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See, I Told You So
A popular radio talk-show host and provocative political entertainer presents his controversial views on religion, family values, law and order, individualism, and commitment to excellence. Reprint.
364 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1993
8 people are currently reading
637 people want to read
About the author
Rush Limbaugh
66 books243 followersAmerican radio host and conservative political commentator.
His nationally-syndicated talk show, The Rush Limbaugh Show, airs throughout the world on Premiere Radio Networks. He has been credited with reviving AM radio in the United States, and is considered to have been a "kind of national precinct captain" for the Republican Party's Congressional victories in 1994.
National Review magazine, in a 1993 cover story, called him "The Leader of the Opposition" during the Clinton presidency. A month after Bill Clinton's defeat of the the Elder Bush in 1992, Ronald Reagan sent Limbaugh, a man he never met, a letter in which he thanked Limbaugh "for all you're doing to promote Republican and conservative principles...[and] you have become the Number One voice for conservatism in our Country."
His nationally-syndicated talk show, The Rush Limbaugh Show, airs throughout the world on Premiere Radio Networks. He has been credited with reviving AM radio in the United States, and is considered to have been a "kind of national precinct captain" for the Republican Party's Congressional victories in 1994.
National Review magazine, in a 1993 cover story, called him "The Leader of the Opposition" during the Clinton presidency. A month after Bill Clinton's defeat of the the Elder Bush in 1992, Ronald Reagan sent Limbaugh, a man he never met, a letter in which he thanked Limbaugh "for all you're doing to promote Republican and conservative principles...[and] you have become the Number One voice for conservatism in our Country."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
August 5, 2007
TAKE THIS BOOK TO JURY DUTY if you don't want to get picked
October 3, 2008
Did you know that feminists are just mad because men don't want to have sex with them? (spoiler alert: it's the hairy legs.) Ha! You tell 'em, Rush! This guy's not afraid to say what everyone else is already thinking!
So, this book is kind of amazing. I have it listed as "read," but only because "occasionally pick up and try to force myself to finish two pages" isn't actually an option. I found this a couple years back at the Massanutten Regional Library in Harrisonburg on the last day (aka free book day!) of their annual book sale. I didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands (ie. someone who agrees with Rush), so I snapped it up, and it has since become a fixture in my opposition library. It's basically an epic of self-love, so vividly narcissistic that you can practically feel the Rush juices oozing out of the pages. Apparently (and I didn't know this) Rush has been right about everything he's ever said, and this book proves it.
Did you know that there are more trees and forested areas in America NOW than there was when the Pilgrims came? Environmentalists are just looking for an excuse to expand government, apparently.
Not for the faint of heart.
So, this book is kind of amazing. I have it listed as "read," but only because "occasionally pick up and try to force myself to finish two pages" isn't actually an option. I found this a couple years back at the Massanutten Regional Library in Harrisonburg on the last day (aka free book day!) of their annual book sale. I didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands (ie. someone who agrees with Rush), so I snapped it up, and it has since become a fixture in my opposition library. It's basically an epic of self-love, so vividly narcissistic that you can practically feel the Rush juices oozing out of the pages. Apparently (and I didn't know this) Rush has been right about everything he's ever said, and this book proves it.
Did you know that there are more trees and forested areas in America NOW than there was when the Pilgrims came? Environmentalists are just looking for an excuse to expand government, apparently.
Not for the faint of heart.
Read
July 11, 2021This is a very difficult read, not because the ideas are complex or for any challenge that the arguments represent. It is simply difficult because it is so juvenile. As someone who reads a lot, I look to have ideas challenged, confronted and even destroyed by the authors intellect. I don't agree with George Will, or Will Buckley but they always bring their best and deep thoughts on ideas to the table.
This book was NOT,on all accounts.
As a student of America, I look to read all kinds of works to help me understand the US psyche. While there is simply no content in this book, it does inform in a negative sort of way. It explains just how stupid, self-centered and juvenile a public figure can get away with. It explains why Americans are themselves so much of the above. The author proves that this kind of being can become very wealthy, and wealth is apparently what it is all about-not the content of their character, or ideas. Honestly, the number of stations that carry his program, or books sold is a simplistic way of assessing value. Porn TV and explicit novels like Fifty-Shades also do well but no one takes them as serious content for your life.
I cannot give this book any stars, period. Unlike others like, "Restoring the American Dream" (Ringer), "...Gomorah" (Judge Bork) or some of the others that I have found distasteful, but not in the Turd Heap, this has no features to redeem it. The actual writing is really quite juvenile-not as good as I would expect from a literate teenager. The author simply indulges in either an over-the-top brag-fest or an idealess rants on the hate-flavour of the moment.
The opening lines are a taste of what the book is about...
"Let's see now: I've conquered radio, television, the newsletter business and the book world."
"Why have I been so successful ...?"
"But don't mistake this as an exercise in self-aggrandizement. I don't need any more ego gratification."
...all the way to the end ...
p.301 "...Clinton has focused on the increase in the deficit, which he says was caused by unconscionable tax breaks for the rich. The reason ... is that there is virtually nothing else that happened during the eighties that can be attacked on economic grounds." Now that is one giant piece of intellect.
What follows is economic gobblegook that concludes that the Reagan deficit would have been less if it wasn't for the Democratic profligate spending. Hmmmm. The graphs he refers to make no sense at all, Deficit as % of spending? ...I guess the Republican President was so anemic that he did not control spending...as if this is the only metric to measure in the first place.
I wonder what Limbaugh said when the Democratic President inherits yet another Republican deficit. This is just a spiral of nonsense...easily digested by the uninformed.
This book was NOT,on all accounts.
As a student of America, I look to read all kinds of works to help me understand the US psyche. While there is simply no content in this book, it does inform in a negative sort of way. It explains just how stupid, self-centered and juvenile a public figure can get away with. It explains why Americans are themselves so much of the above. The author proves that this kind of being can become very wealthy, and wealth is apparently what it is all about-not the content of their character, or ideas. Honestly, the number of stations that carry his program, or books sold is a simplistic way of assessing value. Porn TV and explicit novels like Fifty-Shades also do well but no one takes them as serious content for your life.
