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August 2, 2013

Happy 25th to Rush Limbaugh, Greatest Conservative Since Reagan

rush-limbaugh-golf-ap.jpg

"Rush Limbaugh is reviled less for what he says than because

he shot the first shot the first shot of the New Media war over twenty years ago when he turned AM into the meeting place for America’s massive conservative underground. Because of Rush there are countless imitators influencing large amounts of people across America in a billion-dollar talk-radio industry that didn’t exist a generation ago,” Andrew Breitbart -- The Conversation

Posted by gerardvanderleun at August 2, 2013 9:41 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

hmmmm, Reagan had some great quotes, and gave some wonderful speeches on limited government but when it came down to acting on limited government the ex-union leader was all big government, both as a governor and as President.
I like Rush's show so congrats on 25 years but Rush gets so much wrong. He knows his low information listeners wont question him, and wont verify what he says but just repeat whatever he says.

Always verify always question what you have been told.

Posted by: Potsie at August 2, 2013 10:45 AM

About 1992 I saw a TV commercial claiming this odd named man, Rush Limbaugh, was the most dangerous man on the planet, with no explanation why. It said he was on AM radio so I went looking for him, found him and started listening. Suddenly I realized there wasn't something wrong with me, there was someone else out there that thought similarly to me! I bought both of his books and read them cover to cover instantly and continued to listen to him almost everyday. By about 1998, with access to the web, I had outgrown his pro-republican, down-democrat schtick and moved on. I listened to him the other day for the first time in 10 years and it's still the same old stuff.
While it's entertaining to hear someone grind LIEberals in the gravel, I prefer to hear republicans taken to task too. But In reality I wish everybody would grow the hell up then the Limbaugh types would be unnecessary.

Posted by: ghostsniper at August 2, 2013 10:52 AM

If it wasn't for the Rush type radio shows we would not be questioning the the Walter Cronkite type TV shows.

Posted by: Kelvin at August 2, 2013 12:06 PM

You might consider Mark Levin's show. It's got far more content, less about golf, NFL, recent dinners, etc. He posts his show as a podcast for free. The podcast is commercial-free, meaning you can hear the 3 hour show in 90 minutes.
marklevinshow.com

Mark has a new book due out soon with a plan for citizens and states to force big changes on the Federal govt. Mark was the ideological godfather to the Tea Party movement with his book Liberty & Tyranny. He's fully explained the ideas and destruction behind The Left in his book Ameritopia. His book on how to take back the govt using The Constitutional process is called The Liberty Amendments.

Mark was a litigant who's lawsuit brought to light the IRS scandal. His Landmark Legal Foundation is actualyl involved in suing the Feds to get information and resist its damage.

Posted by: Scott M at August 2, 2013 1:43 PM

A goodly portion of Limbaugh's past and present audience has moved beyond him, which is a credit to Limbaugh.

Posted by: james wilson at August 2, 2013 2:06 PM

I had been prejudiced against listening to Rush. I was a product of the times.
After starting night shift work at the hospital, I was home days and started listening to talk radio.
I realized I wasn't the independent thinker I thought I was. I am now a Rush, Levin and Praeger fan.
One should always go to the source and try to resist media and social group manipulation.
It is embarrassing to think back on my uninformed years.

Posted by: Grace at August 2, 2013 2:58 PM

3 callers to Rush before Obama's Immaculation claimed to be grateful for Rush teaching them about politics and then asked "What about this Obama guy? Do your think he can heal the nation or fix our problems?"

Routinely callers ask Rush some variation on "how do I convince my neighbor, parent, co-worker that raising taxes is wrong?"

Listening to Rush was when I first noticed the pattern of useless under-cover conservatives. "I'm a 12 year school teacher and I just want you to know all teachers aren't bad." They then recount evil things being done by the union and then invariably explain why they just keep their head down and wait until a November election.

If you are listening to Rush as background noise, you are the problem. If you can't explain why tax increases hurt workers, you are the problem. If you are hiding from your family, neighbors, co-workers, you are the problem. We defer to politicians to fix things. Rush to do all of the explaining, and Fox to know things. Citizenship is a participatory exercise. Learn and do, not agree and hide. A lot on our side are demotivated by understanding. That is a suitable explanation for why our opponents are acting is sufficient to quench the desire for action. "We've got more energy than Saudi Arabia, but it's off-limits. Why? The environmentalists. Oh."

Posted by: Scott M at August 2, 2013 5:07 PM

Clarence Thomas.

Posted by: notquiteunBuckley at August 2, 2013 8:45 PM

As J. Stew is to the "clown mask on / clown mask off" school of infotainment Mr. Rush Hudson Limbaugh is the "I do this for money / I am leader of conservatism" for worse and better school.

Posted by: notquiteunBuckley at August 2, 2013 8:58 PM

In most every way I wish Rush visiting Bush 43 was like Reagan and Buckley.

Few things could be further from equated without greater distortion rendering absurdity than my wishes.

Posted by: notquiteunBuckley at August 2, 2013 9:34 PM

What the hell? Reading these comments trashing Rush I'm wondering if I accidentally stumble into DailyKos.

Postie, can you give an example of Rush "getting so much wrong"?

Posted by: Makism at August 3, 2013 5:59 AM


The man is a master. He single handily took a little known genre and made it his own. There may have been other before him, but for the most part they were obscure and little known.

Rush has a gift of taking something that most people would hear or see and dissecting it and showing the ultimate political goals of it....and he does it almost instantaneously.

Mark Levin, is nothing short of brilliant. His schtick is a little rough around the edges, but I really enjoy it and him. He is a must listen too.

Posted by: Geo at August 3, 2013 6:30 AM

Rush has done more for the American economy than any president we've had in twenty-five years.

Posted by: DHH at August 3, 2013 6:54 AM

Other than being less fun than the show was in the 90s and often too pro-Republican, Rush is great. The main problem he faces with an audience like this one is that he's one the air once a day so he's slow. We get the news practically as it happens and can check dozens of reliable sources for analysis and opinion.

Before the internet was so big and established, Rush was the go-to guy for info and news nobody else would cover. He was so successful that he made himself less absolutely necessary. But I doubt that would upset him terribly; he's already got more money than he'll spend in his lifetime.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at August 3, 2013 8:09 AM

The problem with Mark Levin is that he is humorless, he's painfully shrill, he's always angry. I can only take so much rage. Rush never loses his optimism, never loses his sense of humor. He has a voice that is manly and delightful to listen to for three hours. When he loses his temper, he calms himself down and doesn't get shrill. He treats people with courtesy, especially those who disagree with him. That's why people are willing to pay for the privilege to listen to him on demand.

Posted by: Jewel at August 3, 2013 11:44 AM

I used to listen to Rush all the time when he was bashing the Clintons. Great stuff. When he started carrying water for Bush that was it for me.

As Scott M noted, however, Rush introduced many people to a mildly edgy form of conservatism. Significant numbers of them have moved beyond it. Some have made it all the way to the Dark Enlightenment.

Without Rush many would not have taken the first step, so I give him credit for that.

Posted by: Lorne at August 3, 2013 4:06 PM

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