NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/alt/fan/rushlim/10583

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-22 | 51.9 KB

Xref: sparky alt.fan.rush-limbaugh:10583 alt.rush-limbaugh:12103
Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,alt.rush-limbaugh
Path: sparky!uunet!europa.asd.contel.com!darwin.sura.net!spool.mu.edu!umn.edu!csus.edu!netcom.com!jrs
From: [e-mail] (John Switzer)
Subject: Summary Fri 12/18/92
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Summary: Unofficial Summary for Friday, December 18, 1992
Keywords: Rush Limbaugh Unofficial Summary
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Distribution: world,usa,alt,na
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 23:13:41 GMT
Lines: 1128

Unofficial Summary of the Rush Limbaugh Show

for Friday, December 18, 1992

by John Switzer

NOTE: This is being posted to both alt.fan.rush-limbaugh and
alt.rush-limbaugh and thus you may see it twice if your sysadm
aliases the two newsgroups together. Since most sites don't
support both groups, this double-posting appears to be
unavoidable, however, if anyone has any ideas on how to avoid it,
please let me know. Thanks - [e-mail].

This unofficial summary is copyright (c) 1992 by John Switzer.
All Rights Reserved. These summaries are distributed on
CompuServe, GEnie, and the Internet, and archived on GEnie (NPC
Roundtable) and Internet (cathouse.aiss.uiuc.edu).  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 as
a daily listener.

******************************************************************

December 18, 1992

NEWS

o       Local KTMS radio news reporter Sandra Gonzalez reports
that Santa Barbara stores are experiencing better than
expected Christmas sales, with some upscale stores such as
Sharper Image reporting sales gains of 10% or more over last
year's sales. According to Gonzalez, most stores have noticed
that "customers are spending more than last year, but are still
spending more conservatively." <<Hey, don't ask me what that
means, I just live here>>

LIMBAUGH WATCH

December 18, 1992 - It's now 46 days after Bill Clinton's
election and Rush is still on the air with 546 radio affiliates
and 207 TV affiliates, and his book has been on the NY Times
hardback non-fiction best-seller list for 12 consecutive weeks
and is currently number one on the list.

MORNING UPDATE

Rush would like to issue a pre-Christmas appeal for brotherhood,
saying:

"There is, my friends, a group that represents sizeable numbers
of Americans. This group in America does not get a fair shake.
They did not ask to be brought here. They are often at the lower
end of the economic spectrum. They do not get a fair shake in our
higher institutions of learning. There are treated with profound
disrespect. They are constantly confronted with derogatory
nicknames, bandied about by people who show no sensitivity to
their needs, no sensitivity to their desires, nor understanding
of their makeup.

"The public school system does not acknowledge the contributions
of these people. They do not acknowledge their culture, they do
not acknowledge their point of view. In fact, they try to squelch
it; they try to silence the culture and viewpoint and
contributions of this group. This group of Americans is not
fairly represented in the media of our country.

"Who is this group of Americans? Who are they? Why, they're the
religious right, and they are Americans, too."

FIRST HOUR

Items

o       This is Rush's last radio show for the year, although he
will be taping more TV shows next week. Rush will also be
appearing on the Phil Donahue show this afternoon; some stations
carry the show live at 4 p.m. EST, but other stations replay it
later. "Consult your local listings," Rush suggests. As usual,
there will be no topic except Rush.

o       Rush was in his office this morning when his TV partner,
Roger Ailes, stormed in with a Christmas present for him. Rush
took it and started to open it, but Ailes thought Rush wasn't
opening it fast enough and so grabbed the knife and finished
cutting the package open himself. Rush discovered a 3 foot by 2
foot frame that contains two items.

On the right side is a color 8x10 autographed picture of Ronald
Reagan offering a toast "with the most engaging smile and gleam
on his eyes." On the left side, is a handwritten note on Reagan's
personal Presidential stationary; the note, dated December 11th,
reads as follows:

"Dear Rush, Thanks for all you're doing to promote Republican and
conservative principles. Now that I've retired from active
politics, I don't mind that you've become the number one voice
for conservatism in our country. I know the liberals call you
`the most dangerous man in America,' but don't worry about it -
they used to say the same thing about me. Keep up the good work!
America needs to hear `the way things ought to be.' Sincerely,
Ron."

Rush, of course, was stunned to see this amazing gift; he
couldn't even imagine that such a gift would be possible, and
then to see it arrive out of the blue is an incredible
experience. Rush thanks both Roger Ailes and President Reagan for
their thoughtfulness; "what a culmination for this year," he
remarks. He promises to show the picture on the TV show, and to
reproduce the letter in an upcoming issue of the Limbaugh Letter.

Bo Snerdley suggests sending a copy of it to Bill Clinton, but
Rush is aghast - "I wouldn't desecrate that by sending a copy to
Clinton," he states. Bo starts to take the picture out of the
office, but Rush stops him, explaining that if people want to see
it, they can come into the studio; "I would rather be able to see
people looking at it, than imagine people pawing it back there in
my office." Not to mention, of course, that Rush has to guard
this treasure against liberal sabotage.

o       Rush has turned over a new leaf about how to react when
he is savagely attacked, especially when the accusations have no
basis whatsoever in reality. Rush used to let these things go by,
but this has happened so often that now Rush refuses to let
"ignoramuses" misstate, mischaracterize, and lie about what he
says.

