Unofficial Summary of the Rush Limbaugh Show for Friday, June 10, 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). WWW users can access http://neptune.corp.harris.com/rush.html 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. ************************************************************* June 10, 1994 BRIEF SUMMARY OF TOPICS: AF Sargent claims that investigation into $200 taxi bill is reprisal for her testimony about sexual harassment; roller blade skates are the latest danger to American youth; CDC recommends that teenaged drivers be restricted until they become adults; press gets failing marks for not reporting whole truth about Clinton D-Day visits; new book on feminism exposes how their facts and figures are made up for the sake of their agenda, but press never challenges them; only 54, not 150,000, women die each year from anorexia; often cited March of Dimes study about domestic violence never existed; press will challenge conservatives' figures, but never those of the left; Woodward's book quotes Clinton as saying his economic plan was a turkey, and that if a recession happened, he'd just lower taxes; caller accuses Rush of impugning the professional photo industry because he didn't hire a professional photographer to take his wedding pictures; female caller was heartbroken upon hearing the news that Rush is married; Senator Phil Gramm makes brilliant case comparing October Surprise to Whitewater; journalist surprised to be asked who will pay for health care if smoking taxes result in a reduction in smokers; members of military disgusted that Clinton aides would knock down an American flag so that Clinton could have a photo-op of him putting it back; caller defends Rush's character, noting that he's not running for public office, nor is he spending taxpayers' money for them; Democrats trying to raise money by claiming the five most frightening words in the American language are "United States Senator Oliver North"; House's vote to lift arms embargo in Bosnia is just another attempt to usurp the president's constitutional powers in foreign policy matters; caller's Rush-bashing associates never listened to Rush for themselves; LAFD Fire Chief to appeal court ruling allowing firefighter to read Playboy in private quarters in firehouse; FBI investigating Mike Espy for accepting gifts from Tyson Foods; Clinton White House tried to run things as they did in Arkansas, but have found that Washington is not Little Rock; caller thinks ultimatum is needed for North Korea, but doubts current administration could back it up, and North Koreans know this; U.S. Navy veteran says morale in military is dangerously low because of President Clinton and his obvious contempt for the military; caller doubts Japanese trust the U.S. or President Clinton; health care bill in Senator Moynihan's Finance Committee is nearly identical to Clinton's, which means it won't get any bipartisan support or be passed out of that committee; letter in USA Today asks if Clinton will next claim that he wishes his marriage had been one of fidelity because he watched 60s TV shows; letter to USA Today shows that rich are paying more than their fair share; employer mandate in Clinton health care plan would have a lot of holes; Woodward's book quotes Hillary Clinton and Ira Magaziner as being in favor of health care price controls; studies are finding cow flatulence and barbecues to be threatening the environment and atmosphere; Clinton claims his Haitian policies are already working; woman files sexual harassment suit against her female boss; instead of good manners, people are trying to use government to force others to be nice to them; Republicans and Democrats do have important philosophical differences, especially in how they view the individual; caller thinks most wars fought for money, not freedom. LIMBAUGH WATCH June 10, 1994 - It's now (allegedly) day 507 (day 526 for the rich and the dead) of "America Held Hostage" (aka the "Raw Deal") and 584 days after Bill Clinton's election, but Rush is still on the air with 640 radio affiliates (with more than 22 million listeners weekly world-wide), 234 TV affiliates (with a national rating of 3.7), and a newsletter with over 440,000 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 2.25 million copies. NEWS o Air Force Sargent Aneda Martinez is insisting that she was targeted for reprisals after she testified in Washington about sexual harassment in the military. A criminal investigation was launched against Martinez when she returned to her base in England and presented a $200 taxi bill for reimbursement. Martinez claims the bill is justified because it was the only way she could return to the base from London. Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-CO) stated the Air Force's investigation "looks like classic whistle-blower reprisals, and the amazing thing to me is that the Air Force just doesn't seem to understand." Schroeder, though, didn't comment on whether she thought the Air Force should routinely pay $200 taxi bills, or whether such bills were common practice for U.S. military personnel in England. o The Consumer Products Safety Federation has issued a warning about roller blade skates, claiming that accidents due to the use of such skates will double this year, with the majority of those injured being younger than 15. o The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has proposed restricting the ability of teenagers to drive on their own, claiming that such restrictions are necessary because automotive accidents are the leading cause of death among 16 to 20-year- olds." Dr. Jennifer Luallen of the CDC reported that many of these deaths would be prevented by measures such as prohibiting unsupervised nighttime driving by teens, implementing a zero tolerance for teen drinking and driving, requiring the use of seat belts, limiting the number of passengers that can be carried, and restricting the roads and distance that teens can travel. Such restrictions would be gradually restricted as teens grow older. "The beauty," Luallen said when talking about the CDC's suggested program, "is that it recognizes that driving is a complex task to master fully and allows a young driver to gradually gain experience." LEST WE FORGET The following are from the Rush Limbaugh show on Friday, June 12, 1992: o Bill Clinton asked 200 campaign staff members to go without their pay checks for a week so he could buy $400,000 of TV time to directly address the American people. Rush found this interesting because there seemed to be a "massive change" going on with Presidential elections, with candidates starting to use talk radio and TV as their primary means of campaigning. o Arsenio Hall responded to news that George Bush would not appear on his talk show with the statement "well, excuse me, George Herbert `irregular heart-beating, read my lying-lipping, sipping in the pool do nothing, deficit raising, make less money than Millie the White House dog last year, Quayle-loving, sushi- puking' Walker Bush. I don't remember inviting your ass to my show, and as a matter of fact my ratings are higher than yours." o Senator John Kerry (D-MA) received a letter from Boris Yeltsin's administration admitting that the USSR held 12 US airmen in Soviet prisons and in psychiatric hospitals after they were shot down by the USSR in the 50s. The USSR also confessed to interning hundreds of Americans both during and after WWII. o Rush noted that EIB's Water Gun Amnesty Program for Super Soakers was going well, although