El Rusbo has it right two ways. He lays out Trump’s position, and he exposes all of television by nailing FOX.
RUSH: So far Trump says he's not showing up. He claims he's not showing up because Megyn Kelly is going to continue to be a moderator. And if you believe that, I can give you substantive reasons.
XXXXX
RUSH: Everything he's doing goes against the book. Everything that any analyst or consultant or professional would tell you not to do, Donald Trump is doing it, and he's leading the pack. This creates its own set of emotions and feelings and thoughts that run from person to person. Now, the political business, if you want to look at it that way, is like any other business. It has its people who are considered the elites in it -- and like any business, they hate outsiders. They don't want outsiders just storming in trying to take over, and much less succeeding at it.
XXXXX
RUSH: Politics is no different, and all of those determinations are made by who gets money and who doesn't.
XXXXX
RUSH: It probably isn't necessary, but let me again say that whatever I say today about this or anything else today is not coming from a position of support for any candidate or opposition to any candidate. So whatever I happen to say about what I think of Trump skipping the debate, reaction to it, it's not rooted in -- and don't even consider that it's rooted in the fact that you think I might be doing it in support of Trump or in opposition to Trump or in support of Cruz or anybody else. It's none of that.
XXXXX
RUSH: And in this business one of the games is that when the media calls, you answer, and when the media wants you, you go, and when the media is going to host a debate and it's part of a Republican presidential campaign, you go. You just do it, no matter what the media's done to you in the past, no matter what you think of it, whether you want to go or not, you go. That's the game.
Trump is so far outside this game, he's so far outside the rules, he's never been a player in this game. He's always been an outsider. I heard people on Fox last night talking about this. "Who does he think he is? He can't control the media." I got news for you: He is controlling the media, and it's his objective. He is controlling the media. He controls the media when he's not on it. He controls the media when he is on it. He controls the media when he's asleep. Nobody else has been able to do anything like this short of the Kennedys, and they're pikers compared to the way Trump is doing this.
XXXXX
RUSH: He's exposing so much as fraud that has gone on inside the American political process for so long they can't allow somebody like this to win and succeed. It's quite natural they would want to take him out as well.
XXXXX
RUSH: Here comes Megyn Kelly's first question. He didn't hear anybody else get a question like that. He never sees Hillary Clinton get a question like that. He never hears Bill Clinton or another Democrat get a question like that. So he answers it and says screw this. I'm not putting myself in that position again. Why should I? I don't have to.
But the rules of the game say when there's a debate, you show up. Screw the rules, he's saying. Why should I willingly give them another shot at me in a circumstance they control, why should I do it? What's the sense in it for me? I'm leading; I'm running the pack here; why in the world should I put myself in that circumstance? I've already seen what's gonna happen.
I don't think it's any more complicated than that. I mean, there could be some personal things going on here that I don't know about. But just from the standpoint of knowing Trump, reading his book, and seeing how he operates elsewhere, in his mind, screw the rules, screw what's expected, screw "This is just the way you do it." I'm not gonna put myself in a position go where I'm gonna be treated unfairly. I don't have to. I'm Donald Trump. Anybody can do this. Ted Cruz could choose to do it if he wants to. They just don't. Cruz and the rest of the pack are playing the rules of the game. Trump is saying I don't have to do it. I don't want to do it. I don't have any respect for these people. What the hell.
In addition to that, Donald Trump knows that by not showing up, he's owning the entire event. Some guy not even present will end up owning the entire event, and the proof of that is Fox News last night. I have to tell you, folks, this is where this gets tough for me. I was stunned watching Fox News last night. Fox News was acting like they had been jilted at the altar. If it had been me -- and this is easy to say -- if it had been me and Donald Trump makes a big to-do about not showing up for the debate, report the story and move on. Talk about Ted Cruz. Go talk about the other candidates. Go talk about Hillary and the FBI. There's a lot of news out there. But don't devote the rest of the night to how a candidate's not showing up because of you. I mean, the network, not just Megyn Kelly.
XXXXX
RUSH: Then bringing Michael Moore on late in that program to mock Trump.
XXXXX
RUSH: If I heard it once last night, I've heard it a thousand times since, that Trump is afraid of Megyn Kelly or afraid of Fox News. That is not what this is. There isn't any fear. What is there is here -- in my opinion -- is a desire to control this and a purposeful decision to not put himself in a circumstance where other people want to make him look bad.
In his mind, that's a dumb thing to do. You don't put yourself in a circumstance where a whole bunch of other people are gonna be able to make you look bad while you're there.
XXXXX
RUSH: . . . he's avoiding the people of Iowa."