I cannot give this book any stars, period. Unlike others like, "Restoring the American Dream" (Ringer), "...Gomorah" (Judge Bork) or some of the others that I have found distasteful, but not in the Turd Heap, this has no features to redeem it. The actual writing is really quite juvenile-not as good as I would expect from a literate teenager. The author simply indulges in either an over-the-top brag-fest or an idealess rants on the hate-flavour of the moment.
The opening lines are a taste of what the book is about...
"Let's see now: I've conquered radio, television, the newsletter business and the book world."
"Why have I been so successful ...?"
"But don't mistake this as an exercise in self-aggrandizement. I don't need any more ego gratification."
...all the way to the end ...
p.301 "...Clinton has focused on the increase in the deficit, which he says was caused by unconscionable tax breaks for the rich. The reason ... is that there is virtually nothing else that happened during the eighties that can be attacked on economic grounds." Now that is one giant piece of intellect.
What follows is economic gobblegook that concludes that the Reagan deficit would have been less if it wasn't for the Democratic profligate spending. Hmmmm. The graphs he refers to make no sense at all, Deficit as % of spending? ...I guess the Republican President was so anemic that he did not control spending...as if this is the only metric to measure in the first place.
I wonder what Limbaugh said when the Democratic President inherits yet another Republican deficit. This is just a spiral of nonsense...easily digested by the uninformed.
June 16, 2017
If someone gave me this piece of trash, written by a POS, for free, I would burn it right away.
February 16, 2018
More discussion of what most of us would consider common sense following Rush Limbaugh’s earlier book The Way Things Ought to be. As with any books of a political nature about half the population likes and agrees and half dislikes and disagrees. Many may feel that ideas expressed by Rush Limbaugh are for indoctrination of the public. In reality most people already hold these opinions as common sense or what may be referred to as old fashioned values. The ideas in these books simply affirm people’s existing beliefs. That is then the secret of Rush’s popularity. Great read for anyone with an open mind.
September 4, 2011
I defy liberals to read this book and not change at least a few opinions! Rush knows exactly what is wrong here. I hope he is right that it can be fixed. His optimism is energizing. Every page shows how much he loves America!
October 5, 2016
The ultimate Republican manifesto... Clear, concise, well-presented arguments against liberal ideology. Rush also eloquently criticizes the direction the Republican party has been headed toward in the post-Reagan years, and offers advice for both strengthening and unifying the party in the years to come. Of course, the book was written 17 years ago, so it no longer reads up-to-date, but amazingly it still seems completely relevant in today's world, which is currently undergoing the same kinds of ideological battles under Obama that it did when Clinton was president.
November 6, 2008
Right on the money!!!!!
April 11, 2009
Why waste my time and reading ability on this trash? Rush would be ranting to the left if he could make money on it. An embarrassment to actual authors. Yes, I did read it to review it.
February 24, 2010
Rush just being a larger jackass than before. Man, it's embarassing that I bought his snake oil at the time (in my defense, i was 15 years old).
July 17, 2017
Laughter in the face of hypocritical liberals as their lies are exposed.
December 13, 2011
As one of the poor, working-class Americans struggling to make ends meet on a meager salary, you might think I would have nothing but contempt for Mr. Limbaugh. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. As Mr. Limbaugh says, if anyone is to blame for this mess of a country, it's those defeat-o-crats who whine and bitch about how good the rich got it. Hey, if I wanted to feel sorry for myself, I'd go stare at my paycheck while my little guy is asking me why we can't buy him those fancy new sneakers he's been hot over for the past few months. Sorry, Skylar, you're size 7 until I say otherwise!
You might not believe this, but Mr. Limbaugh speaks a lot of truth. According to a book review I googled, the book begins in trademark Rush fashion on a note of optimism. Rush recounts past run-ins with star athlete Danny Ainge as well as his former high school football coach. The stories he tells reveal lessons that anyone can implement in his own life, and they provide the reader with personal inspiration in addition to entertainment value. According to Rush, the American Dream is still alive. To achieve your dreams you only need passion, hard work, and the pursuit of excellence.
In conclusion, Rush Limbaugh is a cocktail of Jimmy Stewart and Clint Eastwood, with a chaser of prescription painkillers. He brings truth, justice, and the right to bare Magnum .357s, back into the political landscape. Most important, Rush teaches me to channel my frustrations and anger at economic inequalities and my own inadequacies towards women, minorities, and homosexuals.
You might not believe this, but Mr. Limbaugh speaks a lot of truth. According to a book review I googled, the book begins in trademark Rush fashion on a note of optimism. Rush recounts past run-ins with star athlete Danny Ainge as well as his former high school football coach. The stories he tells reveal lessons that anyone can implement in his own life, and they provide the reader with personal inspiration in addition to entertainment value. According to Rush, the American Dream is still alive. To achieve your dreams you only need passion, hard work, and the pursuit of excellence.
In conclusion, Rush Limbaugh is a cocktail of Jimmy Stewart and Clint Eastwood, with a chaser of prescription painkillers. He brings truth, justice, and the right to bare Magnum .357s, back into the political landscape. Most important, Rush teaches me to channel my frustrations and anger at economic inequalities and my own inadequacies towards women, minorities, and homosexuals.
November 24, 2010
Good Christ, totally ape-shit bananas!
March 23, 2008
I read this book when I was about 20, it belonged to my boyfriend's (now husband's) dad. It was really entertaining & I learned from it too, & I felt really grown up reading a book about politics. Yes, Rush can be obnoxious but that's what makes him entertaining. Alot of the stuff in this book was true, but it's probably a little outdated now. My favorite part was the liberal dictionary. It's too bad he got into so much trouble with pain killers & stuff. I like Sean Hannity better than Rush, read "Let Freedom Ring" if you want to read one of the best conservative books.