Rush doesn't mind people criticizing him, but he's going to draw
the line when he's mischaracterized, whether deliberately or
inadvertently. Thus, he feels a need to respond to a letter to
the editor that appeared in a recent NY Newsday. The letter is
titled "Vintage Limbaugh," and attacks Rush for daring to
criticize Clinton before he even takes office. It continues on to
say:

"Limbaugh hopes Clinton will break his promises so he can attack
him verbally on the air, with his only goal being to help elect
an ultra-right President in 1996. If Clinton kept 99 of 100
promises, Limbaugh would dwell on the one he didn't keep; if he
kept them all, Limbaugh would be disappointed. Limbaugh's
viciousness, disguised behind his `holier than thou' attitude, is
not limited to Clinton.

"In a recent radio show in early December, as we were preparing
to send troops to Somalia, Limbaugh disclosed that he had learned
that many of the skin-and-bone people shown in pictures on TV and
newspapers had not become like that from starvation but from
AIDS. This implies that we should not send them help because
their condition is their own fault. This, of course, is
ridiculous but typical of Limbaugh."

Rush points out that he never even considered the possibility of
the Somalis having AIDS until he read this letter, and thus he
never thought of much less said such a thing. Also, Rush has
given full-fledged support for this effort since the beginning on
purely humanitarian grounds; he has never questioned the use of
the military in this, but rather has tried to explain it. Thus
this letter writer, Paul Besmircnik of Dix Hills, NY, which is a
rather affluent area, is implying that Rush has an attitude
toward AIDS patients that Rush has never, ever expressed.

Rush was flabbergasted by this letter and its accusations, and
thus tried to figure out where the guy got his impressions. He
found out that there is a show on WABC that airs a couple of
hours before his and which is hosted by a woman who at the time
was questioning the US role in Somalia; she didn't know whether
the US should be sending its military over there. A caller to her
show told her that the Somalis weren't starving but suffering
from AIDS.

Thus, this letter writer heard a caller to some show which wasn't
even hosted by Rush, and then wrote a letter attacking Rush for
what this bizarre caller said. Rush therefore would like someone
to tell him who of the two people - he or the caller - is
prejudiced and consumed with bitterness and hate.

This situation is similar to what happened with Ray Brady, who
sent Rush a hostile letter about a month ago saying that he heard
that Rush attacked him for his coverage on a certain story; this
third party also told Brady that Rush said Brady's reporting
showed his "obvious liberal bias." Brady therefore sent Rush a
USA Today story that proved his coverage was accurate.

Rush thus wrote Brady back to say that he hasn't watched Brady on
CBS for over a year, and thus he never even saw the story by
Brady. This kind of stuff happens all the time - somebody tells
someone else that Rush said something despicable, and the rumors
and accusations start flying.

Rush's editor at Simon and Schuster, Judith Regan, even ended up
being pummeled by people who wondered how she could possibly edit
a book by such a hate-monger as Rush. Yet these critics had never
listened to Rush's show themselves; they had heard only more
third-party "cacophonous protestations" on what a horrible person
he was.

Rush doesn't want to appear too defensive about this but he
refuses to let stuff like this go unchallenged. Rush has never
said that anyone deserves to die because they get AIDS, nor did
he ever imply such a thing. Yet a bunch of sickos are so
possessed with bitterness and hatred that they assume Rush is
just as hateful as they.

*BREAK*

Update  Feminist         (The Forester Sisters, "Men" with "in
your face" slogan)

There's a mess of items in this update:

o       A Washington Post/ABC News poll has found that 85% of men
and women think that sexual harassment is a problem in the
workplace, an increase from the 74% figure which was seen last
year immediately after the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings.
Rush points out that this is yet another example of a
journalistic front, where journalists keep news in front of
people's faces until the public thinks it's a major problem. For
a year the press has been talking about sexual harassment and
thus it's no surprise that almost everybody thinks it's a major
problem.

o       The Feminist Majority Foundation has issued its Feminists
of the Year award and the winners include: Candice Bergen and
Diane English for their work on the Murphy Brown TV show which
illustrated that "families come in all different types"; two
abortion rights crusaders, Larry Lader and Leona Benton, for
daring to bring the French abortion pill RU-486 into the US;
Lieutenant Paula Coughlin of the US Navy for blowing the whistle
on the Tailhook scandal; L7, a Los Angeles-based all-female rock
group for "mobilizing rock groups in support of abortion rights";
Senator-elect Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) for being the first
black woman elected to the US Senate; and science teacher Doug
Kirkpatrick of Walnut Creek for "giving female students
confidence to be leaders."

o       Barbara Reynolds, though, is not very happy. Her USA
Today column today is titled "Women of Color Still Waiting for
Cabinet Power." She writes that many feminist groups are unhappy
that Clinton has not appointed what they think is enough women to
his cabinet.

o       Donna Shalala, Clinton's head of Health and Human
Services, admitted at a press conference that she smoked
marijuana while in college.

o       Rush has commented many times that feminist extremists
don't want women to derive any pleasure from men whatsoever. The
article "A Single Mother's Guide to the Holidays" in Single
Mother magazine has "50 tips for successful, single parenting."
The first tip is "read books about not needing a man to have a
fulfilling life for the holiday season."

*BREAK*

Phone   Tim from Baltimore, MD

Tim was listening to NPR this morning as they did a report on
Clinton's latest cabinet appointees. What was very interesting is
that at the end of the report, the announcer said, almost in an
aside, that Bill Clinton has announced that Hillary will be
attending all cabinet meetings. The NPR station then went right
to the traffic.

