RUSH: You know, speaking of the civil rights coalition and the Martin Luther King 50th anniversary speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, it’s not just Obama who is going to be making a speech. You know who else is gonna make a speech and who isn’t? Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Both of them, Carter and Clinton both, are products of the Jim Crow South. Bill Clinton’s mentor and one of his earlier idols was an Arkansas senator by the name of J. William Fulbright who was a segregationist.

Not one Republican is speaking at the Martin Luther King 50th anniversary confab, whatever they’re calling it, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Look, I assume some things are understood but maybe not. Do not add meaning where I’m not stating any. This Hill.com story says a number of black lawmakers are not happy with Obama because he’s not down for the struggle. I’ve been told privately, folks, that there’s a lot of unhappiness.

But it doesn’t mean that they’re gonna turn on him.

It’s the exact opposite.

They’re all afraid to. Everybody’s afraid to go against the regime. Both parties. Republicans are afraid to go against Obama en masse. I mean, there are three or four of them who aren’t, but that’s about it. But it’s the same thing in the Democrat Party. I’m just telling you what I’ve been told privately. I’m telling you what’s actually there. But I’m not saying when I point that out, that the civil rights coalition is gonna end up supporting Republicans or abandoning Obama. That is not my point.

But it is true to say what I have been told privately, that not every Democrat is on board a hundred percent with what’s happening. And not every Democrat feels invincible. And not every Democrat thinks they are gonna win every election from here on out, and not every Democrat thinks that what’s happening is for the best in this country. A number of them have told me privately. You know, some of them know that if you’re gonna tax the hell out of people, they have to be earning some money.

If you’re gonna tax the hell out of people, you’re gonna have to have people that work, and we don’t. They’re somewhat concerned about the debt. It’s not very many, folks, but I’m just telling you that it would be helpful to keep in mind as you go through the political day here. I mean, this doesn’t change the so-called Republican branding, and it doesn’t mean Democrats are going to abandon Obama, but it does mean that the…

Well, it can mean, if cards are played right, that you have a party winning elections that doesn’t trust the voters. I’m telling you, there are ways to get them. They are vulnerable. I think one of the things that would be helpful — and I don’t see any signs of this, either — is if the Republican Party would stop this silly attempt to be like the Democrats and start representing the opposition. You’d be amazed at what would happen.

If you had a Republican Party, an active Republican Party establishment that was representing the people that elected ’em, that was attempting to stop this and accomplish something else, you’d see a lot different attitude in this country. One of the reasons for the malaise and this fog of depression that we’ve been talking about is the fact that there isn’t any opposition, real opposition. They’re not even on the field.

Yeah, there’s all kinds of opposition here. There’s opposition on the blogs, there’s opposition in books and Fox News, but there isn’t any political opposition. So all of the opposition is essentially leaderless. We’re not in the political game. We’re not about getting votes in Congress, House or Senate, or any of that. It’s also frustrating that the Democrats’ appeal is all emotional, as most appeals are.

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RUSH: Jessica in Nashville. Jessica, great to have you on the EIB Network. Hi.

CALLER: Rush, it’s an honor to speak with you. I’m a 30-year-old Rush Baby. I just love you. You were talking about the MLK anniversary event earlier, and I was wondering. Instead of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, a couple of old white guys, why wouldn’t the organizers want to include people that really exemplify what MLK was hoping for like Dr. Benjamin Carson and Condoleezza Rice? Just ’cause they’re conservative?

RUSH: Pretty much. That’s pretty much it. See, here’s the thing. The dream — and here’s a media alert. I’m about to step in it. You guys want to have some fun here? ‘Cause I’m about to step in it. In their world, I’m gonna step in it. The dream that Martin Luther King spoke of is nowhere in sight. What he spoke of 50 years ago, judging people by “the content of their character, not the color of their skin,” is nowhere in sight. There hasn’t been any substantive improvement in racial relations since he made that speech.

The fact that these guys are gonna go get a couple of white guys from the Jim Crow South, with roots to the Jim Crow South — Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton — and they’re not only not gonna have Carson or Condoleezza Rice, but not one Republican anywhere near it (that I’ve seen, anyway) on the speaking roster? I think if Dr. King were alive today — if Dr. King were alive today, what’s happened to the civil rights movement would not have happened.

Can you…? Look, I better not mention any names here. There really is nothing to be gained by it. There are some people who, I think, would embarrass the heck out of him, or bother him greatly, who have presumed to inherit his movement and his mantel, if you will. But this country is racially divided, I think largely because the president’s the first African-American and no criticism is permitted, and that just set stage.

