Understanding the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Rush Limbaugh.com ^ | August 25, 2014 | Rush Limbaugh

[Kaslin]

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: The other day I got a video, somebody sent me a video in the e-mail, he said, "Rush, you've gotta play this." I'm not big on Internet videos 'cause of my hearing and so forth, although it's better. So I clicked on it and it was my buddy George Brett and the country music star Keith Urban in Kansas City taking the ice bucket challenge. And Brett names me as one of the three he next challenges to take the ice bucket challenge. It was me and Tom Watson, who is the Ryder Cup captain from Kansas City, and I forget who the third one that George named was.

Now, obviously, I haven't done it yet, the ice bucket challenge, but the reason why -- George sent me an e-mail, "Have you done this ice bucket thing yet? You know, I called you out." I said, "No, I haven't done it."

"Well, you ought to see the videos all over the Internet. It's cool, everybody's doing it."

I said, "There's something about this that doesn't make sense. I think everybody's doing this wrong." The ice bucket challenge consists of two things: You either donate to ALS or dump a bucket of ice on your head, right? So how are they raising money if everybody's just dumping ice on their heads? It seems to me the idea is to send ALS some money. (interruption) Well, they don't show video of 'em doing both.

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge with George Brett

The videos are just people getting dunked with ice buckets in creative ways. Like Bill Gates built a whole guillotine. The Bill Gates video, he builds this whole guillotine thing, like gallows, and instead of a hangman's noose there's an ice bucket up there. He pulls the rope and he gets drenched. And all these brilliant tech wizards are trying to out-genius everybody in how they get dunked. Brett and Urban, they just dumped the buckets over their head and dropped it.

I'm saying, wait a minute. This is ass backwards. What you ought to do -- and I'm thinking of doing this -- just make a video of writing a check to ALS and holding it up. The point is, either donate or drop the bucket. And everybody's putting ice on their heads for the video of it. But I said, "How is ALS getting any money out of this?" But I think Snerdley, you're right, 'cause they are raising a lot of money with this. They have collected a lot of money.

But you know me, I mean, I'm a student of the language, and I am a man of precision, and I looked at the ice bucket challenge, and it is not worded in such a way that you dump ice on your head and then send them a check. It's one or the other. I don't even know if I can do this, you know, with cochlear implants and stuff. I'd have to take them off, obviously, but even at that. And then I don't know what three people I would name. I don't know three people to name.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I remember now. George Brett's third person he challenged was June Jones, the head football coach at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, SMU. I don't know if Watson's done it. I don't know if June Jones has done it. I haven't. Well, again, I'm a literalist, I am the mayor of Realville, and the challenge is you either donate to the cause or have an ice bucket dumped on you. Well, I'll donate. Anyway, it's obviously metamorphosed into something other than that.

END TRANSCRIPT

[Pining_4_TX]

I’m sorry that your cousin died of this awful disease. My husband’s uncle died of ALS decades ago. There are some hopeful signs of progress in fighting ALS, but often these big charities are not the groups paying for it. Many of them just feather their own nests and print pamphlets.

[waxer1]

I mean what is the reasoning behind the bucket? My aunt just died from ALS last month. There is a lot more to ALS than shaking limbs.

It is a horrible disease.