people had started to steal from EIB's water gun collection. In particular, Joy Behar took two of the Super Soakers and then acted as if she had a right to take them. EIB had received so many of these guns, though, that it resorted to storing them in an office that was reserved for the newly hired staff that would soon begin working on the Rush Limbaugh newsletter. Someone even turned in a "homeless" version of a Super Soaker - it was composed of two 2-liter Dr. Pepper bottles connected with rubber tubing, and sealed with gum. Since gravity was the only force that expelled the water from this contraption, Rush doubted that its range was any farther than a homeless person could urinate. o Liz Barrett Brown of the Natural Resources Defense Council reported that "the Earth Summit is a giant garbage mill, and very little of it is being recycled. Most delegates show up in gas-guzzling luxury cars, and car pooling seems to be a foreign concept." Brown also said that every day the Summit's 250 photocopy machines produced 1 million photocopies with a shelf life of 20 minutes. In addition, UN printers churned out 70,000 pages of press releases, 150,000 pages of memos, and 300,000 pages of schedules each day. o Rush received another hate letter from a Perotista: "Rush, we don't give a rat's ass where you had dinner and what kind of political insiders you're talking with. You're missing the boat, and your show is over as far as we're concerned unless you get on this bandwagon." o Rush responded by playing a new commercial for "Sugar- Coated Ross Perots": <> Morning, honey. What's for breakfast? <> Well, there's these Bush Toasties. <> Nah. <> The Bill Clinton cereal - Get Lucky Charms? <> Nah, I need something different this morning. <> How about these? <> Hmmm. New Sugar-Coated Ross Perots - slick packaging <>. <> Honey, don't you want to know what it's made out of? <> Nah, honey, compared to what else is on the table, I'll try anything. <> Bill has discovered the breakfast cereal that 38% of Americans are trying - new Sugar-Coated Ross Perots. <> Ah, this is great, honey. Can I have some more? <> New Sugar-Coated Ross Perots - the cereal with no ingredient label. So if you wonder what it's made of, your guess is as good as ours! But because we're spending $100 million on slick packaging, you won't care! <> Hmmm. What's this in the bottom of the box here? A Rolex?!?! <> Hey! <> And every box of Sugar-Coated Ross Perots has a secret toy surprise - a $1000 bill or a Rolex watch. We'll do anything to get you to try Ross Perots. Ross Perots, get `em while the sugar coating lasts! o Rapper Ice-T released a new song, "Cop Killer," that advocated shooting police officers. Warner Bros. Records responded to calls for the album's recall by saying that although the company didn't advocate violence, it wouldn't restrict the distribution or sale of the song because Ice-T was an artist exercising his First Amendment rights. Warner Bros. insisted that its response was "not a matter of profits, but a matter of principle." Rush wondered, however, why the company didn't support Holly Dunn when feminists called for her song "When I Say Maybe" to be banned because it "encouraged date rape." o OFPRO was a new consumers group in Britain that would regulate the country's 5000 prostitutes to ensure "customer satisfaction." The group's answering machine promised that all communications would be treated in strict confidence, and if a customer's complaint about a prostitute was upheld, they would be compensated by OFPRO either by a cash refund or by "an alternate service from our recommended prostitutes who comply with OFPRO's code of practice, standards, and ethics." o NYC school chancellor Joseph Fernandez ordered all city school districts to provide lessons to their elementary school children on "alternative life-styles" (e.g., homosexual life- styles). Fernandez ordered the schools to show how they would address the problems of discrimination and sexual orientation, so as to produce an "education that is bias-free and respects differences." Fernandez's order was in response to how many schools had rejected the "Children of the Rainbow" curriculum which taught elementary schoolchildren about homosexual lifestyles. o The black grandparents of a two-year old girl won a court battle to adopt her, even though she had been living with white foster parents since she was 4 days old. The Minnesota Supreme Court didn't rule, though, on the constitutionality of the state law which gave relatives and same race couples priority over adopting minority children. ******** MORNING UPDATE Now that President Clinton has concluded his European tour, Rush has a few critiques to make. First, the press missed something when it ignored Clinton's comment in Italy that he was honored to be walking on the same ground that Romulus once walked. Had Reagan or Quayle said this, the press would still be making jokes about it because Romulus is a mythical character; according to legend, Romulus and Remus were brothers raised by a she-wolf, after which they went on to found Rome. The press gets an "F" for failing to point out that Clinton's comment was meaningless as mythical creatures don't walk anywhere. Also, in an interview with NBC's Tom Brokaw, President Clinton claimed that the reason he and other former Vietnam War protestors felt so conflicted during those days was because they "loved" the military. However, the correct word is "loath," as in "loathed the military," a phrase that Clinton used in a letter he wrote to his ROTC commander in Little Rock, as he tried to explain why he didn't want to join the military. Brokaw therefore gets a "D" for deceive, since Clinton fooled him with this lie. Finally, though, Deborah Oren of the NY Post revealed that the photo of Clinton making a cross out of a pile of stones on a beach at Normandy was a setup, carefully orchestrated by White House aides. The stones had been placed there in advance by aides who chose that spot because they knew it, with a battleship in the background, would tug at people's heartstrings. Oren, for exposing this deceit, gets a "B". The lesson from all this, of course, is "never, ever trust a draft-dodger." FIRST HOUR Rush remarks that nearly everything revealed in Bob Woodward's book about the White House, "The Agenda," had previously been predicted by Rush on his radio and TV shows. Yesterday's show had a number of callers who thought Rush was being too hard on the President, and Rush admits he can see why people would think this. However, even these critics would have to be impressed how Rush has so far been right on with his analysis of the Clinton White House. Granted, Rush has been issuing opinions, not revealing anything that comes from inside sources as Woodward is doing, and he doesn't do the type of research that Woodward has done. Nevertheless, Rush has great instincts, especially about liberals and why they do what they do. And now another book is proving Rush right, this time about the feminist movement. Christian Hoff Summers has written "Who Stole Feminism?", and it exposes the fraud of the feminist leaders. Rush finds this book especially fascinating since for five years he's been giving specific examples about how the radical feminist movement is a fringe movement that makes things up and how they get away with it because the mainstream press never challenges them. Now Summers has come along to back up what Rush has been saying with scholarly research. Of course, the mainstream press won't consider Rush to be