RUSH: Chris in Manassas, Virginia, I’m glad you called, sir. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hi. Yes, Chris, as you said. I’m fairly new to politics. I got into it in 2008, which was the first year I was able to vote. I’m 24 now. What I’ve experienced, I’m trying to get into, like, journalism, conservative journalism or truthful journalism. And what I’ve experienced over the last three-and-a-half years is a never ending barrage of material to write about with Obama in office.
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: What I’m worried about is when he’s out of office, like is this politics, like I’m worried that when he’s gone, like, there will be nothing to write about anymore, ’cause how much worse can it get, you know? So should I maybe —
RUSH: Wait. You’re worried that when Obama’s gone, will there be nothing to write about?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Maybe you should not go into journalism, you mean?
CALLER: What’s that?
RUSH: You’re saying maybe you shouldn’t go into journalism because there won’t be anything to say?
CALLER: Yes. Like maybe I should go to work at the IRS, because they’ll be hiring.
RUSH: Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris. You must hold on through the break. You couldn’t be more wrong about that, and I want to tell you why, okay? So can you hang on?
CALLER: Absolutely.
RUSH: All right. Don’t go away.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: We go back to Manassas, Virginia, with Chris. Chris, I just want to make sure I understood something before we get into this in detail. Are you asking if it will be as much fun next year if Obama loses —
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: — because there’s no shortage of material now, so much to go on now, you’re having a lot of fun now, but will the fun vanish if Obama loses? Is that basically your question?
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: The first thing I want to focus on, the answer to your question, there will always be things to write about. In fact, if Obama loses the Democrats are going to get more hysterical than they are even now, more disruptive. They’re more entertaining when they’re out of office, but I want to focus on this fun business with you.
CALLER: All right.
RUSH: I’m glad you mentioned that. You’re 24, you said.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: You’re looking at this as fun.
CALLER: It is a riot.
RUSH: What is the riot? There’s no wrong answer. Don’t misunderstand the tone of my voice. I’m not challenging anything. I’m just asking, what is fun about this to you?
CALLER: Well, I know you have fun with it, too. It’s seeing them squirm, the Democrats squirm when you bring up facts is priceless. It keeps you wanting more, it’s like a drug. I’ve never done drugs. And Obama, I mean, I can’t explain it. You could explain why it’s fun. It’s probably the same reasons —
RUSH: Well, no, because I’m gonna disagree with you. It’s interesting that you said it. You’re 24, and I am 61. I don’t want to convey the wrong impression here. I mean, I still love this, and I’m energized by it. I’m inspired, motivated, all those things. But it’s not fun. It’s serious as hell. I think the country’s hanging in the balance. And, as such, I have a different approach now when talking to people about this stuff. I’ve got fewer years ahead of me than behind me. You don’t. You’re the exact opposite end of the scale. And don’t lose your attitude about it. I’m not trying to talk you out of where you are. I’m trying to say that from my perspective now, this next election’s pretty crucial in terms of the kind of life you’re gonna have, in terms of the amount of freedom you’re gonna have, in terms of the opportunity to be successful, to create wealth, and to keep most of it, all of that’s on the line in this election.
Your future, your opportunity to accomplish what I have, is on the line here. And if this election goes the wrong way, you’re gonna have a much harder row to hoe than I did. And you’ll deal with it because you’ll have to. And I can tell that you’re capable of it. But I just find it interesting the generational difference in looking at it. The Democrats are all fun, and they are nuts, and they’re whack, and they say some of the most outrageous things. We could put together some of the funniest parodies. We can laugh at ’em and make fun of ’em. But what Obama’s trying to do, what he and his party are attempting to accomplish here is to basically subvert the Constitution of this country. They are trying to transform this nation into something that it was never intended to be, and I look at them as having to be stopped, all within the political arena.
Even if Obama loses, to get right to your question, they’re not going away. They’re gonna become more extreme. They’re going to become even more violent. They’re not gonna accept it. They’re gonna do everything they can to undermine whatever it is they thought is responsible for their loss or the Republican victory. They’re a different breed. They don’t look this as you win some, you lose some, we’re all in it together, it’s a fraternity, we share power. They look at this as life and death. They’re never happy. They are not having fun, Chris. There’s not one aspect of their lives that’s fun. You never see them laugh. You never see them having fun. I mean, they’re out there wringing their hands. This is deadly serious to them. They’re intolerant.
Take Chick-fil-A. They don’t tolerate anybody who doesn’t live or behave the way they do and therefore want everybody else to. You’re never gonna run out of things to write about because liberals are always gonna be there. Your challenge is to get paid for it. Your challenge is to do it in a way that you get to write what you want. Your challenge is to end up someplace where you have the total ability to use every ounce of creativity and ability that you have, so the decisions that you’re going to have as you get older, do you work for somebody, do you try to find a place for a while that gives you some freedom, or you can establish yourself as unique and different from everybody else.
I mean, everybody’s a writer now, Chris. Everybody posts on a blog or Facebook or Twitter. Everybody has followers. Everybody wants fame. Everybody wants everybody to know who they are. You have a tremendous amount of competition. Everybody in your generation wants to be known and will do whatever it takes to be known, including embarrass themselves. So you’ve got a tremendous challenge coupled with your opportunity. And it all depends on you learning what it is you really want and what it is you really love because that’s where the passion that you’ll need to accomplish it lies. So do you know the answers to those questions? I mean, you say you want to write.