Rush asks Tim if this prospect bothers him, and he replies that
his first gut reaction was that it is a bit odd that Hillary
Clinton would be given this sort of role. Rush says that nobody
really knows what Hillary's role is going to be, which is why
there's a lot of confusion. He recalls that when Hillary <<"Hail
to the Chief" plays>> was prominent back in the early days of the
campaign, she had a decidedly negative effect on Clinton's
campaign.

Hillary was then taken out of the scene and given a full make-
over; the negatives then went down as people assumed that Hillary
would not have a prominent party role, which is the intention the
Clinton campaign encouraged. Now that the election is over, it's
obvious that she will be very active and visible.

Thus, there's an interesting philosophical question about what
role the nation's first baby boom First Lady will have. It's
clear that Hillary <<"Hail to the Chief" plays>> is an activist
who has been motivated by women's lack of political power. She is
certainly brilliant and smart, but she is also wrong about a lot
of things, as far as Rush is concerned.

In any case, she is a utopian and idealist theoretician who
believes in the power of the federal government to change the
social architecture and to modify people's lives. She is also
from a generation where a wife is an active partner with her
husband, and so is in effect an "unelected co-conspirator" with
her husband.

Tim has no problems with Hillary being her husband's partner, but
since Hillary cannot legally be given a cabinet position, he
wishes that Clinton would simply be honest about the influence
she will have in his administration. Rush doesn't think this will
happen, and points out the whole Clinton campaign was based on
the illusion that Clinton and the Democrats were a "new party"
that travelled the moderate road and eschewed liberalism.

However, the election is over and done, and thus this really
doesn't matter now. Rush remembers, though, how Nancy Reagan was
very actively involved in her husband's administration and was
mercilessly savaged for it. Nancy didn't go to cabinet meetings,
but she was concerned about the President's staff and how they
handled his image.

However, now that there's been a generational change it's
evidently okay that Hillary <<"Hail to the Chief" plays>> will be
even more involved than Nancy was. Rush remembers what Algore
said on the night of the election - "we are the new children of
America." Thus, the American people will have to decide how their
government should function and how they are going to adjust to an
obvious generational change.

This change was coming sooner or later, given how the post-WWII
generation has changed so much in the way women act and work in
society. Is it realistic that a woman who has an active career of
her own subordinate it when her husband becomes President? Rush
doesn't think there will be that much flak over this, especially
given how much change has already occurred in the campaign alone.

Character didn't seem to matter this year, and the people didn't
seem concerned about whether Clinton was an adulterer. These
things would have mattered a decade ago, but evidently they don't
now. As an observer, Rush therefore is going to be interested in
how all of this plays out over the next four years.

He suspects that the vast majority of influence exerted by "Mrs.
Bill Clinton" <<"Hail to the Chief" plays>> will not be known or
visible; most of it will take place behind closed doors. Rush has
his own theories on this, but they are based on his suppositions
and unproven rumors, and so he doesn't really want to broadcast
his ideas on national radio.

However, he does think Mrs. Bill Clinton <<"Hail to the Chief"
plays>> has far more power than most people will ever know. For
example, nobody knows for certain how much she had to do with
Donna Shalala being given a cabinet appointment.

Rush was talking to a friend of his about how much fun it's going
to be during the next four years watching this bunch of utopian
theorists who really think that their unproven theories will work
as well in real life as they do in books. His friend agreed and
made the analogy of why the rich moved out of Sherwood Forest -
because they were tired of being held up by Robin Hood.

Rush likes that analogy and then noted the difference between
theoretical and real world knowledge. College graduates who go
into the real world learn really quickly that they aren't going
to get high salaries because employers want experience. Employers
want experience because they know college doesn't teach
everything that a person needs to know; the real world has its
own lessons that must be learned.

Thus, it will be interesting to watch the real world creep up on
the theoreticians in the Clinton administration.

*BREAK*

Phone   Matthew from Detroit, MI

Matthew is a 25-year-old ex-veteran who is confused about what he
is reading about the post-baby boomer generation. He wonders what
his generation will be able to do to affect the world in
(hopefully) a conservative way, especially now that Clinton's
election has handed power to the baby boomer generation.

Rush comments that he never considered himself to be in
solidarity with his generation, as he is more of a rugged
individualist than a representative of his generation. Rush tries
to remain true to his beliefs and retain some sense of morality
and principle throughout every aspect of his life. Thus, Rush
would hate to presume to give advice on this sort of thing to
Matthew.

Matthew says that he is worried by all of the liberal propaganda
that is coming out right now. Rush says that the main thing
conservatives such as Matthew have to do is remember that
although they are in the majority, they do not control this
country's dominant media culture. Thus, conservatives should take
confidence from the fact that they are in the majority and not
let the volume of the liberal media overwhelm them.

Rush holds Matthew over the break.

*BREAK*

Phone   Matthew from Detroit, MI (continued)

Matthew says that he keeps hearing about how his generation will
not be able to live as well as their parents, and Rush tells him
that this is bunk. Matthew lives in the best country in the
world, and he can make whatever kind of life he wants to for
himself. Matthew has to be confident and ignore the gloom and
doom rhetoric that has flooded the country for so many months and
years.

Conservatives don't run the dominant media - the TV shows, the
movies, the magazines, the universities, and so forth - liberals
do, and conservatives can't let this stuff get to them. Concerned
Women of America has many more members than the National
Organization for Women, but people don't know this because the
national media never tells anyone about it.

The problem is that when conservatism doesn't have a leader,
conservatives go silent; one of the best things Reagan did was to
give confidence to conservatives so that they would be willing to
go public with what they feel and believe. Conservatives don't
like to be laughed at and impugned, and thus when this happens,
they tend to retreat and hunker down so as to become invisible.