He's not avoiding the people of Iowa. He's all over Iowa. The guy does more TV and radio than any other candidate out there. So I don't think there's fear, and I don't think it's disrespect for the people of Iowa. This is what it looks like when some guy stands up to the rules and the game and says, "Screw yours; I'm looking out for me first. That's all this is. And you can say whatever you want, but I am not dumb. I'm not gonna give you the gun and the bullet and stand still. You want to hit me, come get me, but I'm not gonna put myself in your line of fire." That's what he's doing, if you ask me.
XXXXX
RUSH: The media run this game. The media are never to blame for anything that goes wrong. They have total immunity where all this is concerned. The media has their immunities, and the way everybody plays the game, you have to go through the media to get where you want to go if you are in politics. You have to. And you have to bite your lip along the way. And if you don't, then you have made a perpetual enemy of people (as goes the saying) who buy ink by the barrel.
In this case, that's cable news, airwaves, whatever the analogy would be. The media does not look at themselves as an obstacle. The media looks at themselves as part of the obstacle course anybody has to pass in order to get where they want to go in politics. And Trump is saying, "I don't like those rules. Who says I have to go through you? Who says I have to look good according to what you say? Who says I have to get to the American people through you? Why can't I just do my own event?
"Why can't I buy my own microphone, my own camera, my own time, and talk to the American people without you? It seems to me a lot more efficient -- and, more importantly, I control it, and I don't have to deal with people maybe misrepresenting me or putting me in a bad light." The other players in the game who've always abided by these rules were shocked and dismayed that somebody would mock the game this way and to upset it like this. "This cannot stand," and so forth. But no journalist is ever gonna take themselves out. I don't think they should, by the way.
XXXXX
RUSH: . . . don't forget one of my favorite journalism stories of all time.
Bernard Shaw was in the al-Rashid Hotel during the first Gulf War. It was one of our targets. He got out of there. The US military got Bernard Shaw out. When he got home, the US military wanted to debrief him to find out what he had seen about the enemy, and he said, "I refuse! That would compromise my journalistic ethics."
"What do you mean, 'journalistic ethics'?"
"Well, I can't help one side over the other."
"Well, it's your own country in a war, for crying out loud."
"Sorry. I can't help."
Not even realizing that it's his own country's Constitution permitting him to do what he's doing. But he couldn't compromise his ethics to help his own country.
I've never forgotten that.
Nor have I forgotten. Yet the press moans to high heaven when the public does not shed a tear when a reporter is executed or held captive. As far as I am concerned America should lock up reporters like Bernard Shaw and throw away the key.
Let me close with a few words about Hillary Clinton’s reluctance to appear in an uncontrolled environment that included roping off the press —— and they loved her all the more for it while they despise Trump. I say that because the twentieth century will be remembered as The Age of the Electronic Dictator. Gruppenführer Clinton uses television to protect her in ways no Republican can expect. She is also living in a country whose government still promotes individual liberty whenever possible. (That has to annoy the hell out of media.)
Because of the nature of Mrs. Clinton’s past activities, she cannot stand up to a detailed defense of her criminal activities. The best that she can do is try to sell an image mainstream media promotes. Der Gruppenführer is a caring, loving, earth mother who simply wants to make the village a better place to live. That is image hogwash in its purest form. Hitler wrote Mein Kampf to further Fascism. Mrs. Clinton wrote It Takes A Village to further the New World Order crowd's agenda. The result will be the same —— Disaster with a capital d.
For thousands of years philosophers and ordinary people alike believed that the least government is the best government. Now, with the help of modern propaganda tools ——TELEVISION —— Socialists would have everyone believe that their form of government will suddenly make government beneficial to mankind. A quick look at the evils practiced by totalitarian governments in the twentieth century, made possible by electronic propaganda tools, tells us otherwise. The only government that is worth its salt is a representative form of government dedicated to keeping its powers over law-abiding citizens to an absolute minimum. The Right to be let alone is not a Right that press barons believe.
Bottom line: Whatever you think about Donald Trump, you should thank him for beating television at its own game. I cannot name one other person after Gutenberg invented the printing press that came close to exposing journalism for what it is. In addition to print press buying ink by the barrel, the people in television have so much money they buy whitewash by the tanker truck. They will use it to hide what they are until the end of time. So should The Donald get to the White House he has the opportunity to eliminate the advertising tax deduction. Call it “Getting even” if you trust media mouths; nevertheless, the country will improve considerably after television loses its major source of revenue.
RUSH: Now, Trump's out there talking about how they're desperate to have him because high ratings means a lot of advertising revenue. Lower ratings means lower advertising revenue because Fox has to charge less. They were hoping to get $750,000 a minute, I heard, and they may be down to $150,000 a minute if Trump isn't there. I mean, these are samples of the kind of things going around.
