Remembering Rush

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – "Remembering Rush"

Release Date: February 17, 2026
Hosts: Producers Ally and Greg
Theme: A heartfelt retrospective on the legacy, humor, and teaching moments of Rush Limbaugh, commemorating the five-year anniversary of his passing.

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Overview

This special "After Hours" episode honors Rush Limbaugh on the five-year anniversary of his passing. Producers Ally and Greg, both longtime members of Rush's team and now part of the Clay and Buck Show, curate favorite clips, personal anecdotes, and reflect on Rush’s influence across broadcasting, politics, and American culture. With laughter, moving calls, and nostalgic inside stories, the episode is both a tribute and an exploration of Rush’s unique impact on listeners and colleagues alike.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Anniversary & Rush’s Enduring Presence

Timestamps: 02:18–04:30

• Ally and Greg express disbelief that five years have passed, noting the milestone and the ongoing presence of Rush’s memory in news discussions and listener calls.
  • “There's moments where I'll hear something in the news or Clay and Buck will say something, and I'll have these little glimpses and memories, almost like losing anyone in your life.” (03:19 - Ally)
• Listeners often reference Rush during contemporary debates, highlighting the continued relevance of his commentary.

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2. The Challenge of Choosing Rush Clips

Timestamps: 04:30–06:16

• Emphasize the difficulty in narrowing down 32 years of radio to just one hour.
  • “There's just so many rich, wonderful, funny memories.” (05:07 - Ally)
• Both describe the “rabbit hole” experience of revisiting archives, getting lost in Rush’s wit and wisdom.
• Intention: To offer a mix of funny, meaningful, and iconic moments.

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3. Rush’s Love of Animals (Especially Cats)

Timestamps: 06:22–10:39

• Rush was well-known for his affection for his cats, especially Pumpkin, and later his dogs.
• Notable and humorous storytelling around the struggle to put his cat into a carrier (with listener Noreen offering tips).
  • “You mean instead of saying, little bitch, get in the damn carrier, I'm supposed to sing to it?” (07:59 - Rush)
• Rush compares, with humor, the experience of owning cats to understanding other relationships.
• Listeners compare Trump to “the cat that won’t go in the carrier” as an analogy for resisting the mainstream media’s narrative. (10:55–12:34)
  • “Trump is the cat that won’t go in the carrier. He will not go along…” (12:00 - Rush)

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4. Listeners Transformed by Rush’s Show

Timestamps: 18:01–22:43

• Discussion of calls from former liberals or people whose worldviews were shifted by Rush.
  • “You had your instincts, and then you found a radio show that validated them... that’s how it works, folks.” (20:18 - Rush)
• Memories of a moving call from a former convict who dramatically turned his life around after listening to Rush in solitary confinement.

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5. Rush’s Motivational Monologues: "Most Limitations Are Self-Imposed"

Timestamps: 22:43–26:48, 44:36–57:07

• Rush’s think pieces are celebrated for their evergreen life advice and introspection, sometimes interrupting regular programming.
  • “I always loved those. They were evergreen. You could listen to them today, tomorrow, ten years from now.” (24:31 - Ally)
• Listeners and hosts revisit a specific monologue – how most people’s limitations stem from their own mindsets, not external factors. Rush ties this to rugged individualism and the dangers of victimhood, personalizing his message with stories of overcoming his own significant life setbacks (hearing loss, addiction, public scrutiny).
  • “The only limitations we have in life, for the most of them, are the ones we place on ourselves.” (46:24 - Rush)

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6. The Importance of Teaching Civics & Individualism

Timestamps: 25:05–35:46

• Discussion of Rush’s deep concern about the lack of civic and economic education in schools.
• Connection to the ongoing efforts by Clay and Buck.
• Rush’s response to a homeschooling mom on teaching civics, emphasizing the Declaration of Independence, American exceptionalism, and the need to teach what communism and socialism are.
  • “I would teach how blessedly special, blessedly unique the United States of America is…” (27:53 - Rush)
  • “You need to prepare them for whatever objections they’re going to get. But more than anything… you’re teaching them to think about it themselves, to realize some things themselves. Critical thinking…” (27:58 - Rush)

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7. Rush’s Own Overcoming of Obstacles

Timestamps: 38:38–44:27, 44:54–57:07

• Personal resilience: hearing loss, weight struggles, divorce, addiction, repeated firings.
  • “He was like the phoenix. He would always rise up after every one of those. And by the way, all of this in public, right?” (39:04 - Ally)
  • “It’s not that you got knocked down, it’s how you get up.” (39:48 - Greg)
• Rush’s entrepreneurial optimism—stories of driving around wealthy neighborhoods as motivation, not jealousy.

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8. Rush’s Use of Satire and Pranks

Timestamps: 60:05–66:48

• Reflections on Rush’s love for on-air pranks, especially his infamous "endorsement" of Bill Clinton in 1992, which turned out to be a satirical illustration.
  • Audio highlights Phyllis, a distressed listener calling in, and Rush playing with her expectations for comedic effect.
• Ally and Greg underscore Rush’s knack for “illustrating absurdity by being absurd.”
  • “That was classic Rush, illustrating absurdity by being absurd.” (68:16 - Ally)

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9. Disarming Callers & Signature Bits

Timestamps: 68:37–75:01

• Rush’s regular playful technique: telling women callers their name was in his “Top 10 Favorite Female Names.”
  • Montage plays of Rush repeating this bit with different names for decades.
• Technique designed to put nervous callers at ease—humanizing and inclusive.

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10. The Lasting Influence and Listener Community

Timestamps: 75:01–78:26

• The show encourages listeners to share their own Rush memories, maintaining the strong community feeling and connection fans had with Rush, now carried forward by Ally, Greg, Clay, and Buck.
• Closing appreciation for Rush’s sense of hope, individual empowerment, and relentless desire to uplift his audience.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You mean instead of saying, little bitch, get in the damn carrier, I’m supposed to sing to it?” (07:59 - Rush, [Cat Carrier segment])
• “The only limitations we have in life, for the most of them, are the ones we place on ourselves.” (46:24 - Rush, [Most Limitations Are Self-Imposed])
• “I would teach how blessedly special, blessedly unique the United States of America is…” (27:53 - Rush, [Homeschooling & Civics])
• “He was like the phoenix. He would always rise up after every one of those. And by the way, all of this in public, right?” (39:04 - Ally)
• “He had a way of disarming people right away when they called in...that was one of his techniques to calm the person down. On the other end. Especially women. And I thought it was an excellent tactic.” (72:52 - Ally)
• “That was classic Rush, illustrating absurdity by being absurd.” (68:16 – Ally, on Rush’s pranks)
• “If you missed it, head back there and check it out.” (44:27 - Greg, referencing previous episodes celebrating Rush’s philosophy)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 02:18 – Reminiscing and explaining the episode’s purpose
• 06:22 – Rush’s animal stories and “Cat Carrier” segment
• 10:55 – Cat carrier as Trump metaphor; resistance to the media
• 18:01 – Callers reformed by Rush, personal transformation
• 22:43 – Motivational monologues, evergreen Rush wisdom
• 27:53 – Rush’s advice on teaching civics and American exceptionalism
• 38:38 – Overcoming adversity: Rush’s personal struggles
• 44:36 – “Most limitations are self-imposed” extended discussion
• 60:05 – Pranks: Endorsing Bill Clinton & the Phyllis call
• 68:37 – “Top 10 Female Names” recurring bit
• 75:01 – Listener engagement and community

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Tone

The episode is light-hearted but reflective, blending playful recollection with deep appreciation. The hosts deliver a mix of gentle humor, nostalgia, and thoughtful commentary—evoking Rush’s spirit of warmth, wit, and unrelenting optimism.

