If you click through, the misspelling is gone. The obit is headlined: "Rush Limbaugh, Talk Radio’s Conservative Provocateur, Dies at 70/A longtime favorite of the right, he was a furious critic of Barack Obama and a full-throated cheerleader for Donald J. Trump." Excerpt:
His wife, Kathryn, announced the death at the beginning of Mr. Limbaugh’s radio show. “I know that I am most certainly not the Limbaugh that you tuned in to listen to today,” she said. “I, like you, very much wish Rush was behind this golden microphone right now.... It is with profound sadness I must share with you directly that our beloved Rush, my wonderful husband, passed away this morning due to complications from lung cancer.”...
A divisive darling of the right since launching his nationally syndicated program during the presidency of his first hero, Ronald Reagan, Mr. Limbaugh was heard regularly by as many as 15 million Americans. That following, and his drumbeat criticisms of President Barack Obama for eight years, when the Republicans were often seen as rudderless, appeared to elevate him, at least for a time, to de facto leadership among conservative Republicans.
Such talk became obsolete in 2016 with the meteoric rise of Mr. Trump, who, after several flirtations with presidential races that were never taken very seriously, suddenly burst like a supernova on the national political landscape. Mr. Trump became president and Mr. Limbaugh, off the hook, became an ardent supporter.
“This is great,” Mr. Limbaugh, sounding positively giddy, said of his new champion in the White House. “Can we agree that Donald Trump is probably enjoying this more than anybody wants to admit or that anybody knows?” Like dreams coming true, Mr. Limbaugh hailed the president’s efforts to curtail Muslim immigration, cut taxes, promote American jobs, repeal Obamacare, raise military spending and dismantle environmental protections....
The obituary headline at The Washington Post is "Rush Limbaugh, conservative radio provocateur and cultural phenomenon, dies at 70." Very nicely, this begins with a 6-minute clip where we see the great radio performer in his element [ADDED: I was reacting to the first few seconds. Now that I'm watching the whole thing, I can see it's quite clearly the case against Rush. Sorry for the misdirection.]
The text at WaPo is also much better than at the NYT, because it stresses radio performance over political effect, and there's just no question of Rush's greatness in the medium of radio. All can agree:
Rush Limbaugh, who deployed comic bombast and relentless bashing of liberals, feminists and environmentalists to become the nation’s most popular radio talk-show host and lead the Republican Party into a politics of anger and obstruction, died Feb. 17 at 70.
I like that the first adjective there is "comic."
He saw himself as a teacher, polemicist, media critic and GOP strategist, but above all as an entertainer and salesman. Mr. Limbaugh mocked Democrats and liberals, touted a traditional Midwestern, moralistic patriotism and presented himself on the air as a biting but jovial know-it-all who pontificated “with half my brain tied behind my back just to make it fair,” as he often said.
WaPo also gets it right that Rush did not support Trump in the 2016 primaries:
A lifelong deficit hawk who supported Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Mr. Limbaugh often blasted businessman Donald Trump, saying, “Trump is not a conservative.”
Much more at that link.
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252 comments:
1 – 200 of 252 Newer› Newest»One of a kind. Cannot be replaced. RIP.
FOX has been full time the last 40 min. Trump on live now
A tragic loss. My dad started listening to Rush back around 1990. I grew up listening to him, and I think his wit and insight and skepticism really directed my own critical thinking skills and personal philosophy. It is to his credit that he was able to serve as a mentor to an entire generation. He will truly be missed.
Wow Chuck. Dancing and whooping it up. You’re a class act.
President Trump is speaking on Fox News Outnumbered right now.
The passing of a great American.
(Fuck you Chuck, you low life POS.)
Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern saved radio from oblivion in the 80s
Lost a 28 year friend.
Definitely the GOAT of talk radio. So many Leftist hosts tried and failed miserably to supplant or even challenge him in the ratings, that always warmed my cockles.
He was a revolutionary figure in radio entertainment and politics. Go easy, bro.
Loss of a Happy Warrior! Sad even with the long lead-time we had to prepare. You just tuned in hoping there’d be one more show. And no there are no more. What a great guy for America. We need more happy people like Rush to listen to. So many are so dour. We will miss him.
I grew up listening with my dad to Rush on the radio. In HS one teacher gave me old copies of the Limbaugh Letter, as well as both of his books. Like him or not, he helped define the conservative movement for a generation.
I never paid much attention to him, mainly because I don't listen to radio much (I got my antipathy to statism and State-shtuppers from authors such as Bastiat and his spiritual descendants); but I felt simpatico when I would hear "liberals" and the more statist variety of conservatives say things like, "Well, Limbaugh's not a true conservative, he's a radical libertarian." You mean a guy who consistently advocates liberty? O the horror!
The "Majority Maker.” How many years had it been since Republicans had won the House before ’94?
Trumpism is not going to die as long as the problems vexing working class Americans remain. I know that people wish the rank and file party would just quietly go on the dole and let their jobs be shipped to China, like Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell want, but that’s just a recipe for more Trumpism.
She does Rush Limbaugh's death with the NYT. Good grief, Ann.
As Ron Burgundy would say, "You stay classy, Chuck!"
I'm a charter listener. Heard his 1st show on WHO radio. Just the 1st hour, and delayed until 1pm central. Because nobody could push "The Big Show" from their time slot. 1.5 hours of Agriculture news. I think it was the only station to air the show delayed. Rush relented in order to get on WHO. I think he mentioned when he got successful, he would bend WHO to his will. Rush must never have achieved that success because the show is still delayed.
Rush supported Trump after he realized his audience loved him. Rush didn't care about immigration or trade before that; I remember. Happy guy - why should he care?
The only ones who did care were Lou Dobbs, Mickey Kaus, Steve Sailer, and Mark Krikorian.
Though Rush was smart enough to follow the trend. He didn't lead the movement. That's what his dumbass critics don't understand.
Ann:
How many times did Rush mention your blog on air? I know of at least once.
It must have been a thrill knowing that he read your blog. I was thrilled to learn that Charles Krauthammer read my posts at Power Line.
It is safe to say that without Rush Limbaugh, America would be very different today. Doubtful that GWB would have won. Same for Trump.
Clearly, the most influential conservative of the last 40 years.
WOW Somebody has a lot of love for Rush, to spend so much time thinking about him. Represents deep respect for the man
Howard used to have fun on NY radio. Imus used to yuk it up. Last time I heard Stern on SXM he wasn’t happy or having fun. He was ranting like a lefty. Not fun. Not happy.
Who doesn’t know that feeding trolls makes them multiply? Don’t do that!
Whoa...the most logical one to race Rush is already in florida.
Lol
Replace
RIP, Rush.
Rush came to peak prominence during the Clinton administration. But the NYT skips over the Clinton years to Rush's criticism of Obama to emphasize the racial dimension between Obama and Trump?
