Most people who hate Rush do not listen to him; they hear about him from liberal outlets who tell them what to think about him. Fifty years from now, he will be looked upon as the Will Rogers of this age. All the bitching and moaning about him will be long forgotten.

He was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on January 12, 1951. Most of the men in his family had been lawyers for several generations. His grandfather, who appeared on the radio show a couple of times, was somewhat famous and is the author of this. He lived to be over 100 years old, and was as sharp as a tack up until the day he died. Those of us who enjoy Rush wish him the same luck.

Rush disappointed his family by dropping out of college and working as a DJ. He worked in Pittsburgh at KQV, and then moved to Kansas City. He got fed up with the DJ life there and took a job in the Sales Dept. for the Kansas City Royals. He became close friends with George Brett, and they still spend time together whenever possible.

In 1983, the radio fever hit him again and he began doing what he does best: Political commentary. His first such gig was with KMBZ in Kansas City. He then moved to Sacramento, California, and went to work for KFBF, where he tripled the programs ratings in just four years. He still refers to Sacramento as his "adopted home town," and seems to have nothing but fond memories of that area.

His big break came in August of 1988. He got a nationally-syndicated network talk show up and going in New York City, beginning with 58 stations. Today, he is heard on almost 700 radio stations around the country. He single-handedly pulled AM radio out of the shadows and back to some semblance of the popularity it once had. It's not too far-fetched to believe that, without Rush, there would no longer be an AM dial on most radios.

His monthly newsletter, "The Limbaugh Letter," has over 400,000 subscribers. He's written two books which have sold around 9 million copies. The first was "The Way Things Ought to Be." The second was "See, I Told You So."

He's happily married to a lady, Marta Fitzgerald Limbaugh, whom he met online after she sent him an e-mail asking for advice on how to handle a left-wing college professor (that was redundant, wasn't it?). They were married by Clarence Thomas at his Virginia home.

Rush has changed the entire political landscape in America, whether you like it or not. As he says himself, he doesn't feel as if he changes many minds; but he does validate a lot of what people already had in their hearts and just didn't hear anyone in the media saying. I first heard him around 1989, and he has entertained me for more hours since then than I could count. Folks who drive around in cars for a living are a large part of his audience. He's on from noon to 3 PM in the Eastern time zone, and you can almost bet that the salesman or the truck driver sitting next to you in traffic during those hours is listening to the "EIB" (Excellence in Broadcasting Network).

I know a lot of you liberals hate him. There has been more venom spewed toward and lies told about this man by the liberals in the media than any other one figure since Joseph McCarthy. He's hated because he's so effective. You liberals should listen to him for a week and see if he doesn't know more about you and your politics than you feel comfortable about. The truth will start to itch you like a bad rash, and you'll either have to admit that he's right or turn it off. He doesn't hate you, but he knows that you must be defeated at the ballot box.

His name gets people on both sides up in arms, but this doesn't really need to be the case. He isn't nearly as dumb or as fat or as intolerant as many who hate him claim. On the other hand, he is very egotistical, and he's nowhere near as intelligent as some other conservative pundits such as Bill Kristol, George Will, and Tony Snow. Too often, his followers blindly agree with whatever he says. Then again, if conservative politicians listened to his advice more often, they'd win more elections, because he understands the public a lot more than they do. I listen to his show when I'm at work in the summer; I agree with what he's saying 50-60% of the time. I actually like it when we disagree; i don't mind hearing viewpoints that differ from my own as long as they are intelligently presented, and Rush usually does that.

Sometimes he tries to make a big story out of something that is really nothing, but the main purpose of the show is entertainment, and his show is quite entertaining if you care about politics at all. He does deserve credit for revolutionizing politics on the radio. My advice to conservatives is not to blindly believe whatever Rush says. My advice to liberals is to stop treating him like the Anti-Christ; he's really not that bad.

Howard in the morning and Rush in the afternoon makes for a good day of radio listening.

I have a theory that the reason Rush hasn't written a book in over 5 years is that his audience has gradually lost the intelligence to be able to read.

Perhaps that's a bit harsh though.

In reality, I have the joy of listening to him when I visit my father who hangs on his every word. I find Rush to be a bit naive and ultimately seems to think that everything bad is the fault of liberals, who for him, are people who lack common sense. I say common sense is not owned by any political party or ideology, and that there are as many clueless conservatives as clueless liberals.

Perhaps the most interesting thing is when I listen to him I feel he is oversimplfying the issues of society and our culture, and all I can think about is all the stuff he's not considering and all the people who aren't like him and don't believe what he believes and why what he is saying doesn't make sense if you consider all of that--and maybe that's why he's a conservative and I'm, er, not.

October 8th, 2001: Limbaugh is reporting that for some reason he's gone almost completely deaf. I feel bad for him, and certainly joking about it is unfair--it's perfectly fine to go after his statements and his public persona, but this is probably something that just isn't funny.

dannye:
[Rush Limbaugh ] will be looked upon as the Will Rogers of this age...
Will Rogers:
I never met a man I didn't like.

I would rather be the man who bought the Brooklyn Bridge than the man who sold it.

I do not belong to an organized political party. I'm a Democrat.

It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so.

Rush Limbaugh:
Everyone knows the Clintons have a cat. Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is a White House dog? -- camera cuts to Rush Limbaugh holding up a picture of the then 13-year old Chelsea Clinton

Responding to a black caller: Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.

Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?

When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult ; it's an invitation.

There is hyperbole, and then there is HYPERBOLE! When I think of Will Rogers, I conjure a picture of a cowboy standing on stage performing rope-tricks with a mild patter of homespun humor. Will Rogers was never vindictive or mean. He was affable, laughable, and he poked fun at everybody - including himself. Will especially liked to make fun of politicians, and though he was a Democrat, his jibes were rarely aimed at individuals, but made fun of all politicians.

The essence of Will Rogers was humility, sincerity, and a genuine love and respect for his fellow man. Rush Limbaugh posesses none of these qualities. Indeed, he is their antithesis. He is the epitome of self-promotion, arrogance, and disdain. The truth is something Rush quickly disregards or ignores if it doesn't fit his agenda.

Rush is a pill-popping hypocrite, the guy selling the Brooklyn Bridge. There are thousands of people Rush vehemently dislikes - whether he's met them or not. Rush hasn't the personal security to make fun of himself, he's always bragging. Whatever Rush says is the truth, the veritable word of God, more infallible than the Pope.

Indeed, the two men are almost polar opposites - and there is one piece of wisdom that Will Rogers used to give that Rush should definitely learn to heed:

Never miss a good chance to shut up.
Dittos, Will.

Rush Limbaugh passed away from advanced lung cancer on February 17th, 2021. His death was not too much of a surprise, as he had had lung cancer in some form for several years.

For all that he had been an important entertainer and political speaker for decades, a week after Limbaugh's death, his passing has sunk from public view. Personally, I don't feel the need to gloat, but it is also hard for me to feel much sympathy for someone who had built his life on mocking others, no matter how much plausible deniability he surrounded it with. Limbaugh's importance had also diminished: he built his career and image on being able to shock and offend others, and in that game, he was easily surpassed by others willing to up the ante.

Maybe there was a person behind the persona, maybe there is someone to feel sorry for, but Limbaugh turned himself into a media caricature, and by the time he died, the media caricature wasn't even interesting anymore.

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