The best thing Matthew can do when he is told he doesn't have a
future is to ignore the TV news and its gloomy reporting;
instead, he should be optimistic and realize that if he works
hard and does all the other things that are needed and always
have been needed to succeed in America, he will do well. "Rely on
yourself," Rush advises, "and you'll bring everyone else along
with you when you triumph."

*BREAK*

SECOND HOUR

Items

o       Rush asks if Bill Clinton has really moved the Democratic
party towards the center, who is more centrist, Donna Shalala or
Carol Browner? Rush finds this an interesting question since both
women are good examples of leftist-leaning liberals.

o       Rush was looking at the list of 50 suggestions for
successful single parenting during the holidays. The December
15th Tulsa World reprints the list from Single Mother magazine
with the headline "A Single Mother's Guide to Holidays." In
addition to reading books about "not needing a man," the list
suggests mothers can "create a totally non-tradition holiday to
counteract the media stereotypes." Mothers can serve foods such
as hot dogs, crackers, and peanut-butter and jelly crackers -
"anything but turkey and sweet potatoes."

In other words, tradition is something to avoid since it will
make single mothers unhappy. In addition, the list gives single
mothers a lot of inexpensive gift ideas, such as having kids
color newsprint to make wrapping paper. Rush wonders what section
of the newspaper can be used to make wrapping paper - the comics
can't be used because people have too much fun reading the
comics.

o       A special prosecutor has been appointed by a federal
appeals judge to conduct a criminal investigation of the State
Department's search of Bill Clinton's passport files. Rush bets
that James Baker will be a prime target of this investigation,
and if possible the prosecutor will aim at Bush.

Rush knows that the passport search is a questionable thing to
have done, but he has to wonder what would have happened had the
State Department found something? Would they have publicized it
openly, or would they have had to sit on it because the
information was found in an illegal search?

o       Rush wants to go back into the EIB archives and replay
some of the network's best commercials from past shows. The first
is Krytel Record's commercial for that traditional Christmas
album, "Rush Limbaugh Sings Along (with Nat King Cole) On Your
Favorite Christmas Carols." Next is the commercial for the "Rush
Limbaugh Chipmunk Cookbook":

<<Husband, with sound of a roaring fire in the background>> Ah,
hon, don't you love this time of year?

<<Wife>> Oh, yes! Look at all the presents under the tree.

<<Husband, giving present to wife>> Here, open this one first.

<<Wife, unwrapping gift, with scream of delight>> Oh, just what I
wanted! The Rush Limbaugh Chipmunk Cookbook!

<<Husband>> Yeah . . . I wanted to make this Christmas . . .
special.

<<Wife>> Oh, thanks honey.

<<Four-part chorus singing>> Chipmunks roasting on an open fire . . .

<<Death-scream of Alvin-type chipmunk; chipmunk screams continue
through the commercial>>

<<Narrator>> Now, just in time for the holidays - it's the Rush
Limbaugh Chipmunk Cookbook, Volume One. Now for the first time
you and your family can enjoy those old-time favorite Limbaugh
family recipes that have been handed down from generation to
generation.

You'll enjoy Grandma Limbaugh's tasty Chipmunk Chowder, Uncle
Limbaugh's Savory Chipmunk Stew, and Rush Limbaugh's own personal
favorite, that crispy, crunchy Chipmunk Party Fix, a must at
every festive holiday occasion!

The Rush Limbaugh Chipmunk Cookbook, Volume One. Makes the
perfect stocking stuffer! Available at bookstores everywhere.

o       Then, there's EIB's Politically Correct Christmas Album:

<<Guitar and other ethnically correct instruments start playing
generic new age music>>

<<Announcer>> This year make it a politically correct holiday
with EIB's PC Catalog. Everybody knows no Christmas would be the
same without music and that's why we've created the ultimate
politically correct Christmas album - "PC on Earth," featuring
all of your Yuletide favorites, performed by your most beloved
lunatic-fringe groups. Like the PETA singers:

<<PETA Singers>> Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
Wasn't helped by Santa Claus.
We all say meat is murder.
Eating veggies is our cause.

<<Announcer>> And this holiday favorite from the Greenpeace Men's
Quartet:

<<Male quartet>> We stopped three ships from sailing in
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day.
Loaded with plutonium,
On Christmas Day in the morning.

<<Announcer>> And who could forget our Vice President-elect, Al
Gore?

<<Algore, singing>> Spiked Christmas trees, spiked Christmas
trees, I wouldn't try to chop them.

<<Announcer>> To order the complete biodegradable, recyclable,
dolphin-safe three-album set, simply call 1-555-WACKO. And in the
words of movie director Spike Lee:

<<Spike Lee, singing>> Malcolm X-mas, Malcolm X-mas to you.
<<speaking>> Yo! Skip Christmas, go see my movie. Please!

*BREAK*

Phone   David from Raynham, MA

David just finished Rush's book, and he thanks Rush for writing
it; David's a student in communications and used to be worried
about his future in a liberal-controlled industry. However,
Rush's book inspired him and gave him hope that conservatives
could still prosper in America.

Rush says that there's lots of hope for conservatives in
particular and America in general, which is why people should not
allow themselves to get caught up in the doom-and-gloom rantings
that are being bandied about right now. Rush recalls the caller
from Louisiana yesterday whose federal office was being closed,
and the laid-off employees were told that they shouldn't watch
the news every night because they'd be overwhelmed by the
negative coverage and become too depressed. This is powerful
advice, but above all people should not lose their confidence.