A divisive darling of the right since launching his nationally syndicated program during the presidency of his first hero, Ronald Reagan, Mr. Limbaugh was heard regularly by as many as 15 million Americans. That following, and his drumbeat criticisms of President Barack Obama for eight years, when the Republicans were often seen as rudderless, appeared to elevate him, at least for a time, to de facto leadership among conservative Republicans.
Somehow I suspect that Howard agreed with very little of what Rush thought or promoted. They seem as different as chalk and cheese.
Yet he can still find some good in Rush. Rather than trash him, he has some kind words.
Thank you for that classiness, Howard.
That's how it should be done.
John Henry
I personally owe a lot to Rush Limbaugh’s sage advice, as I have said on this blog and I hope that Rush read those comments.
Rush didn't care about immigration or trade before that; I remember. Happy guy - why should he care?
>>
And that was to the R's detriment.
The GOPe still doesn't care. Trump's R's care.
We did a 3 year experiment (would have 4 years except for the world wide stupid reaction to the Fluhan) that demonstrated:
1) Reducing immigration does indeed raise wages.
2) the wages raised were exactly the ones supply/demand would have predicted (lower skilled/educated workers)
3) Reducing the corporate income tax at the same time allowed companies to pay US workers more and not lose profitability or relocate offshore.
All of these are common sense.
But even the WSJ editorial board refuses to apply supply and demand to labor.
And of course the D's want unfettered immigration to keep everyone at the beggar stage.
Unlike most of you assholes, I am not going to speak ill of the dead. RIP Rush.
Don't make this about me John Henry. I was a loyal listener until W screwed the pooch.
It certainly has been a banner year for people who hate American conservatism.
Rush was there for me when I first started thinking seriously about politics. In college I was sort of apolitical, meaning I didn't protest or give a crap about whatever leftist cause was en vogue. I spent most of my time drinking and working out, and whenever politics came up I would just quietly nod my head while thinking about drinking. I suppose my disengagement from politics foretold my future conservatism.
Anyway, in my early 20s I began to care more about politics. Back then, the big issues were the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and Obama was the rising figure among the Democrats. People in my social sphere hated Bush with a fiery passion. I felt conflicted about the wars but I didn't hate Bush at all. I really liked him. It's hard to remember now, but in 2007-2008 there was intense social pressure to declare not only your hatred for Bush, who was obviously a decent man, but also your right-minded, post-racial (ha!) love for Obama. I resisted that pressure, which naturally led me to listening to Rush.
I found myself both agreeing and disagreeing with what Rush was saying back then, but I was almost always entertained. It was obvious to me that he was, more than anything else, an entertainer. You could only think he was an obnoxious, arrogant jerk if you didn't understand that he was usually just kidding around. You were either in on the joke or you weren't.
I generally moved rightward as I got older, and I'm sure Rush had something to do with it. Weirdly, I stopped listening to him many years ago. No reason why, I just stopped listening to radio in general. Maybe on some level I found him more entertaining when I disagreed with him more.
So many Leftist hosts tried and failed miserably to supplant or even challenge him in the ratings, that always warmed my cockles.
Yes the Air America fiasco is epic in its ineptitude. Of course like leftist, they are incapable of understanding business. Like the punk thinking he's going to build pillows because he doesn't like Mike Lindell. It is always a goal that will fail.
Rush's early shows were filled with entertainment, as the sugar to make the medicine go down.
Remember caller abortions! What a hoot. The left turned inside out with anger, but Rush was untouchable.
Rush supported Trump after he realized his audience loved him.
Quite incorrect. From the escalator ride, Trump entering the primary, on Rush supported Trump’s campaign. To start your take so I’ll-informed is interesting.
Rush didn't care about immigration or trade before that; I remember. Happy guy - why should he care?
And with nothing to say really. Nice take! You missed the 1990s on EIB it seems.
“Never go full retard.” - Tropic Thunder
I just thought maybe Chuck should think about that.
but in 2007-2008 there was intense social pressure to declare not only your hatred for Bush, who was obviously a decent man,
Obviously a decent man?! Bush was an advocate of torture and a war criminal.
Can't say I agreed with him on much, but we lost this month two of the all-time great entertaining radio personalities - Rush and Larry King. I hope Howard Stern is healthy. I hear these things tend to come in threes ...
I was once a liberal. People asked why I changed. I would tell them that because of the NPR begathon I tried listening to Rush while driving to work. Not actually true, but it was fun saying it.
I've about decided, I'm not going to go looking for people on the left, or the anti-Trump right, taking delight in Limbaugh's death. And I'll ignore it when I come across it. It's not shocking; it is entirely expected, and boring. Think he would have let it bother him?
But I do appreciate those of his opponents who don't go down that road.
Howard, I echo JH. Classy.
RIP Rush Limbaugh. I enjoyed listening to your show. You will be missed.
What made Limbaugh unique was not the magnitude of his talent, but rather the magnitude of his talent coupled with his conservative beliefs. It's not often that you find an entertainer of his genius staking out conservative territory....There were and are more substantial pundits and analysts on the right, but not a one of them has his comic gifts. He is irreplaceable....I am genuinely saddened by his death. It leaves a void that will never be filled.
And of course currently trending with Rush Limbaugh on Twitter is "Good Riddance" and "Rot in Hell". Lot's of Chuck's out there celebrating.
Limbaugh's biggest critics and enemies never listened to his show or a word he said. Like Trump, they only heard it through a media filter that distorted his words, and his points.
Rush Limbaugh was an ass kicker. Watching Melania put the Presidential Medal of Freedom on him at last year's SOTU was awesome. It was worth having Nancy tear up the speech. It was Limbaugh's moment of triumph, and Nancy's moment of pettiness.
"Bush was an advocate of torture and a war criminal.”
Biden sent a new convoy of troops into Syria the first full day of his presidency to “guard” their oil fields and set up, it looks like, another regime change war against Assad like we did against Saddam.
Bush can eat shit and die, as far as I am concerned.
I listened to Rush from his first year and he will not be replaced. Mark Steyn has done as good a job as any but he does not seem to have Rush's sense of humor.
What many do not realize, or mention at least, is how Rush defeated the left's attempts to force him off the air. It began with the Florida Orange Juice campaign. His response was to syndicate himself. If you listen, you notice that all his sponsors are local. He gave up on the cowards of corporate sponsors. This did not work for TV and his foray failed. It has been successful with Fox News although Tucker Carlson has resisted so far.
Rush was not just a revolutionary performer but he also figured out how to beat the boycott attempts by a new marketing strategy.
“She does Rush Limbaugh's death with the NYT. Good grief, Ann.”
Man, that is dark...
Even I listened to Rush occasionally, it made me realize why I instinctually rejected his style of rightism. But hey, sail on Rush...
They had to go a while for that fat picture, I guess. I think that Rush once described that photo session when the New York TImes intverviewed him where they were trying very hard to get him to make awful faces.
Stay classy New York Times!
