RUSH: Donald Trump hijacked all three cable networks this morning shortly after 11 o’clock for one of the funniest — albeit most ridiculous — displays I have seen. You can say it was pathetic. 
It was. It had us cringing here. The whole thing just had us cringing. A little after 11 o’clock today Trump was to announce the fate of the current Miss USA, Tara Conner, and ultimately, folks, the verdict here is that New York City is to blame. She’s just a young girl from Kentucky. She came to the bright lights of the big city. She was overwhelmed at all the party chances, all the party opportunities, so she went out there and she made the most of it, just wasn’t prepared for it, had a meeting with Trump today at ten o’clock, and Trump said he’s going to give her a second chance because she’s a good person.
He opened by saying he had to fire Miss USA or somebody, Miss World. He had to fire somebody because, frankly, she was doing a horrible job, and she deserved to be fired. Even though she was a good girl, she was doing a horrible job. This girl was doing a great job and can serve as a role model for other troubled people because we all have demons and so forth. You just gotta hear this. Here’s Trump, a portion of his remarks leading up to… We’re JIPping this. We’re joining it in progress. I knew from the moment he started what was going to happen. This is too big a PR opportunity to pass up, get the ratings up for next year’s pageant. Nobody is watching these pageants anymore, and this will help, and of course it’s a personal opportunity for Trump to be a good guy. Here is just a portion of what he said.
TRUMP: I’ve always been a believer in second chances. Tara is a good person. Tara has tried hard. Tara is going to be given a second chance. Young people today have a tough road. There’s no question about it. Alcohol, drugs, life, and especially in this city and a couple of other cities, it’s tough. It’s not easy. I believe — after speaking with Tara, I believe — that she can do a tremendous service to young people. She’s agreed to go into rehab. I believe she can be a great example for troubled people — and she’s troubled — for troubled people throughout this country, throughout lots of countries, that have problems with alcohol, that have problems with life.
RUSH: So she’s troubled. This is probably about half of what he said, maybe a little bit less than half. But it’s the gist of it. Now, here is just a small portion of a Q&A. The actual statement that Tara Conner made before the Q&A started was just classic. It was just classic! She was near tears throughout the whole thing. She thanked Trump about 14 times. She thanked his “woman,” (I think is what the closed-captioning said. Not his wife. She’s learned a lot from Trump’s “woman,”) and she’s eternally grateful for this second chance. The audience was all media, and they all applauded, by the way, when Trump announced that she was going to get a second chance. A reporter out in the audience said, “Are you an alcoholic?”
CONNER: I wouldn’t say that I’m an alcoholic. I think that that would be pushing the envelope just a little, but I’m willing… I mean, any time that anyone gives you free anything, let’s talk about therapy, or let’s talk about any kind of rehab. We all have personal demons that we have to face at some point or another.
RUSH: Any time that anyone gives you free anything, let’s talk about therapy and let’s talk about…? Is the rehab free and the therapy free, or was the booze free? I’m not quite sure. Anyway, I believe in second chances, too. Don’t misunderstand me. I never had a doubt that Trump was going to get rid of this babe. Have you heard some of the allegations made against her? I had not until this morning. Apparently she was with the Miss Teen USA, and they were smooching on each other, and sharing adult beverages when they were not 21, underage and so forth. All of this, of course, New York City’s fault. So we need New York City reform here. In politics, it was “the money” that made good people bad people. We corrupted bad people in politics with the money, and now New York City is corrupting our young people. Blame it on the trans-fats!
I don’t know if she’s eating trans-fats. She doesn’t look like she eats much. Speaking of which, speaking of that, there’s a story here in the stack. Let’s see. Dutch women’s breasts are expanding! They’re getting bigger, and they want this to happen. It’s all because of diet that they eating. Anyway, there’s lots of wacko stuff out there today, folks.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Here is Brian in Ft. Lauderdale. Brian, you’re up first today on the EIB Network. It’s great to have you with us.
CALLER: Hey, Rush. How you doing?
RUSH: Fine.