David thanks Rush for that advice and says that if he ever gets
successful in the media, he'll have Rush to thank. Rush corrects
him - "you'll have yourself to thank." David agrees and says that
he has an interesting quote that concerns the NPR report that
Hillary will be attending all of Clinton's cabinet meeting.

Hillary Clinton is the cover story of the January, 1993 issue of
Good Housekeeping, and she states unequivocally that she would
not be offered a cabinet post and wouldn't accept one if it was
offered. The reporter then asked if Hillary would attend cabinet
meetings, and she replied "I never did that in Arkansas, and I'm
not going to start now."

David thinks this shows the "Clinton legacy of talking out of
both sides of their mouths," but Rush considers this to be just a
"marital conflict" that will be resolved as time passes. Rush
recalls that it was the May issue of Vanity Fair in which
Hillary's <<"Hail to the Chief" plays>> brother joked that being
Attorney General would "not be challenging enough" for Hillary.
It's a matter of law, by the way, that the President cannot
appoint any members of his family to cabinet positions.

It has long been a matter of speculation, though, as to what role
the next President's wife would have. However, the NPR report
didn't actually quote either the President or his wife, but just
reported what Clinton allegedly said. Thus, the country will have
to wait and see what role the First Lady will play in the new
administration.

Phone   Bill from Baton Rouge, LA

Bill thinks it is an insult to be called a "Rush follower" since
Rush's fans are far more than that. Rush agrees and says that
this audience is definitely one of the most intelligent and
thinking audiences in radio or television. He points out that
it's easy to see that his TV audience is one of the greatest
cross-sections of America that anyone could ever hope to have,
and it is definitely an insult for these people to be called
"sponges" who just slurp in whatever Rush says.

Bill says that he has a good friend who is also a "Rush
follower"; unfortunately, this guy has the same name as another
Lafayette listener - Jacques Favre - who has written Rush two
letters disagreeing with him. Bill thus wants to clear his
friend's name since his friend does agree with Rush and is a
loyal listener. Rush doesn't remember reading one letter from a
Jacques Favre, much less two. He also finds it fascinating that
there are two men named `Jacques Favre' living in Lafayette.

Bill continues on with his topic which is that Louisiana recently
passed a law making it illegal for someone to knowingly expose
another person to the AIDS virus, and a Houma man was recently
convicted for this. Rush holds Bill over the break.

*BREAK*

Today's Evans and Novak column makes a brilliant point and Rush
reads its last paragraph: "The rapture of the news media and
academics over Clinton's virtuoso performance in Little Rock was
diluted because he did not break his word."

Rush comments on how brilliant a politician Clinton is; when
almost everyone and their brother stood up and demanded an
increase in the gasoline tax, Clinton refused to join in. This
was especially interesting since it was the CEO of Ford who was
the first to propose the tax increase; having an automobile
executive propose an increase in the gas tax was all it took for
everyone to jump on the bandwagon.

Clinton refused to support this tax increase, though, and Evans
and Novak theorized that this is become Clinton has stated he
won't burden the middle class with tax increases until the
economy has improved. Evans and Novak then write "the analysis by
the NY Times noted that the President-elect never has used John
F. Kennedy's line about asking what you can do for your country.
The Times has apparently forgot that Kennedy didn't raise taxes,
he cut them."

Rush says this is a great point - everybody thinks Clinton wants
to be another JFK, but the liberals of the 60s bear no
resemblance to the liberals of the day. Kennedy was a supply-
sider and that's how he got the country moving again.

Phone   Bill from Baton Rouge, LA (continued)

Bill says that the "ACL-useless" attacked the conviction of a man
who knowingly infected his girlfriend with AIDS. They filed suit
on the law's constitutionality but lost; one of the ACLU's
attorneys, though, said that it makes no sense to send this guy
to prison "because he's already under a sentence - he has AIDS."
Thus, this means that if someone has AIDS, they shouldn't be held
accountable for any wrong-doing they might do.

Rush thinks this is yet another example of the politics that are
associated with AIDS. A lot of people would agree with the ACLU
because the think it is the compassionate thing to do. What many
people have forgotten about crime and the judicial system is that
the major purpose of prisons is not rehabilitation but
punishment.

Rush did a Morning Update recently about how inmates in Minnesota
are filing a class action suit so that they will be paid the
minimum wage for their prison labor. But prisons are not for the
purpose of rewarding criminals. If criminals are paid the minimum
wage, then they should be charged for their room and board, for
their clothes, for their cable TV, and whatever else they might
want.

Prisons are to punish people and they're not supposed to be
enjoyable or rewarding experiences. In fact, prisons reward to
society by getting these thugs off the streets. Yet, the American
judicial system has been twisted into an unrecognizable state by
so many people.

For example, the NY Daily News has a story about the latest
subway death in New York City. Rush is stunned that this story,
which has no byline, is incredibly sympathetic towards the
criminals, especially the thug who was shot and killed after he
started beating up a subway patron.

In essence, the guy who started the fight by punching and beating
an innocent bystander and who was shot dead in return is now
being written about as if he were a great guy and model citizen;
the paper even talks about the guy's family and children in
excruciating detail, complete with pictures. Thus, the paper
thinks the thug who started the fight is a victim, which is a
conclusion Rush calls asinine.

*BREAK*

Phone   Phil from Ft. Wayne, IN

Phil has another example of "fairness in the courts system" - a
burglar broke into a local house and was shot by the owner. The
thief was convicted and sent to prison, yet he still won a court
settlement against the owner for $12,000 in damages. Rush says
that these cases never go away, and he recalls the case of a NYC
drunk who jumped in front of a speeding subway, yet the Transit
Authority was still found liable for the man's injuries.