October 22, 2017
This is Rush Limbaugh's second book. This 1993 book called "See, I Told You So" is Rush's response to all the people who believed Bill Clinton when he claimed he was a moderate, and turned out instead to be liberal on almost every issue. In this book, Rush examines the state of the Republican party and politics in general in 1993. He also makes his case why he believes conservatism is the best path for America.
February 1, 2008
Still can't get enough of this book. What's so funny is that things played out almost exactly as he suggested. At the time it sounded like bombast. Now it just reads like history...
March 12, 2008
Conservatism at it's finest. I wish Rush would write more.
April 17, 2008
I'm waiting for another in the widely expected trilogy.
May 21, 2008
Read this book when I first started listening to Rush in 2000. I always love to hear what the king of talk radio has to say. Always on target. Very interesting book.
October 1, 2008
My hero!!!!
October 15, 2008
The beginning of the end of my conservatism. Things neither make sense nor are interesting.
August 21, 2009
I am a big Rush fan. Even though this book is older and deals with a lot of '90's politics, I still enjoyed it. Many of his principles are as true today as they were under Clinton.
February 4, 2009
More classics in this follow up to his hit "the way things ought to be" a must read for every American.
June 3, 2009
Charlie encouraged me to read this book. Not my cup of tea but he said he believes every word.
September 13, 2018
Objective Summary
El Rushbo followed up his first book, “The Way Things Ought To Be,” with this one. He covers much of the same ground, and some new ground, in expressing conservative thought circa 1993. Limbaugh believes:
1. Bill Clinton pretended to be a centrist or conservative during the campaign to get elected, but he is actually a tax-and-spend liberal.
2. Bill Clinton tried to be all things to all people, and he brazenly lied while doing it.
3. Lower tax rates are good.
4. Higher tax rates can lead to lower tax revenues. For example, the luxury tax on yachts decimated the business, cost jobs, and lowered tax revenues as consumers delayed or avoided purchases.
5. Moral relativism, and physical or gender relativism are wrong.
6. National healthcare is rationed care and would increase costs while decreasing quality.
7. Self-reliance is the key to happiness and prosperity.
8. The Founders were religious, tolerant, and hard-working.
9. The 1980’s under Reagan’s policies led to unprecedented economic growth, tax revenues, and charitable contributions. The deficits increased because spending outpaced the increased revenues.
10. Al Gore is an “environmentalist whacko,” who is prochoice regarding abortion, but is anti-choice regarding school selection through vouchers.
11. Global warming is a scare tactic to give more money and power to politicians. Environmentalists were wrong about global cooling and the dangers of the depleting ozone layer.
12. Homosexual behavior statistically reduces one’s lifespan and is being indoctrinated into schoolchildren’s minds.
13. Liberals blur the lines by redefining terms like “rape,” which is a disservice to actual rape victims. They claim 25% of college women are raped, which is untrue.
14. Liberals use real and imaginary crises (rape epidemic, environmental problems) to gain power.
15. Hate crimes are thought crimes and shouldn’t exist.
16. Minimum wage laws hurt the poor by eliminating jobs and preventing unskilled workers from starting their careers.
17. The Fairness Doctrine is anti-American and anti-First Amendment.
Subjective Thoughts
Limbaugh advocates for limited government, lower taxes, and free speech. That’s great. Limbaugh as libertarian is a good look. He is also doing work as a culture warrior. Political correctness has gone too far, and multiculturalism and moral relativism are indefensible. Consider the cover-ups of grooming gangs throughout the United Kingdom in Aylesbury, Bristol, Derby, Halifax, Keighley, Newcastle, Oxford, Peterborough, Rochdale, Rotherham, and Telford. Consider Islamic terrorism and female genital mutilation. Consider neo-Nazis and communists. Then tell me all cultures are inherently equal.
People can agree or disagree on any number of issues, and they can interpret or emphasize facts differently. Most annoying are blatant lies, cover-ups, and silencing of opposition. The attempted and actual silencing of people like James Damore, Alex Jones, Charles Murray, Ben Shapiro, and academics who publish about environmental or racial issues that run counter to the liberal narrative seems a tacit admission of the weakness or rejection of liberal arguments. Let everyone talk, and let the best arguments triumph. A close second to silencing opposition in terms of destructiveness is the redefining and usurpation of well-known terms. “Marriage,” “racism,” “sexual harassment,” “rape,” “discrimination,” “socialism,” “violence,” and “global cooling/global warming/climate change” are all examples of terms denuded of meaning to serve a political end. This type of language tampering covers logical and reasoning errors in liberal arguments. If “rape” now refers to both forced vaginal penetration and also unwanted hand-holding or a hug that one later regrets, then the precision of language has been lost and words are meaningless. Limbaugh provides a needed service in speaking for the silenced, exposing the nefarious wordplay, and counterbalancing the obvious and overwhelming liberal bias in media, academia, and government. He is right in pointing out that so-called liberals are the least liberal, tolerant, and open-minded people around. Don’t believe me? Try giving a speech or arguing any of the following points on a college campus or in front of any gathering of liberals:
a. Christianity is a force for good.
b. Islam is a force for evil.
c. America’s founders are the greatest political geniuses of the last 2,000 years.
d. Blacks commit more crimes and have lower intelligence than Asians.
e. Affirmative action is immoral and destructive.
f. Men and women are different, and men are better suited for science, math, and running large corporations at the extreme end of the distribution curves.
g. Diversity is a weakness to overcome, not a strength to celebrate.
h. Colonialism brought order, technology, and increased standards of living to the natives.
i. Capitalism is the best economic system ever devised.
j. Transsexuals are mentally ill.
k. Socialism and communism are evil and murderous ideologies even worse than fascism.
l. Liberals are intolerant.
m. Racism is no longer a serious obstacle to success in America, and the only overt racism left is affirmative action.
n. Professor should not have tenure.
o. Healthcare is not a right because you cannot force someone to work for you.
p. Welfare creates dependency and is often abused.
q. Two-parent households are better for children than single-parent households.