When I started in 1988, George Bush won the election two months later and the critics said, “Well, that’s it, Limbaugh’s got nothing to talk about.” When Clinton won in 1992, the same people said, “Well, that’s it, Limbaugh’s side just lost. Nobody cares what Limbaugh says. He’s got nothing to talk about.” And it was two years later they were saying Clinton is the reason for my success. So never, ever listen to your critics, if they’re personal. If you got some people you trust who genuinely want to help you with constructive criticism, of course. But don’t listen to people that are reacting to what you’re writing, particularly those who disagree with you. You’re a threat to them. They’re gonna try to take you off your game, mess with your head psychologically. You’ve got to learn to ignore all that. But you’re never gonna run out of things to write about, never. You’re never gonna run out of things to have an opinion about. You’re never gonna run out of things that will fire you up. It’s only gonna get more intense, particularly if they lose.
CALLER: Well, just so you know, I do understand the severity of this election. I think the news media is the number one threat to the country right now because they’re the ones that allow Democrats to get away with what they get away with. So I want to join the opposition. That’s what got me into this. But as I’m doing it, it’s like, oh, man this is actually fun.
RUSH: Well, don’t lose that. The more fun that it is for you, and therefore the more enjoyment you derive from it, the more you’re gonna want to do it, and the more it will become your life and then you’ll have a sense of purpose attached to it as well, which is always helpful. But you’re very right. The media and the Democrat Party are one and the same. It’s not that one allows the other. They are the same. There’s no difference. They’ve chosen sides now. There’s not even a pretense of objectivity anymore.
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: They are your enemy. Do you know what the biggest temptation you’re gonna face is? You live in Manassas. Do you want to end up in Washington?
CALLER: Maybe. You mean as a politician?
RUSH: No, just where you live.
CALLER: Yeah, okay, writing in Washington would be nice, but I don’t want to be a politician, no.
RUSH: Okay, that’s where you want to live and work. My point in asking that is that the more you establish yourself, as you have said you want to here, the more of a target you’re going to become by those people you just said enable Democrats and Obama. And they run that town, Chris. They run it socially; they run it politically; they run it in every which way. And one of the biggest pitfalls to conservatives of any kind, be they elected officials, media people, academics, broadcasters, doesn’t matter; the biggest temptation is to want to belong in the town and be accepted by the people who run it. And to do that, you’re gonna have to dilute yourself. You’re gonna have to water yourself down and you’re gonna have to hide what you really believe, and you’re gonna have to avoid writing things and doing things that will make them like you and not criticize you.
CALLER: No, no. I love the criticism. Hate mail I get, every day —
RUSH: Well —
CALLER: My blogs. It’s awesome.
RUSH: If that’s true, then I can’t tell you how much farther ahead of the game you are. I was talking about this the other day. In fact, I’ve got something here. There’s a piece in the Wall Street Journal by Sue Shellenbarger: “The Case for Lying to Yourself — Some Self-Deception Can Boost Power and Influence; Starts as Young as Age 3.” And it’s an article that has some test questions here, seven test questions. Let me take a break here, and we’ll play this game with you when we come back. Can you hang on again?
CALLER: Yeah. I’m gonna be late for work, but it’s worth it, I’m gonna stay on the phone.
RUSH: Well, I don’t want to get you in trouble at work.
CALLER: No, no, I won’t be in trouble.
RUSH: Okay. I’ll write you a note or —
CALLER: No, I’ll stay on.
RUSH: I’ll plug the place on the air, it could go either way, but whatever.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Okay, Chris, back to you. I appreciate your holding on.
CALLER: Yeah, I’m here.
RUSH: It gets harder not caring what other people, particularly people you don’t know, say about you. If you can master that, I can’t tell you how much freedom that is. Now, there’s this little test in the Wall Street Journal, “The Case for Lying to Yourself.” It’s a way to determine how self-deluded you are. For example, what would you say if I asked you, is your first impression almost always right, of anything?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Number two. I don’t care to know what other people really think of me.
CALLER: I do care to know.
RUSH: Okay. Once I made up my mind, other people can seldom change my opinion.
CALLER: I’m always open to hearing it, but I guess it’s usually true.
RUSH: Okay. I am fully in control of my own fate.
CALLER: True.
RUSH: I never regret my decisions.
CALLER: False.
RUSH: I am a completely rational person.
CALLER: Usually true.
RUSH: I am very confident of my judgments.
CALLER: True.
RUSH: Okay. According to the woman who wrote this, by virtue of your answers, you are deluding yourself on the high end of the scale. It is her opinion that most people’s first impressions are never right, that most people care only about what people think of ’em, that you think you can’t have your mind changed, but you can easily, that people can change your mind on things in a whim, that you’re not in control of your fate, that you’re stupid to think that you are. And to say that you never regret your decisions, well, that’s silly, everybody has regrets, and nobody’s rational and confident of your judgements. The point is, the higher you score on this, the more self-deluded you are. She’s making the case that it’s okay to be, it’s okay to lie to yourself. That’s a throwback or a hanger on from the Clinton era. Keep thinking it’s fun, and really decide at the end of the day, when you envision yourself at the top, do you want to be working for somebody else or working for yourself?
CALLER: Oh, for myself.
RUSH: Well, there are ways to do that, and it is the most freedom. It’s also the one tack that carries with it the absolute most responsibility. There’s nobody else to fall back on. So feel free to call back any time. I wish you the best. But don’t worry. You’re never gonna run out of fun things to talk about as long as the liberals are there, and they always will be.
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