This is just a consequence of the fact that people don't want
their actions to have any consequences, and so even if someone
gets drunk or breaks into someone else's home they don't have to
take responsibility for their actions.

Phone   Mary from Crown Point, IN

Mary first wants to ask if there is any political significance to
the fact that a Goofy balloon was introduced in the most recent
Thanksgiving Day parade. Rush laughs and admits he doesn't know.
Mary says that she recently went to a bookstore to buy Rush's
book, which was number one on the best-seller list then, but
copies of Rush's book were pushed to the end of the row. Mary
asked why the book wasn't put in the number one slot, and the
clerk replied that the store's manager "just wanted it that way."
Mary also finds it curious that the store's 28-page flyer of
books didn't include Rush's book in it.

Rush says that he has heard many of these bookstore stories but
even if bookstores are trying to keep his book from the public,
they aren't succeeding. In actuality, though, Rush suspects that
many bookstore owners and managers have no real political motives
in ignoring his book other than responding to various forms of
peer pressure.

In any case, Rush's book is far and way the number one best-
seller, and may end up being the largest selling non-fiction
hardcover book in American history, thanks to "you people." Lee
Iacocca currently has that honor, having sold over 2 million
copies of his book in about 2 years, while Rush's book in four
months has already sold 1.7 million copies.

Rush points out that "fairness" does not always occur - people
don't always get what they want and obstacles will always show
up. Thus, people have to do the best they can, and Rush is deeply
gratified that there is so much interest in his book, and he is
overwhelmed by the response his fans are giving him.

He thus doesn't worry too much about these reports of bookstores
allegedly trying to sabotage his book; if there are such stores,
Rush is sure they are few in number, and in any case the sabotage
attempts aren't working, because people are still buying his
book, and Rush again thanks his public for this.

*BREAK*

Phone   Greg from Street, MD

Greg is a "CIR" - Conservative Ideology Receptee - and recently
at his Fortune 500 company a person from Human Resources came in
to explain their health care benefits package. Greg was
interested in the plan's solvency, and the spokesman explained
that the program was in no danger as long as the company
continued to make money.

The spokesman then said that the company required "healthy
lifestyles," and so Greg asked about people with "alternate
lifestyles" that could raise the cost of insurance for everyone;
given the prevalence of AIDS and the high medical cost for its
treatment, Greg said he was worried that a few of these cases
could raise costs for everyone. Greg is more than willing to be
tolerant, but he draws the line at when people's actions start
affecting him personally.

Greg was chastised by his coworkers for asking this and he thus
would like to know why it's not valid to ask questions like this.
Rush is out of time, but will explain this during the next hour.

*BREAK*

THIRD HOUR

Item

o       Rush gives the call-in phone number (1-800-282-2882) and
then notices the EIB staff giving him weird looks. "You people,"
he tells them, "have been looking at me weird today." Bo Snerdley
denies that they are doing anything differently than usual.

Rush returns to the subject of the last caller, who was
criticized by his fellow employees because he asked a company
benefits official why their requirement of "healthy lifestyles"
did not also exclude the behavioral activities that spread AIDS.
The caller was concerned about this because treatment for AIDS
patients would eventually raise the costs of his health benefits
quite a bit.

Rush points out that in many cases, AIDS patients are not covered
by their health insurance policies; the moment the person is
diagnosed with AIDS, their coverage is dropped (or premiums are
raised to unaffordable levels). This is a common complaint of
AIDS activists, but there are two things at work here.

First, health insurance is not what most people seem to think it
is - health insurance is not a right, yet this is what many
people think, and thus they also think that the costs of health
insurance and medical care are irrelevant. Many of these same
people think having a job is also a "right" and that companies
exist only as a form of social program. But this is ridiculous
and shows how ignorant these people are about the economy and why
businesses exist in the first place.

People, though, think if they get sick that they should be taken
care of for the rest of their lives, no matter what, and this
idea is not limited to health care - this is why the country has
a $4 trillion debt. The country is not in debt because it has
built missiles and other weapons; the country is in debt because
Americans for far too long have decided that the definition of
compassion is to pay somebody not to do anything. Every four
years, the amount being paid is increased, and the number of
people getting such entitlements grows even larger.

People think it is their right to have society, the government,
or whomever, pay for anything they want, and the health care
problem is just one example. Of course, spiraling health care
costs are also fueling this desire for national health care, but
why should any industry lose millions of dollars every year by
underpricing its products? Why should an insurance company
continue to lose money by subsidizing health care costs?

If people have fire insurance on their homes, they won't collect
if they set their own house on fire. Home insurance doesn't cover
calamities that the insured themselves cause, so why should it be
any different with health insurance? No reasonable person can
expect that they have a right to health care and that this care's
cost should be paid by somebody else. No one should be forced to
lose money, yet this is what has happened with health care.

Thus, it's reasonable for someone to ask why they should pay
higher premiums just to cover the cost of someone else's care.
Rush doesn't know how this problem can be fixed, but it's not a
good sign when half of the country's political power structure is
encouraging this trend. One thing that has to happen, though, is
people must realize that actions have consequences and that they
must take responsibility for their actions.

There are times when society feels it necessary to help and
compensate those who have suffered some sort of life-long ill -
for example, those who have served in the military and have
suffered a crippling injury. However, it's ridiculous to extend
this same idea to those who have self-inflicted injuries.