I can’t think of any other explanation other than that those people are conservative, and that’s not the message that its organizers want heard on Wednesday. They want a pro-government, anti-Republican, anti-individual liberty, anti-self-reliant message. Dr. Carson doesn’t fit that bill, and Condoleezza Rice doesn’t fit that bill. They need to have people speaking and talking about the need for government.

They need people talking about the Republican racism that still exists and so forth, and this only gonna exacerbate things further. But again, I just want to remind you: I have been told privately by some in the civil rights coalition today that they’re not that happy with Obama as the lead speaker on Wednesday because he’s not down for the struggle. Now, he’ll carry the message, but what they’ve told me is that his message is not gonna be theirs. His message is gonna be his.

He makes every event about him.

It won’t be about Dr. King except peripherally. It won’t be primarily about Dr. King. It might be worded to sound like it, but it’s going to be about Obama, and these guys know Obama wasn’t there in Selma, like John Lewis was. He wasn’t there. (interruption) Do I think they’ve got a valid reason to be concerned that Obama’s not…? Yeah, they’ve got a valid reason to be concerned; they’re right! He makes every event about himself. He’ll say things like his dad was only able to became what he became because of Dr. King.

His dad became what he became because he remembered Selma.

He’ll throw out the usual shibboleths and so forth.

But these guys all know that he’s gonna make the event about him, when it’s all said and done. (interruption) No, they didn’t come to me. I’ve just spoken to ’em, you know, at random, at various events and so forth. No, nobody seeks me out to tell me these things. These are private conversations where I hear things, and they’ve all sworn me to secrecy. I mean, I’ve promised ’em I would not identify ’em. Obviously. They wouldn’t tell me anything if I was gonna do that, and it’s not a whole bunch of ’em, don’t misunderstand, anyway. Jessica, I appreciate the call.

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RUSH: I’ve had several staff members jump into my chili, disagreeing with me rather frantically when I said that there has been very little improvement in race relations since Martin Luther King’s speech, pointing out that… (interruption) Okay, if I’m wrong, then I guess we’ll hear all the progress detailed on Wednesday when they speak. (interruption) That’s right. They need it miserable, and they are gonna continue to say it’s miserable. (interruption) What do you cite, school choice as an improvement?

It’s being defeated practically everywhere it succeeds. In fact, the president canceled it in Washington. It’s not popular with the black community. It’s popular with a few percentage points of the black community, school choice is. When they get it, they love it. (interruption) Okay. Well my point is that the fact that we even need a program like school choice is evidence of the decline in racial harmony.

You go back and talk to Thomas Sowell, who can tell you what it was like living in a black family in Harlem in the fifties. Go back to the recent advent of the single mother, 73% of black babies born into a single parent household. That has been since Dr. King. It wasn’t that way when he made his speech. The nuclear family was relatively intact. It was relatively churchgoing and so forth. I mean, I don’t see it. We’ve got the election of the first black president.

Some people thought that heralded great progress. (interruption) African-American…? (interruption) Well, no, but I’m talking… (interruption) Forget his policies. I’m talking about the attitudes in the country. I’ve got stories today about how the country’s more racially divided today than it was when he was elected and half the people that voted for the guy voted to end racial strife. The exact opposite happened. So… (interruption) Yeah. (interruption) Mmm-hmm. (interruption) Okay. Okay. Okay.

Snerdley is telling me that the civil rights movement was a success because they have their civil rights and they can vote and they can live where they want to live. They can’t think what they want to think. Look, I know that the Democrats were the segregationists, and I know that the civil rights that were denied were denied by Democrats. I understand all of that. But in day-to-day, everyday life, I just don’t see the vast improvement that Dr. King stood for.

I just don’t see it. Well, maybe. I’m not saying it’s completely bleak, but you want to talk about success. You’re talking about spots here and… (interruption) Okay. All right. The point has been advanced here that if one leaves a blue city, then one sees less racial strife. So if you end up — well, pick a red state — in any red state, you’re going to see less racial strife than there was 50 years ago and certainly less than there currently is in a blue state.

So the point is being made here — I get it now, and I don’t disagree with this — that whatever racial strife exists is due almost exclusively to liberal Democrats who profit from it. Did Dr. King profit from it? Was that his objective? (interruption) That was not his long-term objective? I didn’t think so. His long-term objective was not to profit from racial strife. He was serious when he made that speech, his Dream speech, “content of character…” (interruption)

That’s right. “He was not a race hustler. He was not a race hustler.” But what do you call them, his heirs? Well, not his. The people who have presumed to take over the movement. I’m not. They’re not him. They’re not even close. Anyway, you’ll see it on Wednesday. You watch. You watch. This whole thing on Wednesday is gonna end up being about Obama’s presidency, not Martin Luther King.

