I have to do what's best for me if I'm to succeed at this. I can no longer anticipate what I think people want and try to give that to them. I can no longer try to live my life by making other people happy. I can no longer turn over the power of my feelings to anybody else, which is what I have done a lot of my life. I have thought that I had to be this way or that way in order to be liked or appreciated or understood - and in the process, I denied myself who I was and I denied the other people I was talking to and relating with who I really am, and that isn't good. You can boil it down to one real simple essence: I can't be responsible for anybody's happiness but my own, and if I allow somebody else the power to determine my happiness, then...well...that's something I don't want to do. I can't do any longer. I put myself first. Doesn't mean be rudely selfish. It just means I can't depend on other people to make me happy. I have to do that myself. I'm the only one who has control over that. And I have to admit that I am powerless over this addiction that I have. I used to think I could beat it with force of will. I used to think that I would be different, but I'm not. I'm just like anybody else who has an addiction. I'm powerless over it, and I have to continue to recognize that and make sure that the things that I've learned continue to be practiced. It's a challenge, but it's exciting. The things that I have discovered about myself and anybody who went through what I've went through would discover about themselves is just sort of like being reborn here at age 50. Have you ever wished that you could take what you know at whatever age you are, 50, 45, 30, and go back to being a teenager? Well, that's what I guess is a good way to tell you what's happened to me, in the sense that the things I've learned - I can now not relive things, but it's going to give new meaning to the future. But I don't want anybody to get frightened about this, now. This has no impact on what you have come to know, love and respect here and expect, because I've not been phony here. I've not been artificial or any of that on the program. I was all that elsewhere. I was all that other places, but not here. And all of this will reveal itself. Now, I came out, and I've been cramming since Thursday. What's gone on here since I've been gone? So I see that Ted Kennedy called a bunch of highly respected minorities "Neanderthals." The fact that Ted Kennedy is still in the Senate and hasn't been forced to resign, means that nothing's changed. It's just a good thing Senator Kennedy didn't say it on ESPN, or he might have resigned. John Mohammed guilty. I see the court system tried to screw up my debut here today, but somebody screwed up and they read the verdict two minutes early, and so we were not interrupted by that. But there's no question, he's guilty. But about this business that nothing has changed. I have been cramming and I'm looking - Howard Dean is still running the show. The Democrats are still fantasizing about Hillary being the nominee. The Republicans still don't know how to get judges confirmed. Nothing's changed, folks, and it's time to do something about that. So things aren't going to change here. I want to promise: working together we will make these changes or we'll make an effort to make these changes. One more thing. This is something that I am not able to be as blunt and open about now as I'd like to be. That day will come, and it will come soon. I just want to say this to you, and I said this in my closing statement on October 10th, the last day I was here. It's been interesting to...(talking to camera crew) Would you people hang on just a second? There's a video camera recording this, and I just want to wave at it so that they realize I - a personal "Hi." We're going to send this to the media. I thought about opening up on steel tariffs and the budget deficit and some real boring, dull, dry stuff because that's what we're going to give the media, but I decided, no. No act. Just be who I am. This was fascinating for me over the weekend. I did read some of the so-called experts predicting what I will now be like and who I will now be, and what must have happened to me while I was gone. It's amazing, when you know something that nobody else knows and you listen to the people that don't know anything write and talk about it. It is hilarious. It is absolutely hilarious to read and listen to people who don't have the slightest idea what they're talking about act expert and all opinionated about it. It's also quite hilarious - and I mean this "hilarious." It's quite hilarious to listen to people quote the National Enquirer as the world's foremost authority, and I'm here to tell you that they're not, ladies and gentlemen. What you know - what you think you know - you don't know. But you will when I am able to tell you all about it, and I hope that's going to be very, very soon. In the meantime, quick time-out. Great to be back, folks, the EIB Network and El Rushbo back after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) BEGIN TRANSCRIPT 12:23 PM EST I'm not hiding, by the way. There was some speculation earlier today that I didn't want people to know where I am. I got photographers all over the route into town. I'm in New York, you know. I'm at the EIB Northern Command, and I'm going to be here most of the week, ladies and gentlemen. There's no hiding about this. I know the sky probably seems brighter today to you no matter where you are. The air is cleaner; the water is purer - and it's not because the environmentalist wackos. It's because I'm back, right? Golden EIB Microphone is still golden. The up-links