Last year I wrote my first column for AFNN. It’s been an honor to do so ever since. That first column was about the late, great Rush Limbaugh. Today is sadly the one-year anniversary of his passing. In that column I tried to lay out how much Rush meant to me and to conservatism. I’ve been reading the book, “Rush on the Radio” by James Golden, Rush’s sidekick and dear friend for 30 years, aka Bo Snerdley. I’ve been laughing reading the behind-the-scenes antics of Rush and his crew, the highly overrated staff, as he liked to call them. Rush’s sense of humor was unmatched.
One of the funniest stories is how George Prayias, Rush’s website guru, got his nickname, Koko, during Rush’s TV show.
“Rush thought this was hilarious that people thought a gorilla (Koko) could speak sign language. So the bit was Rush would deliver a segment, and someone would wear a gorilla suit and appear in the corner of the screen – translating into sign language for the other gorillas who were watching.”
Of course, George wore the gorilla suit and the rest is history. Rush was downright funny, and he was the only radio host, then and now, to combine comedy and information in the most entertaining fashion. There’ll never be another. I still miss you, Rush. Without further adieu, my first column.
First published by American Free News Network on April 22, 2021
I Miss Rush
It must have been 1991 when I first heard his voice booming on my AM car radio. Although a conservative myself, I could not believe what I was hearing. Someone else was saying the same things I was thinking most of my adult life, only he had the audacity to be saying them on the radio! And boy was he ever audacious. I was on lunch break dialing around the radio, between bites of my drive thru meal, trying to find some news on the Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court nomination hearings in the Senate. I had just heard on CBS News radio that Anita Hill’s lone witness had destroyed Thomas’ credibility. “Enough of that”, I mumbled to myself. Then, I stumbled onto Rush Limbaugh, thank God. His take was the 180o opposite of what I had just heard on CBS, the conventional wisdom. Rush’s analysis picked apart Hill’s witness like no one else could and put CBS “news” to shame. I was hooked.
For the past 30 years I have taken every opportunity to listen to Rush. His show was something I looked forward to each weekday. I was just a little miffed each time he took a vacation. How dare he keep me from listening to him? A little selfish, I know, but still I was always so willing to forgive him for abandoning me, when he returned to the airwaves. I am sure I’m not the only one who felt that way. He had millions of loyal listeners just like me. I guess it may sound corny, but I grew to think that Rush was a part of my life. I wanted to know what he thought about virtually all topics. He was so insightful. He was so fun to listen to. We thought the same way, but I loved to get his take on the topics of the day any way. He was becoming like a big brother to me, although I already had one. I wanted to learn as much as I could from him and to confirm that he was still thinking the same way I was.
There was nothing Rush’s critics (and they were legion) could say to convince me, or his other fans, that there was something wrong in what Rush was saying or how he was saying it. He wore their critiques as badges of honor. They never understood him, and I don’t think they even cared to. Even with half his brain tied behind his back, it just wasn’t fair. His critics didn’t stand a chance. Most of them were either pols or media (hard to tell the difference these days). He had truth, logic and plain old common sense on his side. They had, well, none of that on theirs. He truly was the voice of reason. Most of them probably never listened to Rush’s show. They seemed to depend on what others thought about Rush and launched their pitiful attacks based on hearsay rather than the facts. The critics felt they “had him” on many occasions just to realize he slipped through their traps. There were several low points when it seemed they had Rush on the ropes – his brief bout with pain killer addiction, his attempt to co-own an NFL team and the Sandra Fluke incident – but he would always rope-a-dope them and come out victorious. They did get him to adjust and make some changes like eliminating caller abortions, but he would always find other avenues to continue to speak the conservative message loudly and even more brazenly. His biggest comeback was against deafness. He went totally deaf but that didn’t stop him. Up until the end, he never let health challenges slow him. He never gave up, no matter how hard his critics tried to make him. Like Rush used to say, if they didn’t make you, they can’t break you. Rush and his audience made him, not them, and he stayed loyal to us.
Rush used to love to share with us everything he was into at any particular time, the latest iPhone (he was such a techy), his golf game, the NFL before it got “woke”, etc. It almost seemed as if he were a little boy with a new toy that he wanted to share with you. I felt like a tag-along little brother he was showing off to by allowing me to see all the marvelous things he was doing, as he was doing them. I remember only a few times I was able to go out with my actual big brother and his friends. It was thrilling to be able to do so. But with Rush, I was able to hang out with him every day and, until this year, I didn’t have to worry if it was the last time he’d allow me to. How I long for those days hanging out with my big brother Rush.
Rush was always focused on what was happening to our country, good or bad. He was exciting to listen to because you just knew you were getting not only the very latest important news, but also Rush’s take on that news, which was key. His fans would tune in to find out what Rush thought of this or that topic. He truly was on the cutting edge of societal evolution. I don’t know how he did it, but his ability to predict where we were going as a nation, quite accurately, was uncanny. He predicted early on that radical feminism, a movement led by feminazis (a word he coined), was intended to emasculate men and society. The result? We now have “toxic masculinity” mainstreamed as a legitimate culprit in what is wrong with America. We are now told that men can become women and that we had better accept that or else. Even our military, the last great bastion of masculinity, is being feminized. More on this in upcoming articles.
Many a time he illustrated the Left’s utter absurdity with absurdity. His comedic genius sense was priceless. It made his show fun to listen to. His parody skits, songs and updates were gut wrenchingly hilarious. His update hits like Barney Frank (My boy lollipop), homeless (Ain’t got no home), Mayor David Dinkins (General David Dinkins where are you?), gay community (Klaus Nomi, You don’t own me), animal rights (Andy Williams, Born Free, complete with gunshots and bazooka blasts), peace movement (Slim Whitman, Una Paloma Blanca with appropriate nuclear blast), feminist (Men by the Forrester Sisters dubbed over Patricia – Patsy – Schroeder’s tearful concession speech) were the stuff of comedy legend. Who else could illustrate just how absurd these people and their causes were but Rush, and in such an “in your face” funny way? Everyone was expected to treat these folks with seriousness and accord them the respect they were so due. But not Rush. He called them out for the phonies they were and did so using their own words and actions to illustrate to all of us just how absurd and unserious they were. He gave them the respect they deserved, a good laugh.
Perhaps it’s silly to think that my world is just a little bit less fun without Rush, but it is. I not only miss listening to his show, but I also miss the anticipation of listening to his show. His career illustrated to us conservatives that although we truly disdain politics and intrusive government, we must remain vigilant. We have to stay in the fight or our country and our lives and our very precious liberty will be lost. Without Ronald Reagan abolishing the fascist, so-called Fairness Doctrine, Rush would not have had the career he did, and so many other careers he spawned would have never been. That is a daunting and scary scenario to contemplate. Politics is a necessary evil. Therefore, we must elect the right politicians.
I know Rush is in a better place now because, like me, he was a saved Christian who believed on Jesus. Like the servant in the Bible who was given talents by his Master, Rush multiplied his, that were on loan from God, many times over. I never got to meet Rush, but, fortunately, I did speak to him on his show last October. I was the first caller he spoke to on Open Line Friday when President Trump was first diagnosed with COVID. I had tried several times before but never got through to him. Though I did get bumped once by Bo Snerdley, for not having an interesting enough topic. I know I’ll finally get to meet Rush one day and hear his booming voice again. Until then, I miss you Rush. Dittos.
EaglehasLanded
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