For listeners new and old, this episode serves as both an introduction to Rush Limbaugh’s enduring legacy and an affectionate, behind-the-scenes look at why he remains so missed by those who worked with him and by millions of “dittoheads” nationwide.

Transcript

[Ally]

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[Ally]

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[Greg]

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[Ally]

Welcome to a very special edition of After Hours with producer Ali and producer Greg with We wanted to put this podcast together to commemorate the five year passing of our El Rushbo.

[Greg]

How has it been five years? I know you can knock me over with a feather just at the thought of it. It seems like yesterday.

[Ally]

We do want to acknowledge this anniversary because it is kind of a milestone at five years and put something together for the audience who still misses Rush still yearns to hear from Rush and just our way of honoring him, really.

[Greg]

Absolutely. For someone. For people like us who work on the Clay and Buck show today and are thrilled to be there, we're really having a great time. And, you know, it's going along very well. And yet we were also with Rush's show back in the day. This is. It's bittersweet. It's. It's a. It's the only way that I can. I can really say it. It's because it's just so many conflicting emotions.

[Ally]

There's moments where I'll hear something in the news or Clay and Buck will say something, and I'll have these little glimpses and memories, almost like losing anyone in your life. There's a memory not far behind.

[Greg]

Absolutely. I encounter it quite frequently with callers who will say call and say, oh, Rush used to talk about this. Just happened this week, as a matter of fact. Rush talked about this and Rush talked about that. And, oh, you gotta remind Clay and Buck about what Rush said about X, Y, or Z. And so it's still fresh in all of your memories.

[Ally]

Well, it's like when you lose a family member and you often refer to them in the same way. Or, oh, my gosh, my uncle used to always say this. Or, oh, my God, this really reminds me of mom right now.

[Greg]

Exactly.

[Ally]

So that's how we feel. I mean, I was with Rush since I started in April of 2001. And you came on the scene 2007. Yeah. So we've. We've been with him a long time, and there is so much content. So, Greg, when we were thinking about putting this podcast together and what clips we would choose, and we could go on for hours and hours. So we're like, we gotta limit it 30 some years.

[Greg]

32 years.

[Ally]

Yeah. So let's. Let's have a goal of one hour. Okay. Okay. Well, you know when your wife tells you. I don't know if Lisa does this. Your wife tells you, okay, I need you to do a cleanup project at home. And it involves anything having to do with old videos or photos. My husband is away for a couple months doing a play. He's an actor. So I had the task of going through all of our photo albums and old VHS taped. So many bins in our apartment. We live in a small apartment, so I had to organize, and I promised him I would clear out. This is not an ad for legacy box I got sitting on the floor. It's now one month into my project, and I just got so caught up looking at all the photos and just went down that rabbit hole of memories. And that's kind of how I, in putting together this podcast, you and I were going through the archives and I had the same thing happen. I ended up down a rabbit hole two hours later. What are we going to choose and highlight? There's just so many rich, wonderful, funny memories.

[Greg]

Just before we came in here to sit down and start this recording, I was back in the war room, just pulling up old clips from the Rush show, things that we highlighted on the anniversaries, the 20th, 25th, 30th anniversaries, and other things from out throughout the years. Laughing my head off, just talking about going down a rabbit hole. First it was this one, then it was that one. Gravitas and then this other montage. And we're in the process of pulling some really great stuff for you that's meaningful and yet funny.

[Ally]

We hope this we're gonna time travel together.

[Greg]

This podcast is gonna be a little bit of everything for you.

[Ally]

Yeah, we dec it into categories, encapsulate.

[Greg]

And just give a tip of the hat to what Rush meant to all of us.

[Ally]

That's right.

[Greg]

And where we are today.

[Ally]

And speaking of categories, cat egories, it wouldn't be Rush without his love of animals, specifically cats and then later years dogs, but let's face it, cats. Cats came first.

[Greg]

Absolutely.

[Ally]

And he, his love affair with Pumpkin and then Allie the cat that followed.

[Greg]

Right.

[Ally]

We had some funny memories with that. One of the clips I wanted to revisit, actually there were two. I had five, but I said, okay, gotta limit it. So one of the clips was Rush's struggles in getting the cat in the cat carrier.

[Greg]

Oh, gosh.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Okay, we're gonna go to the phones. We, we had a bunch of people want to help me learn how to put my cat in a travel carrier. Like, I don't know. But we synthesize these down to one call. Many of them have the same helpful suggestions. This is Noreen in Downey, California. Glad you called, Noreen. How are you?

[Caller]

I'm very good. Rush, good morning to you.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Thank you.

[Caller]

I'm calling because I think I have a great solution for you and your pet. I know that you're upset and your cat's upset, but they make these nice soft sided carriers that unzip on the top so that when you're picking up your kitty, you just hold it like you're petting it and you have it calm and you set it down inside the carrier and have somebody else Help you zip it up really quick instead of trying to force her through the little door in the front where she can fight you. Also, it helps if you sing to your cat when you're picking her up so that she's calm in the.

[Rush Limbaugh]

You mean instead of saying, little bitch, get in the damn carrier, I'm supposed to sing to it?

[Caller]

Yeah, she'll love it and she'll calm down and then you'll be calm and so she'll be calm.

[Rush Limbaugh]

I don't say that, by the way, to the cat. Folks, I just want you to know I'm. I'm being. I'm being. I'm loaded for bear today. I could launch on anything. Noreen, I appreciate the call. Thank you so much. I have a cat carrier with both a top opening and a front or back opening. No, I've not, I've not. I've not tried singing. I honestly haven't. But the last time this was necessitated, we tried to get the cat through the top. The cat is too smart for. The cat does not want to go into that. We leave it out for two weeks before the cat's supposed to go to the dentist for gingivitis. I didn't think animals got that kind of stuff. Animals can't brush their teeth. I thought God took care of all that in the design. Lions can't brush their teeth. Dogs can't get gingivitis. Well, we feed the cat hard cat food. Anyway. I got cat scratch fever the last time trying to get the cat in through the top. We've tried the towel routine. The cat just will not have it now something. The last time the cat went in order to be diagnosed with gingivitis, I sent the cat to the cat doctor, the veterinarian to get the claws clipped. And, you know, property manager had no problem getting the cat in the cage. Then he was able to do it, lure her in with these addicting cat treats. But of course those won't work when the cat is going to be put under with anesthesia because you can't eat for 12 hours or eight hours. Before that, there was nothing to lure the cat into the cage with. And since the cat was ravenously hungry, having not eaten since 10 o' clock last night, there was no way the cat was gonna fall for this going into the carrier business. Not get tricked into it, not get sung into it or any of that. So anyway, project failed. Have to do a redo next week sometime. We'll get it done. But I guarantee you there's gonna be scratches all over my arms and face. There's a property manager said, look, after all this, your cat hates me. You are going to have to do it that fine and dandy. I'll try singing. I'll try, I'll try. I sling Alfie. Cat won't know the difference. Ally, Alfie and Noreen. I'll, I'll see if, if that works.

[Ally]

Also, I came across how someone described Trump as the cat that wouldn't go into the carrier. And I was rereading the, this transcript and I just laughing out loud because they were actually quite observant way back when. That was in 2018.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Wow. Okay. And we have, we have time here at the end of the half hour to get back into the phones. Now this is an interesting little analogy here coming up. This is Sharon in Dalton, Massachusetts. I'm glad you called. How are you?