When we were first married we somehow (in Nome 28 years ago) got a hold of one of his first books. It was seminal in affecting our political outlook and involvement - which was VERY back-burner at the time. Listening to him wasn't an option in Nome then and even after we left Nome in '95 I intentionally didn't listen because I didn't want to be able to be labeled - and written off - as a Ditto Head by my leftist family member. I wanted to be able to argue the issues without being painted by that broad brush and dismissed. But in the last 10 years or so I listened more intentionally. And by then he had lost some of his abrasiveness. He really blazed the trail for so many many to follow and the Great Discussion and our lives are immeasurably better for it
By the Obama years, cable news and the internet had already taken over, so Rush wasn't de facto leader of anything. The Clinton years were his great days. Rush was a breath of fresh air when he started out, and he still put out a quality show in his later years, but the media world caught up with him and the internet passed him by, so his show lost the freshness and originality that it had in the beginning. The "Age of That's Not Funny" also hurt him. He wasn't edgy enough to be hip, but with time his routines grated on even on some people who agreed with him. Those who put him down and find him divisive don't remember Joe Pyne or Morton Downey or Wally George or Bob Grant. Radio (and TV) could get much more insulting and divisive than Rush did.
I was NOT a fan of the Notorious RBG.
But....
When Ruth Bader Ginsburg died my post on Face Book simply said, "R.I.P Ruth Bader Ginsburg".
The nasty things being posted about Rush (Rest in Piss is trending) shows the loathsome nature of the perpetually offended left.
Rush's sense of humor.
His show was FUNNY! particularly back in the '90's
"How many times did Rush mention your blog on air? I know of at least once."
I don't know, but I didn't listen to the show until I'd heard that he talked about me, so I subscribed to get to the text and audio. I enjoyed the access and listened a lot and appreciated much of what he was doing. I thought he was very smart and funny and that he was right when he claimed to know how liberal minds work.
I stopped listening regularly once Trump became President. I couldn't take both of them, and Trump was President, but I resubscribed just about exactly when Trump lost the election.
Anyway, it was fun to hear my name mentioned on the show once in a while.
I'll just say that it's unlikely there will ever be another political commentator quite like Rush. That's not to say that there aren't currently a good number of fantastic, witty, and trenchant political commentators and that there won't be many more in the future. But Rush was the first, and in many ways the best at expressing Conservative ideas and thoughts clearly and concisely, often using humor and joy. He showed an entire generation of political radio and TV hosts how to present arguments in an entertaining and persuasive way. It can't be overstated how important a figure he has been in politics over the past 30+ years, how important a voice he was. His absence is significant. I'll miss him.
As Rush might say: Talent is no longer on loan. It has been returned to God
"She does Rush Limbaugh's death with the NYT. Good grief, Ann."
No. I did the news with an image from Rush's own site.
Then I chose to review and critique how the 2 most important American newspapers handled it.
Big difference. Sorry you didn't discern that.
" Rush didn't care about immigration or trade before that; I remember. Happy guy - why should he care?"
What? Talk Radio, led by Rush is the reason Comprehensive Immigration "Reform" lost in 2007 and 2015. I have a suspicion that Trump's immigration details were shaped by Talk Radio. Remember when they asked Trump where he got his foreign policy ideas from, he said, "The shows". Everyone thought he meant the Sunday morning shows. No, he meant Talk Radio. Candidates spend millions of dollars polling and flushing out issues. Trump used Talk Radio for free. They already had a built in following. Rush perfected the ability to communicate conservative ideas to the working class. This was/is Trump's base.
We have lost an indispensable voice and a good man. Thank you for your service to the nation, Rush. Rest In Peace.
RIP, Rush. We will not see his like again. But I hope his character and career will inspire others to contribute their own talents and. perspective. Because there is a great need.
Michael K: welcome back!
Ann usually shows us the NYT and WAPO when their spin is wrong.
Let us not mourn that such a man died, but rejoice that such a man lived.
--“To modify Rush’s tag line: Talent returned to God.”
-Mark Steyn
RIP Rush. You will be dearly missed.
And to all the small petty lefties with the hateful remarks - they area reflection of YOU, not Rush. Sad, empty pathetic people.
God speed my friend. There will never be another one like him.
Rush was brought to my attention decades ago by a then-recent immigrant from Lithuania, who had grown up under communism, and who immediately recognized the profound truth in Rush's words.
I'll never forget when Rush appeared on ABC's Nightline. Ted Koppel had introduced him as the leader of Republicans or evangelist of conservative thought or some such, and Rush immediately corrected him. Rush said, according to my memory,
"No Ted, I'm not the leader of anything or any party or the proponent of any ideology. My job is exactly the same as your job. My job is to deliver an audience. That's what I do."
Rush recognized, as did Roger Ailes, that corporate America had abandoned half of their potential audience, that it was there for the taking. Rush did it brilliantly.
"Replete"? Oh the irony, using the wrong word to snark over someone else's minor mistakes.
And of course currently trending with Rush Limbaugh on Twitter is "Good Riddance" and "Rot in Hell". Lot's of Chuck's out there celebrating.
No there are NOT "lots" out there as defined by twitter. Honestly I have never found a single person that hated Rush for what he did, or what he said. I have run across people the SAID they hated Rush. But when I tried to start a conversation, it was clear not even one of them had ever listened, but were dutifully repeating talking points of the propaganda media. Those claiming hatred for Rush did so from a proud position of ignorance.
A sad day indeed.
But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
Something touched me deep inside
The day El Rushbo died
So, bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good ol’ boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die”
“This’ll be the day that I die”
I was driving on I 289 in Manchester, NH the first time I heard Rush on the radio. He was in NYC and still waiting for his stuff to get there from San Diego. I remember thinking “OMG, I am not alone."
Rush was the canary in the coal mine when it came to cancel culture.
He was kicked off Monday Night Football after saying White sports writers were making Donovan McNabb into a superstar because he was a good Black QB.
Listening to Kathryn Limbaugh. worth a listen... very nice.
Chuck said: I say again; in the days immediately following the death of Justice Ginsburg, Limbaugh was calling her “Ruth Buzzi Ginsburg.” That’s a fact. Whether or not you loved or hated Limbaugh. Respect for the departed didn’t seem to be a big deal at that time.
Wrong. Rush called RBG Ruth Buzzi Ginsburg for years before her death. The day of and after her death, he called her Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg or just her name. That's a fact. People who did not listen to Rush Limbaugh know other facts that just aren't true.
NBC News ran a picture from the fat period too. It’s amazing they never let up with the propaganda.
"A divisive darling of the right since launching his nationally syndicated program during the presidency of his first hero, Ronald Reagan, Mr. Limbaugh was heard regularly by as many as 15 million Americans."
How often does the NYT describe someone as "a divisive darling of the left"?
Just wondering.
Damn. That's too bad.
I thought Rolf's problem was just with Trump (yeah, I know).
Rush often joked around with people's names. Chuck U Todd ... or something.
or Chuck U Schumer. F Chuck Todd or some such.
so what?
Chuck U.
RIP Rush. You will be missed.
The left has lost a bogeyman, let the vilification begin!