vindicated, but at least it will open some people's eyes. In fact, more and more women who call themselves feminists are writing books and articles which are obviously out on the fringe, and mainstream women are wondering just what the heck modern feminism has become. Summers starts her book by quoting Gloria Steinem's "From Revolution Within" as saying that 150,000 women die each year from anorexia, three times the number of people who died in the Vietnam War or in car accidents each year. Naomi Wolfe in her book "They Beauty Myth" also reports this figure, and calls it a modern, male-generated holocaust. The source for this story is another book which attributes it to the American Anorexia Association, so Summers called the group and found out that they were misquoted. The real figure is only 54 deaths a year due to anorexia, yet three feminist authors reported the 150,000 figure as if it were fact, using it to promote their agenda. Ann Landers also repeated this phony figure in her syndicated column, and it's gotten into a college textbook titled "The Knowledge Explosion." Rush has long noted that the women coming out of college are angry and bitter because angry and bitter feminists have filled their heads with anti-male lies. For saying this, Rush has been called extreme, yet all he has been doing has been criticizing the extremists and radicals of the feminist movement. Another deceit exposed by Summers is how in November, 1992 Deborah Louis cited a March of Dimes study that claimed domestic violence was responsible for more birth defects than all other causes combined. In February, 1993, NOW President Patricia Ireland repeated this claim on the Charlie Rose show. Time magazine, along with a number of major newspapers, also repeated this claim in early 1993, and so much was made about it that Senator Ted Kennedy contacted the March of Dimes for a copy of their study. It turned out that the March of Dimes never had such a story, nor did they ever make the claim which Louis insisted they did. Time printed a retraction a full eleven months after their original story. Summers asked Louis for the source of her information, and it turned out that she got it third-hand, with the original source herself claiming that she had heard a speaker claim that a March of Dimes nurse had told her that more women were screened for birth defects than for domestic violence. Thus, the original statistics was not anywhere near what Louis claimed it was, yet nobody in the press challenged it when it was first reported. Rush thus wonders where the press is about all these things; where is the natural inquisitiveness of the press? This is exactly what Rush means when he accuses the press of being willing allies of these feminist radicals. Scott McConnell of the NY Post asks this question, too, wondering why the media would accept the claim that domestic violence is more responsible for birth defects than all the known physiological causes. Is this acceptance a result of the journalists' vast medical experience or their biases? The fact is that the willing media is more than willing to cut left-wing groups some slack because they are sympathetic towards those groups. Rush would love to see these leftists forced to provide proof for their charges and allegations. Summers notes that reporters would never print information from sources such as the NRA or tobacco industry without cross-checking it three or four times, yet when a report comes from a university-sponsored domestic violence group, the press doesn't dare question it. Instead, as Summers notes, their skepticism goes on vacation. Rush has assigned members of his staff to read Bob Woodward's and Summers' books, so that he can find more examples of the left's claims and of how he's been right about both them and the Clinton administration. Rush pledges to demonstrate how his own books, his newsletter, and his shows are the only scholarly research that people need. He notes that his wife Marta found Summers' book in the bookstore, and she went nearly ballistic when she read it because Rush has long been saying the same things for years. Rush wasn't surprised that Summers would be so on target because she's been exposing the left's hypocrisy for a long time, but the press simply doesn't seem willing to question the people they are so sympathetic to. *BREAK* Turning to the book "The Agenda," Rush notes that he has always believed that President Clinton knew that his economic plan was the exact opposite of what was needed to spur the economy on to growth and to health. Woodward's book quotes Clinton as telling Paul Begala as saying that his plan was a "turkey." Also, in a July, 1993 meeting, some of the Clinton advisors warned that the Clinton plan would slow down the economy, echoing what Rush had said in his proposed bet with the Democratic National Committee. Woodward says that when the advisers warned President Clinton that his plan could indeed hurt the economy by 1995, Clinton reportedly replied "if it doesn't work, and we fall into recession, we'll have to stimulate by lowering taxes." Rush thus predicts that at some point in 1995, as the 1996 elections near, President Clinton will miraculously propose a tax cut. Rush admits that this is a no-brainer of a prediction, but he also thinks that along with this tax cut, Clinton will also propose a reduction in the capital gains taxes, stunning everyone (except Rush, of course). *BREAK* Rush notes he is not going off on an ego-trip about how right he's been, but rather has been frustrated at how he's been mischaracterized and attack by the very members of the press who themselves refuse to investigate the left's claims. Not only do they attack Rush, but they attack his audience and all conservatives. Susan Estrich, for example, is writing that Oliver North's primary victory means that "hate is on the march." Liberals such as her throw these labels around without any care or concern for the truth. Nobody in the press challenged the absurd claim that 150,000 women died each year due to anorexia, and it is this sort of extremism that Rush responds to and exposes in his show each day. The same press that is so willing to ignore the real extremists on the left, though, goes out of its way to attack Rush and his fellow conservatives as being hate-filled extremists and fanatics. Phone Rhonda from Houston, TX Rhonda loves Rush but is sort of angry at how Rush "attacked" the photography industry Monday night on his TV show; she wonders if he's trying to follow Hillary Clinton's footsteps by selling short in the photography industry while putting them down on the air, taking about how he didn't want any professional photographers to take pictures of his wedding. Rhonda understands his privacy concerns, but says there are many professional photographers who could have discretely taken pictures of Rush's wedding. Rush says this is probably true, but he simply couldn't take the chance that those pictures would have ended up in tabloid hands. After all, photographer Joseph Perkins turned over photographs he had taken of Rostenkowski's basement to the Chicago Sun-Times. Rush hopes that those in the photo industry don't take his comments personally, but he has to trust his instincts with regards to his private life. He and Marta will probably reenact the wedding with professional photographers, but he was insistent on secrecy and privacy when it came to the real thing. Rhonda says she wouldn't have done anything untoward had she photographed Rush's wedding, and Rush