[Caller]

Hey, Rush, make a dittos. It's a joy.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Thank you.

[Caller]

I just get to my little comment here and it's basically about the media's power manipulation that they've had over the past whatever, 30 plus years. And ever since Trump's little victory or, you know, great victory, their little bloom is off the rose and he is just one cat that ain't going in that cat carrier. So I'm really glad that we have a fighter, you know, because it's about time. I'm just, I just can't believe all these people for all these years that have actually bought what they were been selling. You know, I remember back in the 80s when I was still like, yeah, I was like 18, but, you know, I mean, I wasn't, I mean, you know, I always didn't believe what they were telling me then. And it just always astounded me how so many people just buy what they sell so.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Well, I'm with you. I mean, I'm close to that age. In the 80s, I was, I was in my 20s. I'm a little bit ahead of you, but I remember the same thing. And I, in much of the 80s, well, from the, the last half of the 70s and 1983, I was not in broadcasting. I was working for a baseball team, the Kansas City Royals. And when you weren't there, everything was sports. Occasionally go to lunch and talk about what was in the news, but anybody had really strong opinions about it was looked at like a geek.

[Ally]

Yeah.

[Rush Limbaugh]

And as it was sports, sports, sport, that's the only thing that mattered. Sports with the controversies of the day were whatever the sports page was saying about your players. And I too was struck by just how rote the belief in whatever was in the news this is. There's only CNN at this point in time. My radio program didn't start at 88. I mean, there's nothing but the three networks and CNN. And I would like you, I was stunned by how many people just believed it without even questioning it, whatever it was in the news, network, newspaper, what have you. You know, I love your analogy that Trump is the cat that won't go in the carrier. He will not go along with the. And Trump is probably the guy who defies every supposed tip or how to or suggestion on whatever ideas to get him in the carrier. I like your thinking on that. Thank you.

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[Ally]

I used to pull quotes Greg of Rush talking about his cat just because I am also a cat lover. And of all the quotes he had about Punkin, this was my favorite. So I don't have the audio, so I'm just going to read this one. Something happened this morning that has never happened in all the years I've had. Pumpkin. I slept really well last night. I remember nothing about sleeping, so it must have been really good. I woke up on my left side and the moment I opened my eyes, and this has again never happened before, Pumpkin was looking right at me. Her head was on the pillow, eyes wide open, just looking right at me. I had no clue she was there. I. I don't know how long she had been there. She had never done that. She never put her head on the pillow right level with my eyes, my heart melted. It was one of those little glimpses of Rush you got when he got all gooey about his cat.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Absolutely.

[Ally]

I loved it. I just loved it.

[Greg]

Yeah. And he was definitely an animal person. He didn't have children of his own. And so Punkin and the other animals really kind of became. You talk about fur babies. They were his fur babies. They really were.

[Ally]

Yes.

[Greg]

When was that from? Do you have a. I don't have.

[Ally]

A date on that, but I remember it when it happened, the day it happened, because I've had that experience with my own cats. And there is something. Anyone who has animals, there is this look. You can't explain it to people who aren't animal people, but there is a look in their eyes. And Rush also once explained it as almost spiritual, like you're looking at God. And I love that.

[Greg]

I can appreciate that.

[Ally]

I love that. And he also used to joke about how he learned everything he needed to know about women through his cats.

[Greg]

Oh, wow.

[Ally]

Another piece of audio that I decided to pull for this podcast was about how often Rush would reform lefties. So he would. People who used to be liberal would listen to his show and then kind of see the light, or as Rush would say, would come home. Yeah, I know there's a trend on social media. The trend is called walking away or something. Something to that effect where people are talking about leaving the Democrat Party and stating why. This was from January of 2014 and it was titled A Liberal Reformed by this show. I pulled this because I think it's instructive to see his effect and his impact. And I think Clay and Buck are working on the same thing, reforming people, making them kind of come around. And it's something that has to constantly happen in order to not cause our country to slide into chaos.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Efren Cortez, Colorado. Great to have you, sir. Hello.

[Caller Efren Cortez]

Thank you, Rush. Thanks for having me on.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Well, welcome, sir.

[Caller Efren Cortez]

I just want to get something off my chest. You know, I used to be a victim of Democratic talking points, I guess you could say, where I grew up thinking that I am poor and that I really can't make it without them. And to see this immigration thing go through and all they're going to see on the media is what I was, you know, grew up with.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Yeah. Which is that you can't do it without help. You can't do it without a guiding hand from an elected official or a government.

[Caller Efren Cortez]

Right, right, exactly. And, you know, I'm proof that it can happen. I'm a conservative, not a Republican. And hard work does pay off. I don't need somebody to tell me, hey, you can't do it without me.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Would you, would you, would you describe.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Yourself as self reliant?

[Caller Efren Cortez]

Yes, sir, absolutely.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Well, when did this transformation in you take place?

[Caller Efren Cortez]

When I was a teenager and I actually, like most people, stumbled across you because throughout any other type of media, there's no such thing as conservative talking. And so when I stumbled across you, I was like, whoa, no way. That's what I think. That's how I feel. So, you know, it kind of made me see a lot of things that I was thinking and that, you know.

[Rush Limbaugh]

So that was great. So you had you had your instincts, and then you found a radio show that validated them. You had somebody on the radio that was saying things that you thought were true, that were right, and it gave you confidence to believe in yourself. That's how it works, folks.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Exactly.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Efren, that is. That is fabulous.

[Ally]

There was another one. Greg, I don't know if you remember this call. I was trying to find it, and I couldn't. But it was an ex convict. Do you remember that? Yes.

[Greg]

I was just sitting here trying to remember if he was actually still in prison or recently out of prison.

[Ally]

No, he called after getting out of prison, and he told if I got the story right, we'll look for this clip. And Rush rarely did this, but it was so good. He said, let's play this again on tomorrow's show. He was moved by it, the story, as I recall, a guy, he had done some bad things. He went to prison. He was breaking rules, he was angry, lashing out. So they ended up putting him in solitary. He got tired of just listening to music, tuned into Rush's show almost by default. And after some months, he completely had a 180, completely turned his life around, got out of prison, cleaned up his act, and then called the show to tell Rush. You actually saved my life.

[Greg]

Yeah, I remember that entirely. It was fantastic. You said moving. It was really moving. And the connection that you're able to create, you know, you're sitting here as we are right now, it's you in a microphone in a room, and yet you're able to reach through the medium, through the electron, over the miles, the distance and the time, and touch people's hearts and souls and minds. And the ability to do that is indescribable. Not everybody can do it. It's very rare. And that was on display when that call occurred. And I totally remember that. That was actually very early on in my tenure on the show, as I recall.

[Ally]

We'll have to dig that one up, because that was very powerful. And the fact that he wanted to then play it was a long call, too. He wanted to play it the following day on the show. Says a lot.

[Greg]

Yeah, it was. It was amazing. Brush had that kind of ability to connect with people.

[Ally]

Right. Which brings me to these monologues that would move people on his show. And the one that I wanted to choose for today's podcast is from 2017, and it's titled Most Limitations Are Self Imposed. He did a lot of great think pieces, which would just make you think you might not always like to hear what he's saying. But you almost couldn't deny the message.

