RUSH: To the phones in Fox River Grove, Illinois, with Steve. Welcome. Great to have you here. Hello.

CALLER: Well, hello, Rush. It’s a pleasure to talk to you. I’ve been a Rush Limbaugh apologist now for 20-something years.

RUSH: “A Rush Limbaugh apologist.” Hmm. Interesting. Thank you, sir.

CALLER: Well, I live in the liberal bastion of America, so I get ample opportunity to defend you.

RUSH: I appreciate that. I really do. I know what you meant by it. You’re surrounded by people who don’t know what they’re talking about constantly ripping me and you’re trying to set ’em straight.

CALLER: (laughing) Well, Rush, the reason I’m calling today is because I have heard you speak recently about your optimism for the country, and I find it very difficult to share. I want to be optimistic about the future of America. I love America. I love what America represents. But, you know, I hearken back to the America I remember from 40 or 50 years ago, more so than today. What I see happening today — with the debt at the level it is, with the lack of political will in Washington — I find it difficult to understand how the country can recover from its current course, and how it can be the America I remember again.

RUSH: Let me ask you. A lot of people feel identical to you. Many of them would call themselves members of the Tea Party, in fact. How old are you? Ballpark.

CALLER: Fifty-seven.

RUSH: Fifty-seven. In your life, or in your knowledge of history, can you remember a time when the country was in such dire straits as it is today?

CALLER: No. The closest thing I can remember is at the beginning of the Reagan administration when the country was in a lot of trouble, the economy was terrible, and the interest rates were ridiculous, but we weren’t carrying the debt that we had back then. And, you know, even though we were operating under deficits, it was nothing it is today. So that’s the only thing that I can remember. I mean, I look at history and the end of World War II, and, you know, how much trouble we were in back then. I know that there have been other times when the country was in big trouble. But this just doesn’t appear to be something that this country can recover from, and there’s no will in Washington to change the direction.

RUSH: Now, that is undeniable, so the change isn’t gonna come from there. The change is not going to start there. I wish that I could be more specific with you about the reasons for my optimism. But I can’t because it’s just a… Well, I admit it: It’s a feeling, and I will admit I have a desire for it to happen, obviously. But I also think it’s going to. I donÂ’t know how that’s gonna manifest itself.

If I had to guess, I would say that at some point — and it may be relatively soon. I don’t know — a young adult generation is simply going to throw up its hands and say,
“Enough! We are not living this way. We are not going to continue what you, our parents and grandparents have been doing. We’re not. We don’t want an economy like this. We don’t want hopeless like this. We do not want indebtedness like this. We don’t pay for the rest of our lives for all of the mistakes that you’ve made.”

I just always believed in the population. I believe there’s gonna be a rally, and I think it’s gonna require a leader, and there are plenty of people trying to lead this rally. There are plenty of people who want to. Some of them are in Washington right now but they’re really not “of” Washington. But to believe the opposite is to throw in the towel, and that? I can’t do that. I just refuse. There would be no reason to do this anymore or to write these books for kids if I were of the opinion that this is it, it’s over, and we’ve lost the country.

I couldn’t accept that, and I don’t.

I wish I could be more specific with you, but I can’t.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: So our last caller, 57 years old from Illinois. “Rush, I don’t know how you can be optimistic. I hear you say that you are, but I don’t feel it, Rush. The debt, the reform necessary, there’s no desire for it in Washington. How in the world is this going to happen?” I said to him that I just have a sense. It’s a feeling based on… It’s intelligence guided by experience. It’s thoughts, it’s emotions, it’s a number of things. I said, “I can’t really get specific with you, although I can.”

The thing is, I’m not really crazy, as you know, of talking about myself. But being honest, let me give you a couple things here that I use to feel optimistic. But let me ask you a question first. Think about the people that you know. Forget party labels for just a second. Do the people you know live like conservatives or do they live like liberals? How do they actually live their lives, the people that you know?

How are they raising their kids?

What do you talk to them about?

