Here's Smerdyakov:
Is it me or is Rush losing his sense of humor over the this impeachment thing. Depressing, and I don't listen to Rush for that. And the half hour monologues about Papadapoulos and Mifsud every other day. He used to be a lot more entertaining.Skylark responded:
Yeah, Rush has lost the movement on his fastball. I don’t listen to him to hear him rant like the guy in the bar, I listened to him for interesting analysis. He was always very good at that kind of stuff. Leave the ranting, fifes and drums and three cornered hats to Mark Levin and Hannity.Narciso said:
Rush has been at this for 30 years, and he doesnt see it getting better, the most outrageous things get tractions and the things of value get derided.Wild chicken said:
Yeah, Rush has lost the movement on his fastball He's gotten more shouty than before. None of the talk guys are much fun anymore.It's the Era of That's Not Funny, but Trump is funny... maybe so funny (and shouty) that there's no room for anyone else in the game anymore. The contrast is lost, and Trump is so big, he blots out all competitors. I know Trump caused me to stop listening to Rush Limbaugh. I let my subscription to the podcast version of the show lapse, and I used to listen all the time. I can't say if he's declined in the Trump Era, that's why I'm reading these comments and trying to understand.
There are 2 more Rush-related comments in the thread. Limited Perspective said:
I can't listen to Rush anymore. He used to find interesting topics in the news, insight into politics and human nature with a sense of humor. Now when I tune in, it's all rants and the repetitive, repeat, repeat, repeat, of last month's rant. I guess everyone winds down in time. I did enjoy listening in the day.He sees change. And rhhardin said something that I remember him saying from time to time in the past, not seeing change (and perhaps not listening lately):
Rush is popular for a larger-than-life persona, which is actually self-deprecating humor.I'll do a little poll. If you haven't been a listener to the show in the Trump Era, you should refrain from participating. Do not vote just to express support or hostility for Rush!
When he moralizes he's awful, because he can't do self-deprecation at the same time.
This has been going on for years, it being a question of a ratio, is all.
UPDATE: Poll results:
138 comments:
In fairness, Rush works best responding to what the Dems are doing, and doe three years the Dems have been a repetitive, one-trick pony.
I must abstain...
Now we sift through the noise of twitter and find enough nuggets of insight to build rush in the aggregate.
Rush very often gets an analysis right but it's a three hour show and he fills with moralizing.
I subscribe to 24/7 to retrieve the occasional show that I can't record (don't want to miss the complete set) to the HD owing to internet failure or affiliate preemption. Say Ohio State suspends a quarterback or something, then there's a multi-hour press conference.
I don't listen to it all, going about normal activities instead, in and out of stores etc.
i've been listening to Rush, since the mid '90's
He SUX now
Reason: He's Not funny any more
Causes:
a) his drug addiction has made him stupid
b) his new golf course wife has made him money grubbing
I still listen to him when i'm listening to the radio, but am QUICK to switch to a book on mp3
I've been listening to Rush regularly -- not constantly -- since 1992, and agree about the present Donks being a one-trick pony, and a dangerous one at. Limbaugh has been at this long enough that he probably has a better understanding of the political landscape than anyone else, he correctly knows that the Dems *could* get elected via ignorance, self-interest, and fraud.
Current Democrats should be trusted nowhere near power, and wishes to drive that point home.
He has always been somewhat repetitive because on any given day he'll have people joining him the the second hour, or the third, so he catches them up on the main issue(s) of the day, which sounds repetitive to those listening for the whole three hours. He's been very open about that.
Limbaugh is as eloquent as ever, and repeatedly funny, be he knows, as do I and most of his other listeners, that these are not times in which to be "funny" about the toxic and very serious attempt to take out a sitting President whose main "crime" was to get elected in the first place ... when the Dems truly believed Hillary would be able to cement for ever Obama's socialism, simpering foreign policy, and wide open borders policies.
He's got a commitment. It's like Khe Sahn. Sign of the times.
He rose to prominence in the Clinton years; his influence waned in the Bush years; and rebounded during the Obama years. He can still bash Dems in Trump's break-the-mold era, but it isn't as effective. There's definitely a pattern there.
I cannot comment on Rush, but I can see a sea change in the news at large. Commenters here have noted the decline of Drudge, and I have also begun to avoid him. Angelo Codevilla writes now of the inevitable dissolution of the United States. At a hotel breakfast room, I saw a CNN banner that read "CNN Reality Check" and just below that "The GOP's Orwellian Impeachment Strategy". I asked a stranger at a table next to me if that was intended as comedy. In general, I avoid televised news, but I have begun to avoid almost anything except this blog and Instapundit.
Rush makes Major factual errors Everyday (due to his drug addiction?)
this goes back Years
Back when before the 2014 elections, he went on and on (and on and (and on and on)),
about how ALL WE NEEDED, WAS A FEW MORE SENATORS; AND WE COULD FIX EVERYTHING!
at the time, we had (what?) 56 senators? And Rush went on and on about how
ALL WE NEED, IS SIXTY SENATORS, and we could Override O'Bama's vetos!
He spent about an HOUR, talking about "how All We Need is SIXTY SENATORS, to override
And I Kept thinking; "WHY doesn't someone STOP HIM? He's making a FOOL out of himself"
It was then, that i realized; that he was a drug addicted old fool
The only clear thinker I am aware of us Scott Adams and I listen to him daily. Everything else is just agenda based narratives.
Not being a listener of Rush I must abstain from the poll. I will observe that references to Rush and his commentary seem down - meaning, I don't hear about him as much now as I used to.
Some Black bear talked about.... a sea change in the news at large
indeed, Yes!
I read this blog in the morning; and read the WSJ's "Best of the Web" in the evening;
EVERYTHING that rush talks about, is Old News.
Back in the '90's i'd flip between NPR, and rush; and it would Very Enlightening
Now, i just keep re-listening to Bruce Canton's civil war stories* :)
Back in the '90's, rush was FUNNY!! Darci and Stephanie Skudder would listen to him while they were working at their mom's store. ahhhhh Darci and Stephanie Skudder!