[Greg]

Definitely not. And I'll tell you just a little bit of inside baseball here. Those shows, those particular episodes, when he would do those, they were very well done and they were very well received and very powerful. They were very frustrating for those of us who actually worked on the show and in the process of trying to gather sound bites or do other things, news related specifically that and focusing on what was happening, current events in current events, because who knows what could have been going on. There could have been an explosion or a car crash or whatever, and we're all ready to go for that stuff. And then Rush would spend his time taking the listener through these other sorts of episodes. And it was again, talk about bittersweet. On the one hand, very powerful and very moving. On the other hand, very frustrating as an employee because you're like, I just worked on all this stuff and nothing got addressed. So it's again, a little inside peek behind the curtain. And that's what we like to do here on the after hours show to give you a little peek behind. So it was always very well done. Sometimes can be a little frustrating as someone behind the scenes. So just interesting. Just wanted to give you that perspective. I wasn't sure if you. If you had any of that kind of experience.

[Ally]

See, I always loved those. They were evergreen. You could listen to them today, tomorrow, ten years from now. I personally loved those. Those monologues that had nothing to do with what was happening in the news. They were more introspective, reflective.

[Greg]

Sure.

[Ally]

Life lessons. I got a lot from them.

[Greg]

So I. TED talks before they were Rush talk.

[Ally]

TED Talk. Rush talks. Oh, I like that. One of the things that mattered a lot to Rush was the lack of civics, education and economic.

[Greg]

Absolutely.

[Ally]

And Clay recently hit on that too.

[Greg]

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[Ally]

Yes. They, Clay and Buck did a whole thing on the problem that we have currently in our education system. We're really not teaching civics and economics, and it's creating a generation. I'm afraid of handouts. Socialist ideas are looking good.

[Greg]

Absolutely. Yeah. And that's why someone like Imam Donnie is able to do well and succeed. Because the young people aren't being taught the way we have. Things in our Federal Republic are set up and why they are the way they are. And they're not given to see why it's important and made to understand. It's not entirely always the fault of the teachers. I think that it's, you know, I think that some of that has to do with it. The unions are certainly no help in that regard. Public pop culture is also really big in poo pooing and cutting that sort of down. So it's unfortunate that this sort of thing happened. So, yeah, when Clay was really talking about that and Buck recently, it was a good callback to what Rush was saying.

[Ally]

And another reason why he wrote those children's books, that was a good way of introducing kids to government, why it's formed, why our country is unique, why all these things are important. I mean, if you have young kids, you can still buy them the Rush Revere series. Those are really great books. The reason he wrote those books was because he was hearing from so many homes, homeschoolers, moms, very concerned about what their kids were learning in school. I know that's something that means a lot to Clay and now Buck with the little one. But that was a very, very important impetus to why he even decided to write the books.

[Greg]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Ally]

So I pulled up this transcript. Rush giving a homeschool mom advice on how to teach civic open line Friday.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Rush Limbor with half my brain tied behind my back every day, just to be nice, just to be fair, equitable and kind. Here's Jennifer in Floyd, Iowa. Great to have you on the EIB Network.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Hello.

[Caller]

Hi, Rush. Hey. We homeschool, and we belong to a homeschool co op. And this fall, I'm going to be teaching a civics class at the co op. And I was just wondering, what would you tell kids who are interested in politics, who are interested in running for office one day? What can they do to prepare? Because I really believe in this group.

[Ally]

There is going to be some of them that are going to run for office.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Well, there are actually so many things. What age group are we talking about here?

[Caller]

It will be all the way from kindergarten to 12th grade.

[Ally]

We're going to break it up into two groups.

[Caller]

So, yeah, there'll be two classes.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Okay. Now, I may want to. I may want to revise some of my answer here as I think about things later today after the. Because I will be thinking about this all through the weekend because I take a question like this very seriously. In no particular order. The thing I would focus on first, I would do every. And I. This is something that I have just in recent days thought of. If I were in your position, if I were in the position, taking somebody from square one who doesn't know much of anything and getting them prepared to be an American, what would I do? Because I think it's crucial Just like you say. And I think starting with the founding documents, you have got to start with a Declaration of Independence. And you have got to explain who the people were that signed it and what happened to them. Them. And you have to explain the uniqueness, the never had it been done before in human history, this kind of a revolution to set up this kind of government. In other words, I would teach how blessedly special, blessedly unique the United States of America is, how there has never been a better system for managing the day to day affairs of life to maximize human potential than the United States of America. And then I would start in ways that I think would relate to whatever age group you're talking about, how to get that related to them, how to get them to appreciate it. And I would start with the Declaration and maybe even a little pre declaration history. I would start with a history of the world and I would also, I would make sure that at some stage of this, Jennifer, that these kids understand exactly what left wing politics is. I would make sure they have no mistakes about what communism is, what socialism is, what liberalism is. I would teach them how to recognize that. I would want them to be able to automatically reject it rather than be seduced by it. I would want them to be able to understand immediately when they see it or see a liberal and be prepared to reject it on both an emotional and intellectual basis. Now kindergarten, we're way above that, that grade here. But when you start getting into the sixth grade, fifth grade, so forth, I'd get serious about this. It's not too young to teach the uniqueness and how special this country is. And I would teach things like the way most people in the history of the world have been forced to live and contrast it with life in the United States. And I would honestly tackle American history. You cannot do this without focusing on American history. Not from the standpoint of teaching our flaws, not from the standpoint of teaching what was wrong, but showing how this country was established, knowing these flaws and how overcoming them and triumphing over them was built in. And that's where you get to the Constitution. But I do the Declaration first and I would really explain the preamble. I'd spend a lot of time on. We are all endowed by our creator, I. E. God, with certain inalienable. And I would spend a lot of time making sure they understood the word inalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is what our founders believe. The natural state of every human being, the natural existence. We were created yearning to be free. And to enjoy the God given opportunity to live. And that the United States of America is the best place on the planet where a person can pursue that with the least obstacles and shackles in his way. And that's what makes it unique. The American exceptionalism. The exceptionalism is not that we're better people. It's that there's no other place ever in the world where the way we do things has been tried. It's such a great story. The history of America is a unique story. And it is so special. And it can be one of the most wonderful stories to tell if you yourself know it and if you yourself believe in it, and if you yourself love it. And it doesn't need to be an indoctrination. You need to teach these kids with the full acceptance that they're smart enough to get it, because it isn't that complicated. You need to prepare them for whatever objections they're going to get. But more than anything, in addition to doing all this or at the same time, you're teaching them to think about it themselves, to realize some things themselves. Critical thinking, rather than having everything indoctrinated or propagandized, is going to be so crucial and important for them. And it sounds like a lot, and it is if you try to do it all in six months or one school year. But it's got to be an ongoing project from the earliest days that the kids you think are old enough to actually comprehend what you're telling them, as they get older, they're able to comprehend even more. And there are any number of ways you can relate it to events in their lives to make it real to them. But I think it's great what you're doing. I think it's a golden opportunity that you have. And I wish there were more people like you do. I know the homeschooling community, if it will, is huge. And it's growing and they're doing the Lord's work. In my estimation, they really are. So does that help or is that overly complicate things?

[Caller]

Oh, Rush, that is so great. You just about brought me to tears. That's awesome.

[Ally]

Yep.

