Unofficial Summary of the Rush Limbaugh Show for Tuesday, October 11, 1994 by John Switzer This unofficial summary is copyright (c) 1994 by John Switzer. All Rights Reserved. These summaries are distributed on CompuServe and the Internet, and archived on CompuServe (DL9 of the ISSUES forum) and Internet (cathouse.org and grind.isca.uiowa.edu). The /pub/jrs directory at ftp.netcom.com contains the summaries for the past 30 days. Distribution to other electronic forums and bulletin boards is highly encouraged. Spelling and other corrections gratefully received. Please read the standard disclaimer which was included with the first summary for this month. In particular, please note that this summary is not approved or sanctioned by Rush Limbaugh or the EIB network, nor do I have any connection with them other than as a daily listener. ************************************************************* October 11, 1994 BRIEF SUMMARY OF TOPICS: words to "Tax Raiser 2" promo; words to "Single White Female" promo; Robert B. Reich says that the Census Bureau's poverty figures show a 15-year trend towards inequality and a two-tiered society; why are the poor getting poor under Clintonomics?; Rush thinks his wife gives him wussy ties; George Bush warns Republicans not to get overconfident about the November elections; Rush is proud and relived that the U.S. response to Hussein in the Gulf has forced Hussein back, and Clinton should get his credit for this; Ronald Reagan's military build-up made the U.S.'s strong response against Hussein possible; Rush uploads his response to FAIR on CompuServe, at the RUSHDL forum; caller accuses Rush of reaching a new low in questioning Clinton's political motivations in the Gulf; caller thinks Hussein is looking for a shooting war, so Clinton shouldn't be praised yet for his handling of the situation; George Bush is accused of "not finishing the job" with the Gulf War, but he didn't want to destroy Iraq, mainly because this would have opened the door to Iran; U.N. didn't authorize the taking of Hussein or the destruction of all of Iraq's military in the Gulf War; even if Hussein were eliminated, would there be anyone else better waiting in line?; press is now hard at work not only at resuscitating Clinton's image, but at vilifying George Bush for his "mistakes" in the Gulf War; Bush's strategy during the Gulf War was to not let it appear that Hussein had him or the country worried; caller thinks Clinton is looking for a confrontation in the Gulf, encouraged by his success in Haiti; limiting the free flow of oil at market prices would severely curtail Americans' freedoms; tenure at colleges seems to be on its way out, and professors are not happy; Rush says his humble unofficial summary writer is doing "yeoman's work"; Rush cautions listeners against assuming there's a liberal conspiracy against him on CompuServe; caller suggests some kind of watchdog on the supposedly objective "news shows"; the free market is responding to the liberal bias in the media; Rush is working hard at "true dumb deficit reduction"; caller's brother-in-law in the military said he's been preparing for the Gulf deployment for more than two weeks; Clinton's response to Hussein was not his usual indecisiveness, but rather clear action and true leadership; media should investigate just when administration learned about the Iraqi troop movements; Rush wonders if the Congressional Black Caucus will storm the beaches next Saturday with Aristide; Haiti isn't helping Clinton much in the polls - his disapproval rating is up to 51%; Clinton plans to shift his agenda to "hot button issues" that are dependent on how well conservatives do this November, and Leon Panetta says Clinton will make his policy adjustments "after watching what voters decide in the mid-term elections"; caller is upset that Rush is doing ads for the NY Times; poverty figures show that poverty declined during the 80s; caller theorizes that the Bush administration purposely misled into thinking that an invasion of Kuwait wouldn't be opposed, so that the U.S. could then have an excuse to destroy Iraq's nuclear facilities; caller thinks Clinton will press for military action in the Gulf, to justify sending all the troops there; shouldn't Clinton get an honorary degree from West Point?; Anthony Lewis sent back unopened Rush's response to FAIR; Aristide is not happy that the U.S. won't let him get rid of the Haitian army's high command as well as 4,000 of the troops; U.S. conditions on Aristide show that America doesn't trust him at all; Howard Kurtz claims U.S. electorate is surly and that this is why campaign ads are so bitter and mean, but in reality voters have a lot of reasons to be angry at government; caller thinks Rush and Republicans haven't yet gotten it through their heads that Clinton has won; the liberals who protested Desert Shield and Desert Storm are strangely quiet now; since George Bush was accused of starting the Gulf War so as to help out his oil buddies, shouldn't Hillary be examined as to whether she owns any oil futures?; caller says vast majority of business people he meets are angry and bitter towards Clinton; NY Post story notes that taxpayers will be paying for administration's short- sightedness in financing the public debt; there's plenty of room in the federal government to cut the budget, such as the excess of federal employees; EIB is thinking of putting out tapes of the "Greatest Moments of the EIB Network"; caller says that if the anti-trust exemption for baseball is ended, it should be done on its own merits, not to solve the strike; using replacement players could create a lot of serious ill will among the players; Coy Gibbs of Stanford is a big fan of Rush; caller is not impressed that Clinton had the brains to increase U.S. troops in the Gulf; caller wonders if Colin Powell is advising Clinton about the Gulf; words to "Bomb, Bomb Iraq"; words to "Yakety Yak, Bomb Iraq"; caller notes that liberal newspapers seem to succeed more than conservative ones. LIMBAUGH WATCH October 11, 1994 - It's now day 630 (day 649 for the rich and the dead, and 28 days until the November elections) of "America Held Hostage" (aka the "Raw Deal" which has 832 days left) and 693 days after Bill Clinton's election, but Rush is still on the air with 659 radio affiliates (with more than 20 million listeners weekly world-wide), 250 TV affiliates (with a national rating of 3.7), and a newsletter with nearly 500,000 subscribers. His first book was on the NY Times hardback non-fiction best- seller list for 54 consecutive weeks, with 2.6 million copies sold, but fell off the list after Simon and Schuster stopped printing it. The paperback version of "The Way Things Ought To Be" was on the NY Times paperback non-fiction best-seller list for 28 weeks. Rush's second book, "See, I Told You So," was on the NY Times best-seller list for 16 weeks and has sold over 2.45 million copies. LEST WE FORGET The following are from the Rush Limbaugh show on Tuesday, October 13, 1992: o A number of military people were saying that Bill Clinton would be unable to get the most basic of security clearances because of his history of organizing war protests and his inability to explain his travels to the Soviet Union. o Bill Clinton got the endorsement of yet another famous American - Willie Horton, convicted rapist and murderer, who spoke from his jail cell at the Maryland State Penitentiary where he was serving a double-life sentence plus 85 years. Horton told the London Sunday Telegraph he was backing Bill Clinton because "I'm touched by what the Democrats are doing and how they're coming together again. I disagree with the Republicans because of what happened to me." o Brian from Katy, TX noted that the media was all outraged and beside itself over what it claimed were Bush's challenges to Clinton's patriotism. Where was this same media, though, when Clinton and Gore directly attacked Bush's patriotism by claiming that Bush was putting his re-election before the country's interests? Brian also asked why, if 1992 was really the Year of the Woman, the press wasn't outraged about Charlette Perry, the black woman who lost a state job in Arkansas because Bill Clinton gave the job to Gennifer Flowers? Perry appealed this decision and won redress for her grievance. o Barbara Bush was getting points for her handling of an interview by Katie Couric. When Couric asked Mrs. Bush if she thought character was an important issue, Mrs. Bush incredulously replied, "yes, don't you?" Couric didn't reply for several seconds, so Mrs. Bush said "well, come on, answer the question." Couric finally replied "well, I'm the one who's supposed to ask the questions." Rush noted that he did the Today show with Couric in early June, talking about his visit to the White House. When he said President Bush had impressed him as a decent, honest man, Couric