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America is the greatest country on Earth and in history, still abounding with untapped opportunity for ordinary citizens. No other nation on the planet presents its citizens with such a gift — the promise that they can pursue whatever dream they have, with whatever talents they have, with all the effort and savvy they can marshal. And their reward will be the possibility of the dream realized. This is a social contract unique in history, and like a magnet, it has drawn those with dreams from every other continent…
More than anything else, I want to counter the ceaseless avalanche of lies about America and the wacky notion that there is no future left here. Despite what you’ve been told, this country is still a place of nearly infinite opportunities. I am absolutely confident in my view that what I have accomplished, though unique, is illustrative of what is possible in this country — for you! So many of you are better than you think you are and capable of reaching higher in life than you think you can…
I am tired of being told by politicians and the media that middle-class America is not giving enough money to take care of our country’s problems. I am tired of being told how rotten everything is. I am fed up with the fact that individualism and self-reliance are now equated with greed. I am fed up with the fact that certain self-evident truths — the ideals American citizens have embraced for generations and that have launched this nation to the pinnacle of human history — are constantly denounced as attitudes that are going to destroy the country. I want only the best for everyone — not, by the way, as defined by me, but as people define it for themselves.
Rush Limbaugh
Chapter 1, “I Answered My Phone”
See, I Told You So
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Here is precisely what my audience finds upon tuning in to my show, which is communicated with passion and conviction, good humor, and, of course, brilliance: the celebration of individual achievement, excellence, and the universal yearning to prosper; recognition of the power and greatness of ordinary people; belief that most folks are better than they realize and are capable of much more than they know; honoring the fruits of freedom, human capital unleashed, the unparalleled achievements of the United States of America.
Where else are these things celebrated? Where, in all of the culture — in movies, on television, in books — are such values championed?
Everywhere else, you are the people who are impugned, blamed for every problem. And as you look around, the accusations simply go against your own experience and common sense; what you see, primarily, is a country to be proud of, not the vast wasteland of misery and despair portrayed in the media.
Rush Limbaugh
Chapter 2, “The Power of You: You Make It Work”
See, I Told You So
