RUSH: This is Valerie in New Orleans. Nice to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s a pleasure to speak with you.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: My boyfriend thinks I’m crazy for waiting two hours to talk to a man I never met. Is Valerie one of the names that you like a lot?
RUSH: Your boyfriend is jealous.
CALLER: (giggling) I know. Well, in any case, I’m calling because this whole concept of equalizing everything. I started thinking the other night about what about people who are happier than other people? Is there a pleasure tax coming our way? A way of people who have, you know, better lives with their families, their loved ones, intimacy?
RUSH: Well, you know, what do you think a tax on achievement is? A tax on achievement is an attack on a better life. It’s a tax on a better life. It is a tax on happiness, pleasure and the pursuit of it.
CALLER: Mmm-hmm.
RUSH: We are going to be taxed in our happiness.
CALLER: Because some of us pursue pleasure and happiness better than others.
RUSH: In David Letterman’s case the tax rate’s going to be sky-high.
CALLER: (laughing) Yeah, what a rude man. I just thought I’d float this idea. It’s a bit Orwellian.
RUSH: It’s not Orwellian. It’s very perceptive. It’s very shrewd on your part — and yes Valerie is one of my all-time top ten female names.
CALLER: Really! Are you kidding me?
RUSH: No.
CALLER: Because I know one of them is Rachel, right?
RUSH: One of them, yeah.
CALLER: I’ve been keeping track about what you say about those names.
RUSH: Yeah, Rachel.
CALLER: Rachel and Valerie? All right, Rush —
RUSH: And one of my favorite all-time tunes is by the Monkees, Valerie.
CALLER: (giggling) Hey, why did your show today revert briefly to an earlier segment?
RUSH: What do you mean? What do you mean ‘revert briefly to an earlier segment’? What happened?
CALLER: About 30 minutes ago on your show, it replayed a part that was from about an hour earlier.
RUSH: Is that right?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Well, we didn’t do that.
CALLER: I just was curious. I thought they’d yanked you. I thought they’d just taken you away, Rush.
RUSH: No! If they’d taken me away they wouldn’t have played anything.
CALLER: Well, that is what happened, and it was very odd, and I know because I’ve been listening on the phone. I’ve been waiting for two hours, now.
RUSH: Well, but here’s the thing: Was it a really, really good portion of the show they replayed?
CALLER: You replayed — well, you didn’t but what was replayed was a part where the man was speaking about the Olympics, the one with the accent, and the votes and you could hear the noise in the room? That was all replayed.
RUSH: Oh. No. Wait a second. I have played that sound bite twice.
CALLER: That was on purpose?
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: But all your comments were the same.
RUSH: Yeah, because there’s some people… See, I’m a highly trained broadcast specialist and I know that there are some people listening in the third hour that might not have heard the first, and the first hour today could not be contained.
CALLER: But all the things you said were the same, Rush! It was the exact same stuff. It was weird.
RUSH: No. It wasn’t the exact same stuff.
CALLER: All right. I’ll let that go then. Just tell me real quick: You like New Orleans?
RUSH: Yeah. I’ve always loved New Orleans.
CALLER: Really?
RUSH: No, I just made it up.
CALLER: (laughing) There’s not much in the way of golfing here and our football team ain’t all that.
RUSH: Well, they’re not bad golfing there, and football team’s kick butt team this year.
CALLER: Are you going to go see Pittsburgh this weekend?
RUSH: I am.
CALLER: Are they playing?
RUSH: I’m going to Pittsburgh flying to Pittsburgh tomorrow afternoon. They’re playing the San Diego Chargers.
CALLER: The Chargers. All right. Well, I know there’s other people anxiously waiting to talk to you. It’s such a pleasure, and I’ve been listening to you for about a year and I’ve learned an awful lot from you. I’ve learned how to look at the information that is floating around, information and disinformation, and you really provide a great service.
RUSH: Well, thank you very much.
CALLER: Go get ’em, Rush!
RUSH: I shall.
CALLER: (giggles) All right.
RUSH: Thanks very much, Valerie. All right. We gotta look into this. She is insistent that a segment was replayed. Now, we’ve gotta find out if somebody’s monkeying with our satellite feed out there or if somebody in our New Orleans affiliate is playing games. We have to look into this. Call the affiliate relations people right now and get an answer on this.