Bruce Canton's civil war stories* ONE of these times Burnside's going to realize that after the wait for the pontoon bridge; He NEEDS to just NOT go up that hill. So far, he keeps making the same mistake; but ONE of these times...
his new golf course wife
What’s a golf course wife? I want one!
I listened to rush until I could start to predict him. About 6 months. It was a great experience, mind you. But 6 months until he stopped surprising me.
I will be interested in the outcome here.
No one listens to Rush Limbaugh for moralizing--he has always been a bit louche, so who wants to hear that from him? How do you get any traction in the age of Trump? As a critic? How is that working for Drudge? As an ally? Well, maybe, but the original is still the greatest. Sycophancy always lurks in the shadows.
But in a larger sense, the Trump phenomenon is the Trump dilemma--what comes next? He is so large, and the media hate him so much, and he is such a showman, how do you follow that act? I used to look at the front page of my local fishwrap, and every single story had a headline with a Trump angle.
Dynastic politics has never been very far from the surface in America since 1900--Roosevelts, Kennedys, Bushes, Clintons, Daleys, Browns, Sununus, Cuomos, etc. Trump has his family too much with him for my comfort. DJTJr? Ivanka? Someone will try it, but it should be a firm no thank you from GOP.
If Trump is more than the ego that knows no bounds, he needs to pick some people in his second term to showcase for success. Haley needs to come back and show what she can do.
Trump needs to push for real GOP inroads in some blue states. Illinois is going to crash someday, and the Democrats will have nowhere to hide, because they have done it all for twenty years. The Rauner governorship accomplished nothing and left no lasting mark. When the toilet finally flushes, the Dems will be completely discredited here. The GOP should be wheeling some relief and restructure measures into the public discourse, because the Dems here(including Governor Jabba) are spouting nonsense and hiring criminal defense attorneys.
Rush is the canary. What comes after Trump?
rehajm said... What’s a golf course wife? I want one!
I'd doubt, Very Much, that you could afford one
They met at a celebrity golf tournament in 2004, where Kathryn was working as an event organizer for pro golfer Gary Player
I listened to Rush Limbaugh in the 90's, and he was such a breath of fresh air. My job allowed me to have a long lunch break, so I would sit in my car and listen as long as I could. I was discovering that I was a full-blown conservative while in my early 20's, and Rush had a way of articulating things I believed in an entertaining way. Something he and Trump have in common is that they can have so much fun while they pull down liberal pretensions and expose liberal hypocrisies. Rush was the best antidote to the Clinton era.
When I listen to him now, I think the political context has changed, and his style feels a bit outdated. Nevertheless, I still think he's a necessary corrective to the liberal bias that our society is permeated with. He may not be as edgy, and I don't feel as compelled to listen to him as I did years ago. But he is still immensely talented, and a force to be reckoned with. I actually prefer to read the transcripts on his website when I have time, and they are both entertaining and informative.
One thing leftists hate is a sense of humor at their expense. Rush showed how to do that, and Trump has perfected it.
I still listen though only in short snippets of 15 minutes or a half hour instead of longer blocks of time as in the past. I often find myself hitting the off button for the peace and quiet. And it's telling in the difference when the car goes quiet. Emblematic of the times we live in. I'm guessing it's taken it's toll on Rush too.
To be clear, Gov. Jabba is spouting nonsense, but I am not aware that he has hired a criminal defense attorney. Most of the other state Dem politicians have been wired by the US Attorney for the last few years, and another shoe drops every week.
"At a hotel breakfast room, I saw a CNN banner..."
It is so grotesque that hotel breakfast rooms everywhere subject all of the guests to CNN. It's this holdover belief that CNN is the generic news (along with the assumption that we want news for breakfast (and can't read)).
I took the 4th option because I think that all of this Russia stuff and impeachment makes him too angry to do what he used to do so well. The reason I made that odd comment about “movement” is because he has become predictable, like Levin and Hannity and others, I suppose.
He doesn’t need my advice, but were he to ask, I would say that he should step back and take a deep breath and realize that anger is debilitating to intellect and go back to what he used to do so well, which was to find humor and to give us insights into what the players might be thinking.
I always thought that Rush was the smartest guy out there in punditry, maybe it’s just because I agreed with him, but he would say things I never thought of, and you can go through reams of right wing punditry looking for an original thought sometimes. Left wing punditry the question always arises is who wrote the blast fax that all of these people a working from.
Right now my current favorites are Matt Tabbei (sp?) and Glenn Greenwald, principled lefties who see this Russia hysteria for what it is. I just spent Thanksgiving in Salem, MA, and this seems like the witch hysteria that overtook that town. Like in The House of Seven Gables, some are honestly sucked up in the hysteria, and some use the hysteria to advance their own interests.
“Rush is popular for a larger-than-life persona, which is actually self-deprecating humor.”
Substitute Trump and you see the problem for Rush.
I started listening to Rush when Mike Dukakis was running for president and I was shocked to hear somebody saying the stuff I was thinking. I didn’t know there were other people out there.
It is so grotesque that hotel breakfast rooms everywhere subject all of the guests to CNN.
...and doctors offices, though much of the time the staff looks like they know what they’re doing if you catch my drift. Surprisingly CNNs home state Savannah, GA airport has largely ditched CNN for lighter fare.
It’s not Rush. We’re all just exhausted. Pick any radio show, any news channel....it is just the same topic over and over again. Trump, Trump, Trump. Be it for or against the outrage never ends. Who new one ride down an escalator would change the landscape forever.
"At a hotel breakfast room, I saw a CNN banner that read "CNN Reality Check" and just below that "The GOP's Orwellian Impeachment Strategy". I asked a stranger at a table next to me if that was intended as comedy."
Great question to ask a random stranger. What did he say? Maybe I should attempt a social experiment: Take a road trip across the country, stay in Holiday/Hampton Inns, and — in the breakfast rooms — ask random strangers "innocent" questions about CNN banners.
"In general, I avoid televised news..."
Me too.
"... but I have begun to avoid almost anything except this blog and Instapundit."