The Martin Luther King anniversary is the reason for Obama to be there, but it isn’t. You wait ’til Obama describes it. I guarantee you you’re gonna get a litany of… Well, I’ve said enough. We’ll know whether or not my prediction comes true. I don’t want to get into debating specifics, but you just wait and see what he does with that opportunity. It’s what he does with every opportunity: Make it about him and his presidency. And there will be a lot in that speech about the 2014 midterms and voting rights.

There will be all the stories of struggle, travail, and denial of rights. Oh, you’re gonna drown in it — and if you think that there has been any progress in race relations in this country, by the time Obama finishes on Wednesday, you won’t think so. (Clinton impression) “And, by the time Clinton finishes? I mean, what you’ll realize after Clinton finishes is that when he was president, a lot of progress was made but since then there hasn’t been enough, and it’s all been rolled back.”

Then you’ll have Jimmy Carter up there. I mean, these are genuine icons of the Jim Crow era, or at least their mentors. The number one name… Make a note on this. Here’s the number one name that will be mentioned from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday: Trayvon Martin Luther King. That will be the number one name. Trayvon Martin Luther King. Just like this past Sunday on the Sunday shows, the topic was Trayvon Martin Luther King — and, of course, me.

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RUSH: Tony in Atlanta, great to have you. You’re next on the Rush Limbaugh program. Hi.

CALLER: Hey, Rush. How are you doing today?

RUSH: Good, sir. Thank you.

CALLER: I comment on what you think about the Martin Luther King thing, and I agree with what you said, and I feel that the dream has turned into a nightmare. I mean, the African-American community is… I don’t think we’ve ever been this bad. I mean, it’s not looking good. The murder rate, the teenage pregnancy, the high school dropouts, the prison rate.

RUSH: It’s a tragedy. It is a real tragedy.

CALLER: It is a tragedy for people. And I gotta admit, I voted for Obama the first time, and then I started listening to you shortly after that, and all the stuff you started to say seemed like it was right on. I mean, it was just… So, I didn’t vote for him the second time. I mean, if —

RUSH: Yeah, but, you know, it makes total sense that you did the first time.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: And you were nowhere near… It makes total sense that you did.

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: That was a big thing that held huge possibilities, I’m sure, in your mind.

CALLER: Yeah, it did. It did. And then, like I said, once I started listening to you and what you said about the health care and all these different things, it turned out it was true. It’s just all these marches and stuff they have for Martin Luther King, and if Martin Luther King could look in the future when he was doing the civil rights movement, he might have quit, because this is just not right, and taking what he has done and making it as though it’s like a business?

You know, “Let’s just get rich from it but let’s not do anything about anything,” and it’s just happening… You know, to me, that’s my personal opinion. I don’t know what everybody else thinks, but it, to me, seems like it has turned into a nightmare and right now he’s probably turning in his grave if he sees what’s going on right now, because of what we doing to ourselves. That’s what I’m talking about talking about. It has nothing to do with anybody taking our civil rights. We can vote, we can go to college, we can get jobs, we can do all of this, but we’re worse off than we were in the sixties. And it’s because of us.

RUSH: Well, it is because —

CALLER: No question about it.

RUSH: I’ll speak of the “you” generically. You have relied on 50 years of promises that have sounded very seductive, that have never been kept, and I’m talking about the way the Democrat Party campaigns. They tell you that the Republicans are your archenemy and that the worst possible things can happen if you vote for ’em. So the Democrats been telling you to rely on them. They’re gonna protect you, and they’re gonna bring you prosperity. They’re gonna make sure you’re not discriminated against — and if you are, they are gonna fix that and so forth. These are empty process.

CALLER: Yeah, I agree. You know, I’m not even excited about this thing they’re doing with this speech and event. I mean, I’m looking at the big picture here and it’s just not looking good. I have kids, and I’m trying to raise my kids the right way and teach them values and stuff, and they are going to school with kids that just have no values, learning… It’s just ridiculous, and nobody’s saying anything about it. It’s just hush-hush. It’s ridiculous.

RUSH: No, in fact —

CALLER: The dream has turned to a nightmare.

RUSH: You’re being told what everybody’s being told: “Whatever you do, make sure that it doesn’t hurt Obama! Make sure that Obama looks good when this is all over. Make sure that his agenda is advanced. Don’t embarrass Obama or what have you.” I know. Everybody raising kids is scared to death right now about the economy, and about crime, and about all of the pitfalls that are waiting out there for young kids, all those things that are really, really seductive to everybody.

Tony, I’m glad you called.

I’m glad you’re out there, too, and I hope to hear from you again.