frowned. Rush pointed this out to Couric, who said she was only thinking about his answer. These television people weren't used to being challenged, and Mrs. Bush did this sort of thing very well. o Bush campaign aide Mary Matalin wrote an Op-Ed piece in the NY Times in which she pointed out that character had to be the central issue in any election because how a candidate handled their office was determined by their character. Character determines leadership, how problems are solved, how crises are handled, etc. o Mary Matalin also appeared on Face the Nation with Mandy Grunwald, and the two got into a real cat fight at times. Grunwald was in St. Louis at the time, and she remarked that George Bush hadn't shown the "Show Me State" anything in four years. Matalin attacked her for that remark, and Grunwald showed how the Clinton campaign had an "immediate attack back" attitude by declaring "hey, Mary, cop the attitude." Bush was missing opportunities to do the same - Clinton had stated that Bush held a "right wing meeting" in the Oval office, but Bush let him get away with it instead of pointing out that the four Republicans involved were three ex-fighter pilots and a former POW. Bush needed to get some factual rebuttals out against Clinton's many lies. However, Rush noted that regardless of how one viewed Clinton's politics, one had to admire his campaign's ability to respond to attacks. For example, when Clinton's war-protesting, peacenik, draft-dodging past was brought up, the Clinton campaign found all sorts of military types to endorse him. In particular, Reagan's favorite member of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Crowe, and General Bill Odom, who headed the NSA during the Reagan administration, had jumped on the Clinton bandwagon. The press was portraying Odom as a "right-wing hawk," but this was a bit deceptive - Odom voted for George McGovern in 1972 because McGovern was going to end the Vietnam War. Odom's logic was that the only real danger to the US was its mortal enemy Soviet Communism and therefore the Vietnam War was a distraction. Odom thus felt that if the U.S. had elected McGovern, the US would have been able to devote its full energies against the USSR, but of course it was the Soviet Union that was helping Vietnam fight the U.S. o An editorial cartoon was in the Cincinnati Inquirer showed Christopher Columbus appearing on Larry King Live. King's first question was "Christopher Columbus - you've had 500 years to ponder your invasion of America. Your thoughts?" Columbus appeared a bit perplexed and says "shape-a like an egg - that's-a all I was-a tryin' to prove!" Next King asked "Disease, pestilence, genocide, the Tomahawk Chop - regrets?" Columbus replied "a trade route! Honest-to-god, that's-a all I was-a lookin' for!" King was not satisfied and continued with "ethnic cleansing, 1492 - your reaction?" Columbus answered "tea, spices, maybe a good cup-a-coffee - that's-a all I wanted!" King then said "let's go to the phones - Wounded Knee, South Dakota!" A dejected Columbus sighed "next time, I only do Rush Limbaugh!" o Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop doubted that there would ever be a cure found for AIDS because the HIV virus invaded the DNA in a cell's nucleus and mutated in so many ways that it was hard to see how it could be destroyed. o The Durango Weekly of Durango, CO ran a poll to find out if area residents wanted Rush's show to remain on the local EIB affiliate; not surprisingly, 92% of the poll's respondents said they wanted Rush's show to stay on the air. o Rush played the ad for EIB's newest horrible flick, "Tax Raiser 2" <> First, there was the Carter administration . . . <> 22% interest rates? <> Double-digit inflation? <> Aauughh! <> Now, Pinhead is back and he's got his eye on the White House . . . again! Bill Clinton in "Tax Raiser 2" - he's a tax-and-spend Democratic, dressed in sheep's clothing. But don't let his clever disguise fool you. <> Invest in America! <> He's got only one thing on his mind - taking more of your money out of your pocket. <> <> Bill Clinton is Tax Raiser 2. He's a master of waffling on issues and stretching the truth. <> The draft board never called me. Uh, I never used my influence. Ah, Gennifer who? <> Bill Clinton in Tax Raiser 2. He and his wife Hillary have got a whole bag of tricks they want to try on you! <> Bill Clinton in Tax Raiser 2 - elect to see this, and you'll be paying for it for the next four years! o Also playing was "Single White Female": <> <> Coming soon to a theater near you . . . the story of a future too horrible to imagine until now! The most frightening spectacle to hit this country since the Carter Presidency. Hillary Clinton seemed simple and unassuming, until she moved into the White House. Then she became a maniacal, power-hungry psycho, in "Single White Female." <> You said the "F-word" - Family values! Go to your room, Willie! <> Bill Clinton's advisers tried to shut her up, but once she moved in, it was all over! <> Willie, come here! <> Sit! <> Now go fetch my paper! Good, Willie! <> There's a stranger in the house, and she's running the show! <> You made a cabinet appointment without asking me?!? Who's in charge around here?! <> Hillary Clinton is holding her husband and the entire country hostage in "Single White Female." <> Smell the glove, Willie! <> She's married to Bill Clinton, but she has the ability to cause more damage than any single woman in history. <> Now let's see that State of the Union address. <> This is one nightmare you may not be able to wake up from. Coming soon from a theater near you! o A Japanese fisherman was arrested for using his wife as shark bait. When the man and his wife had an argument, he threw her into a net and dragged her behind his boat in shark-infested waters for 30 minutes. The wife, however, suffered only minor bruises, and Rush remarked that wives were "lousy shark baits, primarily because wives are the sharks." o Byrd Laboratories in Austin, TX introduced a new product designed to foil urinalysis attempts. A "handy powdered capsule of 100% pure urine" was available for $19.95, and was guaranteed to beat any urine test - all the customer had to do was "just add water." Rush remarked that this company was evidently quite specialized as their slogan was "Byrd Laboratories, purveyors of fine urine products." o The Gallup Youth Survey revealed that 90% of teenagers were excited about the future, with 42% strongly excited about their future prospects. The only teenagers who weren't optimistic were those who were doing so poorly in high school that their chances of graduating were slim. 90% of teenagers also reported that they had close ties to their families. o A teacher in Tucson, AZ wrote Rush a letter in which she noted that she was in charge of lunch detention at an area middle school. Students who earned this detention had to eat their lunches apart from other students, in a semi-darkened and silent room. To pass the time, the teacher worked on her computer, eating lunch and playing previously recorded tapes of Rush's show. The teacher was therefore surprised when one of her 7th-grade students, Ruben Redondo III, asked if he could voluntarily stay for detention. The teacher asked why Ruben would want to do this since he had finished his punishment, and he replied that he wanted to listen to Rush talk some more about Clinton. Ruben had stayed almost every day since, and two of his friends, Nick Huerta and Carlos Rodriguez, often joined him. The teacher was quite pleased to report that she was responsible for creating a Rush Room in her school, and this experience showed that kids wanted to be free-thinkers if given the chance. o Rush revealed that it was his mother's birthday, but when he tried to call her at home, there was no answer. "She's probably out consuming adult beverages at the country club with her buddies, the blue-haired Bloody Mary gang," he theorized. Rush and brother David bought their mom a satellite dish so that she could watch his TV show at 8 o'clock, directly from the satellite feed. Mrs. Limbaugh later called in to thank her son for the satellite dish, but Rush also wanted to give his mother another gift - to fly her and one of her friends up to New York for a couple of days and open an account for her at one of New York's fashionable stores. He notes his parents sacrificed a lot for their children, and he would like to help pay her back in part by letting her splurge now. ******** MORNING UPDATE The Census Bureau reported that the number of Americans living in poverty increases to 39.3 million last year, or 15.2% of the population, up from 14.8% in 1992; the new figures are the second highest since 1965. Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich insists that the new poverty figures are a "continuation of a fifteen-year trend towards inequality," and that America has the most unequal distribution of any industrialized nation. Reich also warned that America was turning into a "two-tiered society," in which you had the very rich and everyone else. However, Rush disagrees - in the 80s incomes rose, so the trend towards higher poverty figures is not a "fifteen-year trend." In the 80s, more poor people moved into the middle class than ever before, and America will always have a middle class; to suggest that America is turning into a polarized nation of the haves and have-nots is nonsense, but Reich is suggesting exactly this in an effort to engender more class envy. Plus, the Census Bureau's poverty figures do not count the value of entitlement and welfare benefits, such as food stamps, AFDC, Medicare, Medicaid, school lunches, etc. If these benefits are added to the cash income of the nation's poor, many of the so- called poor would not be seen as poor at all. And throughout all this, the media is not asking why Clintonomics is not helping the poor; why is it the case that under Clinton's economic plan the poor are getting poorer? FIRST HOUR Items o Rush remarks that everyone is complimenting him on his tie, which his wife Marta gave him, but which he refused to wear for six weeks because he thought it was wussy. However, from all the compliments he's getting, he realizes that his initial impressions about it were wrong. Rush admits, though, that it's rather pointless to talk about a tie on radio where nobody can see it. Rush notices Bo Snerdley's coke-bottle style glasses and admits that he's been thinking about getting reading glasses because after he reads for a while his left eye gets tired. Rush thinks Bo's glasses look great, but the EIB staff say that it makes him look like Urkel. o George Bush has warned Republicans that the November elections might not be as good as they think and that Republicans might have peaked too soon. Rush will talk more about this subject later, but first has to state clearly and unequivocally that he is very relieved and proud about how the Iraqi situation has been dealt with. Rush is surprised at how President Clinton has responded in this situation, but Rush is glad that he did, displaying the sort of leadership that a lot of people feared would never show up in the man. After Bosnia, North Korea, and Haiti (more or less), it's a relief to see that Clinton has acted exactly right in this situation and Clinton should get the credit he's due. The only remaining potential problem is that Saddam Hussein might play a cat and mouse game with the U.S. - moving his troops forward whenever the U.S. takes some troops away. This could mean that the permanent U.S. forces in the Gulf might have to be increased beyond the previous number of 12,000 permanent troops, but for the moment the situation has been handled very well and Rush is very relieved about it. What's best about this is that President Clinton was not fooled by Hussein's vague promises of a pullback, but instead responded in force, sending hundreds more warplanes to the area. And Hussein has not done himself any favors, assuming his intent was to get the sanctions eased; if anything, he's only made sure the sanctions will stay on even longer than before. The one humorous part of this is that the news footage and video of this crisis are highlighting the 364 new warplanes being sent to the area, but this military might is possible only because Ronald Reagan built up in the military in the 80s. Liberals don't like military force, and it must gall them to know that it's only because of Reagan that they have the "toys to deploy" now. Some liberals, of course, have no problem with this - Rush recalls how during the Clinton inauguration festivities, actor Ron Silver talked about how he initially was angry at the military planes flying overhead. But then a friend told him "hey, Ron, those are our planes now!" and Silver replied "hey, that's right! Those are our planes!" This was a perfect illustration of the "us vs. them" mentality among the liberals, but Rush still thinks that it has to "tear the liberals a new one" to see Clinton successfully use the military that Reagan made possible. Even so, though, Rush is proud and happy to see American military might used effectively and for its proper purpose. o Rush announces that as of today, EIB's refutation to FAIR's list of Rush's "43 lies" has been uploaded to the ISSUES forum on CompuServe. He hopes that doing this will get the word out, given that his response has been sent to at least 200 newspapers, columnists, and other commentators, but Rush has yet to see any of them run it. This is curious because when FAIR earlier this year released a list of "Rush's lies," the press ran the story without asking any questions and without corroborating any of FAIR's charges. Rush didn't respond to this attack immediately, though, because 1) he didn't want to get sidetracked from the more important issues and 2) his staff was busy preparing a detailed response to FAIR's accusations. EIB sent copies of this document to the newspapers and columnists who mentioned the original FAIR report, but the only paper that has yet printed EIB's rebuttal is the Washington Times. When the Times got the document, though, they called FAIR to get their response to it; then incredulously, the Times called EIB to tell them FAIR's response and to get EIB's reply. Rush and EIB were quite blunt in telling the Times' reporter that he already had EIB's response - the document that EIB sent to the paper. Rush had no desire to get into a tit-for-tat, blow-by-blow battle with FAIR, especially since most of those people who ran the original FAIR story will refuse to air EIB's rebuttal. Thus, Rush will go over the dominant media's heads to get its message out directly to the people, which is why Rush uploaded this document - in both ASCII form and formatted WordPerfect form - to CompuServe. He notes that the mainstream press is supposed to be devoted to objectivity, but while it printed FAIR's charges, it has refused to consider EIB's response. This doesn't matter, though, because the most important thing is for EIB's public to get this document, and Rush will explain how they can do so after the break. *BREAK* Rush gives his computer literate listeners instructions on how to get an electronic copy of EIB's refutation to FAIR's charges: first, log onto CompuServe and go to the ISSUES forum (GO ISSUES); then enter download library 9 (DL9), which is Rush's section on the forum. Then browse the library for two files, one in ASCII format (64KB) and another which is a 92KB formatted file in Macintosh WordPerfect 3.0. Rush notes that Windows users will have to suffer with the ASCII file because he uses a Macintosh computer, the "original" [sic] Graphical User Interface. <> Phone Ken from Portland, OR Ken sadly has hung up, but he was going to accuse Rush of "reaching a new low" in questioning Clinton's political motivations with the Gulf situation. Rush notes that he cited Perot's accusations, and he's not alone in this - the newspaper Op-Ed pieces are full of rebuttals to what Perot had to say about this Sunday. Even those columnists that were willing to treat Perot as a legitimate political analyst seem to have lost a lot of respect for him. Phone Frank from Airville, PA Frank thinks Rush is a bit premature in praising Clinton, who seemed only to have taken some good advice so far. Frank thinks this situation will have to play out a bit more before coming to any conclusions; in particular, Frank thinks that Saddam Hussein might be looking for a shooting war, for whatever political purposes he has. Hussein seems to want Clinton to make the first strike, so that Hussein can then respond. Rush doesn't know about that because Hussein has already started pulling his troops back. Rush suspects that Hussein has made some major mistakes - his country has lost $21 billion in oil revenues because of the sanctions and his country is suffering from 24,000% inflation. And while Hussein undoubtedly doesn't care too much if he kills a few thousand of his citizens in a pointless war, he still needs a strong population. Rush suspects that Hussein was just flexing his muscles, testing the U.S., and is probably pleased at how he made the U.S. jump with just one little move. However, when all is said and done, if Hussein's goal has been the elimination of the U.N. sanctions, he's only set himself back even further. *BREAK* Today's Washington Post has a front page story about the TV commercials being run for the November elections, and Howard Kurtz, media analyst, has called these spots "mean cuisine" which show that the electorate is feeling "surely." Rush, though, thinks the electorate has a right to be surely, and he'll talk about this a little later. Phone Steve from Vacaville, CA Steve thinks a lot of people have been criticizing