RUSH: Rich in San Marcos, California. You’re next on the program. It’s great to have you with us.
CALLER: Yeah, hi.
RUSH: Hi.
CALLER: About this thing about Broder [sic] and Fox, I find it kind of interesting in that, you know, they’re the ones who believe in freedom of the press, and when they have opposition they want to shut ’em down. Typical, but what if Fox went after those guys?
RUSH: They are. Fox is beating them. That’s the thing.
CALLER: Well, they’re beating them with ratings. I mean, beat them with facts, beat them up on stories, start pulling these guys and make them responsible like Broder. He writes a bunch of trash —
RUSH: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! It wasn’t Broder, David Bauder: B-a-u-d-e-r. He’s a writer for the Associated Press. He’s a Drive-By Media guy, and what you’re talking about, what you’re actually saying is, “What if Republicans went on CNN and every time Wolf Blitzer asked them a question, “A-ha! I see you’re in Nancy Pelosi’s purse, and you’re in Harry Reid’s back pocket. I can tell when these –“
CALLER: Yeah, get a backbone.
RUSH: That’s what you’re saying, right?
CALLER: Yeah. Get a backbone. Fight back.
RUSH: I have done that.
CALLER: Well, you have, sir.
RUSH: I have done that. I did it with Paula Zahn, with Katie Couric once way, way back a long time ago on the Today Show. I do it. I refuse to accept their premise.
CALLER: Well, yeah, Rush, but you have the courage. So does Hannity and a few other folks, but what I’m saying is, you know, even Tony Snow is starting to get a little more aggressive with these guys. Come on guys. You know, if you’re going to write a story, have it factual, and be willing to be challenged if you write garbage, much that they do all the time.
RUSH: Rich, I have to tell you something. I want to quit skirting the issue. You ask, “Where’s the Democrats’ concern for freedom of the press?” I am telling you — I cannot emphasize this enough — they are Stalinists. They’re not interested in freedom of the press. They want Fox destroyed. They want Fox shut down. They know they’ll never get that, but they want Fox destroyed as an entity of persuasion, purveyor of news, what have you. They want Fox done away with. You know, George Will wrote a column, and it runs on MSNBC. It’s going to be the Newsweek issue, in the current issue.
Our friend John Carlson out in Seattle, in a precursor of what the Democrats will do to talk radio if they win back the House and the presidency and can invalidate the Fairness Doctrine. They have just ruled that a couple of talk show hosts in Seattle cannot discuss certain issues because they were part of the campaign. They were advocating a particular side in a public issue out there, and the Democrats finally found a judge to shut them down on the basis that they were illegally contributing to a campaign with their comments. They had the audacity to use the word “we” in discussing their particular side of the issue. Now, we’ve talked about the Fairness Doctrine on this program a number of times, but you’ve got to understand, Rich, there’s no freedom when you’re talking about liberal Democrats.
You are talking about a bunch of Stalinists who will shut down people who say things they disagree with or shut down people who oppose them. I’m not using the term Stalinists lightly. I’m trying to figure out a way to communicate this to you and anybody else, “Why attack Fox?” You think it’s just to cause people to view them in a different way? You think it’s to discredit them simply so nobody will believe what they say? Fox on television is the lone voice of so-called opposition. Look at all that they’ve got. I just ran through the list. Every television network, every other cable news network, all of the print magazines that are national, the New York and local magazines in Los Angeles, the newspapers and the New York Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle.
Look at all that they have, and they’re focusing their efforts on a cable channel that has a maximum of two million viewers at its peak. You think they’re afraid of two million viewers? They’re afraid they can be beat by two million…? Well, they think they are. They lie to themselves. “Fox, Limbaugh, talk radio, that’s the reason they’re losing,” and it’s not because that those entities are so powerful. They think that people are lying about them. They think Fox is telling lies. They think I lie about them. They can’t stand opposition. They choose not to debate it. They can’t win. They are arrogant, condescending Stalinists. Nobody should have the audacity to disagree with them, and then try to harm them with what they believe. That will not be tolerated — and so, you know, asking where is the Democrats’ concern for freedom of the press? Don’t make me barf!
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