[Caller]

That has helped so much. Thank you.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Well, it's. It's such a special place and that there's every reason in the world to love it. At the same time, understanding nobody and nothing is perfect, but it's. It's so great, so unique, so special. And there's no other place like it where human beings can maximize and realize their dreams. There are other places where there's freedom, there's Great Britain, there's parts of Europe, Australia and so forth. But there's no place that does it all in one pack. And it's make sure you teach that all of this is constantly under attack, that this way of life for human beings, that this way of government is constantly being attacked by people who oppose people being freedom. And if I were one of your kids, that'd be the biggest why would somebody not want us to be free? That would be the first. It was when I first heard about enemies of the United States and why they hated us. I didn't comprehend why would anybody hate freedom? What in the world? That's where you've got to know liberalism and that's where you got to know communism. And that's where you have to be able to explain who these kids need to be aware of, who want to take all that they are blessed to have as Americans away from them and everybody else. That's a toughie, you know.

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[Ally]

Something that always, I always marveled at when it came to rush was all of the things he overcame in life. A lot of people experience at least one of the list of things. He experienced all of them. He lost his hearing. I mean, had a disability.

[Greg]

Right.

[Ally]

Had issues. He struggled with weight, weight control. He was very open about that. He experienced divorce. He experienced addiction.

[Greg]

Yes, he did.

[Ally]

He experienced so many things that would just take, like one of those things would take someone down. And he was like the phoenix. He would always rise up after every one of those. And by the way, all of this in public, right? Very public, Very public rise up and just still approach life with such optimism and positivity. And I just, I always marveled at that because a lot of us, you know, would be inclined to be like, oh, woe is me. Oh, this happened. That happened. Life is against me. Nope, not him.

[Greg]

No. And it's a good lesson. It's, I've heard it embodied in the, in the kind of, the expression, it's not that you got knocked down, it's how you get up.

[Ally]

Yes.

[Greg]

It's, you know, that you, that you get up and that you, you know, how you gather yourself and get going again. And he, he did That a lot of people get knocked down and they stay down and. Or they get up once and they get knocked down again, and then they call it quits. And, you know, it's. It's hard. It's hard.

[Ally]

I mean, he talks about. He very openly talked about getting fired seven times, and just all the things he had to do in his career to get to where he got that was not handed to him by no means. There were so many mountains he had.

[Greg]

To climb, and people still held it against him that he never graduated college.

[Ally]

Yep.

[Greg]

You know, that. That sort of thing. And he made no bones about the fact that he had a hard time with dancing, you know, in college.

[Ally]

Ballroom dancing.

[Greg]

Ballroom dancing in college. And you know what? Because as we're finding out today, it's becoming much more prevalent is that college is not for everybody. It's not. You know, and for the longest time, it was. This whole mantra is that you had to go to college to get ahead, you have to go to college. And now we're recognizing that there's so many people out there who in the trades are able to go and make a great living early in their careers and that they don't need college and that they're able to go and maybe even retire earlier than they might otherwise have. And so it's a. It's a good lesson that it's, you know, just because the prevailing opinion of everybody is, oh, yeah, you have to go to Harvard or Yale or, you know, heaven forbid, Columbia, you know, you don't have to. It's really not necessary.

[Ally]

I remember him telling stories about even his childhood and wanting more than anything to be on the football team and not making it on the football team, being cut and what that was like and how that felt. And so from a young age, he still. Still pursued the things he loved and still went out. Everyone in his family followed law. They went into law. And he was very open about. His father was nervous and disappointed, like, what are you doing being a DJ on the radio? What are you doing with your life?

[Greg]

Right.

[Ally]

And he's like. A lot of other people would cave. They might feel they might give in to those pressures. I remember him specifically telling a story about how he had, like, no money and he had to use his credit card at the gas station to buy chips for dinner in addition to the gas, because that's all he could use. And he still. It's like that book, the Little Engine that Could.

[Greg]

Yeah, he had to leave broadcasting, which he loved, and he got a job with the Royals. The Kansas City Royals. He did that for I don't even know how many years. He was there for a while.

[Ally]

It was like five years, I think we actually played our last After Hours episode that we did. I. I pulled that audio of him talking about his.

[Greg]

That's right.

[Ally]

That time at the Kansas City Royals.

[Greg]

I just couldn't remember exactly how long it was. And then, yeah, he ended up getting back into radio because he realized that working in, you know, for the Royals and he wasn't making a lot of money then either. I mean, people think, oh, he had this house in Florida and Palm beach and all this money and all. He was $23,000 a year working for the Royals, something like that back in the day. So it was.

[Ally]

He always also talked about how when he was younger and he really wanted to aspire to something, he would drive around neighborhoods with really nice houses and just marvel at, hey, that's my goal. I want to go there someday. Not drive around and be like, oh, that person has more than I do. And, oh, I need. You know, his mentality was. All of. He was very ambitious.

[Greg]

He was not jealous in a way of, I'm going to take that from them or they don't deserve that and I do. And therefore. Yeah, no, absolutely. It was very ambitious and. And very hopeful and positive and truly.

[Ally]

Understood and appreciated the opportunities this country has and. Capitalism emphasis.

[Greg]

Exactly. And the. The warmth of individualism and be rugged. Individualism and being able to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and set out and carve the path that you want to carve and not, you know, be part of the collective just because, you know, it's easy or convenient or.

[Ally]

Our last after hours podcast, Greg and I revisited the Rush Individualism versus Collectivism archives because we had just come off the New Year with Mom Donnie's speech in New York and praising that, and we were both. We were both sick, but we were like, we are recording this after hours and we are going to play Rush. We need to remind everyone of the things.

[Greg]

So if you. If you missed it, head back there and check it out.

[Ally]

Yeah, just go into the Clay and Buck podcast network. You'll find us.

[Greg]

Yeah.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Way down in the hole. This is season five of the Wire. The theme song is by Steve Earle. Here's Stephen in Murray, Utah. So you're reading Steve Young's book. And the challenges he faced coming up reminded him of the quote you heard.

[Caller Efren Cortez]

Me say about not quite Rush. It reminded me of your quote. It reminded me of your quote where you said most of the Reasons people think they can't do something, the reasons they've invented.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Right.

[Caller Efren Cortez]

Everything you do in life is up to you. Part of life is realizing you have much more potential and ability then you'd ever know. But it's up to you to face the fears and unleash that which really drives you. Now, as I read this book by Steve Young, his path to the NFL wasn't easy. At byu, he was number eight on this team depth chart. And he said, well, I could have thrown a pity party and just given up and gone home, or I could have chosen to have a positive perspective on life and let my play prove people wrong. People told Steve Young he'd never make it as a left handed quarterback, that his accuracy wasn't there. Well, he worked on his accuracy and I mean, look at the way his career turned out in the hall of Fame and his super bowl ring. So that just reminded me of that quote from you. And I've noticed that quote to be true in my own mind. You see, I was born premature and I have some challenges and I used this quote of yours in college essays or during some lectures and journalism classes and my professors were pretty impressed. And I've noticed that quote of yours to be true in my own life. So I wanted to thank you for that.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Well, I appreciate that. I really do. I love having things come back like that. This, because that's, that's always great to have affirmation like that. You know, speaking of Steve Young, I mean, he's overcome a lot. There's no question he had and he's achieved a lot. But I think one of the things, he probably would admit this if he were here, and I think people in the sports media, people, fellow NFL, are pretty much aware of this, but he was second string to Joe Montana for a number of years. It's like being second string to Babe Ruth. It doesn't matter who's next, there's no way they can measure up. I mean, Joe Montana was mythologically huge. In fact, Joe Montana, that was one name. Joe Montana was such a big deal in San Francisco, it wasn't Joe Montana. Joe Montana, he just owned everything. And Young was on the bench. I can remember I was at a game, the 49ers and the new Orleans Saints at the Superdome. And Montana was hurt and Young was the starting quarterback and it was, it was not yet his job because Montana was going to come back and reclaim the jog, but soon thereafter would be traded or released and go to the Kansas City Chiefs. But during the pre game. Joe Montana was granting interviews on the sideline to anybody that had a camera, even though he wasn't playing. He was a bigger deal than Steve Young, who was going to be starting that day now. I don't know. I know Steve Young. I got to know Steve Young during my stint at the pre politicized days of ESPN on the Sunday NFL pregame show. I've only met Montana once. But, folks, the reason that I have all these things about such philosophies is the only limitations we have in life for the most of them are the ones we place on ourselves. When you get to the rarefied air that people like Montana and Steve Young and other NFL quarterbacks are breathing, you can't believe the competitive, the cutthroat competitive nature of things. And make no mistake, and this is not a cut, I don't want anybody calling Montana and telling him that I was ripped, because it's not. But Joe Montana, on a day that Steve Young is going to start because Montana's hurt. And Montana is still trying to soak up all the oxygen with all the pregame interviews now.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Not.