George Bush for "not finishing the job" during the Gulf War, but these people are forgetting that the reason Bush didn't want to destroy Iraq totally is because it would have just opened the door to Iranian aggression. Iraq had to be left with some military power just to keep Iran in check. Steve believes Iran is someone to fear more than Iraq, given that Iran is sponsoring terrorism and its brand of fanaticism throughout the Middle East and beyond. If Iraq had been totally destroyed, Iran could have become a far more fearsome enemy than Iraq ever could have been. Rush agrees, and adds that the United Nations didn't authorize the destruction of all of Iraqi's might; going against this authorization would have jeopardized the coalition that was formed for one purpose: to get Iraq out of Kuwait. And Steve is right in recalling the eight years of Iran/Iraq war, and how Iran could have benefited immensely from a weakened Iraq. Iran is sponsoring a rising tide of militant Islamic fundamentalism, which is why the U.S. supported Iraq during the Iran/Iraq war. Iran is not happy with the peace process going on between Israel and the other Mid-East states, and if they could do anything to derail it, they would. Also, a great many American lives would have been lost had the U.S. gone into Baghdad and tried to find Saddam Hussein. The man has at least 50 look-alikes, and the only way you could have gotten him would be via a tedious and very dangerous house-to- house search. Casualties would have been high, and success would not have been at all assured; as Rush said at the time, the U.S. could have captured someone it thought was Hussein, only to have the real Hussein show up that night on Larry King Live. Meanwhile, Iran is a boiling cauldron of its own, with some major internal struggles going on. There were those in the early 80s who thought that if they could just get rid of Khomeni, things would get better; however, matters are worse in Iran now than ever before. Similarly, even if Hussein was eliminated one way or another, it's unlikely there's anyone better standing in line to replace him. Rush went to a dinner last week at which the topic was how it was about time for the press to resuscitate Clinton again. This is exactly what happened; CNN's "Reliable Sources" Sunday went on about how the press was being too hard on Clinton, and other shows are insisting Clinton won't be repeating "Bush's mistakes." Rush, though, wants to know what mistakes Bush made - you'd have to look long and hard to find any mistakes made in the Gulf War, except perhaps for giving the press too much freedom to cover it. Rush recalls that when the war was finished, the American people didn't think any mistakes had been made, and this was proven by how Bush had approval ratings in the high 80s and low 90s. Yet Jonathan Mann of CNN had to insist that Clinton wouldn't be playing with his speedboat during this crisis as Bush was. The fact is that Bush had a strategy of not letting it appear that the maggot Hussein was dominating the U.S.'s foreign policy; he'd go off and play golf, run about in this speedboat, etc., all to show Hussein that he was not the big player he thought he was. This is also why Bush purposely mispronounced the man's name as "Sad-damn," which in Arabic is an insult, comparable to calling someone a bootlicker. It's interesting that the press doesn't think it's enough to try to revive Clinton, but they have to gratuitously attack Bush for making errors in the first Gulf War. Rush thanks Steve for calling. Phone Jerry from Chicago, IL Jerry is "nervous and has an accent," and he disagrees with Rush about Clinton's motivations in sending the troops to the Gulf. Jerry thinks Clinton is looking for a confrontation with Hussein, given that he thinks things have gone so well in Haiti. Rush notes that Aristide is not happy with some of the things the U.S. wants, but will get to that point later; he asks why Jerry thinks Clinton wants a confrontation. Jerry says Clinton wants to show the world that he is a man of resolve, a tough and knowledgable President. Rush says it's obvious Clinton knows the public mood towards Hussein and the Gulf War, plus he might be taking some good advice from the Joint Chiefs. Even so, though, Clinton is doing the right things right now, which is good because this whole situation is about oil. The liberals won't like this idea, of course, but oil is what allows liberals to get to work each morning, and it's not immoral to fight a war for oil or capitalism. Oil is the fuel for the engine that drives freedom; if oil no longer flows freely at market prices, then a severe blow will have been dealt to freedom. The government could start rationing gasoline, limiting how much people can buy; those whose business is related to oil would suffer, not to mention that it's oil which moves goods from nation to nation. If someone can control the oil market, prices would go up, and inflation would go way out of control. The U.S. has its oil reserves, but it is still dependent on foreign oil; some people think this is a bad idea in the first place, but regardless the U.S. still has the power to keep the flow of oil going. Clinton might be motivated by politics, yet Clinton is doing the right things, and even if he's just following someone's advice, it's still encouraging that the U.S. right now realizes that Hussein cannot be allowed to take control of any major portion of the world's oil. *BREAK* There seems to be a massive upheaval in higher education - tenure seems to be on its way out, and professors are not happy that they'll no longer be guaranteed lifetime employment, regardless whether they are doing anything to justify that employment. Phone Frank from Chesapeake, VA Frank was glad to hear that Rush uploaded his file to CompuServe, so he immediately logged on to find the file. However, CompuServe said the file was unavailable; he tried again and his Windows CompuServe Information Manager program locked up. Rush says that you have to keep trying to get this file, given that there's undoubtedly a lot of people trying to get it. Frank pledges to keep trying, but he wonders if someone is conspiring to keep this information from getting out into public hands. Rush says that liberals couldn't do this even if they wanted to; undoubtedly there are just too many people trying to log on and download these files for CompuServe to handle right now. Rush adds that these files will be uploaded to other electronic forums at some point, but the files are in DL9 of the ISSUES forum. Once the initial rush for these files settles down, it should be easy to discover and download them. Then people can print copies of these files out for their friends who don't have computers. Rush adds that those listeners don't have a computer might find now is a good time to get one and a modem, so they can experience CompuServe for themselves. There are lots of things available in the Rush Limbaugh section of the ISSUES forum, including John Switzer's unofficial summaries. Rush notes that Switzer is "some guy out there who's doing yeoman's work" summarizing each day's show, and they go back to September, 1991. Thus, there are definitely lots of reasons why someone should get a computer and try CompuServe for themselves. *BREAK* During the break, Rush was thinking about the previous caller's suspicion that some dastardly liberals were trying to thwart Rush's attempt to distribute his response to FAIR's previous allegations against him. Rush, though, has talked to Mary Davidson at CompuServe to get these files uploaded and available, so he begs his listeners not to confuse CompuServe with the liberal Democrat politicians in Florida who would rather see their orange growers go down the tubes then for them to advertise on Rush's show. Rush thus is certain that any problems people are encountering in downloading these files are related only to the large number of listeners who even now are trying to get these files for themselves. <> Rush knows these files are there, though, because he downloaded them after uploading them, so he encourages one and all to keep trying. *BREAK* SECOND HOUR Rush notes that when one is hunting the truth, the number one weapon is facts. Phone Jim from Houston, TX Jim says that the electronic news media has a major effect on the information that the public receives nowadays, and given that Thomas Jefferson noted that an informed electorate was crucial to a democratic republic, he thinks something should be done about the TV news - these shows are not the "news," but rather Peter Jennings' view of the news, Connie Chung's views, etc. Jim would therefore suggest that since these electronic media are using the public air waves, anything that presents itself as a news show should have to meet some sort of "objective criteria." Shows of opinions, such as Rush's, are not a