My father introduced me to Rush Limbaugh in 1993 before I was interested in politics. I remember supporting Bill Clinton solely because he played saxophone on Arsenio Hall’s show in 1992. After listening to Rush, it did not take long before I became a full-fledged conservative. It is amazing how quickly your politics change once you begin to learn a little something about the world.
The appeal of Rush to me was several-fold. First, I found him funny and entertaining. His satirical skits and generally humorous take on things appealed to me right away. Second, he played clips. Unlike the Left, which cries ‘racism,’ ‘sexism,’ ‘homophobia,’ etc. without any examples or specifics, Rush backed up everything he said with direct quotes from those who said it with accompanying audio clips. It is kind of hard to argue with video or audio clips. Plus, he would play a relatively extended clip. In other words, he never took a 10 second sound bite out of context and then spun it. No, he let you hear the entire exchange so as to be unmistakable.
He also had his own TV show in the early nineties where he could accentuate his points with video. The one that sticks out to me the most to this day is the one where he shows Bill Clinton instantaneously faking tears for the cameras at Ron Brown’s memorial service, which you can watch here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdEhmVBH4IA
Eventually, I would not only purchase the two books Rush wrote, and ‘An Army of One’ by Zev Chafets about Rush, but I also became a member of the Rush 24/7 website where I could download all of his shows without commercial interruption. I also have his CPAC speech from 2009 on DVD; it was incredible. In fact, I used many clips from his show on my ‘RetailPharmacyPodcast.’ Once, while walking around a mall in St. Louis, I stumbled upon some Rush Limbaugh ties designed by one of his ex-wives, which I still have to this day. I even sent Rush a copy of my book ‘A Prescription for Retail Pharmacy’ hoping he would mention it on his show.
I could say so much more about the man that this article would go on way too long, so I’ll keep it as pithy as possible. James Golden (aka. Bo Sneardly) referred to Rush as a second-generation founding father – I could not agree more. I often wonder why our beloved country continues to lean further and further left despite Rush having been such an outspoken conservative voice for so long, but then I wonder how much worse it would be right now if he had not been there. The only people who do not like him are the ones who never listened to him for themselves. Rather, they were told what to think about him by sources they trusted (for whatever reason) that were purposefully taking him completely out of context and flat out lying about him.
Rush was on the air for more than a few decades speaking three hours per day, and only had a couple of relatively minor snafus. Ask yourself this, if you spoke three hours a day practically every day for over 30 years how many times would you have stepped in it?
Rush was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in February 2020 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at Trump’s State of the Union address the same month. I myself had stopped listening to his show way before that time. It was around 2014 that I had stopped listening; I could no longer afford the website membership fees, and also could not afford to be glued to the radio for three hours every day. However, I never lost respect for the man and that is why I visited his gravesite just a few days ago as I write this. Rush is buried at the Bellefontaine cemetery just 20 miles from my house.
It was hard to be there. I had listened to much of what this man had to say FOR DECADES. I still punch up some of his final broadcasts and then have to come to terms with the fact that this voice I have known so well for so long is no more. I am writing this article in tribute to him, and I will say here exactly what I said to him just a few days ago. “Thank you Rush. You changed my life. I wouldn’t be who I am today had it not been for you.”
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