Thanks! There's something about doing this that seems to keep me the same, ever steady. But if I went into decline, maybe I wouldn't notice.
By the way, Rush Limbaugh and I were born on the same day: January 12, 1951.
Trump is a happy warrior, Rush needs to be a happy warrior too. Plus he is a little disorganized, he alludes to some point that sounds interesting, but never gets to it as he unleashes another rant.
Anyway, I used to plan my lunch around Rush and never miss him, would find a way to to listen even if I wasn’t in the car, now if I happen to be in the car, I will tune it, and see if he is worth listening to today.
"t’s not Rush. We’re all just exhausted. Pick any radio show, any news channel...”
Rush was always different.
I can remember 2-3 weeks after Trump was inaugurated Rush came on the radio and said he was sick of hearing about "Russia" and said he wasn't going to talk about it anymore. Too stupid, tedious, and tiresome.
I try to catch his opening monologue to see if he has any new and interesting insights that day.
It's been months since I made it through the monologue, and turn him off.
I've been listening to Rush since 1989, off and on.
I don't tune in to listen to Capt. Obvious.
Don't get me wrong-still love the guy.
If I'm in the car at noon, I'll turn him on to see what he's talking about. I think his decline occurred with the deafness-pills stuff years ago. I think these shows in general have a problem right now because they can only go so far in what they recommend. People who are urging action are probably doing so as quietly as they can
It’s really something that we have these commenters here who are so much smarter than Rush, yet they keep their light under a bushel here. You have to admire their humility in the face of us mortals.
My thinking was shaped by the old Wall Street Journal editorial page when Robert Bartley was the editorial page editor and by The American Spectator when R. Emmett Tyrrell was the editor. They were a breath of fresh air in a sea of New Frontier/Great Society consensus that the government needed to plan and direct everything from the top down.
Today I am shocked at how quickly the Gramscian long march through the institutions has come together. The left has moved into and redirected every foundation, every college and university, every public school, every museum and gallery, every organ of news dissemination, the legal profession, the medical profession, and now the corporate headquarters suites.
I am involved in a classical music organization, and my wife is on the board of a major independent research library. At our respective November/December board meetings, we were each advised that major foundations (the MacArthur and the Mellon) are moving their financial support from arts and humanities programs concerned with our cultural heritage to programs that advance social justice themes.
Chick-fil-A, a private company, is giving up on the Salvation Army but supporting those thugs at SPLC. Goldman Sachs is using ze and zir.
The long night of ignorance is descending. Go re-read 1984 and Farenheit 451.
Epstein did not kill himself.
Keep in mind-
Rush reads Althouse.
Rush was never angry before. Now he is, just like millions of other Americans. I keep waiting for him to tell his listeners, me included, to start shooting.
I don't tune in as often as I have in the past. Why? Picking from others take on this, I think at least a portion is President Trump stealing the unique perspective, that Rush could always find. Nothing is more unique than the Presidents take. Just now, watching clips on the local morning news. Clips of President Trump calling out the Dems as posers, pushing phony allegations. In the past, Rush could do a whole hour on what the leftists were doing and why. Tump does it in a series of tweets and 20 minutes doing a helicopter presser.
(if readering still cant understand why we are here, this is why)
Re: Oso Negro at 5:38 and Althouse at 6:13.
The time may be right to speak up to total strangers. That time will pass, and then it will be dangerous to speak up to total strangers.
some dead composer said...
Chick-fil-A, a private company, is giving up on the Salvation Army but supporting those thugs at SPLC.
think of their business model!
Hmmmm, we've been SUPER SUCESSFUL doing our own thing; and appealing to our Own customers.
NOW! Lot's of other companies are producing the thing we produce (tasty chicken sammies)
I KNOW! let's alienate our base, and do EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER to be JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!
THAT will keep our customers!
ps. imho the BEST advertisement for Chik-FilA, is a closed Chik-FilA store. NOTHING makes me crave Chik-FilA, like not being able to buy it....
How long? Before Chik-FilA decides (in the interest of More Stores), to be open on Sundays?
Human resource departments are already combing the internet to determine the beliefs of potential hires.
Thoughtcrime can cost you a career opportunity.
The “news” in general—which we all take to mean political coverage of DC by the MSM—has declined in a big way. It’s increasingly boring and stupid for increasingly large chunks of the country. I suspect Rush is caught in that wave.
Remember back in 2001-2003 when nonstop coverage of the post-9/11 world was riveting and essentially must-see TV? This is SO not that. The stakes are just as high though—just less compelling to watch.
I think that one of the thing that angers me the most, and yes, it does anger me, is the insult to the nation’s intelligence that this whole Russia/Ukraine impeachment is. The MSM wing of the Democrats simply refuse to report inconvenient facts that would, if widely disseminated, bring the whole charade to an quick end.
I think of the New York Times as like one of those Chinook helicopter gunships from the Viet Nam war that can just unload ordinance on you in massive quantities, and all we can do is return fire with the small arms of the Samizdat media outlets like this. We have to accept that the Times is gone, and we are fighting an asymmetrical war against an entrenched establishment that can buy newspapers easier than we can buy a coffeemaker. But they can’t buy logic and reason, and so they try to destroy it as a tool, and it is left to us to defend it.
I brought up the other day my grandfather and mother as the Nazis invaded Holland, and what they were forced to go through, but go through it they did, they persevered, and so must we. We are not the first people to face something like this.
gilbar--I would never have done what Chick-fil-A just did. They stood for something. Now they stand for nothing. Soon they'll stand for anything.
I hate to say it, but I have found myself occasionally thinking, Rush has lost a step. I chalked it up to age without really knowing how old he is. Now I see he's only 68. We don't all age the same, but he's not that old.
Rush has gone through periods before where his show wasn't peak and other times when it was spectacular. There are ups and downs for everybody. He does have a life. Who knows what all the guy is going through.
I'd sure miss him if he retired. On his worst day he's head and shoulders above anybody else on the radio.