problem because they are clearly not the "objective news," but those that pretend to be news shows should be forced to live up to their obligations. Rush says the problem is who is going to come up with these criteria and enforce them. Jim, though, bets that if people were simply made aware that the news they received was slanted, this would be enough. For example, most of the news on MacNeil/Lehrer comes straight from the newsmakers' mouths, as opposed to some anchor telling the public what was said. Peter Jennings has a show titled "World News Tonight" which is basically nothing but what Jennings thinks the people need to know. There should be some kind of criteria applied to these shows so that they are at least somewhat balanced. Rush doesn't think this is a good idea because this would be an infringement upon the First Amendment; freedom of the press means exactly that - freedom of and for the press. However, Rush would encourage Jim to realize that the market is responding to the people's rejection of this sort of bias. At the dinner last Saturday that was held for Charlton Heston, Rush was asked several times why his show was a success. Rush always answers "it's a good show," but part of his show's success is also the fact that Rush just happens to say the things that his listeners are already thinking. For the first time, people are hearing someone in the national media say what they themselves were believing already. It is no accident that Rush's show is such a success - the market is working; millions of people feel the way Jim does about the dominant media (newspapers, TV news, etc.), and they are expressing their satisfaction by listening to Rush's show. What Jim wants to do can be done, without having some government agency monitoring the air waves. Rush notes that he makes no bones about who and what he is; he's clearly and proudly biased, and makes no pretensions about being an "objective journalist." The rest of the media denies that they're liberal, insisting that they're independent and objective journalists in search of the truth; they also always say that even if they were liberal, they can still be objective. Meanwhile, though, everyone can see that news stories have become opinion pieces; these opinions are also manifested in how editors choose which stories to print and air. Jim says that it seems the electronic media has totally changed the meaning of the word "news" - there are no ethics or professional policing of themselves, and he thinks those who call themselves news people should meet some sort of objective criteria. Jim notes that MacNeil/Lehrer seems to accomplish this, bringing on a fairly balanced set of guests and issues. Jim has no idea what Robin MacNeil really thinks because it just doesn't come through in his show; instead, he hears a lot of what his guests think. In contrast, Jim does know exactly what Peter Jennings thinks. Rush, though, points out that MacNeil/Lehrer tends to bring on the same set of faces to talk about the issues, but Jim is not bothered by this as the show airs whom it thinks are the experts on the issues being discussed. Rush says this might be, but he is still all in favor in letting the media do what they want, within the existing libel and slander guidelines, with the public weaving their way through it as best they can. Eventually the market will decide which shows will succeed. This is already happening, and Jim agrees, but he'd sure like to see some campaign that informs the people about how "news" no longer means objective reporting. Rush says that the media has gone bonkers in policing itself - there are shows after shows on CNBC, CNN, etc. that are about the media investigating itself; this has become an almost incestuous relationship in which the media is giving only lip service to this idea. Rush next reads from a piece by Thomas Edsel in the NY Times Review of Books last week: "For the past two years Rush Limbaugh III has done more to shape the tone of national political discussion than any member of the House and Senate, than any cabinet appointee, than the chairmen of both the Democratic and Republican parties, or the anchors of the major network news broadcasts." This is the marketplace working, and Jim agrees; Rush adds, though, that the dangerous thing is that there are people out there trying to shut Rush up in one way or another, but nobody is talking about shutting up Koppel or Jennings. Rush and talk radio are being accused of being great dangers to democracy. Jim says these are valid fears, but the more people discuss the difference between news and opinion shows, the better things will be. The nation, though, has to be informed. Rush says this is happening already, through his show and elsewhere; this is one reason that incumbents this November are having so many problems. The marketplace works - it might not work instantly, but it does work, in spite of the efforts of liberals to derail it. *BREAK* Rush notes that his show is actively working to reduce the huge national debt of stupidity that has been built up over the years - "this is true dumb deficit reduction," he declares. Phone Tracy from Lynchburg, VA Tracy would love to have Rush speak at the local Liberty University, and adds that he was interested when he heard Rush on Monday discuss Perot's charges that the Clinton administration has known about the Iraqi troop movements for week. Tracy's brother-in-law is stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY and he called Tracy on Saturday to say he was being deployed to the Gulf; however, he also said that his unit has been preparing for this for two-and-a-half weeks. Thus, it's clear that the administration has known about the Iraqi troop build-up and preparing for it for some time. Rush says that the administration is now saying that it knew about the troop movements for some time, but that those movements did not directly threaten Kuwait until recently. The administration would say it took the proper steps to prepare for the worst and only sent troops when a clear danger was presented by the Iraqi troops. Tracy, though, wonders when Clinton's ultimate weapon, Jimmy Carter, will be sent. Rush says people could joke about this, but he wouldn't be surprised if Carter is indeed sent to the Gulf. However, Rush has to admit that the events that have happened so far are what Americans would hope would happen, although it's now being reported that Hussein has yet to actually withdraw any troops. The country, though, is faced with the prospect of talking tough or of starting another war. Rush is reminded how Clinton expressed his frustration in the Rose Garden about how Raoul Cedras didn't leave Haiti last year when promised; Clinton, however, didn't take this same tact - he didn't take Hussein's word that he wasn't threatening Kuwait but instead took decisive action. Who knows why Clinton has changed his method of handling foreign policy, but perhaps he's getting and listening to good advice. In any case, it would still make sense for the press to investigate just when the administration knew about troop movements and whether a decision was made to delay action until the most propitious moment for Clinton's political benefit. After all, journalism is supposed to investigate the powerful and keep them in check by discovering the truth. Only time will tell, though, if this investigation ever happens and what it might reveal, but until that point, Rush would encourage people not to jump to any conclusions. *BREAK* Items o Rush notes that this weekend should be a great one, given that the Congressional Black Caucus will be storming the beaches of Haiti to reinstall Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Meanwhile, of course, the Cedras family will be going country shopping, looking for a new home in which to settle. Rush can only hope, though, that the Congressional Black Caucus brings along its flag, so that everyone can see its motto: "Don't Treat on Me, Sucker." o An ABC News/Washington Post poll reveals that Haiti is not helping President Clinton much in the polls, but this poll was taken before Cedras said he was leaving. The poll of 1,031 adults, though, gave Clinton a 43% approval rating on Haiti, down from 55% on September 18th and 45% on September 25th. The disapproval ratings on Haiti have risen from 37% last month to 51% now. The overall approval ratings are about the same, 45% approval and 51% disapproval. o Today's Boston Globe reports that Bill Clinton plans to shift his agenda to "hot button issues with conservative appeal," with perhaps a cabinet shake-up. The story quotes senior aides who expect Clinton to move to more conservative issues, such as tax cuts for the middle class, welfare reform, and a crackdown on illegal immigrants. Leon Panetta is quoted as saying that Clinton will make policy adjustments "after watching what voters decide