CALLER: I’m calling about this beauty pageant thing. I’m afraid it just sets the wrong precedent. While I’m very much for forgiveness and second chances, this is the title of somebody that’s supposed to be pure and integris.
RUSH: No. No, you’ve missed the evolution of Miss USA. This is a woman who’s supposed to represent America as it is, and she’s doing a bang-up job.
CALLER: (Chuckles) Okay. What about the aspiring young girls who might want to hold that position one day and find themselves in a compromising position and suddenly, “Ah, you know, it’s okay. They’ll just forgive me and give me a second chance”?
RUSH: Isn’t that the lesson, though? I mean, this has always been a forgiving society, even in court. This is something we’ve chronicled. I’ll never forget Richard Allen Davis, the man that killed Polly Klaas. In the sentencing phase of the trial — and look at what he did. He kidnaps this poor girl, killed her, and raped her, unspeakable things. Here’s the sentencing phase of the trial, and everybody’s wondering, “Will he show remorse?” Why should that matter? Why should it matter? And instead of showing remorse, he flipped the bird to the cameraman inside the courtroom, and that angered them more than any of the details of the crime! Up until then, there had been some sympathy. “This guy is a little sick. Who can’t imagine doing anything like this? We hope he shows remorse.” There’s this big thing about saying I’m sorry, the press has been demanding that the president admit his mistakes and say, “I’m sorry,” and he hasn’t done it. This is a society right now, we have evolved to the point, where we know that everybody makes mistakes because everybody is imperfect.
“Nobody is perfect. Everybody does things wrong, and people who hold themselves out as morally superior, they’re going to take the biggest fall because they’re going to screw up, too,” but if they just apologize, and if they just do it the right way, our hearts melt and we say, “Awwwww,” and we love Trump for being understanding and compassionate and giving this young woman a second chance because nobody wants the woman’s life to crumble. We need to grab her by the shoulders, take her and do whatever is necessary to straighten her out. She’s obviously admittedly got some problems here. This is a feel-good society right now, and while your take is, I’m sure, held bay lot of people — Come on, what kind of signal is this sending! — the Trump people hope the message is that there are always second chances but no more. He did say one more mistake, and she’s fired. She’ll be replaced, and she’s out of there. I’m not saying that you’re wrong. I’m just trying to tell you where our culture is today as I perceive it.
CALLER: Yeah, but usually this turns out, you know, “I’m sorry that I got caught,” and it’s not really a heartfelt, you know, changing kind of thing. Repentance is turning around, going the other way, not just feeling bad that somebody called you on it. So…
RUSH: In circumstances like this, there’s always a tipping point where you either realize that you’ve got a problem and you need to deal with it or somebody else close to you does, somebody that matters to you and is able to change… That doesn’t happen to everybody. That’s one of the sad things. But what you’re saying is very clear. I understand. This is a nationwide honor. This is a nationwide contest, and she is chosen on the basis of the talent and the swimsuit and the swimsuit and swimsuit and swimsuit and swimsuit — and of course the speech, you know, “I want world peace,” and this sort of stuff, and the swimsuit and the swimsuit and the swimsuit. Here’s the best we could find to represent America in this manner, and she’s this, and yet it doesn’t disqualify her. I know you’re saying that our standards are shrinking, and you’re right. They are.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
I’ve been thinking about this, folks. Mr. Snerdley and I have been talking here during the break about whether or not our cultural standards are declining, as they relate to the controversies swirling around Tara Conner, who is the current Miss USA. And Snerdley made a great point. He said, “How can you say our cultural mores have declined or standards have declined? The Miss USA Pageant is strictly about the swimsuit contest, and she still looks good in a swimsuit so she still deserves the title. She did not disgrace the swimsuit, and she didn’t disgrace the swimsuit pageant.”
That’s basically your point, correct? So the basic reason she was chosen has not been damaged, has not come under assault. Nobody’s out there saying, “Uh-oh, she doesn’t look good in a bathing suit anymore.” So really, folks, that’s the way you have to look at this. I think Snerdley has a point.