[Rush Limbaugh]

I mean, he could turn them down, but that's not going to happen. And the press wanting to talk to Montana was quite natural. He wasn't seeking them out, but it was a way to keep the light shining on him. He wanted the job back. It's just the way it is. It wasn't mean, it wasn't cruel. It's just the nature of competition. And my fear is we're not teaching competition, we're shielding people from it. For the longest time, children, you know, nobody's allowed to win anything. Participation, trophies. But when you get to real life and if you really want to amount to something, if you, when you get whatever line of work you're in, as you get to the top of that line of work, there are very few people there. That's why the phrase rarefied air, and it is cutthroat. The competition is cutthroat, even among best friends. And you have to be able, by virtue of experience to be able to deal with it. You're not going to win every outing. You're not. And I don't mean game. You're not going to beat everybody out for the top job. And there's all. Sometimes you're going to be the best.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

But you're not going to get the.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Gig because there are other factors. People making a decision might like somebody more than they like you. It's vicious. And you have to be totally, singularly focused on Yourself, not in a bad way. You have to believe in yourself. You have to believe there's a reason you're trying to pursue the highest levels you can go. And that's because you can do it and you can do it well and you can do it better than anybody else. The minute you carve out that, that life for yourself, you are making enemies. Because a lot of people are going to be fighting for the same thing and they're going to try to be beating you out and denying you what you want. You're going to be doing the same thing to them. There are going to be others who just resent you for thinking you're that good. They're going to resent you for even having the audacity to try to climb that high. I mean, folks, it is vicious out there. It's also very healthy. All of these things are things that successful people have to go through in order not just to reach the pinnacle, but then to stay there. Because I'm going to tell you, getting there while fraught with stress and competition and never ending assaults, getting there is not even half as hard as staying. Because once you get there or close to it, everybody wants what you have. And there's really, it's much easier to go south than north when you're at the top. And so that's why I have this philosophy about limitations. It's easy to be a victim. Look how easy. The Democrat Party has made almost half this country think they're victims of something. And what happens to you when you're a victim? Well, when you're a victim, you automatically have a built in excuse for failure. When you are a victim, it's always somebody else's fault. When you're a victim, success is not possible. When you are a victim of something, you are acknowledging that you are as far as you're gonna get and you can't get any further because there are more powerful forces arrayed against you than the force of yourself against it. And the Democrat Party does this on purpose. The Democrat Party makes as many people victims as possible because it freezes them right where they are. And that's usually in lower middle class or abject poverty. It makes them resentful. If you're a victim, you're not happy. You can't be happy. It's impossible to be happy. It's even difficult to be content. If you're a victim, you're always mad, but never at yourself. You're mad at somebody else. The Democrats have parlayed this into one of the biggest political movements in human history. And that would be of the victimized. Look at how many victim groups there are. And they all happen to be Democrat constituency groups. They all are on the protest march, they're all angry, they're all enraged. Some of them are women, some of them are minorities, some of them are illegal immigrants, you name it. But they all have one thing in common. They have given up on the notion that they could be somebody and instead have descended into full fledged victimhood and the comfort of being in a group of like minded failures. Why isn't everybody a victim? It'd be easy if anybody could choose that if they wanted to. Being a victim is almost as easy as being a liberal. It's one of those gutless choices you could make. Doesn't take much. Built in excuses for failure, built in excuses for being miserable. Built in excuses for being angry all the time. No reason to try to be happy. It's not possible. You're a victim. Victim of what? Well, you're a victim of discrimination. Well, you're a victim of America. You're a victim of America's past. You're a victim of, of religion, you're. You're a victim of bigotry, of homophobia, whatever. You're a victim of something. The Democrats got one for you. If you want to be a victim, call him up, you know, call Schumer, tell him, hey, I want to join you. I want to be a victim. Do you have a group for me? He'll have one. He'll ask you what color you are, he'll ask you what your sexual orientation is, he'll ask you what your gender is. He'll ask you any number of questions and he'll give you your choice of victim groups that you can join. And then he'll show you where you go to get a food stamp allocation here, this or that, there how you get emergency health care if you need it all on the Democrats. And it can keep it flowing if you just do two things. Stay victim and vote Democrat. But the people that don't choose that end up being the ones victims hate. The people that choose to face life, the people that choose to embrace it, the people that choose to just soak it up. The people that choose to dive right in and test their limits and find out what they're capable of and how good they can be. And if that's really what they do want to do, victims are going to hate them because they are showing what anybody could do if they just had an attitude adjustment. So if you think for Example that, well, let's say you, you, you want to do a job and you want to be really, you want to rise really high in that career. But where you live, that job doesn't exist. Your town's too small, or maybe the business is in your town, but even if you reach the pinnacle there, it's not because it's a small town. It's. It's not nearly as high as you could go. If you're unwilling to move, well, that's all on you. That's a limitation you're placing on yourself now. That's fine if that's what makes you happy. I'm not criticizing things, I'm just pointing out that it's not usually anybody else's fault when you don't get what you want.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Sometimes it is.

[Rush Limbaugh]

There's exceptions to everything, but it's usually the self limitations that we attach to ourselves. I wanted to be a success in radio. There was no way it was ever going to happen if I stayed where I was born. It was not possible. Nothing against where I was born, nothing against the people there. It just wasn't possible. I knew when I was 15 that I was going to have to leave if I was serious about what I was doing. And back then I knew that, that every climb, every rung up the ladder was going to involve another move. And it did. And it, I wanted it badly. I remained dedicated to my desires and it's what enabled me to come back after being fired seven or eight times, whatever it was, only twice, for legitimate insubordination.

[InTouch.org Announcer]

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[Ally]

Greg, what are some of your personal favorite Rush memories working on this show? Things that really stood out to you that you wanted to highlight today?

[Greg]

Well, some of the things that when I think of Rush, Rush to me was the ultimate jokester. He was a prankster. He was like, you know that the Loki, the God of the Norse God of trickster. The trickster God. That was Rush. He had a wicked sense of humor and he loved playing jokes on the listeners. And this goes went back to his early days of being a DJ as well. And some of the things when he would talk about seeing women farting in Their cars when they, you know, and people were calling up and going, you can't see people farting in the. Of course I saw the fart. Women farting and only women doing it. And of course, she was referring to putting on your makeup.

[Ally]

Fard.

[Greg]

Fard. And people getting really worked up about that sort of stuff. One of the classics that I think that anybody slim stops and thinks about, that one is a good one, is when Rush endorsed Bill Clinton back in 1992.