Are they not of the same frame of mind you are about all these things? Do they work hard? Are they trying to work hard? Are they trying to keep their kids on the straight and narrow route? Are they trying to save some money? Are they trying to advance economically? Are they trying to improve their standard of living? Is that what they want to do? Are they raising their kids with values that you think are good and worthwhile?

Do they help other people? Are they compassionate? Do they care about other people? I would venture to say that most of the people you know probably do all those things. Most people I know are that way. I’m not denying other people are out there, don’t misunderstand. Just the people that you know, people that you hang with. I’m sure, like you, I have liberal friends.

But I look at the way they live, and one of the things I found is they don’t, a lot of them, really live their lives the way they preach. They think other people should. They don’t. They live lives that are more conservative than they would ever admit or believe. They want the same things for their kids that you do. Some of them may just think other people should pay for it. I’m talking about values here. I understand. I’m not being naive.

There are plenty of people that are not like you out there, but I just… “Do you feel alone?” is the point. I know a lot of you do, but that’s because you don’t have any leadership in Washington, but I’m talking about where you live, your neighborhood, where you work. There are a lot of people like you. There are more people like you than there aren’t, is the point. Take a look any Barack Obama issue, any policy of his.

There’s not one of them that has majority support in the American people. But we’ve got a major problem in our education system, and we have a major problem in our pop culture. People may not realize it yet, but every day people get older, and they get wiser, and they will eventually come to realize how important the country really is, and this Millennial generation, some people think they’re the epitome of selfishness and self-centeredness.

But these people were promised a lot that isn’t gonna happen, they were promised a lot that isn’t gonna happen if they would just vote for certain people. It isn’t gonna happen. And they’re not gonna put up with it, a majority of them are. I also think, folks, I that there will be dramatic changes once we… Let me just put it this way. The fact that we are living in the historic era with the first African-American president has everybody paralyzed and everybody scared.

Political leadership in Washington is literally paralyzed. Political consultant leadership in Washington literally paralyzed. The Republican Party is literally paralyzed. Many American citizens are literally paralyzed, frightened to death to say anything to anybody about what they really think — and while this is happening, things are going down the tubes at a rapid rate. So once we get past this historical era, I think a lot of this is going to change.

I think the paralysis will end. Even if we get the first female president, it’s still not gonna be near the paralysis that exists today. That paralysis was planned for and is being used to its maximum benefit by the Democrat and the American left. But let me make this personal for a moment, since you’re asking, this guy, how do I stay positive. Folks, please do not interpret this as ego. It isn’t. It is a genuine measurement.

I told the guy and I’ll tell you again: If I thought that the end of the country as you and I know it, if that was a fait accompli, why even make the pretense of caring about this? Why not, instead, be making plans to deal with that eventuality? But I’m not. I’m here every day. I’m writing books for the children now, for the express purpose and for the reason that I believe there’s reason to be hopeful and optimistic that this can be turned around.

Do you realize, ladies and gentlemen, that global warming 15 years ago was supposed to have been done, over with, accepted, and implemented into the American political system? With no argument, it was supposed to be over, and it isn’t. It’s nowhere close to be. The left has not secured it. They are more hysterical, they are more lunatic, they are more ridiculous each and every day as they attempt to persuade people to join them. There haven’t been too many people on the national stage fighting this.

Most people have acquiesced. Most people have not even taken the time to really examine what these people are saying. But I have, and the reason I have is because I totally oppose command-and-control governments, centralized authority, central planning, socialism, loss of freedom — and that’s all this is. It’s the same thing health care is. That’s another thing. Do you realize health care was supposed to have been done by 1998?

We were supposed to have had socialized medicine by 1998, but we didn’t. The fact that these two central elements that define the advance of liberalism have been retarded, stopped, slowed down. Now a majority of people oppose the notion of manmade global warming. They do not believe it anymore. It’s taken a long time. Now, with Obamacare, I could hear you shouting, “Hey, Rush! They finally got it.” Look what’s happening, though. The people who are supposed to benefit from it are about to die politically, and they’re running away from it as fast as I’ve ever seen politicians run away from anything, other than the House Bank Scandal.