Rush will be missed. As for his "Not supporting Trump", that's an exaggeration. Limbaugh refused to take sides in the Republican Primaries, but would take candidates for saying liberal/Left positions or statements.
For example, he attacked Huckabee after Iowa in December 2007 for refusing the No-new taxes pledge, then briefly attacked McCain for supporting Amnesty in Jan 2008, and then fell in line and supported McCain after super-Tuesday. Bush, Dole, McCain, Romney - Rush supported them all once they got the nomination.
He didn't support Cruz or trump. He attacked Trump when Trump said something liberal/leftist about Taxes, spending, or Foreign policy. as per his pattern, once Trump sewed up the nomination, Trump supported him 100%.
I was only familiar with the older Rush so it was surprising to see him in his younger days. He did pack in a lot of living in his 70 years, and I actually thought he was an older man.
I did enjoy listening to his voice, his energy, and his point of view. No matter what he might be ragging on, there was something sunny and positive in his personality which was fun and kind of addictive, imo. It was a rare gift and will be missed. I don't consider myself a Conservative but today I am very sad Rush is gone.
We need someone with wit and warmth to fill the void, especially in the deep cold winter of Biden.
The Holden Caulfield test: I enjoyed listening to Imus and Howard Stern, but I would never want to be their friend. I don't know what Limbaugh was really like, but he certainly seemed like a decent guy on his show. I suspect that every bad thing that there is to know about LImbaugh has already been made public simply because of who he was.....On the left, the revelations don't come until years later if ever.
Limbaugh thought his job was fighting the Left, so he always "Soft" on RINO's and rarely attacked them. His attacks on McConnell and Romney since the election were mere pinpricks - a couple sentences and some veiled references. But then the lack of venom in ANY of his attacks is noticeable. He never became vicious or angry at individual Democrats. He rarely insulted or lashed out obama or clinton. he kept it on a higher plane. You probably heard more invective about a President of the USA on CNN in one day about Trump, then Limbaugh uttered in 16 years of Obama/Clinton.
Limbaugh loved the NFL and loved to talk about it. That was probably due to his playing HS football and his working for the KC Chiefs in public relations. Other than Football, Golf, and Cigars he kept his personal life, personal and rarely discussed it despite being on the air 600 hours a year.
Too bad about the Cigars. just looked it up, and even if don't inhale, the cigars vastly increase your risk of lung cancer.
I was a regular listener for awhile, quite awhile ago, but got out of the habit. Living in Madison, I presumed all the stuff I heard about his hateful, extreme positions was true, until I started listening and discovered "Hey, it's not true!". May have been the first of my epiphanies about the dishonesty of the left.
"...de facto leadership among conservative Republicans."
It's funny that anyone thinks they have to be led.
Rush was a marvel at his craft: every single hour, he'd drop some little bit to talk about in the next hour; at the end of every show, it was something to bring you back the next day. You could see exactly what he was doing, but you came back, anyway.
The only celebrity death I will ever care about.
Very sad. Too soon.
Started listening to Rush in '93 when my boss labelled him some crazy DJ on the radio talking politics. Later found out he got his start in my hometown of Pittsburgh on WIXZ as a music DJ. Injected politics into it and got fired.
Even though he was from Missouri, he was a huge Steeler fan, at least until BLM invaded the sport.
Millions of listeners. Not bad for guy from Harvard. Or was it Yale? Oh that's right, no college degree.
But the highlight for me was when he talked about Jesus near the end of his life. For those wishing that Rush would rot in hell, you're mistaken.
I hadn't listened to Rush regularly for years, but in the 90's it was his inspiration and (unknown to him) encouragement that made me get up and start my own business. For that I will always be grateful.
Indigo Red said... [hush][hide comment]
Chuck said: I say again; in the days immediately following the death of Justice Ginsburg, Limbaugh was calling her “Ruth Buzzi Ginsburg.” That’s a fact. Whether or not you loved or hated Limbaugh. Respect for the departed didn’t seem to be a big deal at that time.
Wrong. Rush called RBG Ruth Buzzi Ginsburg for years before her death. The day of and after her death, he called her Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg or just her name. That's a fact. People who did not listen to Rush Limbaugh know other facts that just aren't true.
More than once someone would claim Rush was racist. I would point out that he ws half black, or he was married to a black woman and had black children.
They were very surprised, and surprised again when they found out I was not being entirely factual.
This is gonna crush McConnell.
I eagerly await his burbling condolences.
Always interesting to compare and contrast the reactions of left-wingers and right-wingers to the death of someone they don't like. Conservatives tend to let the dead alone; leftists put out the most incredibly vile, repulsive, revolting and disgusting rubbish they can think of. They seem to spend their time hoping for or celebrating the death of unapproved people like Limbaugh.
A divisive darling of the right...
Artie Sulzberger, aka Pinch Junior, doesn't consider his newspaper divisive, does he?
BTW, Pinch the Younger is the archetype of unmerited privilege. He inherited his position from an ancestor who may have been occasionally compelled to struggle for the survival of his livelihood. In other words, Little Pinch is just another well-born wastrel with no more earned right to power than the most effete perfumed aristo shaved by national razor of revolutionary France.
Limbaugh, on the other hand, built his success brick by metaphorical brink laid with his own hands. He persevered through numerous failures and firings, a few nasty marriages, an addiction to oxycodone, profound deafness, and finally cancer, which claimed his life at far too young an age.
Imagine Limbaugh and Pinch Minor were marooned together Golding-style on a remote deserted island. Limbaugh the conservative would immediately turn his hand to securing the necessities of life. Meanwhile, Pinch would sit idly on the beach, confident in his natural right to the lion's share of whatever Limbaugh's industry might acquire.
Well. I don't think I heard more than a few minutes of Rush in that entire time. I do know that he was kryptonite to a lot of people--the kind of people who just have to let you know how much they hate and despise some third party that neither of you knows, or knows much about.
So RIP, guy.
Narr
I learned 99% of what I know about Rush right here
Rush called Ginsberg "Buzzi" for years. Not to worry though, Chuck's on the case. They are some people who need a timeout.
I started listening to Rush in the late 80's, and although I was already a conservative by that point, I found Rush to be educational as well as inspirational and funny. In later years, I thought of him as a voice for the millions of us who are mostly voice-less, at least in the MSM. Who will be our voice now?
Never forget Rush's description of his job: to deliver an audience.
He did it brilliantly. From a point of view, he tried to get his audience to see through the baloney. He was entertaining because he was provocative.
Most of the people that I know who disliked Rush never listened to him, even once. I understand that ("Why waste my time?"), but then lay off the criticism about that which you know nothing.
In a world where we are routinely spoon-fed pre-digested left-wing nonsense, Rush said, "Hey, wait a minute..."
RIP, Rush.
By the way, Megyn Kelly's podcast interviews are really interesting, and Glenn Greenwald's substack is worth a subscription.