can accept this. However, he's seen tabloid photographers and journalists try to bribe members of his staff and others in the EIB Building so that they could get personal photos and information. Rush has taken the near paranoic approach he has about this because his personal experience has shown him that he must. In fact, someone even rented an apartment from across his, using binoculars to spy on him, trying to find some dirt. Thus, Rush has to be very, very careful in how he protects his privacy, and this has nothing to do the fine American photography industry. Rhonda notes that Rush also disparaged Fotomat with his comments about how he couldn't trust one-hour photo places to develop his pictures. Rush sighs and says and his only point was that should the negatives leave his hands, the developer could make as many copies as they wished and sell them to anyone, anywhere. There are people out there who want to find the worst pictures possible of Rush and other celebrities, so that they can publish them. People magazine, for example, found the worst photo in a spread they did of Rush and they used that one, simply to portray Rush as a mean ogre. Therefore, Rush has to trust his instincts, which meant he had to keep his wedding as secret as possible, trusting it only to the closest of friends. This meant no professional photographers or photo developers, but his decision doesn't mean he has a low opinion of that fine industry. In fact, as he's said, he will have professional photographers at the reenactment of his and Marta's wedding. He understands Rhonda's point, though, and thanks her for calling. Phone Susan from Danville, CA Susan is heartbroken because Rush is now married, and it was especially worse because she found out about his marriage on the evening news. In fact, when the newscaster reported that "Rush takes a bride," Susan couldn't believe her eyes and hoped that the news anchor really was saying "Rush takes a bribe" because the real truth was too horrible to bear. Susan is even on "RMS" now instead of PMS because "Rush Married Someone" she's never heard of. However, Susan does apologize for the scathing letter she went Rush; in this letter she accused Rush of belonging to all American women, and thus he betrayed all American women by marrying just one of them. She really wishes Rush the best on his marriage, though, and takes back all the nasty things she wrote in that letter. She wonders, though, if Rush can really juggle being a great husband as well as maintain his high broadcast standards. Susan suspects, in fact, that the Clinton administration was responsible for setting Rush up with Marta, hoping that he would be so distracted with her that his radio work would suffer. Rush says he can be both a great husband and talk show host because he married the right woman, so Susan doesn't need to worry; the only way his marriage will affect his show is for the best - he can only improve now. Susan, though, says Rush was distracted during the previous couple of weeks before his wedding. "I wonder why?!" Rush exclaims, but pledges that his standards will continue going up and up and that his faithful audience has nothing to worry about as far as his marriage is concerned. *BREAK* Phone Drew from Alexandria, VA Drew congratulates Rush and wonders if Rush heard that the Republicans had voted down a bill to investigate Whitewater. Rush says that this did happen in the Senate because although Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell wanted hearings to begin by July 29th, he defined the scope of those hearings to be so narrow that they would have been useless. For example, Mitchell wanted to discuss only the Washington aspects of Whitewater, with no mention being made of Arkansas events; since Whitewater is in Arkansas, this meant the hearings would be pointless. Republicans do want hearings on Whitewater, but real hearings. Mitchell, of course, insists that Republicans only want to embarrass the President. Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX), though, last night made a brilliant case for Whitewater hearings, noting that the October Surprise hearings concerned alleged misdeeds that had occurred 12 years earlier, back before Reagan was President, back when he was only a governor. Gramm even quoted what then Senator Al Gore said about the need for October Surprise hearings, and Rush hopes to get a transcript of Gramm's remarks so as to show how brilliantly he exposed the hypocrisy of Democrats. It's being claimed that Republicans are trying to "get" Clinton, yet even if this were true, it means Republicans are trying to "get" Clinton just as Democrats tried to "get" Bush and Reagan with the October Surprise, just as Democrats have been trying to get Republicans ever since Watergate. However, even if this is true, what is so bad about wanting to get some ethics back in government? To address Drew's original question, though, Republicans are still pushing for hearings on Whitewater, but they have to be legitimate hearings, not a whitewash job. *BREAK* Phone Chuck from Branerd, MN Chuck says when cigarettes are taxed to the point that nobody can afford to smoke anymore, what will pay for the Clinton health care plan? Will cigars be taxed, too? Rush says that all tobacco taxes will be raised, with cigar taxes going up 3,000% if one particular plan is passed. The left still doesn't seem to realize how contrary their plans are about this. For example, on "Equal Time" with Mary Matalin recently, her guests were the award-winning NPR journalist Susan Stamberg and author Christopher Buckley, who wrote the funny new book "Thank You for Smoking." One of the callers asked the same question that Chuck asked, and the award-winning Susan Stamberg said "ooh, that's a good question - I've never thought about that before!" This is an award-winning journalist, yet she evidently never thought of the most obvious point about using cigarette taxes to fund health care. Yet every thinking American has noticed that you can't get rid of cigarettes as Joyce Elders is trying to do, while still using cigarette taxes to finance health care. "Oh, man!" Rush exclaimed when he saw this, "spare me from the elites!" The answer to Chuck's question is obvious, but it obviously escapes many people, given that one of the health care plans out there would raise cigarette taxes $2 a pack. *BREAK* SECOND HOUR Phone Viva from Ramstein AFB, Germany Viva is paying for her long-distance, international call with her Sprint card so she can give dittos to Rush from all the members of the military who listen to him. Her husband is a military doctor, and he and his fellow members of the military were thoroughly disgusted with the idea that President Clinton's staff would knock down flags in a cemetery so that Clinton could replant them. Rush hopes Viva can see the video of both this incident and the cross-building on the beach photo-op, both of which he'll be replaying tonight. He finds it amazing that anyone would believe that Clinton could just happen to be walking in a cemetery, past all sorts of graves which have American flags flying, and then happen upon the one grave at which the flag has "fallen down," all when the TV cameras are filming. And it's even more incredulous that this fallen down flag was perfectly rolled up, giving the President the opportunity to reverently unroll it, before the cameras, and then patriotically replant it. No flag, however, will fall over and roll itself up, so it had to be rolled up and placed on the ground