America is a compassionate society, though, and wants to help
whenever it can, and so it's caught between wanting to help and
being able to help. It's unfortunate, though, that those who ask
these sorts of questions are accused of being heartless and
unfeeling, but this is what happens when the dominant media
culture is ruled for decades by people who think they have a
monopoly on compassion and caring.

Of course, these people think compassion simply means saying that
they care, but they don't ever feel a need to actually do
something to solve the problem. Rush recalls Jack Kemp's speech
at the 1988 convention in which he said that compassion should
not be defined by the number of people who receive government
benefits, but rather should be defined by the number of people
who no longer need them.

*BREAK*

Phone   Bruce from Lancaster, PA

Bruce wholeheartedly agrees with Rush's comments on Bob Green's
column about America's growing soullessness. Bruce is finally
glad that some in the mainstream media are seeing the light about
this subject which Rush has been talking about for so long.

Rush admits this is good to see, and Bruce hopes that the media
keeps on talking about subjects like this, given that Clinton is
going to be President. Rush tells Bruce that he should be
optimistic because this country will survive even Clinton.

Phone   Rich from Greeley, CO

Rich says that today's Rocky Mountain News had a picture of
President-elect Clinton and his appointee Carol Browner. Rich is
a dairy nutritionist who knows that Browner's severe regulations
have driven Florida dairy farmers out of the state because of
concerns about water quality in the Everglades. Yet three years
after the farmers left, the water quality is worse than ever.

Rush says that he hadn't heard this, but it proves that Browner
and other followers of Gore really think that man can both
destroy and "improve" nature. They think human beings are not
part of nature and thus must live lives of absolute poverty and
simplicity; yet, on the other hand, they look at the Everglades
and think the problem is too many dairy cows, which of course are
politically incorrect animals.

Thus, these guys also think that man can alter nature for the
better, even though they think man is the problem with nature. Of
course, they ignore the fact that man is nature, and what man
does is just as much a part of nature as anything else. Those on
the liberal left, though, are arrogant enough to believe that
they are indeed intelligent and superior enough to "improve
nature" while other people can't be trusted to handle nature at
all.

Rich adds that what he does as a dairy nutritionist is to recycle
organic waste by-products - sugar beet and brewery waste, for
example - and turn this waste into high quality food. Thus,
farmers are using good biology to fit into the ecosystem, but the
media never reports this; nobody ever does a story on how farmers
are helping the environment.

Rush says that there are many people who believe that farmers are
doing more damage to the environment than good, and these people
claim they alone know what is good for nature. They alone are the
ones who should be trusted to manage and "improve" the
environment from here on out.

This is a giant contradiction, and it is founded on one of the
primary characteristics of liberalism, which is arrogance.

Phone   Richard from Albany, NY

Richard noticed that today's Wall Street Journal has a front-page
article about how Clinton's advisers are now claiming the deficit
will be far worse than anyone has predicted. The article claims
Clinton has concluded that the deficit will thus be the guiding
principle in his administration, thereby precluding any possible
"spending binges."

Rush hasn't read this story yet, but promises to "give it a
glance during the break." Richard adds that he owns a small law
firm, and his health insurance is going to be increased 25% next
year. This means that his business will be paying $6,300 in
health insurance premiums to cover the families of each of his
firm's five employees. He doesn't see how the country can deal
with these costs if they keep increasing at these rates.

Rush says that if these costs continue to rise at rates above
people's ability to pay, the costs won't be paid. Then, of
course, the "White Knights of Congress" will come riding in and
promise to "fix it."

Rush gets handed the Wall Street Journal article, which says that
one of Clinton's ideas to fix the deficit is "curbing tax-free
health benefits." The article also mentions that Hillary Clinton
will be attending cabinet meetings.

*BREAK*

Rush comments that he should have read the Wall Street Journal
article on Clinton because it reports that Clinton "embraced
capping the amount of tax-free benefits companies can provide
their workers, and said he would consider other anti-deficit
measures, including taxing capital gains at death and raising the
retirement age for Social Security benefits."

Rush thinks it is thus clear that HR4848, which would lower the
estate tax threshold from $600,000 to $200,000, while at the same
time increasing the tax rate, will sail through Congress and
become law. Clinton also reportedly warns that the deficit now
appears worse than it did when he put together his economic plan
earlier this year.

Furthermore, Clinton said that his economic summit showed him
that "whatever we do, we have to put it in the context of long-
term deficit reduction." Rush translates all of this to mean that
Clinton is going to claim that his economic summit proved to him
that the economy is far worse than he ever imagined, and of
course all will be blamed on the "roots of decay" of Reagan and
Bush.

Thus the loop has been closed on the charade of Clinton's
economic summit - Clinton has explained why he will now have to
raise taxes like they haven't been for a long while - the country
is in crisis and he must deal with this "emergency." Clinton said
he also wants Hillary <<"Hail to the Chief" plays>> to
participate in cabinet sessions because "she knows more about a
number of issues than we do."

On other topics, Clinton supports letting Allen Greenspan
continue as chairman of the Federal Reserve, but he is
disappointed that the US sent troops to Somalia before coming to
any agreements with the UN about whether the mission included
disarming warlords. Clinton also stands by the "notion" of a
middle class tax cut although he is "lukewarm" about its effects.

Rush points out that Clinton said he wanted to be like JFK, but
Kennedy cut taxes because he knew tax cuts will grow the economy.
"Grab your pocketbooks," Rush warns. Clinton, however, did rule
out some deficit-cutting measures such as the gasoline tax, so
there's a little good news.