This business of obsessing over some people rejoicing in someone's death is stupid. We are a country of 330 million people. Of course some people are going to be awful. But mostly looking at their awful tweets just gives us another excuse to believe that almost everyone who disagrees with us on politics is an awful person.
It just isn't true.
I listened during the Bush 41 years and part of Clinton. He was amazingly funny at that time. (And he was quite critical of Bush the elder, as I recall.) I would crack up laughing every time he played the "Born Free" segment, with Andy Williams singing and the sound of deer rifles dubbed over it. RIP.
The people over at the NYT writing must all be under 30.
I'm not a Rush person, but he was way popular in the 90's. He had his own tv show! The idea that Rush achieved his heights during Obama is silly unless you're too young to remember the 90's.
Rush has always been more of a Boomer thing.
I think my generation are more Tucker people.
Obviously a decent man?! Bush was an advocate of torture and a war criminal.
Something tells me Rotwang's Cabana Boy wouldn't tar Obama with that accusation, regardless of the fact of his extrajudicial murder of an American citizen, Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki.
It appears that Chuck is gone.
Sayanora, pal.
He seems like he is a paid troll, or else he has real psychological issues.
No they are just idiots.
"He seems like he is a paid troll, or else he has real psychological issues."
Embrace the power of 'and'.
Full Moon @ 1:48
As I recall a lot of the people that worked for him(snerdlys)are black. From what I understand he treated everyone very well. He would regularly loan out his jet for people with medical problems no cost to them.
He never forgot where he came from and who put him on top.
Why am I not shocked that the One and Only Chuck, honors graduate of the Acme Correspondence School of Locksmithery and Constitution Law, made a vicious and craven attack on the dead, graciously cut short by a vigilant Althouse?
Who remembers "Barack the Magic Negro lives in DC. The LA Times they called him that cuz he's not authentic like me" sung by Al Sharpton? Lol
I always loved Shanklin's parodies. "In a Yugo". Hilarious. Rush made his show funny. I don't know how many times he brought full-throated guffaws out of me. He was having fun and it was fun to feel like you were in on his jokes.
Really upsetting. No one can replace him.
Sad day. Requiescat in pace, tribune.
Mark Steyn says it best: https://www.steynonline.com/11078/the-indispensable-man
CBS radio reported that Rush was known for promoting “conservative ideology.”
A great textbook example of a contradiction in terms.
“I do not think it means what you think it means.”
JOB
Rush helped me escape my burlap cubicle to be with my car radio an hour each working day. Thank you Mr. Limbaugh.
To fly west, my friend, is a flight we all must take for a final check."
Godspeed Rush!
You are our treasure.
Althouse said...Then I chose to review and critique how the 2 most important American newspapers handled it
This is like the Pabst Blue Ribbon they won in 1893 at the Chicago Colombian Exposition. They then always claim to hold the blue ribbon. It's now a 128 year award.
These are NOT the two most important American Newspapers. No American Newspaper is important anymore. They are both a floundering piece of the past.
Rush loved his family, his country and his audience; I'm so glad he was honored by President Trump in front of the nation.
For those living in Chicago, Don Wade and Roma were other giants of talk radio during morning drive time. It was on Don and Roma that then Governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels uttered the immortal line, "Living next door to Illinois is like living next door to the Simpsons." I am sure that you folks in Wisconsin know exactly what he was talking about.
WLS in those days had Don and Roma, Rush, Michael Medved, and then Roe Conn (in his libertarian mode; now he's a soft-left squish on WGN). It was a great talk radio lineup.
Rush called Ginsberg "Buzzi" for years. Not to worry though, Chuck's on the case.
Perhaps we can have a 9/11 style commission and KKK man-hunt lawsuit to get to the bottom of it. Tax payer funded, of course.
Rush was instrumental in my becoming a conservative. More precisely, I had become a conservative without realizing it and Rush made me aware. Fancying myself a liberal from the age of eighteen when I voted for McGovern, by my thirties I had reached a point in my life when I could begin to indulge my lifelong love of guns and shooting. A terrible mass shooting in Northern California had set off the first wave of anti-"assault weapon" hysteria, and I had begun to look to the Second Amendment as a serious document that would protect my rights. Eventually my attention extended to the rest of the Constitution. It seemed to me that the framers meant what they said, had put tremendous thought into what they said, and that they didn't say what they didn't say.
So it was entirely appropriate along about 1989 that I was on my way to the range-- South Coast Gun Club at the end of Jeffrey Road in Orange County-- with my best friend Snider, radio tuned to 50,000 watt KFI, and this crazy sounding guy came on. He joked, he blustered, he said to my ears outrageous things, but soon I came to realize that I agreed with him, and he agreed with me. I didn't get to listen to him often, but whenever I found myself in a car between 9am and noon, it was me and Rush.
In recent years Rush left-- or was pushed out of-- the powerful KFI lineup. The stations in southern California that carried him were weak and tenuous, but now I was retired, and on frequent road trips around the western US, it was a ritual for the wife and me to find Rush's local station wherever we were. Rush was always the same, jovial, gracious, penetrating and unintimidated.
I will miss him a lot.
A truly consequential man that had a positive impact. RIP.
Amadeus 48 said...Roe Conn (in his libertarian mode; now he's a soft-left squish on WGN).
I lived in Chicagoland during those years before fleeing and returning to Wisconsin. Roe Conn was all over the OJ trial calling out his guilt in 1995. But he sold out to survive in Chicago's crazy liberal political culture. You can get reception on WGN in Milwaukee. Roe Conn is to Chicago what Charlie Sykes is to Milwaukee.
Don Wade was an ass kicker.
He seems like he is a paid troll...
Unlikely. Who would pay such a witless fool? No one, except perhaps a cunningly subversive person of the right. Besides, Chuck doesn't fit the profile, or else he's content with a pennies-per-hour income. Paid trolls (they are actually quite rare) are paid by the word. When they perform their trolley they do so in volume. The Commenter Formerly Known as Ritmo fits the profile exactly. Thankfully it appears TCFKR has been banished from these shores.
Every time I drive past Cape Girardeau on my way to St. Louis, I think of Rush. I also think that somewhere there is a confused person who thinks that Republicans named the Federal Courthouse there after him - and not his grandfather.
I am pointing out that Limbaugh showed the late Justice no more respect in her passing than he did during her life.
To what end, witless fool? To put yourself beneath the morals of a dead man you loudly despise?
I came to listen to Limbaugh very late in both our lives. I couldn't listen as much as I'd have liked to because he was on in the middle of the work day in the DC area. When I did listen to him, however, what I was always impressed by was how much better he was as a radio personality than anybody else, Left or Right. It just seemed effortless for him, which I'm sure it wasn't.
To say "he can't be replaced" is probably absolutely true. He built talk radio in the late quarter of the 20th C on in a way no one else could or did.
Chuck U.
Again - Rush was a talk show host. He injected humor. Is that illegal?
Rush's humor was fairly soft and fuzzy compared to the absolute vile mean spirited garbage you get from the "women" on "The View" and other mean-spirited places on late night Democrat party TV.