deliberately. Viva says that there are many in the military who have died to protect that flag, so she has a real problem with the White House doing this, especially since her family has a long history of serving in the military. She hopes this is not true, but if it is, she is thoroughly disgusted. Viva also heard the phone call yesterday from a woman in St. Louis who insisted that Rush's character is in doubt because he and Marta have six marriages between them. Viva notes that Rush is not running for public office, nor is he asking the public to trust him with their tax money and with their freedoms. Viva also doesn't see any parallel between a divorce and sleeping around on your wife. Rush agrees, but isn't worried about such attacks since defenders of the President will grab at anything they can throw at his critics. Viva says these liberals are losing sight of the real issues. Rush says that these liberals know their man is indefensible, so all they can do is lash out at those who are bringing the truth to the public eye. Viva says that she and a lot of her friends are grateful for what Rush is saying about the Clinton health care plan because a "good percentage of the military" is not thrilled with it. She hopes that Rush continues to stress that the character of a public official is important. Rush says that he agrees, but while this is a good point to make, Rush still refuses to accept the basic notion that he has character defects that are on a par with Clinton. He asks Viva how she managed to call the 800 number from Germany. Viva says she called the Sprint operator, who was also a fan of Rush's and kept on dialing the number for her. Rush is pleased to hear this and thanks her again for calling, and he wishes her and everyone at the Air Base his best. ******** Rush recalls that when the Paula Jones's charges first broke, the Democrats first claimed that it was just a Republican trick to raise money. However, Rush wonders if anyone has yet received a fund-raising letter from the GOP about Paula Jones. This isn't happening, so Rush at the time had to ask himself why the Democrats would make such a claim. The reason is that this is what the Democrats do - they use things like this to scare their supporters into contributing their money. Today's Wall Street Journal reports that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the official Democratic committee whose job it is to work for the re-election of Democratic Senators, is trying to capitalize on Oliver North's primary win in Virginia by sending out a four-page fund-raising letter which begins as follows: "What are the five most frightening words in American politics today? United States Senator Oliver North." Rush can't believe the absurdity of this, but it goes right along with how Susan Estrich, Al Hunt, and who knows how many other liberal columnists are warning that North's victory shows the danger of the "hateful religious right." So it isn't surprising that a wing of the Democratic party would claim that the five most frightening words are "United States Senator Oliver North." Rush, though, thinks five words that are even more frightening are "Clinton has no foreign policy," "Clinton has no economic policy," "46% still support Bill Clinton," "his wife runs the country," "North Korea is not afraid [of Clinton]," "Joycelyn Elders is Surgeon General," "Janet Reno is Attorney General," or "Bill Clinton is still President." Rush finds the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's tactics to be funny, given that the above set of five-word phrases is far more frightening than anything that could be said about Oliver North. Speaking of North, today's NY Times is reporting back on page A-6 that the House of Representatives voted to end the arms embargo against Bosnia, so that Bosnian Muslims could get arms and fight for themselves. The House resolution would order President Clinton "to circumvent the NATO alliance and end the United States' participation in the arms embargo against the Bosnian government." Margaret Thatcher and others have long been calling for this, and Rush recalls that North got in trouble because he allegedly violated the Boland Amendments, which forbid the executive branch to aid the Contras. North is accused of "shredding the Constitution," but House Speaker Jim Wright, Rep. Michael Barnes, and Rep. Joe Miller were doing exactly that with their foreign policy trips to make peace in Nicaragua, telling Daniel Ortega that he shouldn't be worried about Ronald Reagan because the Democrats in Congress would keep him in line. The Democrats sided with Communists, solely to deny Reagan a legislative victory. This is what drove the Reagan administration to find a way around the House's limitations upon their foreign policy options. Democrats in the House were acting in ways not permitted by the Constitution, yet nobody accused them of shredding the Constitution. But they said this about Oliver North when he tried to get around Congress. These same Democrats are still trying to take control of foreign policy, by issuing orders to the White House. And still nobody is talking about how the Democrats are shredding the Constitution with their usurpation of executive power. *BREAK* Phone Erin from Hermosa Beach, CA Erin is an attorney in Los Angeles, and when Rush's name came up at a recent ABA dinner, the Rush-bashing began in earnest. Erin was evidently the only conservative there, and she had to listen to things like a retired judge stating that Rush's listeners weren't intelligent and that Rush took only callers who would make him look good (i.e. agree with Rush's "lies"). Erin asked the judge if he listened to Rush, and the judge proudly replied no. Erin then remarked "well, there you go!" She loved seeing how this totally deflated these Rush-bashers, but she continued the pressure by asking exactly what it was that they found so objectionable about what Rush says. They couldn't answer this, either, so they quickly turned the conversation to other topics. Rush would love to ask people like this how they gained their opinion on him. Erin says that she had her victory, so she didn't want to push the point, especially since she's just an attorney and this guy was a judge who still might come back to the bench for special cases. Rush congratulates Erin for nuking them with "calm, cool intellect" and thanks her for calling. Phone Ann Marie from Great Barrington, MA Ann Marie is disgusted and disappointed with the women earlier this week who thought Playboy shouldn't be allowed in firehouses because the magazine was disgusting. These women missed the entire point of the First Amendment rights that are stake. Rush says that the judge in this case made the ruling official yesterday, stating that the First Amendment allowed the firefighter to read Playboy on his breaks in his private quarters. Tammy Bruce of the LA chapter of NOW probably loved this ruling because it was a great feminist call to arms; she was screaming and near hysterical on the LA courthouse, claiming that women "would not tolerate being harassed anymore." Yet someone reading Playboy quietly by himself in his private quarters is not harassing anyone. Sadly, the Fire Chief said he didn't like this verdict and would appeal it on behalf of the 11 out of 2500 LAFD firefighters who are female. Ramona Ripsten, head of the LA chapter of the ACLU, supported the ruling, though, and praised it as a First Amendment victory. Thus, the ruling has turned into a huge controversy in LA. *BREAK* Phone