Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh was invited to Hillsdale College to receive an award and address their Churchill dinner in Washington, DC, on December 5, 2008. His speech was humorous, informative, and a moral-lifter ... listen to the
audio of Rush's speech.
Here are some excerpts from his remarks. He received cheers and loud applause when he said:
You look at the Saxby Chambliss results when Obama wasn't even there, this is just -- it's so tragic. We could have beaten the guy. We could have beaten the guy if the Republican Party had the guts to be the Reagan Republican Party that he turned it into that's a blueprint for landslide victory. [Loud cheers and applause]
He went on:
Now, the conservative movement has to have a political arm. It has to have a political identity. That has always been the Republican Party. But there's a battle now within the Republican Party over who's going to lead it and who's going to define it. And even during the Reagan era, a lot of you in this room were prominent then. You know that there was a lot of resentment for Ronald Reagan among the quote/unquote "elitists" in our own party because he wasn't properly educated, he didn't come from the right geographical areas, you know, all the things that elites use to distinguish themselves. And plus he wasn't smart. We have -- well, that's what they thought. He was a bumbling dunce, they agreed with Tip O'Neill. But in the meantime, while they had never been able to secure more than 135 seats in the House and go Bob Michel is our leader, and Nelson Rockefeller getting drunk at the '76 convention in Kansas City, falling off his chair is about as far as they ever took us. Reagan comes along, two landslides. And using the same thing that Reagan knew, we took over the House in 1994. And all of us in the Republican Party saw "that era is over." And I never hear the Democrats say "the era of FDR is over." Not only are they trying to revive FDR, Obama is trying to say he's Lincoln, too. [Laughter]
We're sitting around deciding among ourselves, how are we going to approach the Walmart voter? And how are we going to go out and get -- we're into an argument now amongst ourselves, "we have to be for Big Government, too. We have to be for spending to create voting blocks that will vote for us. We have to, because that's what the American people want." Well, what's left to spend? Seriously, what is left to spend? We can't spend any more than we are unless we start printing, and I'm convinced that we're not already doing that. We don't have this money we're using to bail out left and right. It's just tragic to see what has happened. Right before our eyes. Now look at these poor automobile execs. I find it difficult to believe that every automobile executive for 35 years has been an idiot. When you look at what's happened to the business, you figure: There's got to be something. Why don't we look at what is wrong with it? And why don't we look at what's wrong with the mortgage industry? [Laughter] And why don't we look at what's wrong with the housing industry? Why don't we look at what's wrong with -- and, you know, everywhere you look at what's wrong with this or that, guess who you see? Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter. You see Democrats. [Applause.]
Without exception. If, during the first bailout of the mortgage business, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, if they could have found a Republican to blame it on, he would be in Guantanamo Bay right now. [Laughter] After they had done hearing after hearing after, they could not find a Republican. So they had to circle the wagons. And of course we get the impressions, Republicans, "well, these people are losing their homes. We can't have them -- no, of course we can't have any suffering in America anymore. We can't have any suffering, can't have any discomfort. Government's going to solve all that. There will be no difficulties whatsoever. Government can fix all of this."
We have, I think, as conservatives, a golden opportunity here to reintroduce to people -- because this isn't going to work. Down the line it isn't going to work. Central Planning -- like, I don't know if you were following the stock market, poor old Ben Bernanke, every time he opens his mouth, folks go sell because the market jumps down 200 points. Happened today. No matter what he says -- and of course Hank Paulson, I'm sure they're trying their best. It came out today, the magic number, the magic number for mortgage interest is 4 1/2 percent. Central Planning says so. Central Planning: 4 1/2 percent. Where do they pull this stuff out of? This is not going to lead to prosperity for anybody except liberal Democrats who want as much control over people's lives via the government as possible. I look at the auto execs, to get back to them for a moment. And I look at the big oil execs. And I look at -- to me, the most insulting, incompetent, insufferable, arrogant people on these House and Senate Committees lecturing these people. I don't know of one Senator who could produce a drop of oil for anybody's gas -- I don't know a Senator -- Herb Kohl may know how to win in the NBA, but I don't. These guys don't know diddly-squat. The people that are up there being queried and being interrogated on losing money for their companies are being interrogated by people who are the most irresponsible with other people's money I have ever seen in my life! The members of Congress! [Applause.]
