RUSH: Terry in Sandy, Utah, as we go back to the phones. Great to have you on the EIB Network, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Listen, I’m going to get right to the point, and I hope I’ll get my minute-and-a-half because you aren’t going to like it. I am a Republican. I’ve listened to your show since ’88. I will be voting for Mr. John McCain, and I’ll be voting for him not because I agree with everything that he does or says but because he has absolute integrity. And I’ll leave that comment there and tell you why I’m disgusted with you. The reason I’m disgusted with you completely, ‘integrity’ is the key word here. I’ve been a Republican all my life, I’m 60 years old, we’re better than that. By that, I mean just because somebody or the other party wrongs me or wrongs the Republican Party, the Republican Party has always been better than that. And just because they do it doesn’t mean we — it means we lose our integrity for having done what you had people do in Texas. I think you lost about 80 points of integrity with me.
RUSH: Out of how many?
CALLER: Out of I’d say about a hundred —
RUSH: Wow.
CALLER: — because I’ve always looked up to you and thought you were great. This one issue — I’ve never called before, I love listening — but it has absolutely disgusted me because we are better than that. That’s why I’m a Republican. That’s why I’ll never vote Democratic. They’re not better than that.
RUSH: Do you like losing?
CALLER: I like integrity — listen, here’s the key. You, sir, and I, sir, have only three or four things in our entire life that we have absolute 100% control of, and nobody else can control it for us. And one of those two or three things is integrity. Get the picture?
RUSH: Do you like losing?
CALLER: No. Absolutely not.
RUSH: Do you like the Democrats winning?
CALLER: I would sooner live in a country that the majority of the people that are my peers choose if it’s against what I want, because it’s our way. I will voice my opinion; I will always voice my opinion; I will always be on the Republican side —
RUSH: Yep.
CALLER: — but I will do it with integrity.
RUSH: Well, there’s a difference between you and me, then.
CALLER: There is.
RUSH: You and I want the same thing.
CALLER: Yes, but you sound to me like for the first time I’ve listened to you in all these years —
RUSH: Oh, come on, what did you think when I endorsed Clinton back in 1992? You remember that, you’ve been listening since ’88.
CALLER: No, I really don’t remember that. I honestly don’t.
RUSH: Oh, really? That’s one of the big events of this program. In 1992 I endorsed Bill Clinton.
CALLER: I honestly don’t recall that and I have listened because I know all the nuances, the NAGs, half your brain tied behind your back —
RUSH: You can read that on any Democrat blog.
CALLER: Rush, I’m being honest with you.
RUSH: I appreciate that. I’m being honest with you, too. You and I want the same things.
CALLER: Yes, we do.
RUSH: I’m willing to fight for the victory.
CALLER: No, you’re willing to do anything.
RUSH: You’re willing to accept loss as honorable.
CALLER: If it costs me my integrity which I fought for all my life I will keep it.
RUSH: I do not think I am compromising my integrity here at all. Zilch, zero, nada. This is simply faking people out. This happens in all walks of life, get real. This happens in corporate America; it happens in universities. It happens everywhere on the line of succession at any business or company that you want to mention. It happens on the athletic field; it’s called gamesmanship. But the bottom line is this, it’s political warfare. This is not beanbag; it’s not civics 101. If we don’t watch it, we’re going to allow the Democrat Party to totally corrupt our party while we sit around with ‘integrity’ and let it happen. You may want that to happen, but I don’t. Period.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I must confess at being shocked and stunned at those of you who somehow think that we are checking our integrity at the door here, when we go in and vote for Hillary in these Democrat primaries — on the basis that we’re losing our integrity, we need to win fair and square. All right, good. I’ll tell you what I’m going to suggest that the next president do. Shut down the CIA and bring all of our spies home. We will do everything we can to win fair and square with integrity without spying on people, and I’m going to have new directives. I’m going to suggest that our nominee or our new president have new directives for the military, and that is: ‘We stop trying to fake out the enemy. We’ll not use misinformation on them whatsoever. We will not plant false stories in foreign media about our false battle plans,’ because that’s cheating, because that is not integrity. (sigh) What was the last caller’s name? It was Terry from Sandy, Utah, right? Listen to what he says. Terry, listen to what you yourself said. You said you’re going to vote for McCain, but who is McCain? McCain is the nominee of our party as a result of independents and Democrats saving him in New Hampshire and South Carolina and in Florida.
Now, did you object to that? Did you object to the Democrats and independents ‘crossing the aisle,’ on purpose, in open primaries? By the way, an open primary means you don’t have to vote your party affiliation. You can go in and vote for whoever you want. How is voting for whoever you want, lacking in integrity? I don’t understand why you people don’t understand this. The Democrats and independents can choose our nominee and you don’t get mad at it? Or you might get mad at it, but you’re willing to live with the result? You actually think these Democrats are going to vote for McCain in November? Do you who are upset with me here, object to the McCain nomination as a result of votes from non-Republicans in Republican primaries? Are you willing to suggest to me that you are supporting a tainted Republican nominee because he was not nominated by Republicans or conservatives? Even at these last primaries where he’s had the nomination sewn up, he’s not sweeping it away. There’s not a lot of enthusiasm out there. What gets me here that those of you who agree with Terry in Sandy, Utah, are claiming that your position is one of integrity.
Do you remember when we allied ourselves with the Russians to win World War II? Did we lack integrity because of it? I know what you’re thinking. ‘Come on, Rush. The Democrats are not the Russians. The Democrats are not the Germans. The Democrats are not the Japanese. The Democrats are not Iran.’ We’re talking about the future of the country. We’re talking about the war over the future of the country in the American political system. We Republicans and conservatives have a diametrically opposed different vision of what the country ought to be then the Democrats, and some of us think it’s worth fighting for. We are talking about the state of the future of the country. Is compromising your principles on the Bill of Rights and taxes and capitalism and the like, in order to vote for McCain, the definition of integrity? You got a bunch of Democrats who don’t believe in tax cuts. They don’t believe in capitalism. They think the Bill of Rights ought to be rewritten so that the government has all kinds of power — and they vote for McCain. Is that lack of integrity?
By the way, we may have to hold our nose and vote for McCain. McCain has got some things about him — I don’t want to go through them here because you well know — but we’re going to have to vote for Senator McCain. Is that an act of integrity or an act of compromise? See, I think those of you who are calling here and are on the line — we’ve got more like Terry from Sandy, Utah — saying, ‘We’re becoming just like the Democrats. You’re urging people to engage in the dirty tricks just like the Democrats. I can’t believe we’re going to become just like the Democrats.’ These are the same arguments I’m hearing for why we ought to close Club Gitmo. We gotta stop interrogating terrorists to find out where the next attack is because this is ‘not good for America. This is not who we are.’ Well, if we’re not interested in preserving ourselves, then I guess we are un-American. You want fealty to party, not principle — and if you don’t toe the party line, and if I don’t toe the party line, then I, of course, lack integrity. We’re talking principles, not party, at least I am. Demanding here that I hold fast to party lines is sort of like the Marxist interpretation of integrity.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Look, folks, I don’t want to be a happy loser. I don’t want to be happy. You want to lose happy, fine. I’d prefer the liberals and the Democrats be happy losers. But they’re never happy anyway, so what does it matter?