It is an absolute disaster. The point is that it may have been forced on us, but guess what? They dare not really implement it, do they? Every week it seems there’s a new delay. “We’re not gonna do that.” The real punitive aspect of this they know damn well this country’s not gonna put up with it. They know damn well they will not win reelection if national socialized medicine is fully implemented, and they’re running away from it left and right, and they’re delaying the implementation. They may have Obamacare, but they do not have what they really want: the love and devotion and support of the American people en masse for it. They do not. Barack Obama doesn’t have any of that. He doesn’t have a majority of the love and devotion of the American people like he did when he ran in 2000. He does not have it.

They are not winning with slam dunk after slam dunk. We are paralyzed, folks. Now, I’m not, but most people in the media are. They’re just literally scared to death. This whole notion of race has everybody literally silenced. And I think once we get past this, you’re going to see dramatic changes, and you’re going to see newfound bravery that you thought had vanished, and you’re going to see newfound opposition that you think had vanished. I’m not suggesting the Republican establishment’s gonna do a 180 on a dime, but you’re going to have Ted Cruz joined by a whole lot more people, and Mike Lee, and all the others. You’re gonna have ’em joined by a whole lot more people.

Take a look at the state of Texas. I have a story in the Stack today of how fantastic things are going in the state of Texas, in spite of all this. I look at where there is fracking going on in the Dakotas. They have so much economic growth they can’t build housing fast enough for the jobs that are being filled, for the workers. They can’t build it fast enough. And everywhere that I look that’s dominated by liberalism is dying. Folks, a political party that is insane as the New York liberal Democrat Party is not a party that is ever going to win the minds and hearts of anywhere near a majority of Americans.

I told Snerdley and the gang on the other side of the glass during the break at the top of the hour, “I think I figured what happened to the Malaysian airliner.” “Oh, really? What?” I said, “I think it’s been hijacked by the Koch brothers. I think the Koch brothers have hijacked that airplane. The last time they saw it, it was thousand of miles off course, hundreds of miles off course. Why? The Koch brothers have hijacked that plane, they’ve landed it somewhere, and they’re conducting medical experiments on the passengers.”

Why do I say that? Well, because that’s what you could probably make people that live in New York believe. The Washington Free Beacon has the story. David Koch, who has donated over a billion dollars to hospitals and other cultural centers in New York gave $100 million to New York Presbyterian Hospital. It is going to be used to create new jobs, new medical research for women and children. And there are three groups in New York who went out to the hospital over the weekend and marched in protest.

The New York State Nurses Association, the NAALCP, New York state conference, and of course our old buddies, the SEIU Local 1199 marched on the soon-to-be-built David Koch center at New York Presbyterian Hospital, funded in part by a $100 million donation. The left despises David Koch and his brother Charles. They hate the Koch brothers. They are insane in blaming the Koch brothers on things. Here is a man who’s just effectively built a wing of a hospital that’s going to employ nurses, and the people that elected this idiot mayor are out protesting it. This was all timed to coincide with International Women’s Day. How on earth do a bunch of nurses oppose the building of a new outpatient treatment facility that will provide employment for lots of nurses?

Folks, as others have said, this is completely insane. They say the Koch brothers are opposed to national health care. The Koch brothers are opposed to affordable health care. Why would he donate a hundred million dollars to a hospital, then? Just to get his name on it? No. What is anybody doing protesting? My point here is it defies logical explanation. My point is these are not the people that are gonna take over this country. They are never going to have majority support. A mayor who wants to shut down the best performing schools in New York City is not a guy who is going to build a national coalition of support. They are literally becoming more and more insane. As they think they win more and more, they become unhappier, they become more unhinged.

There’s nothing about our opposition that is inspiring, inspirational, nothing uplifting, there is nothing positive. All there is is a pretense at Santa Claus coupled with a successful branding of the Republicans as people that don’t care. It really is no more complicated than that. How do all these Democrat mayors that preside over top 10 crime, how do they keep getting reelected? ‘Cause of what people have been made to think about Republicans. Republicans don’t know how to — that’s a whole other story.