[Ally]

Yes.

[Greg]

That one has to be up there in the pantheon of great Rush moments when.

[Ally]

Well, that was a prank with a twist and a lesson.

[Greg]

It absolutely was. And, you know, the whole thing. And I was just listening to it that whole segment. He goes on and he talks about why he's sad and he's really not happy about what's happening, and he's depressed. He doesn't want to be there. And then he gets to the nut, says, I'm endorsing Bill Clinton for president. And I mean, scratch, needle scratch on the record.

[Rush Limbaugh]

What?

[Greg]

And then the poor woman who called in not long after that, Phyllis, Phyllis. It makes your heart break. And you're laughing at the same time. Because I feel so bad for Phyllis. I mean, I think it's such a great, epic moment. And of course, Rush wasn't doing it again.

[Ally]

There was a moral.

[Greg]

There was a reason that he was doing that. Exactly. But he loved being able to do that and to use his sense of humor to bring forth all of these things. And, you know, I never said that, ma'. Am. You're talking about something 25 minutes ago. We should move on. That's the past. It's great. It's just, you know, it's wonderful stuff. So let's go ahead and maybe listen to that. What do you think?

[Ally]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

I. Ladies and gentlemen, here at 12 minutes after the hour on the 22nd of October, I'm here to tell you.

[Rush Limbaugh]

That I have decided to endorse the.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Candidacy of Bill Clinton for president. Phyllis in the Bronx in New York. Hello.

[Caller]

Hello.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Hello.

[Caller]

My name is Phyllis.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Yes, ma'.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Am.

[Caller]

I am a conservative, and I back my president 100%. I work for the Board of Ed. I am home sick today, but now I'm really sick. Rush, what are you doing to us? I'm sick and tired of the liberals in this country who are pushing our buttons.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

What are you talking about?

[Caller]

I mean, you're backing. Mr. You're backing Bill Clinton.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

I am not. I am.

[Caller]

Just said you're backing.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

I never said that.

[Caller]

You Said you are going to change your vote. You're not voting for the president. You're going to have to vote. Vote for Bill Clinton.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

That. I did not say that. I did not say that I was going to say.

[Caller]

What did you say?

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

I did not say that I was going to vote for Bill Clinton.

[Caller]

But I heard you say those words.

[Rush Limbaugh]

No, no, no, no.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

This is. You're just trying to twist my words.

[Rush Limbaugh]

And turn them around. I never said it.

[Caller]

What did you say? Could. Could you just tell me?

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

You.

[Greg]

You.

[Caller]

You said you couldn't. You know, I can't even talk. I'm so upset, I'm practically ready for. For tears.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Look, I don't know. You keep wanting to look in. Look, look, look. All I can tell you is I'm.

[Rush Limbaugh]

I'm tired.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Everybody wants to look into my past.

[Caller]

No, no, no, no.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

It was 23 minutes ago. You keep talking about something that happened 23 minutes ago. It's irrelevant. Can't we move on with things that matter?

[Caller]

Said about changing your entire.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Can't we talk about the things that mean. You keep wanting to say what I said 23 minutes ago. It doesn't matter.

[Caller]

It does. You said over the country.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

I didn't say it.

[Caller]

Everybody.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

I was younger. 23 minutes ago. Cut me some slack. No, I did. You know, this is the. This is the kind of. We're trying to move forward. We've got some things that are important that we've got to do on this radio show. And you want to talk about something that happened. Happened 23 minutes ago.

[Caller]

That's right. Well, because it's very relevant.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

It is not.

[Caller]

We are two weeks away from the election. You are talking to the entire country, and the entire country is listening to you, who has been our. Our leader, the one we looked up to for. For everything. Now you're telling us I can't go with Mr. Bush.

[Rush Limbaugh]

I never said that.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

I did not say that. You can't go with Mr. Bush. You can go with Mr. Bush.

[Rush Limbaugh]

I hope you do.

[Caller]

I am going with Mr. Bush.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

I think everybody.

[Caller]

And just at this moment, when the industrial production in the country is on, the upswing labor figures are up. I mean, people are really starting to get it back together again. We need. We need to vote for Mr. Bush. He needs us now. He needs our support more than ever.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Let me tell you something. I couldn't agree with you more. Where have you been? That's exactly the point that I have been making. You think that stuff. You know that stuff because of me, because of this show, because I'm the one that has told you how good things are. I've told you how things aren't bad. I've told you how there's reason to be optimistic because you live in the United States of America, and you call here and you give me grief about something I never even said.

[Caller]

You know, Rush, I know what I heard. I'm sitting here and I'm listening to you. I listen to you every chance I get.

[Okta Announcer]

Well, you're gonna.

[Caller]

Guru of the conservative.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

You're going to have to listen a little bit more closely, Phillips, and you're gonna have to think about the future. This. What happens in the past is irrelevant. It doesn't matter. You mean you're talking about. You're talking about my character. When you are challenging something I've said 23, 25 minutes ago, you're talking about my character. My character doesn't matter to anything. What matters is this country and how we've got to get it fixed and do it right. And then. So just appreciate your concern, but you got to get focused on the things that are important.

[Greg]

I don't know about you, but for me, for my money, right there. That. That. The pain in her voice. Poor Phyllis. And I don't know whatever happened to Phyllis, but I. You can hear, she's. Rush, you're our leader, and we're, you know, you're telling us not to vote for President Bush, and we're going to vote for President Bush. I never told you not to vote for President Bush. I just told you what I'm going to do. Just. And I feel so bad for her, and yet laughing at the same time. It was wonderful. It's funny, actually. Similarly, a comedian that I like, Dennis Leary, had a bit, again, same kind of time frame back in the early 90s, where he would go and talk about how these celebrities would go out and they would trash a car and they would do drugs and they would get caught and all this stuff, and then they'd go, I screwed up. I'm going to rehab. And they would, you know, kind of get a pass on that. And Rush was kind of illustrating. Illustrate the absurdity of that sort of thing. How can. You know, I'm. You should be giving me a pass. Why are you giving me a hard time about this? I'm just, you know, so that's really kind of the way I see it, is that he was really trying to illustrate the absurdity of these nincompoops who are trying to get away with everything and not be held accountable, especially the Liberals and Democrats on the left.

[Ally]

So that was classic Rush, illustrating absurdity by being absurd.

[Greg]

And that's what he loved to do more than anything.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Thank you.

[Greg]

Yes. That's a good way to put it.

[Ally]

Yeah. He had a way of summing things up.

[Greg]

Yeah. And as you just did, I. You took my seven minutes of verbal diarrhea and boiled it down to, you know, seven words. So thank you.

[Ally]

Another funny thing that he would do every time we had female callers call in. He would often, I would say, eight times out of 10, tell the woman, Mary Lee, that is my top 10 female name. Julia, that is my top 10 female.

[Greg]

He did it from Manhattan. Ali is my one of my top.

[Rush Limbaugh]

10 all time female.

[Ally]

Well, he did name his cat after me, so.

[Rush Limbaugh]

So you say.

[Greg]

Yes, it's good to tell people urban myth.

[Ally]

We don't know the truth.

[Greg]

So. Yes. And, and I have to give a tip of the hat to, you know, I had the fortune, good fortune of working with Cookie back in the day. And when we were putting together some of the retrospective for the 25 and 30 year anniversaries, we put together the a montage of Rush talking about all the top 10 female names.

[Ally]

How many tens? 10 times over, wasn't it?

