RUSH: Bill in Orange Park, Florida, you are next, sir. It’s great to have you with us.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my call. It’s a real pleasure to talk to you once again.
RUSH: Yes.
CALLER: First of all, Rush, I had two points. The first one is, I like what you talked about Fox News <a href=”http://mfile.akamai.com/5020/wma/rushlimb.download.akamai.com/5020/clips/07/01/012407_15_bush_speech_audio.asx”>opening up their microphones </a>last night. It was very, very telling. The other thing was I wanted to talk about the president’s speech.
RUSH: Yes?
CALLER: I thought that the president hit a nerve last night, and what I would call a “defining moment” in the war on terror, in that he asked a very, very simple question in the way that every single American can understand, in very simple language — and it’s one that we can pose to liberals in the future — and that is: Do you want the United States to win? Do you want us to be victorious in the war on terror?
RUSH: What do you mean? We already got the answer! They sat on their hands last night. They don’t want us to win. They can’t afford, politically, for us to win!
CALLER: They’re exposed now, Rush. They’re exposed for what they really are. It’s plain for everyone to see now.
RUSH: Well, you say that. I’ve thought that so many times the last year about the liberals and Democrats, and they still won the election.
RUSH: I understand that, because Bush was the most passionate during the war on terror segment of the State of the Union.
CALLER: Exactly, sir. Did you see Lieberman stand up and applaud?
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: There were some other moderate Democrats that stood up, but you saw the real liberals last night.
RUSH: (sigh) I guess. I’ve been seeing them all my life. I understand what you’re saying. You think people are going to watch that last night and really have their eyes opened about who the liberal Democrats are.
CALLER: Yes, sir, I do.
RUSH: Well, I hope you’re right. I’ve thought that. How much more can people’s eyes be open or need to be opened about liberals? See, one of the things that I wished had happened last night, in addition to the thing that you cite, that is, contrast. I wish the president would have contrasted his views with the views of the Democrats, but he just doesn’t do that. He’s not ideological in that sense. Reagan did this constantly, during his State of the Union or during another speech, Reagan would tell the American people what his opponents think, what they want, what they oppose, and what kind of obstacle they are.
CALLER: He also did it in very simple language that the average American can understand.
RUSH: He did, but George W. Bush has people in that room who are invested in defeat! George W. Bush has people in that room trying to undermine the policy. Now, he can find a way to say that, and he can get boos and catcalls from that side of the aisle, but he’s leaving it up to people who watch this who see the Democrats sit down and not applaud when he mentions victory, and he’s leaving it up to the viewer to conclude this, for him or herself.
CALLER: That’s exactly right.
CALLER: Well, I think, sir, that last night every single American was able to see. The cameras told a lot last night, and these liberals, these Democrats that sat on their hands, they were there for all of us to see. There’s no doubt about who they are.
RUSH: You know something? I have seen Hillary Clinton looking dour and sour in State of the Union addresses for the last six years. I have seen Democrats not applaud obvious, patriotic things for the last six years. This is nothing new in terms of Democrat behavior. There were a number of things they stood silent on last night that would be good for the country, but that didn’t involve the government getting bigger. I’ve been watching this my whole life, and yet the Democrats still won in November.
CALLER: Well, who’s going to be the first in the news media — the Drive-By Media, as you like to call them — and I like that term.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: Who’s going to be the first one to look Hillary straight in the eye and say, “Do you want us to be victorious?”
RUSH: (Laughing.)
CALLER: Now, her answer is going to be, “Yes, but…”
RUSH: No. It’s not going to get that far. There will not be an answer from Mrs. Clinton, because that question will never be posed to her.
CALLER: That’s what I was wondering: Will that question ever be posed?
RUSH: Gotta run, gotta run.