Rush Limbaugh in The Way Things Ought To Be
On Principles & Values:
Establishment clause does not preclude school prayer
I believe:- that strong, wholesome family values are at the very core of a productive, prosperous, and peaceful society
- that those values cannot be instilled by government but can indeed be sucked dry and eliminated by well-intentioned but
destructive governmental programs
- that there is one God and that this country was established with that fundamental belief
- that our morality emanates from our Divine Creator, whose laws are not subject to amendment, modification, or rescission by
man
- that the meaning of the establishment clause of the First Amendment should not be stretched beyond its intended dimensions by precluding voluntary prayer in our public schools;that the USA was founded on the beliefs I have just enunciated and that
it is the greatest nation in the history of the world
- and that the USA is the greatest nation not because Americans are inherently superior but because its government was founded on principles which seek to allow maximum individual achievement.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p. 2-3
Jul 2, 1992
On Abortion:
Roe v. Wade is bad law; let states decide
Roe v. Wade is bad constitutional law. It’s going to be replaced, and there will be a lot of confusion as a result. Rather than having abortion declared legal by the decision of nine guys in black robes back in 1973, I think it should be a moral choice,
decided by the people in a democratic fashion. I’ve suggested this to countless feminists and they all recoil in shock. I agree with the view, best articulated by Judge Robert Bork, that there is no basis in the Constitution for the privacy right which
was announced as the foundational basis for the constitutional right to abortion.The framers were very specific as to the amendment process and there is definitely no provision for amendment by judicial fiat. Bork advocates judicial silence on the
issue and says that the matter should be decided democratically, by the state legislatures. Liberals fear the democratic process because they don’t think the people will agree with their agenda.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p. 56
Jul 2, 1992
On Health Care:
Drug abuse & unsafe sex cause AIDS, not homophobia
Ever since the AIDS crisis became politicized I have been leery of those who claimed that their primary purpose was to find a cure for the disease. My doubts were confirmed in January 1990. AIDS activists had begun to employ a strategy of confrontation,
accusing various government agencies for the spread of the disease. This was a transparent attempt to deflect attention away from the drug abuse and unsafe sex, which are responsible for the spread of over 90% of all cases of AIDS, & focus blame for the
disease on so-called homophobes who opposed sufficient funding for research and a cure. As a result, the notion evolved that money-and only money-could rid us of the horrors of the HIV virus.[Because some organizations won’t accept help or money from
conservatives], there’s good money and bad money in the fight against AIDS. This established that there were some things more important than a cure; that ideology mattered as well! If you were a conservative you had no place in the fight against AIDS.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p. 79-81
Jul 2, 1992
On Government Reform:
House banking scandal involved crimes with taxpayer funds
The bank scandal highlights the arrogance & condescension of members of Congress. It’s an outrage when members of Congress set up a system whereby they can spend money they don’t have. There are lots of people serving time in jails for what some members
of Congress did with their House checking accounts.The solution is to prosecute the ones in Congress who are guilty of serious crimes. [A prosecutor] told me that some members will probably face charges under the same statute that was used to convict
people in the Iran-Contra scandal. It’s called “Conspiracy to Defraud the US Government.”
Now I know some of you believe the stories about how no taxpayer money was at risk in the House Bank. But that simply won’t wash. It was all taxpayer
money. We pay them. And taxpayer money was used to operate the bank. So it is inaccurate to say that taxpayer money was not used to enable these members of Congress to accord themselves advantages unavailable to other citizens. It clearly was.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p. 92-93
Jul 2, 1992
On Government Reform:
Congress should not exempt itself from laws
The biggest scandal on Capitol Hill is the list of laws that Congress routinely exempts itself from. Every other American has to obey them, but not Congress. They include: - The Social Security Act of 1935
- The National Labor Relations Act of 193
- The Equal Pay Act of 1963
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964
- The Freedom of Information Act of 1966
- The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
- The Privacy Act of 1974
- The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (no surprise there).