Pete from Rheem, CA Pete has been following the FBI investigations of Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, which seems to be just a continuation of the type of ethics shown by the draft-dodging Bill Clinton and cattle-future investing Hillary Clinton. Given that Hillary's cattle futures trading was done by a head lawyer for Tyson Foods and that Espy is accused of receiving gifts from Tyson, Pete wants to ask "just who is running this chicken outfit anyway?" Rush notes that it's pretty well accepted now that Tyson Foods, the largest employer in Arkansas, certainly needs to be on the good side of all the politicians who have regulatory power over it, at both the state and federal level. Thus, some find it suspicious that James Blair, lawyer for Tyson, was the one who arranged for the cattle trades that resulted in Hillary making about $100,000 in one year. If this was a bribe, then the practice of "parking trades" would hide it. Rush, though, doesn't know if there was a direct tie to Clinton with Tyson; if anything did happen, it's likely Tyson officials were motivated not by any close friendships but by the simple fact that Clinton at the time was governor. And during the 80s, Tyson saved millions of dollars because of favorable regulatory treatment. Similarly, it could be that Tyson wanted to stay on the good side of the Agriculture Secretary, who just happens to be Mike Espy right now. Janet Reno has confirmed that the Justice Department has concluded that Espy accepted gifts from Tyson over the years. However, it's a mistake to think that Tyson Foods is the bigwig in Arkansas, because it seems to be the Stevens family that is running a lot of things in that state. Arkansas definitely has its own ways of operating, given that it seems to be run by an oligarchy, in which only a few people have a lot of power and wealth. Pete says that the article he read about Espy reported that he accepted these favors at the same time he was delaying the implementation of new, tighter government standards governing inspection at poultry plants, and Tyson has 66 such plants. Rush says this is true, and at the same time the Agricultural Department was leaning heavily on the beef industry. Pete adds that what was also reported, although not in his paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, "a paper that gives liberalism a good name since it's so far left," was that FBI agents were also claiming that Janet Reno's Justice Department was trying to shut the investigation down and that documents had been shredded. Shredding seems to be happening a lot with the Clinton administration. Rush says this is possible, but all he knows is that Reno has confirmed that this investigation is going on. However, it's not news that the administration would try to stonewall it. There are so many apparent improprieties surrounding the Clintons, both in Washington and Arkansas, that it's hard to keep track. It's obvious that the Clintons tried to work the same way in Washington that they did in Little Rock, and people like Webster Hubble and Vince Foster found themselves out of their league. Rush is certain, though, that there are many people which will refuse to let these investigations die, so time will tell about them. Rush also recalls some story about how a Tyson concern in Alaska got favorable treatment, but he's not certain about the details <>. As to Arkansas, though, it's the Stevens clan that reportedly "grinds the gears in Arkansas." Phone Greg from Manitowoc, WI Greg thinks North Korea is the most delicate and important foreign policy issue concerning the world right now, and the country has to go beyond basic diplomacy in dealing with it. A little "Ronald Reaganism, punch-in-the-nose" approach is perhaps needed, with an ultimatum being delivered: open up your nuclear facilities or lose them. This is also what George Bush and the Israelis did with Hussein and Iraq. Rush, though, wonders if Greg really thinks this administration could make such a threat and follow up with it. Greg doesn't think so; in fact, he thinks the only reason North Korea is getting so smug and cocky is because of who is currently in the White House. Rush agrees, and thanks Greg for saying this. Greg adds that if North Korea is really crazy enough to invade the South, there would be world-wide repercussions against North Korea, and he's certain that North Korea would be wiped off the map. He doesn't think China would support them because they would end up being isolated. Rush says that China is already isolated, plus the Japanese aren't supporting sanctions either right now; this isn't surprising since Japan is within the range of North Korea's Scud missiles. Greg adds that the U.S. is Japan's defenders, and they probably are waiting for the U.S. to do something. Rush notes that it can't be assumed that the North Korean leaders aren't crazy, which is a huge difference between the other nuclear powers, such as the U.S., Russia, Ukraine, etc. With the U.S. and U.S.S.R. stand-off, the parity between the two countries kept a nuclear war from happening. And though this was called MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction), it was a very rational and sound approach, and it worked. However, should weirdo and unpredictable countries, such as Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, get these weapons, and it's a brand-new ballgame, especially if Washington is perceived to be weak and unwilling to act. If the U.S. really thinks that North Korea is that close to making nuclear weapons, along with the missiles to deliver them, it better have a plan ready to take them out. However, there also has to be the resolve to use that plan, and whether this currently exists is anyone's guess. *BREAK* Phone An anonymous caller from a naval station The caller gives "major anchor-weigh dittos" and identifies himself as a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, with the current rank of Master-Chief Petty Officer, the highest non-commissioned officer rating possible in the Navy. He notes that those serving in the U.S. military are warriors, the same type of warriors who hit the beaches on D-Day 50 years ago. Those now in the military cannot stand the farce that was put on by President Clinton, who claims to be the Commander-in-Chief. Rush notes that Clinton, by virtue of his being elected, is the Commander-in-Chief, and the caller agrees, adding that those in the military will follow him, if ordered to do so. However, those in the military aren't falling for his claims that he respects the military. These staged photo-ops are just one aspect of this, and it's obvious Clinton is trying to tie himself to the military heroes of the past. Yet it can't be denied that Clinton abhors the military and has no use for them. Those in the military have been relegated to the status of second-class citizens in this administration, even though they are the finest military in the world. The morale in the military, though, has fallen to such a low point that lifers such as the caller wonder if they really want to stay in and continue serving any more. If the Commander-in-Chief abhors the military, how much other Americans feel towards them? The caller says he doesn't believe Clinton's recent statements that he loves and respects the military, especially since he has proven himself to be a continual liar. Rush says that hearing calls like this are also demoralizing, but he has faith in those who are serving the military that they will continue to do their