I still listen. I can agree he's not an everyday listen anymore, but he's still better than his competition. When I'm between audiobooks and need something for the commute; I'll pick a big news day and listen to his podcast.
Two commenters above noted that Democrats have been a one trick pony for awhile, which does limit Rush's ability to bring in fresh commentary. There is truth there, but it is where I think many of those opposed to Democrats are failing.
CNN's ratings are dropping. Democrats are boring. Fill the void with your own creativity and ideas. This is what Trump does and he stays interesting for it.
the Trump phenomenon is the Trump dilemma--what comes next? He is so large, and the media hate him so much, and he is such a showman, how do you follow that act? I used to look at the front page of my local fishwrap, and every single story had a headline with a Trump angle.
You can tell when the Democrats have a bad day. The LA Times has only one Trump story on the front page. Trump has sort of taken over the Rush lane and is hard to top. I have been listening to him since 1988 but not every day or all during the show.
I don't know what comes next but I have read all four of Kurt Schlicter's novels. He is actually quite funny and has the tone of the hard left down pat. I hope they stay fiction.
Sorry to be so gloomy this morning, but the shift by the Mellon Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation mentioned above was really shocking, particularly coming within a week of each other.
I prefer Buck Sexton. He is spot on.
Blogger Amadeus 48 said...
Human resource departments are already combing the internet to determine the beliefs of potential hires.
I guess this is where Gender Studies majors find jobs.
"On his worst day he's head and shoulders above anybody else on the radio.”
Yep.
The time may be right to speak up to total strangers
The guy Biden called fat was confronted by another man later on, who told him to get the hell out of there.
His reaction was perfect.
There was a time in this country when people minded their own business. If they didn't, they were reminded to do so.
When you see CNN on in generic situations - EVERYONE should complain. CNN is not news - CNN is HATE.
“Today I am shocked at how quickly the Gramscian long march through the institutions has come together.”
Me too and I suspect millions of others feel the same. Shocked is not even a strong enough word, for me it’s “stunned, saddened, and very, very angry”.
I’ve been enjoying Chris Plante recently.
@ Althouse
Great question to ask a random stranger. What did he say? Maybe I should attempt a social experiment: Take a road trip across the country, stay in Holiday/Hampton Inns, and — in the breakfast rooms — ask random strangers "innocent" questions about CNN banners.
Before "she" could answer, I added "where are we? California?". She actually patted my leg and laughed and said, "No, this is still Oklahoma". I was greatly comforted. One, that common citizens can still laugh at the absurdity, two, that she dared human touch.
I travel constantly for my work, pretty much all over the world. If I didn't speak to strangers, I often wouldn't speak to anyone at all. It's a strange way to live, admittedly. I try to be a cheerful foreigner. Even in a place as strange as Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Listening to Rush on a regular basis since retirement (~ 12 years on). Lately, he seems to be playing defense for Trump. We all know Trump causes many of his own problems -- just his nature apparently. Rush needs to get back to his forte -- analysis of events. It's been easy of late to switch channels.
Take a look at the @WokeCapital twitter account sometime. It’s breathtaking.
I almost don’t know what planet I’m on sometimes.
Added note - Speaking up to strangers isn't for the faint of heart. What social filters I may have had are long gone. And I was raised by a man who sat elbow to elbow with his fellow diners at the Union Oyster House in Boston and loudly declaimed the Kennedys. I was always proud of him for that.
Russ' style fits better when the Conservatives are in an underdog status, and that is not as pronounced now as it was five years ago. But he is still better than most.
Oso Negro at 7:03.
Thanks. I needed that.
gilbar said...
Rush makes Major factual errors Everyday (due to his drug addiction?)
this goes back Years
Back when before the 2014 elections, he went on and on (and on and (and on and on)),
about how ALL WE NEEDED, WAS A FEW MORE SENATORS; AND WE COULD FIX EVERYTHING!
at the time, we had (what?) 56 senators? And Rush went on and on about how
ALL WE NEED, IS SIXTY SENATORS, and we could Override O'Bama's vetos!
He spent about an HOUR, talking about "how All We Need is SIXTY SENATORS, to override
And I Kept thinking; "WHY doesn't someone STOP HIM? He's making a FOOL out of himself"
It was then, that i realized; that he was a drug addicted old fool
Umm.... ever heard of cloture? It took 60 votes to end a filibuster.
I prefer Buck Sexton. He is spot on.
Buck Sexton is good. I download the podcast so it has never come down to choosing between Buck and Rush. If it did, I'd still pick Rush. Buck also gets repetitive at times. They all do. It's not easy filling 3 hours every day. Not many people can do it.
What Don said. Chris Plante is fantastic. Funny, informative, entertaining as hell with the delivery of a nightclub comic, highly recommended.
In Chicago he’s on WLS right before Rush, from 9-11, and on the TuneIn app and probably elsewhere too.
One last comment on Rush, and then it’s off to play a little golf. He has been a large figure in my life because I listened to two pieces of advice he gave in the ‘90s. He said it was OK for your wife to stay home with your kids, it would probably work out better for you, that’s what we did and he was right. And he said that America was a place were you could make it with a good idea and hard work, emphasis on the hard work. I took that to heart and now I am enjoying a very comfortable and secure retirement where my biggest problems are to do with managing the pitfalls of plenty, which are surprisingly plentiful.
Anyway, if I knew a way to send it to him so he would get it and enjoy it, I would love to send him a box of fine cigars, or some fine whiskey.
Rush started to lose his fast ball before Trump ever announced. It's been years since he was as funny and edgy as he once was. Remember back to the blender abortions and the Hillary song parodies. Those things had some bite and were funny. One time a caller accused Rush of making a million dollars a year (like that's a bad thing), and Rush gave him hell for insulting him..."I haven't made that little since blah, blah, blah." I was laughing so hard I almost drove off the road. His show is never like that these days. I tune in for a few minutes and just tune right back out.
alanc709 moronically said, like a moron...
Umm.... ever heard of cloture? It took 60 votes to end a filibuster.
