TODD: Barry in Minnetonka, Minnesota. I’m sorry if I didn’t say that the right way. Minnetonka, Minnesota. Is that better, Barry? Welcome to Rush’s show.

CALLER: Perfect. Thanks very much. I am a 30-year listener to Rush, and I feel that I’ve lost a good and reliable friend. So heartfelt condolences to Kathryn, to his personal family, and to all the radio family at EIB. The point I wanted to make is that in these divisive times, people often forget that Rush had deep appeal across both racial and ethnic lines, and I think the best expression of that was that classic song by the Rush Hawkins Singers, “Thank the Lord, Rush Limbaugh’s On.”

TODD: (laughing) Yes.

CALLER: It delighted Rush and all of his listeners, and I think it really needled liberals because it went against their talking points. So I’d love you to play Thank the Lord, Rush Limbaugh’s On.

TODD: Well, I tell you what. As a rank amateur filling in for the master — who’s, you know, obviously in heaven — I do not have the power to invoke Thank the Lord, Rush Limbaugh’s On. I would… I just imagine in heaven when Rush arrived —

CALLER: (laughing)

TODD: — and you had the legion of people who had for their years been guided by Rush, and people he knew like William F. Buckley and people that he had celebrated. You know, Paul Harvey welcomed him into the Hall of Fame after Sally Jessy Raphael attempted to slime him.

CALLER: Yes.

TODD: Rush was too dignified to be slimed. You know, Sally may not be there, but I think Paul Harvey is, and I can see Paul Harvey.

CALLER: (laughing)

TODD: I could see him greeting Rush. I just had this image as Rush arrives in heaven and St. Peter greets him and Rush comes in. His intellect and his soul are one, and he sees all the world’s secrets and all the universe’s togetherness, and he’s one with God, and then Paul Harvey comes, and he says to Rush, “And now you know the rest of the story,” and Rush embraces him.

CALLER: (laughing)

TODD: Listen to this. You know what we got? You asked for it, Barry. Here it is, thank the Lord, Rush’s on.

(Thank the Lord, Rush Limbaugh’s On)

TODD: That’s to you, Rush. We know you’re enjoying it in heaven.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

TODD: Let’s talk to Dee in Atlanta, Georgia. Dee, we got about a minute and a half together. Welcome to Rush’s show. Thanks for waiting. Welcome, Dee.

CALLER: Yes. All I wanted to say was condolences and sympathy and prayers to the family of Rush Limbaugh and the radio family. The man was a legend. He knew how to separate fact from fantasy. He knew how to just give people the facts in fiction, and tell everybody what they needed to hear. Not what they wanted to hear; what they needed to hear. He was a man of many words. And you got some big shoes to follow.

TODD: (chuckling)

CALLER: And you almost sound like him, Todd.

TODD: No. No, no, no. Dee, we don’t go there. No one sounds the Maha. It takes all of us. You’ll notice there’s four or five of us in rotation (laughing) to even fill in for the Maha. But what you said, you know what I love you said? Is that Rush is a man of many words, Dee. But you know what they were? They were always thoughtful. I challenge anyone — and this is a little bit of inside radio speak, Dee, so forgive me on this.

Because I sit here with headphones and I get to experience Rush in a different way. I’m not driving around or working on my house or working out, which is often where I listen to Rush. I’m listening in headphones in a radio studio. There was a purpose to every segment, even if it was to have fun, even if it was to celebrate a new invention.

Even if it was to tell a story about the weekend, even if it was to connect to you, even if it was for Rush to be entertained by callers or be made to look good by callers. Every segment had a purpose. There’s so many young talk show hosts — and I’m an old man, but still just a radio clown amateur compared to the great Maha. So many talk show hosts could learn a lesson about that. So could people who present for a living. Every slide, everything you say should have a purpose if you’re ever trying to persuade.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

TODD: Let’s talk to Steve in Albertville, Alabama. Steve, you’re on the Rush Limbaugh program. It’s Todd Herman in for our dear Maha. Hi, Steve.

CALLER: Hello. Thank you for having me, Todd. First, I’d like to extend my condolences and sympathy to Kathryn and all the Rush listeners and fans around the world. I want to touch on something real quick here that you had on Friday. It was that “A-ha!” moment with Rush Limbaugh.

I had always been a Democrat, and I was a contractor, a subcontractor. When Ronald Reagan was elected president, they told me that morning, “Well, Reagan, he’s a Republican, and he’s been elected president. So you better go buy you a good squirrel gun if you want something to eat.”