in the mid-term elections." Thus, the White House's Chief of Staff is admitting that Clinton is going to moisten his fingers to see which way the wind is blowing. Rush notes that the past two years have shown Clinton governing against the will of the people more than Rush can ever remember happening before, so if he decides to get more in line with the people's will, then isn't that good? Of course, there are those who say that the worst thing that can happen to Republicans is that they gain control of Congress, forcing Clinton to the right, where he will be more palatable to more Americans. Phone Paul from Redbank, NJ Paul enjoys listening to Rush and how he provides an "anchor in reality" to what the mainstream media puts out. Paul has been upset, though, to see that Rush is advertising the NY Times on New York television. Rush thinks this is a great ad, and Paul agrees - the fact, though, that this ad is so great, thereby encouraging sales of the "enemy," upsets him. If the market is what will force the media to become more reality-based, then isn't Rush working against the market by advertising the NY Times? Rush says this is not the case at all, and he points out the irony of how he, a "dangerous right-wing crazo," is advertising the Bible of Liberalism - the NY Times - in the Mecca of Liberalism - New York City. The Times didn't get any of their commie-lib friends to do this, but rather went to Rush, who has been living here for only six years. The Times also offered a lot of money, which Rush is sending to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, which is another ironic touch, given that the Times would never voluntarily contribute to such a group. In short, Rush - in only six short years - has "conquered" the Liberal Bible. And many people, including conservatives, think the NY Times is the greatest newspaper in the world, so Rush considers this ad a win-win for him, especially since NOW is stating that good liberals should boycott any business that does business with him. However, it's unlikely that liberals will follow NOW's dictum and start boycotting one of their own. Paul is glad to hear Rush's perspective on this because at first he thought it was Rush who was being compromised. Rush says this is not the case at all - in fact, Rush puts the paper down in his commercial saying "I find their opinions a little too opinionated." Besides, this ad is all business, without any politics involved; the ad is for the NY Times' entertainment section, which makes Rush's ad all the more ironic. Rush adds that Paul has to take some satisfaction from the fact that if he and other conservatives are upset, then the liberals in NYC are beside themselves in outrage. The Times is getting phone calls from people accusing the paper of selling out; in fact, reporters from the liberal media are calling EIB to demand to know the who, what, and wherefore about this ad - they are fit to be tied and it's a great thing to see. In fact, a liberal weekly rag, the New York Observer, is so upset about this that they ran a story about how conservatives are taking over Manhattan. They printed a map of the city, complete with push-pins marking all the places that conservatives live, work, and otherwise exist. Rush's EIB studio, his TV studio, the location of the offices of the National Review, etc. are all marked, with a big headline about how the "right wing is taking over!" This is great to see - liberals are so exorcised about this that they are pulling the hairs out of their rear ends. This is a lot of fun, and people should realize that Rush has not sold out to anyone; if anything, EIB is conquering this city. He thanks Paul for calling. *BREAK* Phone Mark from Youngstown, OH Mark is a former liberal Democrat who thanks Rush for saving him; he notes that Youngstown demonstrates the damage that liberals can wreak on a city. Mark read an article in the local paper about the rising rate of poverty, and it included a graph that contradicted what the story said. Robert Reich was quoted as saying that the new poverty figures were part of a fifteen-year trend, but the graph showed that the poverty rate was indeed rising only until 1982; from that point on, the poverty rate declined until about 1990 and 1991. In other words, poverty declined during the 80s, but the story said nothing about this. In fact, Republicans are accused of wanting to return to the "failed policies of the 80s," but the 80s did not fail at all. Rush agrees, noting that this was the point of today's Morning Update. Mark is also a health care worker, so he's also grateful that Rush not only helped stop the Clinton plan, but also went to the trouble of pointing out the good things about this industry. Rush thanks Mark for his call, but notes that he himself is grateful that there are listeners out there who are listening to what he has to say. Without his listeners, he'd be no more influential than the squeegee guys who are out there talking to aliens. Phone Ed from Schaumburg, IL Ed is a fan of Tom Clancy, so when he thinks about what's happening in the Gulf, he tends to see hidden plans in action. In particular, he remembers how during the 80s Saddam Hussein was threatening to destabilize the Middle East with his nuclear program, and this forced Israel to launch a preemptive strike in 1981. That took care of the problem for a while, but Hussein was building his army back up. In 1990 April Glaspie misled Hussein into thinking that the U.S. had no interest in Kuwait, but then when Hussein did invade, the U.S. "double-crossed" him by screaming for him to get out. There then followed a war in which the U.S. clobbered Hussein's nuclear and other facilities. Hussein thus has suffered a major loss, so what he's doing now is purely for domestic consumption, to get the people busy and riled out, to divert their attentions from their local problems. All in all, therefore, Ed thinks that Bush was brilliant in how he double-crossed Hussein, allowing him to think he could Kuwait with impunity, all for the express purpose of having an excuse to destroy his nuclear facilities, ending that threat. *BREAK* Phone Mike from Holland, MI Mike thinks that there will be some kind of military action in the Gulf; otherwise, there won't be any reason the administration has to justify sending all those troops there. Mike suspects therefore that Clinton will at the very least launch a few missiles - Panetta is too smart a guy to miss this opportunity on the eve of a major election. Rush says he's surprised at how many people are thinking about Clinton's actions in the Middle East are being motivated solely by selfish political gain. Rush admits he's had his own suspicions about Clinton's motivations in the past, but he's yet to be convinced about this particular theory; again, only time will tell about what Clinton is trying to do in the Gulf. *BREAK* THIRD HOUR Items o Rush has a question to pose: If Clinton got an honorary degree from Oxford, where he didn't complete his studies, then isn't it time for him to get an honorary degree from West Point? o Rush repeats that he has put his response to FAIR's list of "Rush's lies" on CompuServe because he knows the mainstream media won't ever bother to print it. In fact, Anthony Lewis sent back unopened the letter which EIB sent him; Lewis not only wrote "refused" on the envelope but added "please remove from list!" Lewis, of course, was one of the guys who cited FAIR's original report, and went on the record saying that he never listened to Rush's show because that was a "pleasure I deny myself." o Next weekend Jean Bertrand Aristide is scheduled to return to Haiti, and Rush can only hope that he's accompanied by the Congressional Black Caucus as he storms the beaches at Port Au Prince. However, Aristide is not totally happy about the way things have been going. Aristide's legal advisor said that the U.S. is rejecting Aristide's insistence that all of the army's high command be forced to leave office, and that 4,000 of the 7,000 man army be forced to quit. Instead, the U.S. is insisting that Aristide appoint a new prime minister that's "acceptable to the United States." Thus, the Clinton administration is dictating the conditions under which Aristide must govern. Yet if Aristide is so great and is the democratically-elected President of Haiti, then why can't he be allowed to govern as he sees fit? Why is the U.S. attacking like imperialists, as if this were 1915 again? Rush is amazed that there are no protests being heard about this, but he bets that the Black Caucus will soon start complaining. The interesting thing, though, is that the U.S.'s conditions mean that America doesn't trust Aristide at all. ******** Today's Washington Post has a front-page story by Howard Kurtz about the "bitter bromide TV ads" which are "serving mean cuisine to voters fed up with government." One