YES, and; like YOU alanc, rush was SUCH A MORONIC MORON, that he thought that overriding a veto and ending a filibuster were the same thing....
rush is a drug addicted Fool; what's Your excuse?
I sit at my desk working from home at a computer. I have always had Rush on and used to look forward to 11am and Rush.
But for the last year, I have found myself hitting the mute button more and more. Why?
He has become too strident. He harangues too much, he's begun yelling and scolding. I don't need to be scolded.
He used to be fun. Sly and quick-witted. Lately he's been reminding me of Kamala Harris. He's trying too hard. I'm not sure it has anything to do with his old drug addiction. Maybe it was the loss of his hearing.
Sad.
Listened to Rush this week. Made him must hear radio because of the impeachment follies. His analysis was spot on, especially about those three law professors.
I agree that there is a distinct lack of levity in the shows I have recently listened to but I chalk that up to the Trump Derangement Syndrome that has consumed legacy media. There is so much Democrat overhype and Never Trumper overhype agreement that everyday Rush has too many high value targets that he feels (rightly or wrongly) that he needs to analyze and punch back *every* single day.
If democrat would simply fight Trump on the issues, taxes, immigration, tariffs, environment, regulations, etc. Rush would have more space to unleash his rhetorical flourishes on those issues.
All this, IMHO.
You can only do ridicule and satire about something so long before it turns to hatred and disgust.
Once you realize pointing out the problem isn’t solving it, depression sets in.
I agree with the repeat, repeat, repeat criticism. It is like he does the show for 90 IQs that don't get his point (or so Rush assumes) so he has to keep beating the point into the listener's brain.
Then there are the commercials. During the show, before/after, it is never enough. Sell sell sell. Act like only unsophisticated rubes don't get we have to have 20 minutes of fluff every hour because duh, that is just how it is done. Except it isn't on podcasts, the new tech.
Hugh Hewitt is the worst selling his crap pills, like it is to our benefit he wastes our time so that we don't ever find something useful to do with it.
Mike Gallagher is SHOCKED, SHOCKED I SAY!, that the proggies lie and defame/besmirch for power. Everyday it is the same: Can you believe that Proggie X said that? I mean, my good golly gosh, can you believe it??? Well, I never.
The best show is Pete Boyles on tiny 710 KNUS in Denver. He held Trump's current positions for years on the Bush clan and their needless and devastating wars, proggie nature, border control, etc.
It is true that Trump now does what Rush used to bear the standard for: mocking the Democrats in a biting way that catches on and goes viral. Trump has a much better bully pulpit in that everybody hears it when he does it, not just Rush's listeners. BTW, I liked Rush better on the drugs, but I like everything better on drugs.
Hugh Hewitt is the worst selling his crap pills, like it is to our benefit he wastes our time so that we don't ever find something useful to do with it.
I like Hewitt. He does good interviews. I don't listen anymore because his show has moved but I do look up the transcripts on his blog. Some of those interviews are quite good.
5 tries so far with Blogger. 6
Both Rush and Howard Stern have lost their fastball. But hey, you try pumping out fresh content five days a week for 30 years
I first heard Rush in September 1989 and his show topic was the one year anniversary of the Dukakis Tank incident. Was hooked until 2007 when I renounced my support for W due to his complete cock-up of the War on Terror. So, yeah I'm like a former smoker.
I don't know about Rush, but CNN has declined dramatically since Trump became president. Basically they have the airport audience left and that's about it!
I see Google continues to attempt to shut down Mike K's mission of conspiracy enlightenment. More "proof" he is right.
I'm a regular Rush listener but I didn't answer the poll because neither of the 4 choices quite hit the mark for me. Even during the 2016 primary, it was obvious that Rush strongly identified with Trump...someone who was willing to say politically incorrect things and withstand the heat and demonization from the media. I think he had such high hopes that Trump could make certain things happen when he shocked the world and got elected. Instead, many of his initiatives to "MAGA" have been stymied by the courts and, of course, totally by the dems. I think Rush is very emotionally invested in Trump and he (Rush) just can't be like he was. The injustice of what has happened with the Russian collusion nonsense and now this active impeachment action is viscerally offensive to Rush and yes, he does rant. He's not as one note as Hannity and still manages some entertaining snark but he cares too much to be the way he was. I guess #2 comes closest but that's because my ears don't like stridency.
Like the Nobel laureates say: "He not busy being born is busy dying."
Rush was a new thing and exciting back in the '90s. He's been losing steam since then.
Part of that is him. He was on FNC this morning and didn't sound very compelling.
Part of it is that the Clinton-era situation wasn't going to last forever.
I remember when Clinton left the White House and Rush was applying all his wiles to Tom Daschle. It was as if a big-game hunter were going after a squirrel.
When everything is outrage, nothing is outrageous -- and Rush doesn't do outrage or outrageousness as well as he used to.
To me, the most stark thing about Limbaugh's show in the Era of Trump is that he can no longer call it "The Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies." As he used to. Regular listeners know what I am talking about. Now, Limbaugh struggles to re-name it anew each week, like "The Limbaugh Institute for Advanced anti-liberal Studies."
Talk about "hate."
Rush just gave up, defending conservatism in the Trump Presidency. Rush more or less openly confesses that Trump is not a conservative and that is why Rush was so late to adopt Trump.
I was always amazed at a 3-hour show where Rush talked to no one of interest. It is just one show in about 50, where Trump actually speaks on air (I won't call it an interview) with someone like Trump, or Pence, or a tiny handful of others. It's just Rush, droning on, with a sprinkling of underemployed rural American nutjobs.
I no longer watch and listen to news or commentary. It all is ideological drivel.
The last talk show I listened to was Phil Hendrie. Funniest radio ever.
You people remind me of Phil's crazy characters... Thank You so much because everyone needs to laugh, especially me.
"I try to be a cheerful foreigner. Even in a place as strange as Tulsa, Oklahoma."
Well, you know what they say. Tulsa is the Paris of Oklahoma.
I also used to be a Doctor Michael Savage fan since 1994 on KGO in SF. Borders Language Culture
Having never listed to Limbaugh, I can't respond to the poll but I would speculate that he is less necessary because of Trump.