and the downlinks that connect the EIB satellites to you are up-linking and downlinking. The truth is now back on the airwaves; equal time is back in America. By the way, let me thank these guys. I have to thank the guest hosts, everybody that came in here - Tom Sullivan, Roger Hedgecock, Walter Williams, Mark Belling, Tony Snow and Matt Drudge - and my staff who just worked as hard as they could. All these people worked as hard as they could to maintain the expectations, to meet the expectations that you and everyone about this program has, and they did, and I'm eternally grateful. I'm eternally grateful for all your support. I'm pondering ways of letting you know how much it means to me. There's also part of me that wonders if I need to apologize. There are people I need to apologize to. When it comes to apologizing to you, those of you in this audience, I think of my statement on Friday before I left that I'm not a victim here and I'm not a role model. What I did, I did knowingly. What I did, I did because I wanted to do it, but I knew it was wrong the whole time. It's a powerful addiction this stuff has over me, and it's something that I'm, as I say, am going to be dealing with on a daily basis, and I'm excited to be doing it as well. But the thing that I want you all to know is that the effort that I put forth during that period of time was not affected. The things that I said to you during that period of time I meant. The positions I took, I felt - all of it. There was no phoniness or any of this, and there was not any sort of - I don't even know what the word is. I was honest with you throughout the whole time. I was not honest with myself, is what was happening. And I was doing something I knew was wrong but didn't understand why and didn't really understand what I had to do to stop it - and now I do. As I say, I'm really eager to share these last five weeks with you, that they are things that could benefit people. I think they are things that could benefit you, anybody, whether you have an addiction problem or not. But I'm not qualified to teach it; I'm not qualified to perform it. All I can do is tell you the experience that I had. And so rather than do an hour or two hours on that, it will just happen. You know, it is who I am, and who I am is what I bring to the Golden EIB Microphone and always have, always will, and so you'll hear it, and those of you watching on the Dittocam, you will see it. And it's wonderful. It actually is an amazing thing. I wish everybody could do this. I don't know why this kind of thing is reserved for certain kinds of situations when it's so beneficial to one and all. END TRANSCRIPT
Addiction.... It is very common for the addict just out of recovery to be on a high, and Rush seems to be on that high. He feels hopeful, which is good. That newness will fade. Then the drudgery of life creeps back, and the real hard work begins. The trick to long term sobriety is in the degree with which someone can be truly honest with themselves. The key aspect of the addict is the ability to rationalize behavior, to justify the behavior to themselves, yet know internally it is wrong, but lack the power to control their own behavior. If Rush's addictive personality (he had a serious weight problem before the pills....food addiction) doesn't change from the inside out, he will not experience real recovery. We shall see. I wish him the best, but he will have to stop lying in order justify political agendas too..... I recommend everyone watch the movie "Clean and Sober" with truly great performances by Michael Keaton and Kathy Baker to get a glimpse of the disease of addiction. It can easily shift from pills to booze to food to gambling to codependency to political zealousness and the addictive feeling of being right. Addicts in recovery will tell you to a man that humility is absolutely required for real recovery, and stinking thinking is the enemy....not the pills themselves. It will be very hard for Rush to maintain his sobriety as time goes by, in my opinion. We shall see...
Why is Rush out walking the streets after admittedly abusing prescription drugs in an illegal manner, while Tommy Chong is sitting behind bars for selling drug paraphernalia that could actually be used in a legal manner, like smoking tobacco??? Priorities! This county is phucked up when we waste time locking up over-the-hill people like Tommy Chong. ahahaha Same reason that Ken Lay is out driving his Mercedes and Martha Stewart is facing a prison sentence Admit it yall!!!!! Republican party rules the freaking world!!!! Too bad bumya has done his best to disgrace it
Is it posted on the web? Yes, that is where I got it from. Is it worth pasting to the forum on this topic concerning Rush, to be able to respond to certain passages more easily than going to the web? I think so. I find a lot of what Rush said interesting, and worth being able to refer to easily. Do you have a problem with this?
Different parts I plan on commenting on after I have had a chance to think about them, I am continuing to read his comments. I am currious, why do you want to know which parts I may have comments on? Why do you ask? Are you interested in my comments in general, or are you just trying to start something? Going back to your initial comments, do you have a problem with my posting the comments? You seemed to have an issue with the posting of his comments rather than a link. I still don't understand why you have a problem with this.
To see if I agree or disagree. See above. Would any contrary view to your own equate to "trying to start something?" I would have preferred to see your opinion on a particular passage. See above.