[Greg]

Yeah, it was. It was in the 60s or 70s, I think is what it finally came down to and when we were refining. But let's, you know, we. Here's a little snippet of that montage for you right now.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Kathy, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Kristen's in a top 10 list of names. Kim is one of those names. In my all time top 10 favorite female names.

[Rush Limbaugh]

What a great name.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Kaylin, one of my all time favorite top 10 female names. Ellen, one of my all time favorite top 10 female names. Elizabeth is one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Aaron's one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. And yes, Valerie is one of my all time top 10 favorite female names.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Vincenza, one of my all time top.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

10 favorite female names.

[Rush Limbaugh]

This is Isabella, one of my all.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Time top 10 favorite female names. Here's Laurie, also in my top 1010 favorite girl names. Leslie, that's one of my top 10 all time favorite female names too. Lila, now one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Lauren, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Laura, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names too. Nancy's in my top 10 favorite female names list. This is Nina, one of my all time favorite top 10 female names. Tina, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Tanisha, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Tracy is one of my favorite top 10 all time favorite female names. Denise, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Prissy is one of my all time top 10 favorite female names.

[Rush Limbaugh]

This is Polly, one of my all time favorite top 10 female names.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Sarah's one of my all time top 10 female names. Sissy is one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Susan, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Top 10 favorite female names. Sheila. Barbara's in my all time top 10 list of female names. I've never had a caller named Barbie, even though it's in my top 10 all time favorite female names.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Bruna is one of my all time.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Top 10 female names.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Marjorie.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

That's one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Melanie is one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Martha. Love that name. Martha, one of my top favorite female names. Marcia is one of my all time favorite top 10 female names. Megan is one of my all time Top 10 favorite female names too. Michelle is one of my all time top 10 favorite female names.

[Greg]

Michael.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Morgan, one of my all time top ten female names.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Misty's one of my all time top ten favorite female names.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Cheryl is one of my all time top ten female names. Candy, one of my all time top ten favorite female names. Rachel is one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Allison, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Oh. Amy, one of my top 10 all time favorite female names. Angelique, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Ashley, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Amber is, you know, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names.

[Greg]

Hi.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Jeanette is one of my all time favorite top 10 female names. Jenna is one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Jenny, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names. Jennifer, one of the top 10 all time favorite female names.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Jeannie, one of my all time top 10 favorite female names.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Jill is one of my all time top 10 female names. Jane's in my all time top 10 favorite female names.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Catherine.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

I'm glad you called this one my all time top 10 favorite names.

[Ally]

He had a way of disarming people right away when they called in because it is a little scary. You're calling into a national radio show. You're speaking to Rush Limbaugh. So that was one of his techniques to calm the person down. On the other End. Especially women. And I thought it was an excellent tactic.

[Greg]

It was very good. And we understand. You know, I talk to. Again, one of the things that I get to do is talk to the listeners every day, and a lot of them call and they just want to say something to me. They, you know, hey, tell Clay and Buck this, or hey, tell and hey, don't you want to go on the air? I'll say to them, oh, no, I'm not good on the phone. I, you know, I'd be too nervous. And I always say, you're just talking on the phone, just like you are to me right now. But people, you know, understandably, you know, they get caught up because, yeah, you know, you are in a position where, you know, a lot of people potentially could be hearing your voice, and that could be a daunting kind of a task. So I understand the. The feeling of anxiety that some people have. And yes, he was very good at doing that. And I think Clay and Buck do a great job of that as well, quite honestly. Yes.

[Ally]

All three of them embody genuine curiosity with the caller. They want to know what point of view they're coming from.

[Greg]

Absolutely.

[Ally]

They want to engage.

[Greg]

And that's why we love it when, you know, you call and you. You get right out of the gate. You know, you, hey, you know, okay, hey, Ally in Manhattan, what's on your mind? Boom, boom, boom. And you make your points and because, you know, hey, that's great, or that's, oh, thanks for the call. Clay will say and move you on. And it's. It really is helpful when, you know, this is a little bit of a clinic for you right now. If you just. And it's hard, you get distracted, you're on hold for a long time and that sort of thing. But being able to do that and make. Do a call, be a caller on one of these shows is a skill. And not everybody can. Is suited for that either. And that's part of my job, too, is as a call screener, is to kind of, you know, help people get there and weed through the ones who aren't quite there yet.

[Ally]

As Rush would say, get in, get it, and get out.

[Greg]

That's right. Exactly. So those are some of the other. Some of the things. And I think, you know, one of the other things that I think that we had the opportunity to look back on and that I really enjoyed was some of the updates, some of the. Oh, the Barney Frank update and the homeless update and some of the other updates, the global warming updates and that sort of Thing we the homeless one Always gets me Ain't got no home Curtis Frogman Taylor. Yeah, the frogman. Yeah. Great stuff. I don't know about you, but I.

[Ally]

Think we've played a lot of great clips.

[Greg]

We've done some, made a nice dent and did a nice little tribute to Rush, and I hope that. I hope that you enjoyed it as well. You know, it brought up some memories for you.

[Ally]

And if you'd like to share any of your own memories with us, feel free to send Greg a talk back or shoot us an email. If you're a VIP and we really do want to hear from you, do.

[Greg]

The talkbacks is really easy. Just do it through the app. You can do it either listening to your local station, listening to the show through your local station, or you can find Clay and Buck's picture in the podcast side and just send it to the podcast.

[Ally]

Yeah, there's a little microphone. All you have to do is click on it and you get 30 seconds to leave your message and then it goes right to Greg.

[Greg]

Yep, you hit send and it's off, on, on its way. And we get them all. And so, you know, one of us always sees them so.

[Ally]

Well, Greg, thank you for taking this walk down memory lane with me.

[Greg]

This has been a lot of fun. Thank you. And until next time, by the way, you should do Legacy Box if you have the opportunity. Here's just a, you know, shameless plug for Legacy Box. Ali was talking about. Oh, yeah, all those photos she was going through earlier. So Legacy Box is something that I've taken advantage of. You've taken advantage of. They're right down there in Tennessee. It's all American. You know, you send your stuff down to them, they do what they have to do to give you a digital file, and you can either access it online or they'll send you a thumb drive.

[Ally]

The great thing about them is they can put things in the cloud and why that's important. I have some good, really close friends from college that their family lived in the Pacific Palisades and they lost everything in the fires. Everything. Every photo, every video. And if they had used a service like Legacy Box, they would have at least had that preserved somewhere. Those memories are irreplaceable. That old media. Legacy Box can easily digitize it for you. It's very simple process. Just go to legacybox.com, put in clay or Buck's name, either one, and you'll get a discount. Highly, highly recommend this. You don't want to wait until it's too late.

[Greg]

No Definitely do it today if you have the opportunity. Especially if you're sitting on the floor amidst a pile of old photos of your husband and other things while he's not there. You have to clear up and get it out of the way.

[Ally]

Greg, I have one month left to finish this project and I don't know about you, but whenever you've had to do a project for your wife and then you end up, you made the mess 10 times bigger than the original mess.

[Greg]

Uh huh.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Ugh.

[Rush Limbaugh (Impersonation or Character)]

Uh huh.

[Greg]

And then now you have, you know, half the time to do twice the work because now you have to go through everything else. It's crazy.

[Ally]

Yes.

[Greg]

Yeah.

[Ally]

All right, everyone. Thank you for tuning in and we hope this anniversary brings happy memories.

[Greg]

Yeah. Until next time, I'm producer Greg.

[Ally]

And I'm producer Ally.

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