duty regardless of the President. He points out, though, that this call again shows that it's not just he who is criticizing Bill Clinton. *BREAK* Phone Dave from Columbia, MO Dave thinks the reason Japan has backed away from sanctions against North Korea is because it can't trust the U.S. in general, given all the trade war rhetoric over the past few years, and can't trust Bill Clinton in particular. Rush says this could be, but the Japanese also have to know that economic sanctions won't work against North Korea. The Japanese are in the Koreans' backyards, and they are pretty sure that the North Korea bully is willing to flex his muscles if need be. Besides, it would take a lot of time to get a full embargo against North Korea going, and time is exactly what North Korea wants. *BREAK* THIRD HOUR Items o As Rush predicted earlier this week, there is no bipartisan support for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan's version of the Clinton health care bill. The employer mandate is essential to the Clinton plan since it makes universal coverage possible. USA Today is reporting that Senator Ted Kennedy's plan has sailed through his Labor Committee, which is not a surprise, but Moynihan's bill was "surprisingly similar to President Clinton's," a fact that evidently stuns USA Today which had expected a "bipartisan" bill. However, the point of Moynihan's bill is that it is similar to Clinton's because Moynihan knows that such a bill will never make it out of his Finance Committee because the Republicans (and some Democrats such as David Boren) on that committee won't support the employer mandate. The press is stunned and amazed that a bill exactly like Clinton's is running into trouble, but this shouldn't be a surprise at all. o USA Today also has some great letters about Clinton's trip to Normandy, with one person writing that Clinton's comment about how he wished he had gone into the military because he watched war movies as a kid probably meant he'd next be claiming that he wished his had been a marriage of fidelity because he watched "Father Knows Best" and the "Dick Van Dyke Show." Another letter concerns the story in USA Today about how the rich supposedly aren't paying their "fair share." The letter writer notes that "figures never lie but liars always figure," and he wondered why the two reporters would have quoted misrepresented statistics to claim the income tax system favors the rich. He points out that the top 1% of tax-filers reported 13% of the nation's total adjusted gross income, but paid nearly 25% of all federal income taxes. The top 5% of wage-earners paid over 43% of all federal income taxes, while reporting only 27% of the total adjusted gross income. The letter writer also notes that the tax system of the 1950s, praised by the story in USA Today as being a model system of fairness, had far more many tax loopholes than exist today, which was why the wealthy paid less then and are paying more than their fair share of taxes today. And the bottom half of 1991 tax-filers paid less than 6% of income tax revenues. The letter writer concludes by saying that it's about time for responsible journalists to start reporting the facts and stop "trying to rewrite the economic expansion of the 80s to promote their own agenda or simply sell more books." Rush says this is the question: where are the real reporters anymore; why do they accept the facts and figures of the left without question, while doing their best to disprove anything conservatives might claim. *BREAK* Phone Ron from Delavan, WI Ron says the Clinton administration has overlooked the aggregate effects of its employer mandate, which affects only businesses with more than 10 workers. Rush notes that 75% of all U.S. businesses have ten or fewer employees. Ron agrees, adding that a number of elite congressional districts will be exempted, too, so with all of these exemptions, just how much money will be collected anyway? Ron also suspects that businesses with 12 or 15 employees could fire some of them and rehire them as contractors. Rush says he remembers hearing something about how Hillary wants to make this illegal, which shouldn't surprise anyone either. Ron notes that there are also individual mandates being proposed, but what will be done with members of some religions think modern health care violates their faith. Rush says that Clinton's health bill already would establish 49 new crimes for buying health care privately, so why not put these religious people in jail, too? Rush adds that Hillary and Ira Magaziner have been insisting for over a year that their plan doesn't impose price controls on health care, yet Woodward's book quotes these two as being strongly in favor of such price controls. Phone Susan from Omaha, NB Susan says that the Omaha World Herald recently reprinted a NY Times story about how barbecues and charcoal grills were destroying the environment, and thus electric grills should be used instead. This is absurd, though, given that electricity has to come from power plants that burn stuff like coal which pollute, too. Rush says he's heard about the dangers of charcoal grills for some time, with people even such as George Will complaining about them. Susan wonders where the money comes for these stories, and Rush recalls that while he was gone, there was a story about how $300,000 was spent studying cow flatulence and the effect of the released methane on global warming. As if this weren't bad enough, now $500,000 is being spent to study the methane generated by cow burps. Aside from the money being spent on this, what is going to be done should these cows be declared a danger? Kill them all? Give them a bovine version of AlkaSeltzer? Rush finds it hard to believe that natural things which have been occurring for thousands and millions of years are supposed to only now be destroying the world. Phone Shane from Corpus Christi, TX Shane says Bill Clinton just gave a press conference about his new Haiti policies, which include a more comprehensive embargo against the country. Shane adds that this press conference started about 12:15 EST, right after Rush started his show. Rush is not surprised at this bit of scheduling. Shane says that the administration insisted that Clinton's policies were already working, but the only evidence they could give for this was that the "gas prices were higher." The administration also insisted that nobody was starving because "we are feeding one million people per day." However, Haiti has five million people, so what's happening to the other four million? Rush wonders how the U.S. could be feeding people if there's such a strict embargo in effect. Shane also wants to know what kind of effect this embargo will have, given that it's the people who will be hurt, not the military leaders. Rush asks if Shane thinks there will be a U.S. invasion of Haiti, and Shane doubts it because the U.S. has had sanctions against Haiti for ages without doing much more. Rush notes that embargoes really don't work - the U.S. embargo against Cuba is in its 32nd year, and it's still not eliminated Castro. The Cubans were being helped by the Soviets, of course, but that help has been gone for five years now, and Castro is still around. Will the U.S. be willing to keep its Haitian embargo in effect for five years or perhaps even 30 years? The administration's policy against Haiti is a joke, with those in the administration hoping their tough words will be enough to defeat the military junta. Shane agrees - what is needed in