Always a bummer when someone younger than me dies. Memento mori....
Someone up-thread mentioned that this was the only celebrity death he has ever cared about. Prior to this, the only celebrity deaths that ever effected me was when Bowie or Prince died, and I listened to Rush far more than I ever did to either of them. They were such fixtures of the cultural landscape, that even if you weren't an avid fan, it was hard to imagine the cultural landscape without them. Losing Rush is like waking up one day and noticing that the mountain off in the distance that you've stared your entire life is just gone.
It hit me kinda hard. Welled up. I was surprised.
I used to listen to much more talk radio. But I have listened to a lot of talk radio, probably in the thousands of hours. Rush Limbaugh was the best I've heard at the craft of Radio. He was just so engaging and skilled at radio. I loved his crinkling the paper near the microphone so the listener could visualize the paper in his hand as he was about to read something he wanted the listener to pay attention to. I think he got this particular bit from Larry Lujack who was a host on Chicago's WLS before it switched from music to talk radio. You won't appreciate how good Rush was at Radio, until you've listened to a lot of talk radio and more importantly a lot of not so good talk radio. Too often people mistook what Rush did as just political ranting, but I think the left's attempt to counteract conservative talk radio with Air America showed how wrong that assumption was. Despite what many may feel, Rush was really a kind and happy person. This shows when you compare to him to other conservative radio hosts who are not quite as successful like, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, or even Mark Levin (who I admit I have a fondness for his curmudgeonly demeanor). Rush always seemed like a kind and caring person, who truly appreciated his audience and loved his country and saw it as the best chance for liberty for humanity. I will miss Rush, but I am happy that I got to listen to him.
A giant of a man.
@Shuck. Your classless comments would lead to me believe you would be better served by keeping silent for awhile. Just a suggestion.
"I know that this is wrong; I heard Limbaugh doing it in the week after Ginsburg died. And I am going to prove you wrong when I can find a link to the correct Limbaugh transcript."
What difference, at this point, does it make?
For those of you in Rio Linda...
My dad's happy to be getting Rush Limbaugh again. Love and miss you, Dad!
Banned, friendless, boozy, pederast aligned subject of repeated deletion by admin C__! wants desperately to set the record straight.
I was on my way to the hospital to give blood at the top of the hour and heard the bumper music followed by the voice of his wife, which gave me a start. An immediate sense of dread came over me as I listened to her apologize for not being what was expected and then break the news. It was as if God put me in the car to hear that when it happened.
Amadeus 48:
Remember when Roma lost all that weight and turned into a real honest-to-goodness hottie? Wow.
Ignore the trolls. They are not worth our precious time.
For those of you in Rio Linda...
Sadly for what remains of the middle class in the formerly Golden State, Rush might as well have said, "...for those of you in California."
So long, Rush. Thanks for everything.
I started listening to Rush in the late 80s, while an outside salesman driving around Metro Detroit. This was back in the days of leaving the house with 2 rolls of quarters so that I could make calls on pay phones from the road. Rush kept me company then, and stayed with me throughout the rest of my life's paths, covering multiple cities and regions around the country. And up until covid stopped my business travel, before every business trip, I would still check the station(s) in the cities I was going to that carried the Rush Limbaugh Show. From San Francisco to Miami, Boston to San Diego. He was my road buddy for the bulk of my working life.
I will miss him greatly. I think a lot of people did not get him, and his genius. Mostly people on the left. The left has no sense of humor. Rush had a great sense of humor and coupled with an unflappable optimism on the greatness of this country, and an otherworldly gut for politics and how to properly read it, he was a one-of-a-kind. The left, and most of the media did not get him, and spent years denigrating him. But, he didn't care a whit about what they thought or said. He knew- we all knew- they didn't listen to him. I mean, actually listen, not just take specific cuts out of context. If they had actually listened, they might have learned something. There may be other popular radio hosts, but they will all be a distant second to Rush. He was kind & brilliant, in a way that is understated and underestimated, with a freakish radio talent. He singlehandedly brought AM radio back to life from the dead, where it will soon return. He gave a voice, clear, concise, and unapologetic view about what conservatism is, and how important liberty is to all of us.
And he wished the very best for everyone. That was his wish, and he often stated it.
RIP, Rush. A once in a lifetime persona.
We still have Alec Baldwin's new podcast...
Oh the troll is gone. Drat! Now I can't enable him. 3 posts by the troll, and 15 responses, calling attention to them. Stupidity - or on the same team?
Back to Rush. Rush's cigar habit was worse than I thought. He not only loved BIG cigars, he loved the smell of cigar smoke and getting in a room with others all smoking cigars. IOW, he loved second-hand smoke. Also, the guy started cigarette smoking in HS and didn't quit till he was in his early 30s. Basically, except for a about 6-10 years, a life time smoker.
I remember listening to Rush on WWL in New Orleans in the very early 90s, around Gulf War 1. Listened a few times during Clinton's years. Hi-larious then. Some of those song parodies still pop up unexpectedly.
Haven't listened to talk radio in a long, long time-maybe once since Obama was sworn in. Still, Rush is a legend.
Compare and contrast him to various "LifeLong Republicans" in this thread, whose credo seems to be "Spew bile and hatred at Republicans and praise at the Democrats, at all times and in all things." It's no surprise that Rush gained an audience of millions, while the LLR's are known for praising and hanging out with John Weaver.
At the opening of Rush's show today, his wife gave us the bad news. It was followed by Ray Charles singing America the Beautiful. "God shed his grace on thee ...."
I like that someone called Rush a "Genius" because that's what he was. To be able to talk - and draw a massive audience - 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, 40 weeks a year without guests is absolutely astounding. Rush had a great sense of humor, and that's the key I think.
And its not just that he was entertaining, he rarely gave his enemies ammo. They desperately tried, and failed, to get him fired or de-platformed by smearing him and/or twisting his words. But they could never succeed. Imagine talking for 600 hours a year in public and rarely, if ever, giving your enemies the opening.
One of a kind. There are no substitutes. RIP.
I still remember where I was in my car when I came across Rush by accident one afternoon around 1989 or 90. As I listened I felt like there was finally someone on the radio who didn’t just speak to me but spoke for me. It was one of those wonderful moments when I realized I was not the crazy one.
Requiescat in pace.
Rush was also great with callers and was able to tweeze interesting comments out of them while still being kind and good-natured. He was NOT i repeat NOT like Larry King:
"Hello Pittsburg - Get to the Point!"
King and Limbaugh had a rivalry for the No 1 spot in the early 90's but Larry Faded fast, and went off to CNN.
Probably his most unique venture was the Rush Revere book series.
They played a great call in from a girl who told him about about a multi-week family trip tracking down locations etc highlighted in the books.
He was so happy to hear it...she was so excited about all of it.
Very moving.
