RUSH: Here is Dave in Cary, North Carolina. Hello, Dave, nice to have you with us.
CALLER: Rush, mega dittos from North Carolina. How are you, sir?
RUSH: Thank you, sir.
CALLER: A couple things here. I have a comment and then a cigar related question if you have time for it.
RUSH: Sure. By all means, fire away. Let ‘er rip.
CALLER: Don’t get me wrong. I love your show. I love you. I loathe the Clintons, but I think you’re a little hypocritical here in calling them to task in bragging about your wealth and things like that. I think Snerdley, et al, can back me up on this. When you talked about the minions you have around the studio that hand wash and wax your car and your —
RUSH: It’s right there out. In fact, they’re doing it right now. I’m glad you reminded me to look, check.
CALLER: (Laughing.) Don’t get me wrong, Rush. I aspire to live as opulently and extravagantly as you do, but I think it’s just being a little bit hypocritical there.
RUSH: You do?
CALLER: Absolutely! You never go so far as to mention your net worth, but it’s always implied in your terms, the Gulf Streams and this and that — and don’t get me wrong, I want the same for myself, but, you know, I guess the Clintons are maybe a little more direct about it, but you definitely imply it from time to time.
RUSH: You know, I have a special bond with this relationship, and when I make these references to which you just referred, it’s always done with a little humor and sometimes even some self-deprecation. The Clintons are doing this in a way, the attitude behind what they’re saying is, ‘We’ve got it, nah nah nah nah nah nah, and you don’t!’
CALLER: (Laughing.)
RUSH: And then they’re going around saying, ‘We’ve got so much, we don’t need it,’ but then they don’t turn around and give any of it away or send it back to the government or what have you.
CALLER: No, that’s true.
RUSH: But I appreciate your assessment about that.
CALLER: That’s true.
RUSH: I appreciate that.
CALLER: I have a quick cigar question for you.
RUSH: You get the impression. Let me ask you a question.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: By the way, I’m not insisting that you pay more taxes and I’m not insisting that whatever you have is too little or too much, and I’m not trying to make policy to go take what you’ve got.
CALLER: Well, that’s true.
RUSH: I’m trying to encourage everybody how to go get as much as they want based on their ambition, their drive, their education, desire, and all that. The Clintons are making targets out of people who they think have too much money, other than themselves.
CALLER: Yeah, right.
RUSH: I speak inspirationally and positively about the opportunities in the country. They want to shut ’em down. They want to shut ’em off.
CALLER: That’s a good point. That’s a very good point and I defer to your point there as well.
RUSH: Plus, I do not rip other people who make a lot of money. I don’t criticize them. I don’t find fault with it. The Clintons do.
CALLER: Well, that’s true. That’s true. They do have the air of, ‘We’ve got it, we don’t want you to have it.’
RUSH: I don’t accuse the wealthy of being ‘greedy,’ and I don’t accuse the wealthy of being ‘selfish,’ and I don’t accuse the wealthy of being Satans walking the planet. The Clintons do. I’m not suggesting that somebody else should pay for my health care. The Clintons are. I’m not suggesting that somebody ought to pay for everybody else’s health care. I’m not trying to raise your costs on anything by taxing oil companies. I’m not trying to tax employers out of business so that you lose your job. The Clintons are doing all of this! How dare you, sir, compare me to these people?
CALLER: (Laughing.)
RUSH: How dare you do it?
CALLER: My deepest apologies. I’m make up to it by subscribing to Rush on 24/7 — and my quick cigar question for you —
RUSH: Yeah?
CALLER: — and I have a steak dinner riding on this, and you may not be free to answer this. I think you may have an endorsement deal with La Flor Dominicana, but if so —
RUSH: I have no endorsement deals with any cigar out there!
CALLER: (Laughing.) Okay. I say that the best Cuban cigar is still better than the best made Dominican, Nicaraguan, et cetera cigar, just due to the climate and the soil and the expertise that goes into the blending. My friend says he thinks there’s some out there that are on par. Don’t get me wrong! There are a lot of good Dominican, Nicaraguan, et cetera cigars out there. I love a lot of them. But I still think the best Cuban is still better than those.
RUSH: Where did I go wrong with you today?
CALLER: (Laughing.)
RUSH: Now you imply that I am violating the Trading With the Enemy Act by smoking Cuban cigars and can offer you a comparison between them and Dominicans!
CALLER: (Laughing.) Only while you’re on vacation in countries that legally sell such cigars, sir.
RUSH: Do you know I found out it’s even against the law to buy one anywhere?
CALLER: You’re kidding!
RUSH: No.
CALLER: I did not know that.
RUSH: It really is, and it doesn’t matter if you’re in a country where they’re legal. It’s so silly. The whole thing is just so silly. I will tell you this. Back before 1995, maybe ’95 was the last year, I would have agreed —
CALLER: (shuffling papers)
RUSH: What are you doing, rattling papers out there?
CALLER: Oh, sorry about that.
RUSH: Back before 1995, I would have agreed with you.
CALLER: Mmm-hmm.
RUSH: But then, the Cubans got into the mass production of their cigar to keep up with the worldwide demand, and they stopped aging properly.
CALLER: Mmm-hmm.
RUSH: They had a couple hurricanes — and, by the way, when the Soviet subsidies of five billion a year ran out they started holding up all their retailers around the world for advance payment on product, and it just went to… not even the great. You’re right about the huerta bajo, the soil. The amount of sunlight, the rain, all of that, used to be the best, I’m told. I haven’t had a Cuban cigar in I can’t tell you how long.
CALLER: Really?
RUSH: No, I haven’t. I stopped. The Dominicans, I’ve found. I’m smoking a La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chisel right now, but I don’t have an endorsement deal. I smoke a wide variety of things.
CALLER: (Laughing.)
RUSH: But I’m told by people who know that Cuban cigars are coming back, but I haven’t a new one in I can’t tell you how long. But I’ll tell you if you want a real, real really fine Cuban cigar, find one from the eighties, find one from the 70s — or go back and find some pre-embargo. Yes! That’s great.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: I tell you, those things? They melt in your mouth.
• Special Page: Rush’s Cigar Recommendations