It's just Rush, droning on, with a sprinkling of underemployed rural American nutjobs.
Yes, those Deplorables. How dare they !
Howard drones on, sort of like Rush but Rush has 25 million listeners and Howard has two. Himself and Chuck.
---And I Kept thinking; "WHY doesn't someone STOP HIM? He's making a FOOL out of himself---
You didn't stop him because you didn't have mutual access, and those with access probably thought he was right.
I haven't listened to Rush after he took back his comment about a woman being ugly, or something, years ago.
There's never been a reason to go back.
Rush understands NewAge, but rately comments on it, so I'm not interested. If Oprah's best friend is a news producer and Rush doesn't care, then I can find someone else to spend time with.
a little of the Cassandra problem, he warned about so many of these trends thirty years ago, but they became worse, and he yes he was naïve then, he actually thought the gop would want to reverse some of this, but they mostly went along for the ride, you see 'firemen' are burning the country down to the foundation, and you can't be nonchalant about it,
Ever since I started listening to YouTube’s of
Jordan Peterson, Jonathan Pageau, Paul VanderKlay, and John Vervaeke with their work on the meaning crisis, politics has become very very uninteresting
Michael K said...
It's just Rush, droning on, with a sprinkling of underemployed rural American nutjobs.
Yes, those Deplorables. How dare they !
Being a prime case of "human scum" myself, I have no regrets about calling out The Deplorables. None at all.
That was the day that "The Deplorables" died.
tucker is probably the successor, he doesn't get everything right, I recall he seemed like a bowtied twerp at the cpac conference in 2009. but the daily caller, is one of my first stops now,
Rush reads the Althouse blog. He'll see this poll.
If you think Rush is repetitious and dull, check out the impeachment hearings. I don't think they inspire his best material, but there they are and he has to comment on them.....I'm listening less just now but I put that down to the fact that he's discussing an inherently dull subject and the Dems involved in it are insufficiently annoying to bring forth his best material. You try doing three hours on the pretensions and conceits of constitutional law profs. Put another Weiner or Jussie Smollett in the batter's box, and his fastball will return..
weiner, that rank degenerate, house of cards got his number properly they made him an irish boozer out of Pennsylvania, fulliver worked with the likes of schumer and Hillary and dean,
“Now, i just keep re-listening to Bruce Canton's civil war stories”
Grew up hearing about him. My mother had all of his books, personally signed. His brother Bob was my grandfather’s best friend growing up in Benzonia, MI, and my memory of the stories is that they went off to Carlton together for college. My grandmother baked Bruce Canton’s 80th birthday cake. My great great grandfather is cited in his autobiography, “Waiting For The Morning Train”, as one of the GAR soldiers who always marched on patriotic holidays, that inspired Canton to dedicate his career to researching and writing about the Civil War (and my grandfather as an artillery officer in the Army). Our two families migrated to the wilds of Michigan from Oberlin, Ohio, in the 1850s to found a Christian college. That GG grandfather then returned with other men from Benzonia to Oberlin to join a unit being raised there to fight in that war.
so chris steele who brought us this dogs breakfast, is an amoral sociopath, like mcavoys character in atomic blonde, maybe he wasn't always that way but I have my doubts, glenn simpson his enabler, probably used akmetschin as a source on firtash, hence he knew who not to touch, and who was subject to authority,
rastajenk: "He rose to prominence in the Clinton years; his influence waned in the Bush years; and rebounded during the Obama years. He can still bash Dems in Trump's break-the-mold era, but it isn't as effective. There's definitely a pattern
there."
False.
Rush's rise to prominence came during the entirety of the Bush 1 admin and his growth rates under Bush 2 were comparable to his growth under Clinton.
It was Drudge that broke out during Clinton.
My exposure to Rush Limbaugh was brief, when a local TV station ran his television show for a few weeks late at night. I never listened to his radio show. But it interested me that his severest critics were the usual gang of State-shtuppers idiots. My respect for Limbaugh grew by leaps and bounds when "liberals" began complaining "He's not a REAl conservative!" ("Liberals" love to tell conservatives what "real" conservatism is.)"He's a libertarian!" My reaction was, "Yeah? So?"
Doctor Michael K is still my biggest fan.
Blogger Dave Begley said...
Rush reads the Althouse blog. He'll see this poll.
I'd bet money he alludes to it on the radio today.
LOL this is like an episode of the Rush Limbaugh show. Earnest yokels talking about something with Rush nodding in apparent knowing agreement, marveling at the homespun wisdom of everyday people...
Bruce Hayden said...
“Now, i just keep re-listening to Bruce Canton's civil war stories”
Grew up hearing about him. My mother had all of his books, personally signed. His brother Bob was my grandfather’s best friend growing up in Benzonia, MI, and my memory of the stories is that they went off to Carlton together for college. My grandmother baked Bruce Canton’s 80th birthday cake. My great great grandfather is cited in his autobiography, “Waiting For The Morning Train”, as one of the GAR soldiers who always marched on patriotic holidays, that inspired Canton to dedicate his career to researching and writing about the Civil War (and my grandfather as an artillery officer in the Army). Our two families migrated to the wilds of Michigan from Oberlin, Ohio, in the 1850s to found a Christian college. That GG grandfather then returned with other men from Benzonia to Oberlin to join a unit being raised there to fight in that war.
It's Bruce Catton, not Canton. So much for your wealth of homeschooled historical wisdom about the American Civil War.
https://images.app.goo.gl/eqwoMnTssnNbXNvJA
“Even during the 2016 primary, it was obvious that Rush strongly identified with Trump...someone who was willing to say politically incorrect things and withstand the heat and demonization from the media.”
Part of the problem is that Rush and Trump may be too close. Ditto with Hannity. I think that I remember the three of them golfing together a year or two ago. That may mean that Rush, to some extent, has lost his independence (not sure Hannity ever had any).