I picked up my Grandson from preschool today. I usually don’t attempt to listen to talk radio while he’s in the car, but for some reason today I had it on. My Grandson asked why I was crying and he was going to hide. I had to get it together fast. I’ve been sad over celebs dying, never have I cried, and if it weren’t for my Grandson, I’m pretty sure I would have sobbed.
"Then I chose to review and critique how the 2 most important American newspapers handled it"
Not one of the two, but probably just as important. According to a WSJ headline Rush Limbaugh was nothing more than a, "Right Wing Radio Commentator"
The paper has become pretty useless. The news section has become more bias and the opinion section, with it's TDS, hasn't been worth reading for a while now.
Well its where glen simpson of fusion and evan perez of cnn came from.
caplight45 said...I still remember where I was in my car when I came across Rush by accident one afternoon around 1989 or 90.
My wife and I were on a road trip in 1989 when we first heard Rush who was (I think) broadcast out of Sacramento. He was unknown in Chicago until the next year. I was a newly minted "liberal in recovery" as Rush would say.
He truly was a breath of fresh air. His endearing schtick was going toe-to-toe with self-righteous liberal callers who were (of course) smarter than everyone else.
Hmmm. That seems to be reminding me of something.
Wow - Chuck got zapped three times by Meade. I hope that "woman-hater" Chuck has not been using words like "feminazi!"
In his 1992 book "The Way Things Ought to Be," Rush Limbaugh wrote:
I prefer to call the most obnoxious feminists what they really are: feminazis. Tom Hazlett, a good friend who is an esteemed and highly regarded professor of economics at the University of California at Davis, coined the term to describe any female who is intolerant of any point of view that challenges militant feminism.
I often use it to describe women who are obsessed with perpetuating a modern-day holocaust: abortion.
Evolution. Nature's Choice. #HerChoice RIP
The news of Rush's passing is sad indeed.
I worked in AM radio in 1990 (remember those "full service" stations that played inoffensive music with happy DJs, and news on the hour?) when my station jettisoned its midday show and put in Rush.
What a revelation his show was! It was so entertaining and fun! I was a young skull full of mush, as Rush would say. What he said on his show largely resonated with me, and helped shape my political views then. I leaned conservative anyway; he pushed me the rest of the way over.
As the years passed, I found his show to be less fun. That "comic bombast" became just "bombast." I found myself pushed away, and I eventually quit listening.
I don't know whether I've moved to the center, or the Republican Party has moved farther to the right, or both. But what I do know is that a couple years ago I sampled Rush's show again for a while -- and found myself in a foreign land, not recognizing the host anymore, and hardly identifying with the things he was saying. I guess I've moved on.
But I will always respect Rush as a broadcaster. He really did save AM radio, for a while. Thanks for the memories, Rush, and may you rest well.
What is it is it about these right wing no nothing icons- they’ve all been married three times and they've all came up with weird medical issues (bone spurs,anal warts)in order to dodge the draft.
Mutaman a Chuck alt? or just a vile liberal? Let's discuss.
I was on Twitchy reading some comments of joy over Rush's death. The pics of the commenters appeared to be very young. I suspect they have not listened to 10 minutes of his show.
Back in the 90's, my mother called Rush a racist. I asked if she ever listened to him. Oh no, never, she said. I told her to give him a shot. She did and the truth revealed itself.
I prefer to call the most obnoxious feminists what they really are: feminazis.
So, calling people 'Nazis' is a bad thing?
Good to know.
Jessica Valenti
@JessicaValenti
Rush Limbaugh had a segment called "AIDS update" set to music where he mocked dying gay people so I don't really want hear about 'speaking ill of the dead' today
Is this true?
Thanks gadfly, that's a good reminder about how spot on, Rush is with his analysis.
gadfly said...
In his 1992 book "The Way Things Ought to Be," Rush Limbaugh wrote:
I prefer to call the most obnoxious feminists what they really are: feminazis. Tom Hazlett, a good friend who is an esteemed and highly regarded professor of economics at the University of California at Davis, coined the term to describe any female who is intolerant of any point of view that challenges militant feminism.
I often use it to describe women who are obsessed with perpetuating a modern-day holocaust: abortion.
2/17/21, 3:45 PM
Well, knock me over with a feather. Even gadfly appreciated Rush.
I didn't listen much- for a time in the 90s when he was the only thing I could get on the radio in central Washington, and watched his tv show on a Portland station midday. I appreciate how he could sustain an audience while left wing radio repeatedly tried and failed.
I didn't appreciate his style of rhetoric until recently. I foolishly clung to idea good polices would eventually win out, much in the same way Ann foolishly clings to the idea NYT and WAPo are still news oriented...
Sad to see him go. I don't want Trump to try and take his place...
Overcame drug addiction. Lost hes hearing. Terminal cancer.
Still showed up for work.
Did Rush Limbaugh’s ‘AIDS Update’ Mock the Deaths of Gay People? Limbaugh would later say he regretted the segment as it made fun of people who were dying excruciating deaths.
Glad to hear he regretted it.
My wife and I were taking our dog over to the vet this morning, listening to Armstrong and Getty as I drove when - seeing the time - I’d put Rush’s show on like we normally did at that time of each weekday. Hearing an unfamiliar female voice opening the show, I thought WTF... and then realized what this meant, which was soon confirmed. What a difficult task for a new widow to undertake. Over the last several months, I had marveled how brave and inspiring Rush had been in carrying on given what he was facing.
I’d been a listener since 1991, so the news - even though long expected - was a gut punch. Like losing a friend. He always seemed a decent and honorable sort and I will miss him.
Watched Medal of Freedom presentation on youtube. Pelosi, sitting behind Trump, intentionally looking away the entire time.
White trash with power and money.
Blogger alanc709 said...
Mutaman a Chuck alt? or just a vile liberal? Let's discuss.
Let’s not and say we did...
"Inga said...
Did Rush Limbaugh’s ‘AIDS Update’ Mock the Deaths of Gay People? Limbaugh would later say he regretted the segment as it made fun of people who were dying excruciating deaths.
Glad to hear he regretted it."
"This is true. While we have not uncovered any audio of these segments, we did find a few contemporaneous news articles and comments from Limbaugh confirming the contents of these controversial segments."
So he did this for two weeks, but there is no recording of it? And just afterthought print reports.
I smell bullshit.
"Trumpism is not going to die as long as the problems vexing working class Americans remain. I know that people wish the rank and file party would just quietly go on the dole and let their jobs be shipped to China, like Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell want, but that’s just a recipe for more Trumpism."
And yet Trump didn't really do much to help working class Americans. As with his predecessors, the primary beneficiaries of his policies were the wealthy.
As for "jobs...shipped to China," it's not so much that Biden or McConnell want those jobs to go overseas, but that the "free market" (sic) capitalist corporate entities to whom Biden and McConnell and a majority in Congress are loyal servants want those jobs to go to China, (and anywhere else with low wages) so they can plump up their profits by reducing the wages they pay to the workers on whom they rely to reap their riches.
Meade is quite the expert at Whac-A-Chuck.