Haiti is freedom, and you can't get freedom through words. He adds that Clinton didn't take any questions himself; instead, William Gray, new envoy to Haiti, took all the questions. Rush notes that it's the envoy's job to answer questions, so this isn't unusual. "I," he points out, though, "don't have an envoy!" *BREAK* A 23-year-old secretary at the Manhattan law firm D'Amato and Lynch filed a sexual harassment lawsuit Wednesday, claiming that her female attorney boss ogled and fondled her, and made sexually suggestive comments to her. The secretary's lawyer said he didn't know of another case in which one woman filed a sexual harassment lawsuit case against another woman, but said "it doesn't case to be sexual harassment because they're the same sex." The secretary claimed she complained of this harassment to the partners of the firm, but that they took no action; her boss, though, then allegedly became more demanding and would scream at the secretary without cause. The secretary said she resigned from the firm in May, 1993 and underwent therapy to deal with the experience. Bo Snerdley remarks "it's so typical," but then explains he was referring to bosses in general, not women. Phone Cathy from Plante, TX Cathy says that Rush has really educated her about sexual harassment, and recalls that good manners used to be taught to kids. This was nothing more than kindness and consideration for each other, and in healthy societies, children grow up learning such things. However, this has been lost now, and people are now going to the federal government, demanding that laws be passed so that others will be nice to them. Rush agrees with some of this, but it's gone beyond a lack of manners. There are a bunch of ninny-nannies who are insisting that everyone live as they do, because this will reduce the chances that they'll get insulted or inconvenienced in the future. Cathy agrees with that, and says it's easier to mind everyone else's business than to tend to your own. Rush says it is much easier to mind everyone else's business than to get a real job, which is a perfect description of many of these mindless, busybody activists. Phone Tom from Detroit, MI Tom doesn't see much difference between Democrats and Republicans anymore, as the only difference is the degree of meddling. Rush understands this point, but there are still huge differences between the two parties. The biggest such difference is that Republicans believe that individuals are best left alone, given that it's individual freedom which has made America great, allowing ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Democrats, though, believe that it's government and what government does that have made American great. By this logic, anyone who's excelled had to have cheated. Granted, some liberal Republicans might believe this, but there is still a basic difference between the two parties. Tom says that nobody is "stepping up to the plate" to show this difference between the parties, especially on health care. Rush says this is happening, not to mention that Democrats such as Senator Moynihan are engaging in artful sabotage of the Clinton plan. Tom hasn't seen anyone in the Republican party challenge the basic assumption of the Clinton plan, which is that health care is a right; there seems to be no philosophical opposition to this idea except on Rush's show. Rush says that Dan Quayle's former chief of staff Bill Kristol, along with William Bennett, Jack Kemp, and others are out there, making speeches, rallying support against the Clinton health care plan. The fact is that the Republican party won't be very visible about such things until it chooses a candidate for the 1996 Presidency. Nothing will really happen until then, but people shouldn't allow themselves to think that Republicans and Democrats are no different, because there is a fundamental difference between how these parties view the individual and what the individual is capable of. *BREAK* Phone John from Houston, TX John gives megadittos, but disagrees with Rush about whether wars are fought for freedom. Most wars are fought for money; even the Revolutionary War was fought for money. Rush agrees that there are always economic concerns, but the high taxation levied on the colonists by Britain was just one aspect of how the colonists' freedoms were being infringed. John says that the Gulf War was not about freedom since Kuwait was not a democracy in the first place. Rush says that America was not fighting for democracy in Kuwait and nobody in the administration claimed otherwise. The Gulf War was about the free flow of oil for market prices, and Bush stated this; however, the press immediately accused him of fighting to prop up oil prices for his Texas friends, even though the price of oil fell after the U.S. got involved. Of course there are financial concerns with oil, but oil is also the fuel of America's freedom, which is why the war was fought. Oil is what allows Americans to heat their homes, to drive to work, etc., and had Hussein gotten his hands on the Saudis' oil, America's freedoms would have been threatened directly. Rush doesn't deny that money is part of this, but freedom was a part of the war. John says that the war was more about money than freedom because if wars were fought for freedom, the U.S. would be in Bosnia and Rwanda. Rush points out that the Bosnian civil war is precisely for freedom - just because the U.S. is not there doesn't mean that the U.S. doesn't care about freedoms or that the Bosnian Muslims don't care about their freedoms. The reason the U.S. isn't over in Bosnia is because the U.S. can't win this war. John says that the Bosnian Serbs want money, which is why they're trying to take over the Muslims' land, which is equivalent to money. Rush says every war has an aggressor and a defender, and Hitler fought his war for evil purposes, which is why he is considered a bad guy; the defenders opposed Hitler for good reasons, i.e. freedom. The Allies weren't fighting for peace, though, but for freedom. The Allies opposed Nazi Germany for freedom, not money. Rush says the soldiers who stormed the beaches at Normandy didn't care about the economic actions, but John disagrees - "those soldiers felt in their hearts knew they were fighting for money!" Rush disagrees - those soldiers were fighting for freedom, they wanted to free Europe from the evil clutches of the Nazis. Certainly there were financial gains to be had, but so what - money exists and it might be at the root of all evil, but money that's earned by your own actions is not evil and having that money is not evil. *BREAK* Phone Tim from San Angelo, TX Tim is in the military, so he wonders what will happen in Haiti. Rush says he has great fears that America will invade and then occupy the country with no end in sight. This won't be another Vietnam, given that the Haitian army is not Saddam's army, plus there's nowhere for these military leaders to hide. A U.S. victory is assured. However, once the military junta been ousted and Jean Bertrand Aristide is installed, the U.S. will end up there with yet another Caribbean beachhead. What bugs Rush most about this, though, is that if the U.S. is going to invade a Caribbean country, we should be going after Cuba and its fabled tobacco fields. Tim says that North Korea is another problem, but Rush says he is no longer worried; after all, the U.S. is sending Jimmy Carter over there to deal with the problem. Perhaps there will even be an "Arms for Carter" exchange problem with North Korea.