And yes, Rush is rapidly approaching 70. Roughly 14 months out, if my calculations are correct (He apparently shares having even born in Jan, 1951 with Ann). Imagine going on the air every day for thirty years, staying relevant, and not getting stale. He doesn’t need the money, and having the President’s private phone number on speed dial (and having Trump call in on occasion) means that that he really can’t go much higher professionally.
“It's Bruce Catton, not Canton. So much for your wealth of homeschooled historical wisdom about the American Civil War.”
My bad. You are, of course correct. Which is embarrassing, because I grew up hearing about him. My mother knew him, a bit, through her parents (hence all her signed copies of his books), and the Cattons have the adjacent family grave site in the Benzonia cemetery.
Chuck - Let me add that I really have little knowledge of the Civil War. More than most, of course, but far less than many here. Struggled through one of his books in HS, and it bored me silly. And that was the end of my interest in the Civil War for much of the next 40 years.
Bilwick observes: Liberals" love to tell conservatives what "real" conservatism is
Much as unbelievers love to tell Christians what 'real Christianity' is.
Johnny Carson hosted the Tonight Show for 30 years. He retired when he was 66.
Rush is a Boomer. So he’s Too Important to Retire.
Buck Sexton is very good. The show is intelligent and informative and much fresher than Rush's. I do sometimes want to tell Buck, and Tucker Carlson: "Guys, the message and the messenger aren't in synch. If people go looking in their dictionaries for what the opposite of a populist is, your picture is what they find." That doesn't mean he's wrong or the show is no good -- it may even make the show better -- but there is that disconnect between his background and what he's saying. Same thing with Tucker. It's similar with Howie Carr, who also does a very good show, but can't play the same streetwise guy now that he's living in Palm Beach.
Rush is a Boomer. So he’s Too Important to Retire.
He probably likes doing his show. He's still number one. He's still making a difference. Why retire?
I have followed Rush closely since 1989. Recently I have been reading his online transcripts daily, as I read AA & Powerline, and I think Rush is as invaluable as ever. His stuff about Muellar and the current impeachment travesty/charade has been spot on, prescient even, with his usual unique observations and analyses. And I still get plenty of laughs in the process, but maybe not as many as when we had the pompous buffoon Barak Obama as president.
I very rarely listened to Rush when he first became popular, and for years afterwards. I wasn’t interested in politics then. I came across his show by accident a few years ago, and I found him hilarious, and I was surprised at how much I agreed with him. I was even tempted to utter that ridiculous catchphrase, “mega dittoes”.
True, he can be long winded and belabor his point, but that’s the nature of radio. With no visuals, there must be constant chatter or listeners will hit the scan button within about two seconds. Repetition is an unavoidable part of a medium that most people tune in only while driving. Shilling for advertisers is the only way commercial radio can exist.
Plunging in here without reading the comments, or voting--though I did look and "still going strong" is way ahead.
I've never listened to Limbaugh, except incidentally and accidentally. I don't like talk radio, politics be damned. As is often the case, I heard more about him from people who didn't like him than from people who did, and that can predispose me in favor of a person, but I prefer to use my sense of sight for info, and hearing for pleasure, so a little jabber--even politically more-or-less agreeable jabber--goes a long way.
Narr
National Peoples Radio is the price I pay for classical music on the air here
Then there are Rush's callers...the worst. I guess he likes talking to dummies so that's who Snerdly picks. But I'd rather hear somebody who knows something, and not just repeat whatever Rush said the week before.
But it's always been that way.
I’m not going to read all the comments and the point has probably already been made, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Trump learned his out-and-proud political pugnacity from Limbaugh. Both men love having a foil and are at their best when their political and social opposition provides one.
Rachel Maddow Fanboy and #StrongCNNDefender Chuck: "LOL this is like an episode of the Rush Limbaugh show."
Your comments are like reading the transcripts from MSNBC and DNC press releases.
LOLOLOL
With EXACTLY as much impact!
But hang in there Chuckie. Your gal pal Nancy is leading Team Dem/FakeCons over the edge now and it's all going to work out great for you!
BTW, I loved your passionate defense of radical marxist Karlan in the earlier threads!
All masks off now.
All masks off.
I haven't listened to Rush since the mid-90s. I guess I'm one of those weird conservatives who can't stand talk radio.
Imus, who used to hang out with Trump long ago, said Trump has always had a dry sense of humor and sharp wit.
Rush went downhill in the mid-1990s, so I haven't listened to him since, and can't judge if he's recently gotten worse.
Uhoh, a caller reported on Martin Downey Jr being fired "for calling somebody a chink," at the end of today's show, if my not quite listening memory is correct. Will there be a media matters scandal. Use and mention. The N-word question.
https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/living-under-limbaugh/content?oid=914298
after NewsTalk 1530 KFBK host Morton Downey Jr. told a politically incorrect joke on the air. The joke went something like this:
There’s a Swede, a Norwegian and a Chinaman, and they all get hired to work on the railroad. The foreman tells the Swede, “You’re in charge of setting the railroad ties.” He tells the Norwegian, “You’re in charge of hammering the ties down.” He tells the Chinaman, “You’re in charge of supplies.” They all nod in agreement, and the foreman leaves. A few days later, the foreman shows up and sees the Swede and the Norwegian. “How is everything going?” he asks. “We’re almost out of supplies, and we haven’t seen the Chinaman for three days.” So the men set out to find him, but just then, he jumps out from around a corner, yelling, “Supplies!”
National Peoples Radio is the price I pay for classical music on the air here
theclassicalstation.org (WCPE) is nice, and they never have NPR newsbreaks.
The WUSF stream at wusf.org is good for nighttime jazz, but you do have to mute it for 5 min at the top of every hour.
touchtyped
Rod in Galveston Texax great to have you with us sir, hello
yeah Rush hi I heard you the very first day you were on KFBK and at the time I was a flaming liberal I was against Reagan but you converted me
That was October, that was in October, it might have been the tenth of 1984
yeah yeah they had Morton Downey Jr the day before he refered to an Asian as a Chink they fired him and they hired you
aw now wait gee aw gee that's exactly right Morton Downey Jr there's a city councilman named Tom I forget his last name and Downey used that name and the councilman was offended and Downey refused to apologize so they fired him and I was hired to replace Downey.