You don’t even have to agree with these positions. But they are valid positions supported by evidence and held by tens of millions of people. If there is a reasoning error in one of the conclusions, point it out. To condemn any and all who believe them as “racist,” immoral, or stupid, and to seek to destroy their lives or livelihoods is reprehensible and cowardly. What is so frightening about hearing an opposing viewpoint? Holding an idea in mind, without necessarily accepting it, is one mark of maturity and absolutely vital to empathy. In my experience, the least tolerant, least empathetic people are the self-professed liberals or progressives. Thank God Limbaugh is out there taking it on his multiple chins for the rest of us.
Revealing Quotes
“I have the cure for what ails us. Here’s my prescription: Self-reliance. Morality. Personal responsibility. Optimism and good cheer. Confidence in the irrepressibility of the human spirit. Dependence not on government, but on the universal yearning for freedom and the desire to make life better for oneself and one’s family. These are the underpinnings of the free market, and we need free-market solutions, not government remedies.”
“If there are fewer people in need, there is less demand for the expansive role of government, and thus, a declining need for liberals.”
“But there isn’t a conviction I hold that makes liberals livid more quickly than this one: America is the greatest country on Earth and in history, still abounding with untapped opportunity for ordinary citizens.”
“They call it egalitarianism. I call it sapping individuals of their lifeblood, depriving them of their human spirit, and, in the name of helping some, relegating everyone to mediocrity or worse.”
“[Bill Clinton] knew that his best chance of winning the election, if nominated, would be to create the perception that he was conservative. Indeed, during the campaign he co-opted the traditionally conservative issues from George Bush, who couldn’t seem to get out of the starting block. He promised a middle-class tax cut, deficit reduction, welfare reform, federal spending cuts, and a massive Reaganesque slashing of the bureaucracy. Bill Clinton said anything he had to say to get a vote. He proved to be the ultimate politician. But can you blame him? After all, he was and remains unencumbered by the constraints of conscience and, aside from me, there was no one around to hold him accountable.”
“The fundamental flaw in socialist theory is that we live in a zero-sum world—that when someone wins or achieves something, someone else is, by necessity, losing.”
“Liberals seem unable to comprehend the concept of wealth creation: that our economy is not a zero-sum game; that one person’s achievement is not necessarily the other person’s loss; that burdensome taxes have a deterrent effect on the production of income and wealth and jobs.”
“The important role profits play in an economy is to signal to investors—risk-takers—where to send more resources and where to send less.”
“The marketplace rules, but not arbitrarily, as the government does in its capacity of allocating resources. And that is the critical distinction. When the market is the final arbiter, consumers’ needs will be satisfied, because consumers, collectively, are the market.”
“Not even the most zealous capitalist would tell you that the free market is a panacea. The Bible assures us that we are never going to eradicate poverty completely. Utopia is not achievable on this Earth, but capitalism is the best system available to provide the most wealth for the most people.”
“Americans now work an average of 123 days (and the figure is rising) simply to pay their tax bills at the federal, state, and local levels. That means that you, dear readers, work exclusively for the government in January, February, March, and April. Sometime in early May you actually begin working for yourself and your family. That’s not free enterprise, my friends. That’s slavery. And what does this beneficent government do for most of you? Beyond providing a national defense, not much, I daresay.”
“Would you rather take your chances in the marketplace, or wait in a government line for rationed care?”
“There are only about 650 people at any one time qualified to play major-league baseball in America. Those are the people we pay to see or turn on the television to watch. If they don’t play, fans don’t watch. It’s market economics at work. Regardless, it’s none of government’s business to tell people how much they can earn. It’s hard to believe that the governing elite have such a learning disability concerning world history. In trying to equalize incomes, they’ll help no one and ultimately enslave everyone.”
“What [Columbus] found was a land sparsely inhabited by nomadic hunting tribes. Many were constantly on the verge of starvation. They had not yet discovered the wheel and had no written language. Tribe against tribe—they lived a violent and brutal existence. Of those Caribbean Indians Columbus came into contact with, the Arawaks attacked and enslaved the Siboney. The Caribs feasted (literally) on members of both tribes.”
“There are more American Indians alive today than there were when Columbus arrived or at any other time in history. Does that sound like a record of genocide?”
“Columbus himself is merely a symbol, a vehicle, a retrospective scapegoat; their real target is America and Western civilization. The Indians were wonderful, they say. The dead white men were the oppressors. It’s all so black and white to the revisionists. These Columbashers harbor an irrebuttable (in their own minds) presumption of prejudice against Western culture. Historical facts and evidence at variance with their predisposition, if ever even considered, are summarily rejected. At the core of this anti-Western view is a not-so-subtle racism so insidious and pervasive as to be almost unspeakable.”
“Let me translate multiculture-speak for you and put it into more direct language we all can understand: Indians are good. White Europeans are bad. Blacks are good. Asians, we’re not too sure about. Regardless of how they camouflage it, this is the essence of multiculturalism and the kind of psychobabble being disseminated in our institutions of higher learning today. The corollary themes are that character and identity are primarily shaped by ethnicity. The pattern is easy to follow. First, they ascribe fictitious misdeeds to people not alive to defend themselves; then they categorically indict the entire race for the fabricated atrocities attributed to some. Is this not overt racism emanating from self-described ethnically and racially sensitive people?”
“Thanksgiving is actually explained in some textbooks as a holiday for which the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians for saving their lives, rather than as a devout expression of gratitude grounded in the tradition of both the Old and New Testaments.”
“[L]ong before Karl Marx was even born, the Pilgrims had discovered and experimented with what could only be described as socialism. And what happened? It didn’t work! Surprise, surprise, huh? What [William] Bradford and his community found was that the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else, unless they could utilize the power of personal motivation!”
