CALLER: But the reason I called, I think that this gay rights – I mean the anti-gay marriage amendment – is a huge tactical error, if Bush continues pushing this. It is going to be a disaster.
RUSH: How so, sir? How so?
CALLER: Because there will be a two-year pummeling in the media and in the Congress that will be relentless, and it will ultimately lose, and we’re going to take a huge beating on it – a huge beating. It’s just a recipe for disaster.
RUSH: Here’s the problem I have with this. This is the problem. You are allowing righteousness to be subordinated to tactics. We have a situation that can only be described as rampant lawlessness. We have certain citizens who are violating the democratically, legally expressed will of their fellow citizens in there saying, “Up yours.” I got a reverb problem here. Let me turn myself down. [adjusting controls] There we go. So what’s happening is, we sit 
back and let it happen and do nothing, or we sit around and argue about it, or we try to enforce the law.
There have been repeated efforts to enforce the law. Those aren’t working, either. The governor of California called up his attorney general and said, “You go make ’em stop.” He said, “You make ’em stop, Terminator, but you can’t stop me.” Then the lawbreakers decide to go on the offense and sue the state because the ballot initiative was illegal anyway. They want to say it’s unconstitutional, and given the judges we’ve got who knows what the hell is going to come out of this. At some point, if it is judged by the president to be an institution worth holding onto and maintaining because of its value to culture and society, he’s got to fight for it.
One of the other things that bothers me about what you’re saying is – and I really meant this at the top – we’re supposed to subordinate righteousness or what’s the right thing to do here to tactics. We’re not going to do what’s right because we’re afraid what they’re going to say about us. We’re not going to do what’s right because we’re afraid somebody might pummel us for two years. What about the fact that, if that happens, there might be an uprising in this country from people who are fed up with being pummeled? The majority, who said, “Screw this! You know, we’ve looked the other way for too many years. We’ve bent over backwards and forwards for too many years!”
What if they stand up and stay, “We damn well are going to have this amendment and we’re gonna support it,” and what if they start telling all these little wimps in Congress who are afraid like everybody else is afraid what somebody is going to think of them what they’d better do or their ass is grass, or they’re not going to be working there anymore? What then? Why can’t we take the occasion here to think that this may be a unifying event that may cause something positive to happen and put the brakes on the cultural degradation that is happening? You know, I don’t like this business of subordinating what we do to the tactic.
“Oh, they’re going to say this about us and Bush is going to get creamed.” Much rather go down in flames being right and giving it my best than to compromise core principles just to get along with the people that I don’t even want to get along with in the first place – or better stated, just so they won’t say bad things about me because I’m going to clue you in and I hope Bush has learned: They’re going to say bad things about us no matter what we do. 
They’re going to say bad things about us if we lose; they’re going to say bad things about us if we give up; they’re going to say really bad things about us if we win.
They’re going to say bad things about us. That’s their technique. That’s all they’ve got. That’s why I said yesterday, “I’m proud to be known by the enemies I’ve made. I’m honored by it. It’s because I take a stand, because I don’t back down from it.” Do you people know how successful I would be if I had decided when all the heat on me began 10, 12 years ago to become a liberal? Do you realize I would be in television; I might be in movies; I’d be all over the place, if I were a liberal. Now, you may not be my fans, but the liberal intelligentsia and the liberal powers that be would make sure I’m everywhere.
Do you realize how wealthy I would be? Do you think I’m wealthy now? I am a pauper compared to what I would be if I sold out to the liberal media intelligentsia and so forth. And I’m not going to say whether or not I have been approached because it was a long, long, long, long time ago. I will tell you this: if I ever was to be approached I wouldn’t trust them or believe them. But do you understand me? You know, this is taking a stand for what you believe in and standing up for it. It’s only worth something if you’re willing to do that, but if what you believe in is not really – you must not really believe in it if you’re willing to just sort of, “Okay, I’ll be quiet because I don’t want people to be really mad or really critical.” That’s not the way.
I’ll just speak for myself. I can’t operate that way. I learned this long ago in life. I’m like everybody else. I am no different than everybody else. When I was much, much younger, I didn’t want to have any enemies. I wanted everybody to like me. We all want that, right? And something always happens, when you’re about six or seven, and you learn it’s not possible. But then you deny it and you keep trying and you keep trying to make everybody like you, and some people keep doing it until they die, and they’re miserable or they’re phonies.
Whoever they are, they’re not who they really are, or you can be who you are and stand up for what you believe in, and have the courage of your convictions, and hope to triumph with them. And so that’s how I look at it. So I don’t want to take a defensive posture. This is not an issue where, 
You’ve heard the thinking on this, “Let’s go ahead and let Clinton win. Let’s show the country how rotten these Democrats are and they’ll never win again.” Hm-hm. “Let’s go ahead and let these liberals have this. Go ahead, let ’em pollute the culture. There will be a revolution when people figure out how rotten it is.” Well, frankly, I don’t want to wait for this to get fixed till after I’m dead. I mean, that’s not the point. And, by the way, why leave this to somebody else to deal with? Isn’t that what Clinton did, got us in all this mess with Al-Qaeda, and all this other stuff? Left a mess for somebody else?
Hey, you know, we’re all meant to be here, and everything that happens to us, and everywhere we are is – you can say it’s an accident or whatever – but there’s a reason behind it. There’s a reason for everybody’s existence and there are things everybody needs and has to do, wants to do, what have you. Some things are thrust before us. Some things are placed there and we have a choice. We can close our eyes, ignore them, turn around and walk away, move to a gated community and hibernate. I’ve been really close. Or we can say, “I’m going to accept what has been tossed at me and stand up for the things I believe in.” Those are the options that we have, and if you’re right, what are you afraid of?
END TRANSCRIPT