And the list goes on and on. If any person running a business were to run afoul of any of the above laws you can bet he would be hauled into court pronto. But the authors of those laws have nothing to worry about. There is nothing anyone can do about a
congressional violation of those laws, save for taking it to the lapdog Ethics Committee. This only breeds contempt for Congress among the public. It says to the average person that Congress considers itself above the law.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p. 97
Jul 2, 1992
On Environment:
Animals have no fundamental rights; only people do
I challenge the fundamental premise of the animal rights movement that animals are superior to human beings. [That premise] is inescapable when you examine the policies they advocate & their invariable preference for the well-being of animals, and their
disregard for humans and their livelihoods. [But] let me make it perfectly clear that my belief that animals have no fundamental rights is not equivalent to saying that human beings have no moral obligation to protect animals when they can. The animal
rights movement knew what it was doing when it deliberately adopted the label “animal rights.” The concept of “rights” is very powerful in the American political lexicon. Animals often treat each other with no respect, and they have no redress, absent
human intervention on their behalf. Regardless of that, I believe that if people use animals to achieve their goals, they must do so responsibly, so that we don’t eliminate any species from the planet. That would be wantonly stupid and selfish.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.102-6
Jul 2, 1992
On Environment:
Animal rights movement is secular humanism vs. Bible
In my opinion, at the root of the assertion that animals have rights is the belief that animals and men are equal in creation, that man evolved from apes, and that creation is an allegorical myth contained in the Bible. There is no escaping the
connection between secular humanism and animal rights activism. The Bible teaches that God created man in His own image and that He gave him dominion over animals and nature. God did not create animals in His own image. Even if you reject the Bible as
the Word of God-even if you believe in evolution and disbelieve in creation-you must still admit that man is the only earthly creature capable of rational thought.
Human beings are the primary species on this planet. Animals and everything else are
subspecies whose position is subordinate to that of humans. Humans have a responsibility toward lower species and must treat them humanely. Humanely. Why not treat them animally? Because that would mean killing them.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.104-6
Jul 2, 1992
On Civil Rights:
N.O.W. supports liberal feminists, not women in general
[Following the Anita Hill hearings], several senators agreed that there should be more women in the Senate. Paul Simon clucked about the inequity. So did Bill Bradley. Well, guess what? Both of those senators defeated women in their last elections.
Why don’t they give up their seats to [their opponents] Christine Todd Whitman and Lynn Martin?The reason is that they were Republican women. It’s not women that the feminists want in the Senate. It’s liberal feminists they want.
The women’s groups supported Bradley and Simon for election, not their female opponents.
I make no apologies for taking issue with those in the forefront of the feminist movement, such as the National Organization for Women (NOW).
Those in the leadership of the movement do not speak for anything close to the majority of women. “Their” interests are not the interests of the American female, but rather the political agenda of the feminist leadership, which is decidedly leftist.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.120-21 & 186
Jul 2, 1992
On Civil Rights:
Men ogling women is part of gender equality
One of my fabulous routines concerns a San Francisco men’s club which lost its battle to exclude women from membership. The courts ruled that they had to admit women on the basis that businesswomen were being unfairly denied opportunities to do business.
This is specious. How much business did women think they were going to get as a result of forcing their way in?Anyway, after one year, the female members demanded their own exercise room. They were probably tired of being ogled by a bunch of
slobbering men while they pumped iron in leotards and spandex. The men offered to install the first three exercise machines in the women’s new workout room. The ladies were thrilled. When they arrived on that first exciting day they found, to their
stunned amazement, a washing machine, an ironing board, and a vacuum cleaner. Heh, heh, heh.
Let me leave you with a thought that honestly summarizes my sentiments: I love the women’s movement. especially when I am walking behind it.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.142-45
Jul 2, 1992
On Environment:
Economic growth is key to environmental cleanup
When there is damage to the environment, there is no one who wants to fix it more than I do. However, I refuse to believe it is necessary to attack the American way of life or to punish the American people for simply being themselves. We don’t have to
punish progress in order to fix the environment.The key to cleaning up the environment is unfettered free enterprise, our system of reward. The more economic growth we have, the more a prosperous people will demand a cleaner environment.