“The experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years . . . that by taking away property, and bringing community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing—as if they were wiser than God . . . . For this community [so far as it was] was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For young men that were most able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children without any recompense . . . that was though injustice.” – William Bradford, Pilgrim settler describing early system of governance in an American colony
“There’s even more that is being deliberately withheld from our modern textbooks. For example, one of those attracted to the New World by the success of Plymouth was Thomas Hooker, who established his own community in Connecticut—the first full-fledged constitutional community and perhaps the most free society the world had ever known. Hooker’s community was governed by the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, which established strict limits on the powers of government. So revolutionary and successful was this idea that Massachusetts was inspired to adopt its Body of Liberties, which included ninety-eight separate protections of individual rights, including: ‘no taxation without representation,’ ‘due process of law,’ ‘trial by a jury of peers,’ and prohibitions against ‘cruel and unusual punishment.’”
“These were men who shook up the entire world by proclaiming the idea that people had certain God-given freedoms and rights and that the government’s only raison d’être was to protect those freedoms and rights from both internal and external forces. That simple yet brilliant insight has been all but lost today in liberalism’s relentless march toward bigger, more powerful, more intrusive government.”
“Liberalism poisons the soul.”
“Modern-day liberalism is like a disease or an addiction that literally has the power to destroy the character of the person who falls under its spell.”
“When liberals hurl epithets at you because you have pointed out the obvious error of their ways, just know that you have hit a nerve. If you criticize their behavior and they call you a pig, a bigot, or a fascist, their consciences must be giving them problems; or else they acquired their liberal values by rote and without comprehension. They claims to have a monopoly on the market of open-mindedness and tolerance, but in truth they are often extremely close-minded and intolerant.”
“[T]he breakdown of standards of any kind is the liberals’ forte.”
“[T]he deficit did rise to $230 billion in 1985-86; but it was not because of the tax cuts. It was because of unchecked growth in entitlement spending. And don’t blame that on Reagan, either. . . . If Congress had made any strides toward curbing skyrocketing spending during this period, there would have been no deficit by the end of the Reagan presidency.”
“In fact, during the Reagan tax-cut era, IRS collections actually nearly doubled. . . . Actual revenues nearly doubled, from $550 billion to about $991 billion.”
“Cuts in marginal tax rates spur economic growth by providing entrepreneurs an incentive to invest their marginal tax dollars, causing many of them to earn more money and pay more taxes on their earnings, albeit at a lower marginal rate, and create new jobs. Again, this is an application of Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand.’ These new jobs result in a bigger employment base and, thus, more taxpayers. More taxpayers translates into higher tax revenues—even at lower marginal rates.”
“Supply-side economics is nothing new. It’s a restatement of the classical economists, from Adam Smith to nineteenth-century economists David Ricardo and Jean-Baptiste Say. Supply-side is an extrapolation of Say’s Law: Supply creates its own demand.”
“During her confirmation hearings [Ruth Bader Ginsburg] was asked by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) if she believed that a business could be guilty of racism if the percentage of minorities on its payroll was less than the percentage of minorities living in the community where the business was located. She emphatically replied that racism could indeed be established by this simple statistical variance, without any proof that racist policies in hiring practices led to the disparity. Senator Hatch then informed her that during her several years in the D.C. Court of Appeals she had hired fifty-seven people in assorted positions and that none of them was black!”
“Congress exempted itself from the provisions of the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Employment and Opportunity Act, the Equal Pay Act, the National Labor Relations Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Ethics in Government Act, and a host of other laws. Even the Civil Rights Act of 1964, legislation that is the pride and joy of every liberal worth his or her salt, doesn’t apply to Congress.”
“Thumb through the pages of Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Marx, Bacon, Adam Smith; you name it. You’ll see that all of them defend their particular political and/or economic systems foremost on moral grounds.”
“Most liberals know that their solutions do not work, yet they continue to promote these ideas as their ticket to power.”
“[N]o nation in the history of the world has ever taxed itself into prosperity. Here is a parallel truism for all of you to ponder: With the exception of the areas of national security and defense, never in the history of the world has government control ever lowered costs or improved efficiency. That applies to health care or any other industry.”
“In fact, government intervention—specifically the Medicaid and Medicare programs—is the biggest reason costs are escalating in health care today. When Medicare began in 1965, it cost taxpayers about $3 billion per year. It was projected back then that by 1990 the price would rise to $9 billion per year. The 1990 bill was actually $67 billion per year. The most conservative estimates today say that the program will cost $223 billion by 1997.”
“[I]f you tax something, it discourages that activity. Likewise, if you subsidize something or give it away, you encourage it. That’s how the real world works, and that’s just what has happened with Medicare and Medicaid. It’s human nature.”
“DDT has saved the lives of tens of millions of people! For instance, in 1951, 75 million people in India suffered from malaria. Thanks to DDT, that number was down to 50,000 in 1961. When India stopped using DDT, malaria came back strong, resulting in illness and deaths for millions. In 1977, the number of cases ranged between 30 million and 50 million.”
Quotes continued in comments section below.
El Rushbo followed up his first book, “The Way Things Ought To Be,” with this one. He covers much of the same ground, and some new ground, in expressing conservative thought circa 1993. Limbaugh believes:
1. Bill Clinton pretended to be a centrist or conservative during the campaign to get elected, but he is actually a tax-and-spend liberal.
2. Bill Clinton tried to be all things to all people, and he brazenly lied while doing it.
3. Lower tax rates are good.
4. Higher tax rates can lead to lower tax revenues. For example, the luxury tax on yachts decimated the business, cost jobs, and lowered tax revenues as consumers delayed or avoided purchases.
5. Moral relativism, and physical or gender relativism are wrong.
6. National healthcare is rationed care and would increase costs while decreasing quality.
7. Self-reliance is the key to happiness and prosperity.
8. The Founders were religious, tolerant, and hard-working.
9. The 1980’s under Reagan’s policies led to unprecedented economic growth, tax revenues, and charitable contributions. The deficits increased because spending outpaced the increased revenues.