On the recent Saxby Chambliss win in Georgia, he commented:
Now, Saxby Chambliss is a fine American and he's a wonderful man, but if it weren't for his varicose veins, he would be totally colorless. [Laughter] ... [Laughter] And Obama threw everything at Saxby Chambliss he had. He threw Ludacris. He threw Jay-Z. He threw everybody but Plaxico Burress and a loaded gun. [Laughter.] Of course, Obama himself didn't go down there because he couldn't risk losing. It was Sarah Palin that pulled that out down there, and Saxby Chambliss, God love him, Saxby Chambliss said the day afterwards, this proves we got to get back to our Reagan roots. There it is. [Applause.]
On the Reagan roots in the country, he said:
Reagan roots is not anti-Communism and low taxes and the Laffer Curve and all the other things that Reagan was dealing with at the time. Reagan roots are the roots of our founding. And the primary leg on that stool is individual liberty. This is a nation founded on the concept that we are individuals. We are not a collective. We are individuals. And that we do our best when we are working in our own self interest, not selfishness, but our own self interest, improving our lives, our families' lives; improves everybody's lives around ours in our communities, cities, towns, the nation at large. Individual liberty will never go out of style because as our founders correctly noted, it is part of our creation. It's what sets this country apart from every other collection of human beings in the history of the world. We have acknowledged that our creation comes from God, not from government, that our freedom is a natural yearning of our creation. And that is the natural yearning of our spirit, to be free, all humanity, all human beings. And as such, liberty will never go out of style. Freedom will never go out of style. We will never, ever say hopefully "the era of freedom is over." We will never say "the era of liberty is over." And as such, we will make a huge mistake if we fall in line with these dummkopfs, who think they're the smartest in our room, who say "the era of Reagan is over." Because the era of Reagan is basic Conservatism 101 which believes, what? The best in everybody. It does not look across a room of people with contempt. It does not look and see incompetence. It doesn't see black, white, male, female, gay, straight. It sees human beings.
He commented about conservatives:
Conservatism sees Americans, sees potential, sees great opportunity, sees an opportunity for people to be the best they can be using whatever ambition and desire they have. Reaganism conservatism does not need to be adapted to issues of the day. There's no such thing as the conservative version of Big Government. That is a sellout of conservatism. [Applause.] What we need to stand true on -- we have to have the courage to continue to teach people that sometimes the way they're going and the way they're voting is not good for them, not good for their family, not good for the country. It may feel good at the moment. It's always going to be a battle. I forget who said this, but it's true. Any group of two people or more, any organization that is not, by definition, conservative, will be liberal. Because liberalism is the most gutless choice you can make. Liberalism's following a cult figure. Liberalism is following a demagogue. Liberalism is doing whatever thinking -- you have to do anything with a liberal, you just have to think in a way that makes yourself feel good. Walk outside the hotel tonight. See a couple homeless people on the grate and go, "Oh, that's so bad. Wow, am I a great person, I care." Yeah? What did you do for them? Well nothing, but I care. Yeah, well where's your homeless ribbon? I don't see it. Conservative looks at them and says, "What can we do about this? That's unacceptable. What can we do about it?" We have to come up with solutions. Liberals don't. All we have to do is make people think they care. And all liberals apparently have to do is sound intelligent while they don't know diddly-squat.
Rush ... the public voice of many conservatives in America. His optimism boosts morale and shows those who think the Republican Party is dead that it is
not dead ... we
can prevail if we work hard and get back to our core principles.
