you mean?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Not just that. That, but also when he\u2019s asked directly whether they\u2019re Christian or not, and simply won\u2019t take a stand and won\u2019t say that they are or won\u2019t say that his religion doesn\u2019t believe that they are. And doesn\u2019t cross that threshold because it\u2019s just simply a nod and a wink to his religious —<\/p>\n

RUSH: All I\u2019ll say about that is he knows his audience.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yes.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Look, we\u2019ve discussed Mormonism on this program, and after I gave my analysis of Romney\u2019s speech on religion and the founding of this country, I was inundated. I don\u2019t tell you people everything that happens here. But I was inundated with e-mail from people who said that they were a Christian writer, evangelicals or whatever, and they were chiding me for being fooled, because they believe that Romney\u2019s religion is a cult. This is a serious divide. There\u2019s literally no question about this. There is a serious divide in religions, particularly on the right. The left doesn\u2019t really care about it. It\u2019s just one of the multiple arguments based on ideas and beliefs that exists on the Republican side of the aisle right now. But I think Governor Huckabee, other than that one comment about Jesus and Lucifer being brothers, I think he\u2019s tried to come back from that, or back off of that, and suggest that religion ought not be a factor in the race, but there\u2019s no way it\u2019s not going to be. (interruption) Huckabee saying he\u2019s the Christian leader? I know his ad said he\u2019s the Christian leader. I know, and he stands in front of the fish symbol, the ictus and the cross that wasn\u2019t a cross that was the bookshelf and so forth. He knows his audience. He\u2019s connected to them. I mean this is something that — you know, I wish more politicians had the ability to connect. I really do. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m tired of politicians talking over people, at people. You gotta give him credit for this. He has managed to connect to his audience, and, just like the Drive-Bys, cannot separate you all from me because the Drive-Bys did not make me who I am, there\u2019s nobody that\u2019s going to be able to separate Huckabee from his audience, from his voters. That\u2019s going to have to happen on their own volition. I\u2019ve learned this long ago. You just can\u2019t talk emotional ties away. Take it to the individual, a man or woman who love each other but one of them gets really mad, you can\u2019t go in there and say to one of them, ‘Your husband is a jerk.\u2019 She can say it but you can\u2019t. You go in and tell someone, ‘Your husband is a jerk,\u2019 and they get mad at you, even though you may be right about it, who knows, and vice versa. So these are very, very, very delicate things, and I\u2019m telling you, when you call here and say Huckabee is a religious bigot, you\u2019re just cementing the ties between his supporters because you\u2019re insulting both of them and they\u2019re not going to sit around and take being insulted like that, pure and simple. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: David in Atlanta, you\u2019re next on the EIB Network, sir. Hello. CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thank you very much, sir. RUSH: You bet. CALLER: Mega dittos. RUSH: Thank you. CALLER: The thing with Huckabee, I think a large part of support for Huckabee is coming not just because he\u2019s a Christian, but I think that […]<\/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":"\nA Discussion of Cultural Rot - 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\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"A Discussion of Cultural Rot - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: David in Atlanta, you\u2019re next on the EIB Network, sir. Hello. CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thank you very much, sir. RUSH: You bet. CALLER: Mega dittos. RUSH: Thank you. CALLER: The thing with Huckabee, I think a large part of support for Huckabee is coming not just because he\u2019s a Christian, but I think that […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125113.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\" \/>\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\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125113.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125113.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/\",\"name\":\"A Discussion of Cultural Rot - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-19T04:25:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-19T04:25:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Discussion of Cultural Rot\"}]},{\"@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":"A Discussion of Cultural Rot - 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:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"A Discussion of Cultural Rot - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"RUSH: David in Atlanta, you\u2019re next on the EIB Network, sir. Hello. CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thank you very much, sir. RUSH: You bet. CALLER: Mega dittos. RUSH: Thank you. CALLER: The thing with Huckabee, I think a large part of support for Huckabee is coming not just because he\u2019s a Christian, but I think that […]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125113.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","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":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125113.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125113.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/","name":"A Discussion of Cultural Rot - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2011-05-19T04:25:21+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-19T04:25:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2008\/01\/04\/a_discussion_of_cultural_rot\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Discussion of Cultural Rot"}]},{"@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\/28047"}],"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=28047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28047\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}