10. Al Gore is an “environmentalist whacko,” who is prochoice regarding abortion, but is anti-choice regarding school selection through vouchers.
11. Global warming is a scare tactic to give more money and power to politicians. Environmentalists were wrong about global cooling and the dangers of the depleting ozone layer.
12. Homosexual behavior statistically reduces one’s lifespan and is being indoctrinated into schoolchildren’s minds.
13. Liberals blur the lines by redefining terms like “rape,” which is a disservice to actual rape victims. They claim 25% of college women are raped, which is untrue.
14. Liberals use real and imaginary crises (rape epidemic, environmental problems) to gain power.
15. Hate crimes are thought crimes and shouldn’t exist.
16. Minimum wage laws hurt the poor by eliminating jobs and preventing unskilled workers from starting their careers.
17. The Fairness Doctrine is anti-American and anti-First Amendment.
Subjective Thoughts
Limbaugh advocates for limited government, lower taxes, and free speech. That’s great. Limbaugh as libertarian is a good look. He is also doing work as a culture warrior. Political correctness has gone too far, and multiculturalism and moral relativism are indefensible. Consider the cover-ups of grooming gangs throughout the United Kingdom in Aylesbury, Bristol, Derby, Halifax, Keighley, Newcastle, Oxford, Peterborough, Rochdale, Rotherham, and Telford. Consider Islamic terrorism and female genital mutilation. Consider neo-Nazis and communists. Then tell me all cultures are inherently equal.
People can agree or disagree on any number of issues, and they can interpret or emphasize facts differently. Most annoying are blatant lies, cover-ups, and silencing of opposition. The attempted and actual silencing of people like James Damore, Alex Jones, Charles Murray, Ben Shapiro, and academics who publish about environmental or racial issues that run counter to the liberal narrative seems a tacit admission of the weakness or rejection of liberal arguments. Let everyone talk, and let the best arguments triumph. A close second to silencing opposition in terms of destructiveness is the redefining and usurpation of well-known terms. “Marriage,” “racism,” “sexual harassment,” “rape,” “discrimination,” “socialism,” “violence,” and “global cooling/global warming/climate change” are all examples of terms denuded of meaning to serve a political end. This type of language tampering covers logical and reasoning errors in liberal arguments. If “rape” now refers to both forced vaginal penetration and also unwanted hand-holding or a hug that one later regrets, then the precision of language has been lost and words are meaningless. Limbaugh provides a needed service in speaking for the silenced, exposing the nefarious wordplay, and counterbalancing the obvious and overwhelming liberal bias in media, academia, and government. He is right in pointing out that so-called liberals are the least liberal, tolerant, and open-minded people around. Don’t believe me? Try giving a speech or arguing any of the following points on a college campus or in front of any gathering of liberals:
a. Christianity is a force for good.
b. Islam is a force for evil.
c. America’s founders are the greatest political geniuses of the last 2,000 years.
d. Blacks commit more crimes and have lower intelligence than Asians.
e. Affirmative action is immoral and destructive.
f. Men and women are different, and men are better suited for science, math, and running large corporations at the extreme end of the distribution curves.
g. Diversity is a weakness to overcome, not a strength to celebrate.
h. Colonialism brought order, technology, and increased standards of living to the natives.
i. Capitalism is the best economic system ever devised.
j. Transsexuals are mentally ill.
k. Socialism and communism are evil and murderous ideologies even worse than fascism.
l. Liberals are intolerant.
m. Racism is no longer a serious obstacle to success in America, and the only overt racism left is affirmative action.
n. Professor should not have tenure.
o. Healthcare is not a right because you cannot force someone to work for you.
p. Welfare creates dependency and is often abused.
q. Two-parent households are better for children than single-parent households.
You don’t even have to agree with these positions. But they are valid positions supported by evidence and held by tens of millions of people. If there is a reasoning error in one of the conclusions, point it out. To condemn any and all who believe them as “racist,” immoral, or stupid, and to seek to destroy their lives or livelihoods is reprehensible and cowardly. What is so frightening about hearing an opposing viewpoint? Holding an idea in mind, without necessarily accepting it, is one mark of maturity and absolutely vital to empathy. In my experience, the least tolerant, least empathetic people are the self-professed liberals or progressives. Thank God Limbaugh is out there taking it on his multiple chins for the rest of us.
Revealing Quotes
“I have the cure for what ails us. Here’s my prescription: Self-reliance. Morality. Personal responsibility. Optimism and good cheer. Confidence in the irrepressibility of the human spirit. Dependence not on government, but on the universal yearning for freedom and the desire to make life better for oneself and one’s family. These are the underpinnings of the free market, and we need free-market solutions, not government remedies.”
“If there are fewer people in need, there is less demand for the expansive role of government, and thus, a declining need for liberals.”
“But there isn’t a conviction I hold that makes liberals livid more quickly than this one: America is the greatest country on Earth and in history, still abounding with untapped opportunity for ordinary citizens.”
“They call it egalitarianism. I call it sapping individuals of their lifeblood, depriving them of their human spirit, and, in the name of helping some, relegating everyone to mediocrity or worse.”
“[Bill Clinton] knew that his best chance of winning the election, if nominated, would be to create the perception that he was conservative. Indeed, during the campaign he co-opted the traditionally conservative issues from George Bush, who couldn’t seem to get out of the starting block. He promised a middle-class tax cut, deficit reduction, welfare reform, federal spending cuts, and a massive Reaganesque slashing of the bureaucracy. Bill Clinton said anything he had to say to get a vote. He proved to be the ultimate politician. But can you blame him? After all, he was and remains unencumbered by the constraints of conscience and, aside from me, there was no one around to hold him accountable.”
“The fundamental flaw in socialist theory is that we live in a zero-sum world—that when someone wins or achieves something, someone else is, by necessity, losing.”