I’m just telling you, we beat back global warming, health care is not yet implemented fully, and it’s not a done deal. There are any number of reasons to be optimistic. If you were sitting where I was, and where I am, and if you were doing what I’m doing — and please don’t misunderstand that — you would have to feel optimistic. I guarantee you, if you had three hours a day to tell people what you passionately care about, you would feel optimistic. I guarantee you.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Here is Tom in Columbus, Ohio. Hi, Tom. Great to have you on the program. Hello.

CALLER: Hey, Rush, thanks very much.

RUSH: You bet.

CALLER: I have a comment on when things are gonna change, okay —

RUSH: Sure.

CALLER: — from your prior caller.

RUSH: Have at it.

CALLER: All right, Democrats are relying on the feel-good motive of people. Young people want to do that, they want to help people, but they don’t want to provide a way of life for people to do nothing. They will grow tired of that. Okay, providing a bed for people instead of a safety net. And that’s when the young people — I’m 50 years old; I’ve got two kids out of college, one kid in college, okay? So they’re working very hard, but they want to do good. They want to help people. They want to feel good about helping people. And young people understand fair.

So after working hard through college or a job to achieve what they want, they’re gonna understand personal responsibility. And that’s something that our president only saves for schoolchildren in his speech to them yearly, personal responsibility. So we need to show our compassionate youth that providing people in poverty a path to prosperity is the best thing we can do for them, and the best fix for poverty is a job. So young people are gonna evolve into that, they’ll realize that, and then that’s when there’s gonna be a shift in this country. That make sense?

RUSH: If I understand what you’re saying, here’s your premise. That people, particularly young people, naturally want to help people.

CALLER: Correct.

RUSH: They want to help people who are in trouble, and they want to help people get past problems and so forth, but when help becomes provide for, that’s when —

CALLER: Correct.

RUSH: — they’re gonna say, “Wait a minute, that’s not what we bargained for.”

CALLER: That’s correct. And the Democrats are relying on that premise with our young people today: don’t you want to help people? Don’t you like people? But they’re gonna realize these people that they’ve said, “Okay, yes, we want to help them.” “Here, we’ll extend unemployment again, yes.” Sooner or later they’re gonna say, “Wait a minute. Are we helping them or am I providing a way of life for them to do nothing?” And that’s when the shift is gonna happen.

RUSH: Look, I think that’s true. Here’s the thing about this. I’m not gonna sit here and exist in denial. We have reached a point — we have to be realistic here. We can’t honestly say that all of this is gonna turn around in one election. Let’s say the Republicans win the White House. That’s not single-handedly going to be what turns this around. Democrats lose the Senate, we win with the House. I’m still not sure that the Republicans want to win the Senate. It’s much easier to be in the minority where you have no responsibility. It’s much easier where you don’t have to come up with the agenda that is reform. It’s much easier to sit there and say there’s nothing we can do; we’re in the minority. That’s a side issue.

I think we’re at a point here, we’re in deep. I don’t want anybody to be misled with my optimism. The end of the Obama presidency is not gonna be magic. It’s gonna be big in one characteristic, though. It’s gonna end this paralysis of criticism that everybody is suffering. The second thing, I touched on it earlier, when you look at the Dakotas where the fracking is going on and Texas, the states hold the key, I believe. If you say, and a caller did, that Washington is not responsive, that Washington does not seem interested in fixing this or reforming it, may be. But the states are. The states can’t print money. The states cannot do what the federal government can do. They have to actually abide by a whole different set of rules and laws. So there are a lot of things that have to happen.

I’m not pie-in-the-sky here. But enough things happen just on this radio show in pushing back and retarding the progress or stopping it of some of their most important issues, global warming and health care, to name a couple; there are others as well. But I think this notion that — I, too, I said it earlier, there is gonna be a generation, it may be the Millennials, a generation growing up and saying, “Wait a minute, this is not what we’re in this for. We’re not going to pay for half this country, for 92 million people to not work. We’re just not gonna do it. We’re not our parents. We’re not our grandparents. We’re not gonna do it.” I have that faith as well.