The poor have other things to worry about.
One of Rush’s Unalterable Laws is that man and the environment can live together in harmony. Capitalism is good for people AND for other living things. Take trees, for example. We have more trees in this
country today than when the Declaration of Independence was written. Today, we put out a lot of fires that used to burn areas the size of Connecticut, and private companies are planting millions of trees on their own land and carefully harvesting them.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.156 & 165
Jul 2, 1992
On Environment:
Gaia worship is religion of secular environmentalists
The other guests [on a TV talk show] got mad because I wasn’t telling them that because they cared [about environmentalism] that they were automatically good people. It was almost as if I had attacked their religion. In a sense, I had.Many of these
people have replaced religion with secular environmentalism. Some of them worship the earth goddess Gaia. Their gatherings take on the air of religious revival meetings.
There are two groups of people that have made environmentalism their new home:
socialists and enviro-religious fanatics. With the collapse of Marxism, environmentalism has become the new refuge of socialist thinking. And the second group are the people who believe it is a religion; that God is the earth and that God is nothing more
than the earth. Actually, it is a modern form of pantheism, where nature is divine. This group wants to preserve the earth at all costs. They want to roll us back, maybe not to the Stone Age, but at least to the horse-and-buggy era.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.158 & 166
Jul 2, 1992
On Environment:
Priority on people, not on spotted owls
I once asked a long-haired maggot-infested FM-type environmentalist wacko: “Would you say the owl has evolved to a superior position over the mouse?” He answered, “Oh yeah, man, an owl can fly, he sees at night.” So I have the environmentalist in a
corner: “So it is not the responsibility of the mouse to adapt to the potential threat of the owl?” “Oh yeah, man, but that’s nature.” Well, there you have it, I told him. If the owl can’t adapt to the superiority of humans, screw it. If a spotted owl
can’t adapt, does the earth really need that particular species so much that hardship to human beings is worth enduring in the process of saving it? Thousands of species that roamed the earth are now extinct.
Of course, we do care about owls.
Why isn’t it possible for both of us to coexist in harmony? There’s no reason to put the timber business out of commission just because of 2,200 pairs of one kind of owl [at the expense of] 30,000 jobs. That’s the wrong set of priorities.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.160-61
Jul 2, 1992
On Crime:
Only thing cruel about death penalty is last-minute stays
Liberal opponents of capital punishment glibly argue that the death penalty provides no deterrent to the commission of capital crimes. Well, how on earth would we ever know? Only if we have swift and certain justice will we ever have an opportunity to
test the deterrent effect of the death penalty. Now, let’s talk about cruel and unusual punishment. The opponents of the death penalty who always try to obtain these last-minute stays of execution will probably say: Hey, we’re just trying to save this
guy’s life. [In the case of Robert Alton Harris in California], this guy was led into the gas chamber and strapped into the chair twice in a period of six hours, and then a stay granted. One time the telephone call came one minute before he was to die.
He had six hours to ponder all this. He was in and out of there. The witnesses were brought in and out. It was an absolute circus. You could hardly think of anything more cruel to do if you deliberately wanted to torture him.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.178-79
Jul 2, 1992
On Civil Rights:
Chivalry is male chauvinism to radical feminists
Feminism is one of those issues which has established itself in the political correctness hall of fame. As such, it is not fashionable to take issue with or poke fun at the philosophy which underlies the movement. Those who have the courage to do so are
quickly impugned as women-haters, bigots, chauvinists, sexists, and a host of other epithets. Name-calling becomes a substitute for meaningful debate of the issues.I believe feminism started out as a genuine and sincere effort to improve conditions.
The original concerns of feminists, such as equal pay for equal work, were laudable and justifiable. Then gradually there was a shift in their approach and in the type of women who were attracted to groups like N.O.W. The profile of a NOW woman came to
be that of a loud, militant person whose views were based on the belief that women no longer needed men.