The Wall Street Journal also has a story about the First Woman,
Mrs. Bill Clinton <<"Hail to the Chief" plays>>. The article's
headline reads "Large Role for Mrs. Clinton No Longer Troubles
Most Americans"; the story reports that a new poll shows the
American people by a 63 to 24% margin believe Mrs. Clinton
<<"Hail to the Chief" plays>> has the knowledge and
characteristics that qualify her to be an adviser to her husband.

The poll, though, also makes it clear that the people do not want
her to be an official member of the cabinet. However, about 46%
view her positively while 19% view her negatively, and by a 66 to
21% margin, Mrs. Bill Clinton <<"Hail to the Chief" plays>> is
viewed as a "positive role model for American women."

Rush wonders when all of this happened, and suspects that another
journalistic front has moved in. When did the American people
start their love affair with Mrs. Bill Clinton? <<"Hail to the
Chief" plays>> Rush wonders if he has really been so out of touch
that he missed the profound turnaround of public opinion in
regards to the next First Lady.

Rush recalls Hillary's <<"Hail to the Chief" plays>> statement in
the current issue of Good Housekeeping that she wasn't part of
Clinton's Arkansas cabinet and wouldn't start attending cabinet
meetings now. Yet Clinton is quoted in the WSJ as saying he wants
her to sit in on cabinet meetings because she knows more about
some subjects than anyone else. This is in keeping with what
Clinton said after he met with Congressional leaders in Little
Rock after the election - that his wife was at the meeting and
"knew more than the rest of us."

So Hillary has now been "asked" by the future President of the
United States to sit in on his cabinet, so how can she possibly
say no, regardless of whatever she might have told Good
Housekeeping? So, put all this together and the economy needs
drastic action because the deficit is far worse than ever
imagined, and Hillary will have a prominent role in Clinton's
administration.

Rush notes that he predicted all of this, and he hopes people can
hold on, although this may be hard in some cases since people are
going to be socked for capital gains taxes even after they die.
People will also get their health care, but Clinton's then going
to tax them on this "right" they think is theirs.

*BREAK*

Phone   John from Masury, OH

John says the only thing Rush and he have in common is that
they're both Steelers fans and are convinced that Pittsburgh will
beat Minnesota this weekend. However, John doesn't understand why
Rush is against national health care. Rush replies that he
opposes it because it goes against what the country is all about.
If health care is a fundamental right, then why doesn't the
government buy everybody's food? Why doesn't the government buy
people their cars so that they can get to work?

John, though, thinks health care is a "basic right," but Rush
disagrees and asks John to show him where this is written, either
in the Constitution or elsewhere. John asks if this means society
should let people die, and Rush says no; America is a
compassionate society and won't let people die because of this.
However, health care is not a right by any stretch of the legal
or moral imaginations.

John says that he is an autoworker, and thus has excellent health
insurance from his job. Rush points out that John is the one who
is paying for it; he's not getting any "free" health care nor is
his company really paying it. John is paying dues to his union
and is accepting less take-home pay in exchange for these
benefits. This situation has been worked out via union contract
and is fine, and Rush has no problems with this as it is the
private sector and free market at work.

It's another matter, though, for people to assume that their
health care is the responsibility of all taxpayers. Rush doesn't
support national health care because he doesn't want the
government to take health care over and pay for it, run it, and
dictate what happens in every facet of the industry. The best way
to get rid of doctors, for example, is for the government to
dictate how much they can be paid.

John asks if this stuff is in Rush's book, which he just got as a
gift. Rush says he didn't cover health care in "The Way Things
Ought to Be" because he had only 304 pages. He promises, however,
that he'll cover this subject in his next book, "See, I Told You
So." Rush adds that this page limitation is also one reason why
he didn't put an index in his book, not to mention that he wants
people to read every page.

Rush says that Clinton's health care plans are going to be
"bastardized," and the result is going to be nothing like what
Clinton is saying he wants to implement. Thus, the subject will
be a perfect one for "See, I Told You So."

*BREAK*

Rush comments that he will shortly be going over to do the Phil
Donahue show, where "balance" means putting a lonely Rush up on
stage before Phil and an audience of 250 liberals.

Rush comments that his TV show had a Christmas party the other
night, and it was another opportunity for him to remember how
Christmas for him seems to be a more appropriate time than
Thanksgiving to be thankful for everyone and everything that he
has experienced over the past year. 1992 has been a tumultuous
year in many ways for many people, and it's been a tough year to
stay positive and enthusiastic about the future.

However, Rush has tried to remain positive and optimistic, and to
share those feelings with his audience since he believes this
simply makes for a better life. The reason, though, he's been
able to stay positive and resist the temptation to succumb to the
negatives of the past year has been due to everyone in his
audience.

"You have been the sole reason," Rush states as Mannheim
Steamroller's "Silent Night" starts playing in the background,
"that all of the good things that have happened to me have
happened." Rush doesn't want to be maudlin or over-syrupy, but he
thanks his listeners from the bottom of his heart and wishes them
a happy, satisfying, and fulfilling life. Should things not go
their way, he hopes they will have the ability to deal with
life's inevitable disappointments and problems. He urges everyone
to keep a positive outlook about the future, and hopes that
people have a great holiday season.

"Stay right where you are," Rush advises, "because we will keep
on doing this next year." In a conspiratorial voice he adds "and
it will be needed more than ever, I fear." The show ends with
"Silent Night."

--
John Switzer               | "What we have here is a failure to
                           | masticate."
Compuserve: 74076,1250     | -- MST3K's Dr. Clayton "Firebrand" Forrester,
Internet: [e-mail]   | after TV's Frank is unable to eat his 13th turkey.