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Rio Linda Explained for Those in Rio Linda

by Rush Limbaugh - Nov 30,2007

RUSH: Sue in Fort Myers, Florida. It’s nice to have you with us on the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush. It’s a pleasure to speak with you.

RUSH: You bet.

CALLER: My husband and I have been listening to you for, I don’t know how many years, since Clinton was in office, and somehow or another we have missed to understand your reference to Rio Linda, California.

RUSH: You know, this happens periodically. I will reference Rio Linda but there are people who have not heard the explanation now and then. Very briefly, because most of the audience knows what it is. I moved to Sacramento in 1984, and I was to start my show there October the 15th. So I got there a couple weeks early, and I drove around to try to familiarize myself with the community about which I was going to soon be speaking. So I’m driving around, and I went up to one of the Air Force Bases, I think there were two of them out there, and I now get them confused, but I think this was McClellan. Anyway, I’m driving around out there, and, all of a sudden, I come across this one-lane or two-lane road leading into what looks like oblivion, and the population sign or the city designation sign says Rio Linda and there’s no number there in terms of how many people live there. You know, most population signs always say the population, at least they did when I grew up, so I figured nobody is willing to admit living there, so let me go look at it.

I’m driving down this two-lane road, and I see houses with refrigerators, the door is open on the porch. I see cars jacked up on concrete blocks in the front yard, dogs running around chasing garbage in the front yards, and I said ‘Whoa, what is this place?’ So I went back and I asked people at the radio station, KFBK, ‘What is this Rio Linda place?’ And they said, ‘Well, it is what it is; there are some nice areas of it, too, but you just happened to go through the bad part.’ So I offered, after having seen the place — and I used to have a shtick back then of always picking a local community and making fun of it just as a broadcast technique — so I offered to move there to elevate property values if they would rename the place Limbaugh, California. They refused, of course. I also tried the same thing with West Sacramento, and that bombed out as well. But ever since Rio Linda has just been my pet little favorite community to pick on. Property values have since risen out there. But you can drive and still see some of the things I saw when you drive through town. I love the people of Rio Linda and I want to make sure they understand what’s being discussed on the program, so I always will change or expand certain words’ definition so they are not left out. It’s an act of true compassion by a broadcast specialist.

CALLER: Okay, thank you.

RUSH: All right. Thanks. Appreciate it.

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