It degenerated to the point that men would wonder if they should open a car door for women. Chivalry had become synonymous with male chauvinism.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.185-93
Jul 2, 1992
On Abortion:
Women obsessed with abortion & intolerance are “feminazis”
Given the National Organization for Women’s membership and proclivities, it’s no wonder that people now view the NOW gang as being obsessed with only two issues: abortion rights and lesbian rights. I prefer to call the most obnoxious feminists what
they really are: feminazis. The term describes any female who is intolerant of any point of view that challenges militant feminism. I often use it to describe women who are obsessed with perpetuating a modern-day holocaust: abortion.
A feminazi is a
woman to whom the most important thing in life is seeing to it that as many abortions as possible are performed. Their unspoken reasoning is quite simple. Abortion is the single greatest avenue for militant women to exercise their quest for power and
advance their belief that men aren’t necessary. Nothing matter but me, says the feminazi; the is an unviable tissue mass. Feminazis have adopted abortion as a kind of sacrament for their religion/politics of alienation and bitterness.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.192-93
Jul 2, 1992
On Homeland Security:
Do not subject women to the horrors of combat
Congresswoman Pat Schroeder is leading the charge to have women in the military be given the choice of entering combat. She claims that unless women are allowed to serve in combat roles, they won’t get to climb the career ladder of the military & become
generals. Her philosophy illustrates precisely why we have to keep the ideology of feminism out of the military. What will the feminists seek in the military, first and foremost? Equality. Fairness. Gender quotas. Well, the military’s chief goal is
excellence. We shouldn’t emasculate (pun intended) the military by shackling it with the demands of every silly social movement that is currently fashionable. The military has a job to do.I don’t believe that women should be in combat roles even if
they can do the job. Why? Simple. Women have a civilizing role in our society. They establish enduring values that are handed down from generation to generation. I just don’t believe that we have to subject women to the horrors and rigors of war.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.200-1
Jul 2, 1992
On Foreign Policy:
Gorbachev’s ouster gives world peace a chance; end Gorbasms
[In Gorbachev’s speeches, he says] the Cold War is over but it is not an affirmation of anybody’s particular values and it shouldn’t be considered a victory for the West. Well, he’s dead wrong [but the media agree with him: a Gorbasm]A Gorbasm, ladies
& gentlemen, is fake. A Gorbasm is a phony feeling of bliss and euphoria. Mikhail Gorbachev was credited by the media, and by many liberals in this country, with preserving the peace and security of the planet threatened by warmonger Ronald Reagan, and
with bringing freedom to Eastern Europe and what used to be the Soviet Union.
To me, the Reagan defense buildup showed that we could maintain a world-class defense and a first-class economy, and the Soviets crumbled trying to keep up.
The time for
worldwide jubilation was the day the USSR disintegrated. Gorbachev’s ouster has given the best reason in the world to have that one final, but sincere, Gorbasm. For now that the communist regime has imploded, there truly is a chance for lasting peace.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.229-38
Jul 2, 1992
On Technology:
Talk Radio threatens liberals because they can’t control it
The profound anger and distrust of our political institutions felt by so many Americans now includes The Media as well. The Media is now considered just another part of the arrogant, condescending, elite, and out-of-touch political structure which has
ignored the people and their concerns and interests. People are beginning to view the media not as a watchdog against governmental abuses of power but as an institution which is itself engaging in the abuse of power. Studies in 1992 examined
the “threat to an informed public” posed by Talk Radio and its “irresponsible” hosts. The Media skewers the Talk Radio branch of The Media, saying that its audience is composed of ignorant, easily misguided suckers who are constantly worked up into a
lather by reactionary, uninformed hosts.
In all other cases, they would champion the involvement of other branches of The Media. Why? Because they control those branches, and the people themselves have far less interactive involvement.
Source: The Way Things Ought To Be, p.268-70
Jul 2, 1992
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