“Liberals seem unable to comprehend the concept of wealth creation: that our economy is not a zero-sum game; that one person’s achievement is not necessarily the other person’s loss; that burdensome taxes have a deterrent effect on the production of income and wealth and jobs.”
“The important role profits play in an economy is to signal to investors—risk-takers—where to send more resources and where to send less.”
“The marketplace rules, but not arbitrarily, as the government does in its capacity of allocating resources. And that is the critical distinction. When the market is the final arbiter, consumers’ needs will be satisfied, because consumers, collectively, are the market.”
“Not even the most zealous capitalist would tell you that the free market is a panacea. The Bible assures us that we are never going to eradicate poverty completely. Utopia is not achievable on this Earth, but capitalism is the best system available to provide the most wealth for the most people.”
“Americans now work an average of 123 days (and the figure is rising) simply to pay their tax bills at the federal, state, and local levels. That means that you, dear readers, work exclusively for the government in January, February, March, and April. Sometime in early May you actually begin working for yourself and your family. That’s not free enterprise, my friends. That’s slavery. And what does this beneficent government do for most of you? Beyond providing a national defense, not much, I daresay.”
“Would you rather take your chances in the marketplace, or wait in a government line for rationed care?”
“There are only about 650 people at any one time qualified to play major-league baseball in America. Those are the people we pay to see or turn on the television to watch. If they don’t play, fans don’t watch. It’s market economics at work. Regardless, it’s none of government’s business to tell people how much they can earn. It’s hard to believe that the governing elite have such a learning disability concerning world history. In trying to equalize incomes, they’ll help no one and ultimately enslave everyone.”
“What [Columbus] found was a land sparsely inhabited by nomadic hunting tribes. Many were constantly on the verge of starvation. They had not yet discovered the wheel and had no written language. Tribe against tribe—they lived a violent and brutal existence. Of those Caribbean Indians Columbus came into contact with, the Arawaks attacked and enslaved the Siboney. The Caribs feasted (literally) on members of both tribes.”
“There are more American Indians alive today than there were when Columbus arrived or at any other time in history. Does that sound like a record of genocide?”
“Columbus himself is merely a symbol, a vehicle, a retrospective scapegoat; their real target is America and Western civilization. The Indians were wonderful, they say. The dead white men were the oppressors. It’s all so black and white to the revisionists. These Columbashers harbor an irrebuttable (in their own minds) presumption of prejudice against Western culture. Historical facts and evidence at variance with their predisposition, if ever even considered, are summarily rejected. At the core of this anti-Western view is a not-so-subtle racism so insidious and pervasive as to be almost unspeakable.”
“Let me translate multiculture-speak for you and put it into more direct language we all can understand: Indians are good. White Europeans are bad. Blacks are good. Asians, we’re not too sure about. Regardless of how they camouflage it, this is the essence of multiculturalism and the kind of psychobabble being disseminated in our institutions of higher learning today. The corollary themes are that character and identity are primarily shaped by ethnicity. The pattern is easy to follow. First, they ascribe fictitious misdeeds to people not alive to defend themselves; then they categorically indict the entire race for the fabricated atrocities attributed to some. Is this not overt racism emanating from self-described ethnically and racially sensitive people?”
“Thanksgiving is actually explained in some textbooks as a holiday for which the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians for saving their lives, rather than as a devout expression of gratitude grounded in the tradition of both the Old and New Testaments.”
“[L]ong before Karl Marx was even born, the Pilgrims had discovered and experimented with what could only be described as socialism. And what happened? It didn’t work! Surprise, surprise, huh? What [William] Bradford and his community found was that the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else, unless they could utilize the power of personal motivation!”
“The experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years . . . that by taking away property, and bringing community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing—as if they were wiser than God . . . . For this community [so far as it was] was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For young men that were most able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children without any recompense . . . that was though injustice.” – William Bradford, Pilgrim settler describing early system of governance in an American colony
“There’s even more that is being deliberately withheld from our modern textbooks. For example, one of those attracted to the New World by the success of Plymouth was Thomas Hooker, who established his own community in Connecticut—the first full-fledged constitutional community and perhaps the most free society the world had ever known. Hooker’s community was governed by the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, which established strict limits on the powers of government. So revolutionary and successful was this idea that Massachusetts was inspired to adopt its Body of Liberties, which included ninety-eight separate protections of individual rights, including: ‘no taxation without representation,’ ‘due process of law,’ ‘trial by a jury of peers,’ and prohibitions against ‘cruel and unusual punishment.’”
“These were men who shook up the entire world by proclaiming the idea that people had certain God-given freedoms and rights and that the government’s only raison d’être was to protect those freedoms and rights from both internal and external forces. That simple yet brilliant insight has been all but lost today in liberalism’s relentless march toward bigger, more powerful, more intrusive government.”
“Liberalism poisons the soul.”
“Modern-day liberalism is like a disease or an addiction that literally has the power to destroy the character of the person who falls under its spell.”
“When liberals hurl epithets at you because you have pointed out the obvious error of their ways, just know that you have hit a nerve. If you criticize their behavior and they call you a pig, a bigot, or a fascist, their consciences must be giving them problems; or else they acquired their liberal values by rote and without comprehension. They claims to have a monopoly on the market of open-mindedness and tolerance, but in truth they are often extremely close-minded and intolerant.”
“[T]he breakdown of standards of any kind is the liberals’ forte.”
“[T]he deficit did rise to $230 billion in 1985-86; but it was not because of the tax cuts. It was because of unchecked growth in entitlement spending. And don’t blame that on Reagan, either. . . . If Congress had made any strides toward curbing skyrocketing spending during this period, there would have been no deficit by the end of the Reagan presidency.”
“In fact, during the Reagan tax-cut era, IRS collections actually nearly doubled. . . . Actual revenues nearly doubled, from $550 billion to about $991 billion.”