TODD: Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

CALLER: At lunchtime, I went to my car, and I sat down, and I just turned my radio on, my local station here, and Rush Limbaugh was on, and I started listening to him. I became so much like Reagan and his thoughts — and Rush and his thoughts — that people started calling me the Great Negotiator, and they did Ronald Reagan.

TODD: (chuckling)

CALLER: But the things I learned from Rush was how to not just accept what people threw out at you, but to learn to think for yourself and see what’s going on and research what it was. I found that before long, I looked at Rush as my mentor and my teacher that I depended on to give me the facts and to teach me how to think for myself.

For example, you mentioned the homophobes or whatever and the different races and stuff. Rush taught me within myself… Just on the word “racism,” for example, “race” is the root word there, and Jesus Christ, I learned from listening to Rush… I learned within myself. Jesus Christ settled that debate many, many years ago when he determined when he died on the cross that all lives matter regardless of race.

TODD: Yeah.

CALLER: And I learned to think like that from the great Rush Limbaugh. I will miss him forever. I thank all of you so very much from depths of my heart for picking up the ball where Rush had carried it so far for so many years, even during his sickness — and never complained — he continued to carry the ball. He continued to teach us. He continued to guide us and help us understand for ourselves to think for ourselves and not just accept what was thrown out.

TODD: Yep.

CALLER: He will be missed for years, and kudos to all of you behind the scenes who continue to carry this program and his legacy forward.

TODD: Thank you, Steve. Beautiful. Beautiful phone call. And you’re addressing… I want you to make sure that you know, it’s not just those of us who get to be on the mic. There is a team of people behind the scenes.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

TODD: Let’s talk to Rick in South Carolina. Rick, you’re on the Rush Limbaugh program. It’s Todd Herman filling in for our dearly departed friend, the Maha.

CALLER: Yes, I wanted to thank Rush and thank you, Todd, for the show and for all the years and for the education of America. Thank you.

TODD: Well, I thank you for the call. What’s it meant to you personally?

CALLER: Really, the education from Rush started for me 26 or 27 years ago. I was out of college and on the radio, not all the days, but really and truly Rush basically taught us all, you know, no matter where you picked up on that continuum. He lifted you up if you were 27 or 42, wherever you were in life, to explain it to you, to understand how important it was to get it right and to digest the day’s events and the evil forces against us.

TODD: Yeah. Yeah, and what you said… I love what you said, Rick, is it didn’t matter the age, that Rush lifted people up from every aspect of life. We’ve heard from people… Just since I’ve been doing this since Rush passed, I’ve heard from a doctor decided to found his own clinic versus having a job and he was very thankful for that. I’ve heard from people who were encouraged in their battle with cancer because of Rush’s optimism.

I’ve heard from a woman who was using Rush’s words to help her husband be cheered through his battle with liver cancer. I’ve heard, I mean, countless times. We heard from a military wife who’s been in 27 cities in her major marriage and that Rush was home for her. So there is that aspect to that. That’s a great call. Thank you very much, Rick, for that. I can’t see the name in Ohio, but I know someone’s in Ohio. (interruption) Sean in Ohio. You are on the Rush Limbaugh program. Hi. Sean in Ohio.

CALLER: Hi. Hi, Todd. Pleasure to talk to you guide.

TODD: Glad you called, Sean. What’s on your mind, my friend?

CALLER: Well, I just wanted to share with everybody, first, my appreciation for everything that they’ve done. I’m so glad that they’ve been able to do this for so long.

TODD: Thank you. And how old are you, Sean?

CALLER: Fifteen.

TODD: Fifteen. So you are a 15-year-old Rush Baby?

CALLER: Yes. That is what the call screener said. (chuckles)

TODD: Well, it’s true. You listened to Rush your whole life?

CALLER: Yeah.

TODD: Okay.

CALLER: My parents listened to him a lot, and I didn’t really understand him that much up until, you know, Trump got real big. So once Trump started getting real big, I started listening a lot, and it was so awesome to have him every day talking. You know, I’d understand things that I never thought that my parents would be able to explain to me.

TODD: (laughing) I love this — and, listen, this isn’t a plug. But I will tell you, I hope that your parents can get you some back orders of The Limbaugh Letter. I hope that you get Rush’s books, and I hope you have access to RushLimbaugh.com. We need you, man.

CALLER: Yeah, actually we have — and I have read — all of the books.

TODD: Awesome. Awesome. Man, I’m glad you called. You’re a hope. Stick with these principles. Never let anybody who didn’t tell you, you can’t, and work hard, brother. Work hard, Sean. It’s a blessing that you called. Thank you for being part of the next generation with the hat on right. I appreciate you. Go with God’s good grace. Thank you, Sean.