RUSH: Adam in Faribault, Minnesota, welcome to the EIB Network, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. How are you?
RUSH: Just fine, sir.
CALLER: Say mega Christian conservative dittoes to you from Faribault, Minnesota, home of the Tilt-A-Whirl.
RUSH: We appreciate that.
CALLER: My wife and I were recently blessed with the good news that we’re going to be having a baby in May, and we’re going through baby names, and before I bring the name to her, I’d like to put a little bit of tools in my tool kit, and the name of Rush, how did it come about, what does it mean?
RUSH: This is a human baby you’re considering naming after me?
CALLER: It is a human baby.
RUSH: Right, because I was going to say, if it’s a dog, please don’t, because eventually you’re going to have to take the dog, ‘Hey, doc, I got Rush here, he needs to be neutered.’
CALLER: No, it’s a human baby.
RUSH: If it’s a human baby, the simple explanation is, I am Rush Hudson Limbaugh III, and my grandfather was given the first name Rush because it’s the last name of another strain, another branch of his family, a woman whose name, I think one of their aunts or great aunts named Edna Rush or something, and they wanted to keep that family name alive, since she was the last woman in that line. And so Rush is actually the last name of some distant, long forgotten family member.
CALLER: Gotcha.
RUSH: It has nothing to do with being in a hurry. It’s nothing at all like that.
CALLER: What was it like growing up with a name like Rush on the playground?
RUSH: Well, since I was the third, I was not called Rush. I was called Rusty.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: My dad wanted to call me Butch. My mother didn’t go for that. Mothers always win those battles.
CALLER: Sure. Sure.
RUSH: In fact, a lot of my family still calls me that when we get together. But honest to God, my first radio job away from home, I went to Pittsburgh, and I worked for a station that was owned by ABC and they would not let me use that name because they thought that listeners would think that I had a lisp, that my name was Russ and that I couldn’t say it, and they would misspell it and so forth. So they made me pick a name that I liked and go to phone book and make sure it wasn’t there, so that person didn’t get bugged. The short version of the story is it wasn’t until I started using my real name that my success track began to actually happen. So I think, depending on the middle name of this human baby that you’re going to have, I don’t think you’d have any problem whatsoever with a kid named Rush.
There are some Rushes out there. Just don’t, you know, name him Rush Button because he could become a butler. But I mean you know Ethyl Kennedy’s father, his name was Rushton, first name is Rushton, R-u-s-h-t-o-n, so there’s any number of variations, but it’s a very sophisticated, aristocratic name, and it’s unique. In fact, I’ll tell you what, I am so honored you’re even thinking of it, and I don’t want to have any role in influencing you here, I just answered your questions, right?
CALLER: That’s right.
RUSH: I’m going to send you a special collection of — do you and your wife eat beef?
CALLER: Oh, we do eat beef, we love it.
RUSH: Have you ever ordered anything from Allen Brothers?
CALLER: I have not.
RUSH: Whoa! Well, I may not be able to get it there before Thanksgiving, but I’m going to try. I’m going to send you an assortment of stuff from Allen Brothers.
CALLER: Thank you.
RUSH: ‘Cause, you know, it’s holiday time, I’m starting to feel it. I’m always a generous, giving guy but this stuff is just… you can’t get it other than at Allen Brothers, and it’s that unique, it’s that special, and I know a lot of people are having challenging economic times. I believe in times like this, treat yourself, and this is one way to do it, so if you’ll allow me to get your address, it has to be FedEx or UPS, overnight shipping address after we finish here, so don’t hang up.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: We’ll put you on hold.
CALLER: Thanks, Rush, you’re a blessing to me and you’re a blessing to the listening community, so thank you.
RUSH: Thanks very much, and congratulations on your new baby.
CALLER: And I’ll let you know how things turn out tonight at the dinner table.
RUSH: I hope so. Don’t hang up, whatever you do out there, Adam.