Yeah
Way to go there Rod that's really (laughs) You might be fired as a caller now, I might have some explaining to do why you got away with that, Anyway you've become a convert now
Aw yeah and you know today I looked at these impeachment joke now it's started to turn back on them because it's exposing the Clintons and Biden
You know that's the that's something that is so right the Bidens and the Clintons are being exposed in all of this um unintentionally anyway that's Rod in Galveston formerly of Sacramento who is an expert in the Morton Downey Jr firing at KFBF that I had nothing to do with
Yeah, that caller sprung some bullshit on Rush in the last minute or so of his show on Friday afternoon right out of the blue. I imagine this is going to be a problem for him and sponsors are going to be pressured to abandon the show, the whole nine yards.
I gather that the councilman was offended by "Chinaman" in the joke and objected and Downey called the councilman a Chink. Two offenses, the last doubling down on the previous.
It might be as bad as calling Sandra Fluke a slut. Who knows where Chinamen stand on the offense outrage scale.
It might not be very high because east Asians do very well, so have no powerful cause to claim it's because they're discriminated against. Unlike blacks and women.
I listened to Rush in the late 80s, stopped in the late 90s because 1. I got a real job (academic layabout prior to that) and 2. I just no longer found him as funny as I had previously.
"National Peoples Radio is the price I pay for classical music on the air here."
Enjoy it while you can, pal. The public-radio station in this city gutted most of the classical music programming to make room for talk shows of "relevance" to "the Community."
On the dee-lux barge trip we just took, the tour directors and crew did ethnic-national jokes and other forms of non-PC humor as part of the evening meal and announcements schtick. In the USofA they'd get their Euro-asses sued in quick time.
Narr
It was refreshing to their mostly American herd
Thanks for the music-source advice . . . I'm ready to do anything except change (comes with age and retirement; I keep waiting for wisdom).
WKNO here is very valuable for the region, but over the decades the music portion of the radio day has been whittled away for talk, talk, and more talk about less and less. It's bad enough, the hourly rush to mute NPR (Nazi-era joke: what's a "Goeb"? The energy needed to turn twenty million radios off at once) but for a while after we got back they had the accursed impeachment farce from the House all day.
Of course they broadcast music on the HD service, but see my remarks on change, above.
Narr
'damn darkness!
I never listed to Rush because he was funny. It would never have occurred to me to list that as a reason, in fact. He was funny sometimes, but that was just icing on the cake to me.
Who listens to radio for music? Spotify and Amazon are both great. I let Pandora lapse because I just stopped listening to it.? I had to install an aftermarket radio in my pickup because it didn’t have Bluetooth. I just listen to that, whatever I like. Beatles White Album, Mozart, Townes Van Zandt, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, whatever.
Once on a road trip I listened to every Bob Dylan album in order through the mid sixties because I was curious why they booed him at Newport. Figured it out too. They were stupid fucks. Try doing that with a radio.
For over 35 years, Rush has been subjected to the seminar callers/commenters -- and he still is. These are the folks who say things like, "I used to listen in the past and you were great, but now you're wrong on everything."
Same tactic used on all sorts of matters. He who shall not be named uses it all the time. It's his defining characteristic.
Who listens to radio for music?
I do. We have a low-power FM station that never - and I mean never - plays commercials. It's classic rock all day with no breaks.
And then Uncle Joe Benson comes on at 7-midnight to cap the day. My dial never changes.
I started listening to Rush when my daughter was an infant and my husband was stationed in Korea for a year in the late 90’s. I stopped listening when Trump was running because I thought Rush had lost his ever loving mind with his support for him. I finally came around about 2 years ago and started listening to Rush again and I notice that he does shouts a lot and I do miss the humor, but I doubted him and I was wrong. Sometimes I wonder if his hearing loss has something to do with his tone of voice.
"There’s a Swede, a Norwegian and a Chinaman, and they all get hired to work on the railroad. The foreman tells the Swede, “You’re in charge of setting the railroad ties.” He tells the Norwegian, “You’re in charge of hammering the ties down.” He tells the Chinaman, “You’re in charge of supplies.” They all nod in agreement, and the foreman leaves. A few days later, the foreman shows up and sees the Swede and the Norwegian. “How is everything going?” he asks. “We’re almost out of supplies, and we haven’t seen the Chinaman for three days.” So the men set out to find him, but just then, he jumps out from around a corner, yelling, “Supplies!”"
Damn, what an act of wanton destruction, this was a famous joke in a mining context, I even heard it told in Polish, and I don't speak Polish. Now it is dead and gone, can't be used again. I can still say, Salad is not food, salad is what food eats.
Used to be a big Rush Limbaugh fan. In fact, when I was a grad student, I worked at a commercial news-talk station that had him as the centerpiece. He used to be insanely funny. Now, on the odd circumstance that I happen to hear him, he sounds like a conservative version of the One-Noters on MSNBC or CNN. Sad really.
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Blogger wild chicken said...
Then there are Rush's callers...the worst. I guess he likes talking to dummies so that's who Snerdly picks. But I'd rather hear somebody who knows something, and not just repeat whatever Rush said the week before.
But it's always been that way.
I often turn the show off when he is talking to callers. Some are good. A lady last fall told him some things going on in Montana that he had not heard about.
Hugh Hewitt has interesting people on with good discussions. I guess he moved his show to DC to get more interviews.
Somebody complained about Rush selling stuff on the show. He syndicates the show himself after the left tried so hard to shut him down in the Clinton years. The sponsors are all local. The left is trying to do the same to Tucker Carlson. It's harder to syndicate a TV show.
Skylark, I am accustomed to radio and like it, but I do more listening to CDs--that I buy or get from two pretty good libraries here. I chose the vehicle we drive partly because it has a CD player.
Late adopter, that's me.
Narr
Late, if I adopt at all
"rehajm said...
his new golf course wife
What’s a golf course wife? I want one!
12/6/19, 5:53 AM"
Maybe she's like a bar cart girl ...
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