Interesting how many here and elsewhere remember the first time hearing Rush.
Made quite an impression.
Man... reading through the comments where so many write of the love and respect they have for the man brings a tear to my eye.
Way to do it, people!!!
So he did this for two weeks, but there is no recording of it? And just afterthought print reports.
I smell bullshit.
And Elton John was a friend. A friend who performed at Rush’s wedding. That is incontrovertible.
Rush and Camille Paglia had a great time one night at a NYC soiree smoking cigars and making fun of the self-important.
I will miss him and his show, having been a listener off and on since 1991. I got my Dad listening and he "inflicted" his grandkids three hours a day during their cross country camping trips.
My Dad watched his God daughter's dog so often that the dog knew it was time for a walk as soon as Rush went off the air.
Inga said...
“She does Rush Limbaugh's death with the NYT. Good grief, Ann.”
Man, that is dark...
Even I listened to Rush occasionally, it made me realize why I instinctually rejected his style of rightism. But hey, sail on Rush...
2/17/21, 12:38 PM
Lol. Sure thing. Then you know he was once married to a black woman.
If Mutaman (4:07pm) had Googled 'bone spurs', as I did when I first heard of them, he would know that they are a real medical condition that shows up quite clearly on x-rays, and therefore a very poor choice for someone trying to avoid being drafted by lying about his health. Bone spurs are caused by excessive walking, and we know that Trump's father took him around to job sites to learn the business starting when he was quite young.
If I wanted to fake a medical condition to avoid the draft, I would pick something impossible to disprove like asthma. With a little practice, I think I could come up with appropriately scary wheezing. (I've actually had a mild case for the last 20 years.) As it happens, high-school multi-sport athlete and serial liar Joe Biden got five draft deferments (same number as Trump) by claiming asthma. Oddly, no one seems to care whether he was a draft dodger.
Rush's lefty detractors know they can lie about him, because they know their audience never listens to him, and will instinctively believe every word.
kind of like out resident dullard.
It was September 1989. It was a replay show that was celebrating the one year anniversary of Michael Dukakis riding in the tank looking like Charlie Brown. Rush joked that was the turning point in the '88 presidential election. I remember thinking with a name like Rush, he must be of Hindu extraction.
Growing the pie is so much more than redistributing pie if one wants to help the middle class (and the poor too) for more than a day ... but the Robert Cooks of the world are ignorant of reality. I will miss hearing Rush’s views on the latest news while walking the half hour to pick up my daughter from school. Very sad day.
The (ancient) Greeks had a phrase, "τὸν τεθνηκóτα μὴ κακολογεῖν" "Do not speak ill of the dead".
"And Elton John was a friend. A friend who performed at Rush’s wedding. That is incontrovertible."
I don't believe that is true. I think Rush's wife love EJ, and wanted him to sing at their wedding. Rush reached out and EJ agreed to. They may have become friends or friendly after the fact.
Inga said and then asked: "Jessica Valenti
@JessicaValenti
Rush Limbaugh had a segment called "AIDS update" set to music where he mocked dying gay people so I don't really want hear about 'speaking ill of the dead' today
Is this true?"
Let me make sure I understand this. You post a negative comment and then ask if it's true?
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jun/08/elton-john-rush-limbaugh
I wasn't a regular listener to Rush's radio show, because I only listen to radio when I'm driving, and I find music less distracting than talk. But I did listen to his show from time to time, and I thought he was a great entertainer. I'd already heard the criticism that he was a right-wing extremist, etc., but what he really was, was funny. Yes, I'm also what the folks in power today would call a right-wing extremist, but I'm not funny or clever. Rush was funny and clever. I think that's what made him dangerous. Not his ideas (which many people share), but the entertaining way he expressed them. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
Rush Limbaugh's talent and influence as a broadcaster is undeniable. He really only has one contemporary in that sense, and it's Howard Stern. They both gave voice to white middle-class rage against the establishment. They were a response to the twin phenomena of urban decay and political correctness. Strands of misogyny and homophobia run through both. There's something about strong women and sensitive men that seem to make them very uncomfortable. That, of course, didn't make their politics wrong. I'm reminded of a remark once made about Gordon Ramsay, "Oh, I think he's an unbelievably talented chef; he's just a really third-rate human being."
I'm very sorry about this. My parents listened to him every single day. Every day. I hope he felt their appreciation.
"gave voice to white middle-class rage"
Some people see everything through the racial lens. Sickening. Maybe you should send your thoughts to Rush's capable assistant and call screener Bo Snerdly.
"Strands of misogyny and homophobia"
See Elton John comment up thread.
“The (ancient) Greeks had a phrase, "τὸν τεθνηκóτα μὴ κακολογεῖν" "Do not speak ill of the dead".”
Alas, if only that had been followed after McCain or/and Ruth Bader Ginsberg died.
J. Farmer, I don't know if you actually listened to Limbaugh, or Stern, for that matter. Limbaugh was hardly afraid of strong women. He admired them and was a vocal fan of some of them- Conservatives all. Margaret Thatcher, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Condi Rice, to name three. He just didn't regard women like Molly Yard as strong. Loudmouthed and wrong, maybe. But not someone to be admired. To put him and Howard Stern in the same category, as if they had the same audience is preposterous.
Stern had/has his own audience. His schtick is what it is. I never got it. Never liked it. I tried. I've been told for years that he was one of the greats. I'll admire his ability from afar. Limbaugh was a completely different person. As for the homophobia- I wonder why you think that? It sounds almost reflexively a leftist comment. I suspect Limbaugh was just fine with everybody and anybody- if they made sense. If they were not radical leftists. His standard was conservatism, not race, gender, or sexual preference.
But even the WSJ editorial board refuses to apply supply and demand to labor.
And of course the D's want unfettered immigration to keep everyone at the beggar stage.
They want unfettered immigration to replace recalcitrant voters with reliable D votes. It's really as simple as that. California is the model and one party rule the prize. One of Biden's first EOs to stop border enforcement.
Does anyone doubt that we would have a strong immigration law enforcement if Hispanic voters leaned Republican?
Yea, the homophobia, misogyny thing? Not so much.
What Rush railed against was people that attempted to shut down debate by just shutting down the other side by charges of 'ism'. Those self appointed carriers of whatever message must be honored because "I'm gay, shutup". Those turtles on fenceposts. They have a lofty position, but they didn't get there under their own power.
@iowan2:
Those self appointed carriers of whatever message must be honored because "I'm gay, shutup". Those turtles on fenceposts. They have a lofty position, but they didn't get there under their own power.
And Rush's response, like so much of the deplorables today, was to simply do the same thing by making "coservative" or "Repbulican" or "the right" just another victimized identity category. Those self appointed carriers of whatever message must be honored because "I'm conservative, shutup."
The tell is that Rush had no capacity to understand the arguments against his position except in terms of parody and caricature. Because of his egotism and self-centeredness, he could only understand the other side as either corrupt or stupid. This is a flaw he shared with his opponents.
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