Republican consultant is quoted as saying that voters want substance; instead of "soft and fuzzy stuff" and "video cliches," they want the "meat." Kurtz, though, defines the "meat" as "rather raw": being in favor of the death penalty, longer prison terms, cutting off welfare benefits, against higher taxes, and cutting congressional perks. Kurtz then goes on to say in this allegedly unbiased story to say that issues don't matter as much as "tapping into the electorate's rather surly mood." Rush, however, disagrees - once again the dominant press misses the whole point by being so out of touch with what the American people want. The American people are motivated by the issues and they're not surly because they're uninformed or mean; the people of America are fed up and tired at how for the past 30 years they've been told that compassion meant paying more in taxes, with the money going to "wipe out" racism, poverty, and all other social ills. The working people are being blamed for every problem, in effect being told that the problem in America is that the working people aren't paying enough in taxes. This is what the working American is sick and tired of hearing. Despite 30 years of the War on Poverty and Great Social transfer programs totalling more than $3 trillion, there are more people in poverty than ever before. The American people are tired of paying more in taxes, just as they're tired of being afraid to leave their homes and worry whether their children, wives, and other family members might be robbed, raped, or mugged. These people are upset that criminals aren't serving full sentences, and that the crimes being committed by these criminals are being blamed on law-abiding citizens who own guns. These citizens should be surly because they've been pummeled with all this rot for the past 30 years. The American people are tired of a condescending and arrogant political class that considers the average American to be an idiot that cannot be trusted to run his own life, and that therefore more and more power must be ceded to government. The American people simply are tired of hearing all this, even as their members of Congress are able to exchange stamps for cash or to write checks for money they don't have. The working American is being blamed for everything going wrong in the country, and when they try to correct the problems - such as stopping illegal immigration - they are blamed for being cruel and lacking in compassion. Americans are tired of hearing that they are responsible for everyone else's illnesses because they oppose the idea of universal coverage. And those who have written all these laws have taken great pains to exempt themselves from these laws. Meanwhile, those who want a moment of silence in school or dare to suggest posting the Ten Commandments in school are called kooks and a danger to democracy. While these people are accused of violating the principle of the separation of Church and State, they then have to listen to Clinton give sermons at a Harlem church. The American people are tired of hearing how they - who play by the rules, obey the laws, and are only working to make sure their kids have a decent future - are to blame for all the country's problems. These people should be surly and are justified in doing whatever they can to make sure that politics as normal don't continue as normal. Those in the press and in the dominant media had better learn that the people think it's they who pose the greater threat to this nation. These people are trying to save the institutions and traditions that made America great, and they are acting on those fears at the ballot box, by making phone calls, sending email letters, and by faxing each other. Only six years ago, the Washington pundits were worried about the public apathy they saw, but now with the people getting more active then ever, the Washington crowd is trying to shut these "idiots" up. Yet these "idiots" won't shut up because they are the country and they are the ones who make it work; they'll do everything they can to fix this country and solve its problems, regardless of what the DC Beltway crowd thinks about it. *BREAK* Phone Ed from McKees Port, PA Ed is a Democrat who voted for Clinton and who will vote for him again, and he thinks Republicans such as Rush haven't gotten it through their "thick skulls" that they lost the election; they should accept this fact and should stop crying about it. Rush notes that he has accepted the fact that his side lost, and he knows why his side lost - Bush got fired because the people felt betrayed by him. Ed, though, says that Bush got a 91% approval rating during the Gulf War, so how could the people then feel betrayed by him? Rush says that Bush raised taxes after pledging not to, signed a Civil Rights Act nobody wanted, and several other things which displeased his previous supporters. Ed says that Rush did a 900 poll that showed Bush was winning in a landslide, but in the real election Clinton won, and Republicans acted as if the world had ended. Ed thinks the country will survive, especially since Clinton is a good President. Ed doesn't know what Rush will do if Clinton gets re-elected for another four years; Rush says he'll just continue on doing more days of the Raw Deal. Ed adds that he remembers listening to Rush in the early 70s when he was using the name Jeff Christie. Rush is impressed with Ed's memory, and Ed admits that he thinks Rush is entertaining. However, Ed has no problem with Clinton, although he originally supported Perot until Perot dropped out of the race. Rush notes that his disagreements with Clinton are not borne out of ill will about how Republicans lost in 1992; rather, Rush's disagreements concern the issues and how Clinton is addressing them. In fact, Rush has been defending Clinton's response in the Gulf, noting that what Clinton did has worked so far. Ed notes that he didn't hear this part of today's show since he was working, and Rush thanks him for his call. *BREAK* Phone Mark from Tulsa, OK Mark thinks Rush's TV show should do a retrospective of Desert Shield and Desert Storm, showing what those in Congress were saying then and contrasting it with what they are saying now. Rush says this is a good point - when George Bush was in office, the liberals were crying and bemoaning his actions, but they are strangely silent now about what Clinton is doing. However, Rush doesn't know if the liberals in 1990 and 1991 were as much concerned about the deployment of troops as they were about the use of force in general. Rep. Dick Gephardt even threatened to withhold the funds from the troops. Liberals, though, have to be panicked somewhat given that they are now watching a Democratic President use the equipment and military that is available only because Republican Presidents made it available. Mark adds that since George Bush was accused of starting the Gulf War only because he wanted to help out his oil friends, perhaps someone should look into whether Hillary owns any oil futures. Rush thinks this is another brilliant point - liberals were claiming that Bush was going to war only so that his fortune and that of his Texan friends would go sky high; of course, the exact opposite happened, because when the U.S. got involved, the price of oil actually fell. It would be interesting, though, to look into Hillary's portfolio, to see if any oil futures are there. Phone Mack from Scottsdale, AZ Mack thinks Rush is doing a great job, and remarks that he meets a lot of business people in his work, but he's never seen the anger and bitterness towards a President among them as he's seeing know. Rush bets the previous caller from McKees Port will have a heart attack upon hearing this, and Mack adds that at least 90% of the business owners he meets are very bitter against Clinton, whom they think is an unmitigated disaster. One of Mack's associates even suggested making a collection so as to "buy out Clinton's contract" and send him back to Arkansas. Rush can only wish the Constitution provided such a thing, and Mack adds that other complaints he hears is that Clinton has no credibility or character, that he lies, and has a tax and spend mentality. Rush notes that the Boston Globe is reporting Clinton might move to the right, advocating things such as tax cuts, should the November elections lean in that direction. Mack thinks this is unbelievable and a lot of baloney. Rush notes that there is good economic news, but Clinton is not getting any credit for it. Mack says this is because intelligent people can see beyond the facade Clinton is putting up for himself. They know that he's nothing but a tax and spend politician who's done nothing real to reduce the deficit. Rush agrees with that - the deficit reduction that is being achieved is due to the use of short-term government bonds being used to finance the national debt. Recently