“Cuts in marginal tax rates spur economic growth by providing entrepreneurs an incentive to invest their marginal tax dollars, causing many of them to earn more money and pay more taxes on their earnings, albeit at a lower marginal rate, and create new jobs. Again, this is an application of Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand.’ These new jobs result in a bigger employment base and, thus, more taxpayers. More taxpayers translates into higher tax revenues—even at lower marginal rates.”
“Supply-side economics is nothing new. It’s a restatement of the classical economists, from Adam Smith to nineteenth-century economists David Ricardo and Jean-Baptiste Say. Supply-side is an extrapolation of Say’s Law: Supply creates its own demand.”
“During her confirmation hearings [Ruth Bader Ginsburg] was asked by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) if she believed that a business could be guilty of racism if the percentage of minorities on its payroll was less than the percentage of minorities living in the community where the business was located. She emphatically replied that racism could indeed be established by this simple statistical variance, without any proof that racist policies in hiring practices led to the disparity. Senator Hatch then informed her that during her several years in the D.C. Court of Appeals she had hired fifty-seven people in assorted positions and that none of them was black!”
“Congress exempted itself from the provisions of the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Employment and Opportunity Act, the Equal Pay Act, the National Labor Relations Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Ethics in Government Act, and a host of other laws. Even the Civil Rights Act of 1964, legislation that is the pride and joy of every liberal worth his or her salt, doesn’t apply to Congress.”
“Thumb through the pages of Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Marx, Bacon, Adam Smith; you name it. You’ll see that all of them defend their particular political and/or economic systems foremost on moral grounds.”
“Most liberals know that their solutions do not work, yet they continue to promote these ideas as their ticket to power.”
“[N]o nation in the history of the world has ever taxed itself into prosperity. Here is a parallel truism for all of you to ponder: With the exception of the areas of national security and defense, never in the history of the world has government control ever lowered costs or improved efficiency. That applies to health care or any other industry.”
“In fact, government intervention—specifically the Medicaid and Medicare programs—is the biggest reason costs are escalating in health care today. When Medicare began in 1965, it cost taxpayers about $3 billion per year. It was projected back then that by 1990 the price would rise to $9 billion per year. The 1990 bill was actually $67 billion per year. The most conservative estimates today say that the program will cost $223 billion by 1997.”
“[I]f you tax something, it discourages that activity. Likewise, if you subsidize something or give it away, you encourage it. That’s how the real world works, and that’s just what has happened with Medicare and Medicaid. It’s human nature.”
“DDT has saved the lives of tens of millions of people! For instance, in 1951, 75 million people in India suffered from malaria. Thanks to DDT, that number was down to 50,000 in 1961. When India stopped using DDT, malaria came back strong, resulting in illness and deaths for millions. In 1977, the number of cases ranged between 30 million and 50 million.”
Quotes continued in comments section below.
March 11, 2018
This book is set up in the following manner: He address is a problem, he gives a few examples, suggest ways in which we might fix said problem, then goes on a rant about it. Although there is a lot of ranting/complaining going on, there is also some very constructive conversation. Some very good problems being addressed in this book. I would definitely recommend this book.
December 29, 2025
Rush's second book is about economics - relentlessly supply-side, from the Pilgrims' failed collectivist experiments to Reaganism. It's about history - New Deal mythology, Vietnam revisionism, the spiritual narcissism of the 1960s, the ritual erasure of the successful 1980s. It's about culture - liberalism is insidious and seductive precisely because it demands absolutely nothing of the individual.
August 31, 2023
“(P)repare your mind to be challenged as it has never been challenged before.” (p. xvi) The Doctor of Democracy adds another textbook to the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies with his best-selling follow-up to The Way Things Ought to Be, See, I Told You So. Expanding on some of the topics from his previous book, Rush addresses his appeal to mainstream-America (despite continued predictions of his imminent downfall), the culture war, environmentalism, and the revision of the 1980s as a “Decade of Greed.” Additionally, he discusses several new issues and events, including the “New Democrat,” HillaryCare, Dan’s Bake Sale (a conservative spoof on school deficit bake sales), the Politics of Meaning, and “The Hush Rush Law.” And while much of the book is of the moment, most of it remains remarkably relevant; particularly the left’s attempts at censorship through politically correct speech codes and Fairness Doctrine-like controls over electronic media. As with his radio show, Rush includes a lot of lighthearted humor and satiric comedy to entertain and illustrate absurdity by being absurd. See, I Told You So is proof positive that Rush is documented to be right 99.8% of the time (and isn’t afraid to let us know it). “Like everything I touch, this book is on the cutting edge of societal evolution.” (p. xiv)
March 1, 2015
Rush Limbaugh, America's #1 radio talk-show host, bounded to the top of the bestseller lists with the record-breaking "The Way Things Ought to Be." Now, this consummate entertainer and provocative political commentator, whom conservatives love and liberals love to hate - this "harmless little fuzzball" who delights in being called "The Most Dangerous Man in America" - has made publishing history again with a record breaking 2-million-copy first printing of "See, I Told You So." The Democrats may be in the White House, but Rush leads the charge to embrace and defend the fundamental values that have shaped the American character: belief in God, devotion to family, law and order, rugged individualism, commitment to excellence, rewarding achievement, and...the notion that the woman is always right! An no less a liberal then Ted Koppel, quoted in "Vanity Fair, " said, "You ignore him at your peril."
November 1, 2013
Although I'm a liberal conservative, I tried my best to give this book a fair chance. From the very beginning Rush Limbaugh comes across as being arrogant, all-knowing, and full-of-himself. His 1st book might have been on the NY Times bestseller list, but it was never on the USA Today bestseller list which is the one I follow. However, this book was and that's why I suffered through reading it. It is dated with everything he says relative to 1993 when Clinton was President. Wonder what he thinks now with Obama as President. Although, I don't wonder enough to read another one of his books or listen to his talk radio. I'm open to the other side and how there thoughts differ from mine ... but I don't care for the way he approaches issues and states his stand ... as if his side is the only true right side (pun intended).
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