the NY Post had a story by John Crudell which made the point that taxpayers will soon pay dearly for the mistakes that the administration made in pursuing a short-term approach to paying off the debt. Mack adds that he's a former accountant and knows that the Agricultural Department has 124,000 employees, one for every 16 farmers. There are 30,000 employees working for Congress, and this sort of bloat is everywhere, yet Congress claims it can't find anywhere to cut. All of this is adding to why there's so much bitterness towards Clinton among business people. Rush says he heard similar things during the summer from big business leaders who voted for Clinton but are now livid about what's going on. He thanks Mack for his call. Phone Bill from Dundee, IL Bill thinks Rush's monologue this hour was beautiful, and he wishes that EIB would cut tapes of such things so that he could help spread the word. He hopes Rush keeps up the good work, adding that sadly there just aren't enough people out there doing what Rush is doing. Rush thanks Bill for his kind words, but notes that there are plenty of people doing his job; he can handle the job all by himself - it's an awesome responsibility, but he'll keep plugging away at it. Rush admits that Bill's request comes up all the time - that EIB would sell a series of tapes titled "Greatest Moments of the EIB Network." Phone Laurence from Wildwood, FL Laurence loves Rush's TV and radio shows, and would like to bring back the topic of the baseball strike. Laurence thinks the baseball owners tried to stick a gun at Congress's head to get them to settle the baseball strike; if the anti-trust exemption is wrong, it should be removed for that reason, but not to settle the strike. Instead, the owners and players should solve their problems, and it's only then that they should consider the anti- trust exemption matter. Rush agrees because the administration and Congress should stay out of this strike altogether. He notes that the strike will be "settled" by replacement players, which would create some potentially great horrors for major league baseball. Rush recalls how when the 1979 umpire strike was settled, eight of the scabs were retained by the league; the regular umpires were vicious towards the scabs, refusing to help them or associate with them at all. A similar situation could easily happen on the players' side - if minor league players are brought up and some major league players cross the picket line, then when the strike is settled there is going to be some ill will the like of which has never been seen before on the field. Should a player who crossed the lines come up to bat against a pitcher who didn't, there could be some dangerous bean balls being thrown. Rush remembers reading about how when major league baseball players were considering a strike in the 70s or early 80s, all but four of the Los Angeles Dodgers voted to strike. Owner Walter O'Malley demanded to know who the four dissenting players were because he didn't want them in his club; this wasn't because he was for or against the strike, but rather because he knew he needed team unity, and having four players like this would seriously threaten the harmony of the team. O'Malley thus got rid of all these guys within the first season, and this could happen on a large scale should the baseball strike continue on next year. Speaking of sports, Sports Illustrated recently reported that Coy Gibbs, son of former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, is an linebacker at Stanford. He's only 5'11" and 225 pounds, which is small for this position, but he plays with such guts that he's the team's second leading tackler. Not surprisingly, Gibbs is also a dittohead who reportedly loves to challenge his history professors by quoting Rush in class. Rush applauds Gibbs, noting that he's not surprised that a linebacker would be a conservative: they're tough, hard-hitters, who take no bull and who stand up for what they believe in. "Coy," Rush exclaims, "this one's for you!" *BREAK* Phone Greg from Butler, NJ Greg thinks it's a no-brainer that the U.S. will increase its troop presence in the Gulf whenever Hussein starts making threats, so the fact Clinton has done this is no big deal. "I think Chatter the Chimpanzee could have made this call," Greg notes, adding that the really tough decision will be whether the U.S. should go on the offensive, launching perhaps some more cruise missiles or maybe even some large-scale air strikes. In terms of public opinion, doing even this would be an easier move than what George Bush did nearly four years ago; any strike against Iraq would be a popular move now. Rush agrees - Hussein has been portrayed as marching towards Kuwait again, and stopping him from moving across the border will be far easier than what Bush had to do, which was move him out of Kuwait. Greg says that the top of the hour news reported that Hussein's troops were moving back now, so Clinton has won this round. Also, since Colin Powell is reportedly being considered for the next Secretary of State, so Greg wonders if Powell is even now advising Clinton on how to handle the Gulf War. In fact, Greg has to wonder if the real reason Powell was called to the White House a few weeks ago was not to discuss Haiti but to discuss the Iraqi problem; the decision to send Powell to Haiti could have been an afterthought. Rush notes that Jimmy Carter is claiming that it was his idea to make Powell and Sam Nunn part of his delegation to Haiti. Greg says it all comes down to whom you're going to believe. Rush admits this is true - Jimmy Carter is the one saying that Raoul Cedras is not the thug Clinton claimed he was; in fact, Carter invited him to teach Sunday School at Atlanta. Meanwhile, Jean Bertrand Aristide is talking about getting rid of half the army and all of the military high command, but the U.S. is telling him forget it. Greg would also like Rush to dust off his "Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iraq" song and play it again. Rush pledges to dust off his file of Iraqi tunes, and in fact his ever-efficient staff has already cued this tune up: Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iraq. Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iraq. Oh bomb Iraq, take Kuwait back, Bomb Iraq, Try to free Kuwait before it's too late, Bomb Iraq. Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iraq. Old Khomeni might have been zany, But Saddam Hussein seems to be twice as insane. Bomb Iraq, take Kuwait back, If Hussein wants a duel turn him into fossil fuel. Bomb Iraq. Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iraq. ******** Rush follows this up with "Yakety Yak, Bomb Iraq": This crazy man named Saddam Hussein Ain't no doubt that the man's insane He better get used to feeling fright In from the south, put out his lights. Yakety yak, bomb Iraq. You must have been an only son Growing up and playing with guns Came into power, came into wealth, Look out your window, check out the Stealth. Yakety Yak, bomb Iraq. A man possessed by his own greed, Ignores his country's desperate needs, We ain't going to cut you any slack, Look at his palace, now it's a shack. Yakety yak, bomb Iraq. <> Big ground forces rolling in, Your own troops know you cannot win, Don't get too comfy in your pad, Whoops - there goes Baghdad. Yakety Yak, Bomb Iraq. I can't believe you're still alive Feeding your people all that jive. The USA won't take no flak, Here comes another air attack. Yakety Yak, bomb Iraq. The USA won't take no flak, Here comes another air attack. Yakety Yak, bomb Iraq. ******** Rush promises to go through his entire set of Iraqi songs tomorrow. *BREAK* Phone Mike from Manhattan, NY Mike notes he reads the NY Times every day, in spite of its liberal bias; in fact, Mike thinks the liberal bias contributes to its success in the marketplace. He thinks a totally neutral paper would be bland and colorless. Rush agrees - it's like a neutral news show; it'd be a bland experience. All Rush wants the Times to do is admit to their biases when asked about it, as opposed to insisting they are objective. The fact the media is biased is well documented, and the fact they continue to refuse to admit it is comical. Mike understands but adds that conservative newspapers don't seem to do as well in the marketplace as liberal ones, and this might be why there's more liberal bias in the papers than conservative bias. The NY Post is more conservative than the Times, but it's a financial failure that depends on subsidies to stay in business. Rush admits this is a fascinating point - conservative papers are few and far in between, but it also has to be admitted that there are a lot of papers having financial problems. Plus, you'd expect more liberal papers to do better in New York, the liberal mecca of the nation. However, Mike's point is indeed a very good one.