Limbaugh: A Legend In His Own Time
It is impossible to overstate the impact of Rush Limbaugh on the American media and public life. He dropped out of college to get into the radio business, and he dominated the medium like no one else.
He was the epitome of the American Dream, a self-made man with little else but "talent on loan from God," as he liked to say. As Mark Steyn wrote yesterday, that talent has now been returned to God.
The Rush Limbaugh Show was syndicated in 1988. In 1993, Limbaugh was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. And he received the National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Award for Excellence in Syndicated and Network Broadcasting five times.
The tributes to Rush Limbaugh continue to pour in, including many stories from prominent conservatives relating how Rush helped to define their beliefs.
For example, Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce noted that many years ago she had a radio show in Los Angeles. At the time, she was a crazy liberal who hated Limbaugh. But eventually she met him and became acquainted with him.
It wasn't long before she realized that he wasn't the monster her liberal friends made him out to be. That revelation led her to question what else her leftist colleagues had lied about.
There isn't enough space to list all the accolades and tributes to Rush, but here are a few you may appreciate.
"The great Rush Limbaugh has passed away to a better place, free from physical pain and hostility. His honor, courage, strength, and loyalty will never be replaced. Rush was a patriot, a defender of Liberty, and someone who believed in all of the greatness our Country stands for." – President Donald Trump
"A son of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Rush rose as a pioneer of talk radio starting in the 1980s, and was a friend throughout my presidency. . . Rush Limbaugh was an indomitable spirit with a big heart, and he will be missed." – President George W. Bush
"Many people don't know that I spent about a decade in talk radio. I was inspired to go into conservative talk radio in the 1990s because of Rush Limbaugh. . . There was only one Rush Limbaugh. He inspired not only tens of millions of young conservatives across this country, myself included, but make no mistake about it, he reinvented AM radio across the country." – Vice President Mike Pence
"Rush never had any sense of presenting himself as an important national figure or heroic pioneer. There was nothing pompous or stuffy about him. He was just practical, and down to earth. Rush never really left Missouri in his heart. He had that middle American, down-to-earth sensibility. . . he never lost that touch – that life is about common, every day, practical things." – Speaker Newt Gingrich
"God, faith, family, country, he loved it, he lived it, he embodied it." – Sean Hannity
"My friend Rush Limbaugh . . . was a force of nature. More than any other individual, he was responsible for breaking the Left's media monopoly. His voice on the radio . . . will never be equaled. He loved our country always, and came to a deep love of God. His massive audience will miss him, I will miss him, and the country will miss him." – Hillsdale College President Dr. Larry Arnn
As I noted yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting Rush Limbaugh on a number of occasions. On one of those occasions my entire family got to meet him.
We always needed Rush more. Speaking of Rushmore, if anyone other than a president was to be included on that famous mountain, it should be Rush Limbaugh.
The Hateful Left
Needless to say, many on the left are celebrating Limbaugh's passing. I'm not going to immerse myself or you in the poison of the hateful, heartless and, some would even say, soulless left.
Don't go on social media looking for it. It will make you physically ill. These people regularly dance on graves if they think their cause has been helped by the death of a conservative.
But I will take a moment to encourage any of you, if you happen to be among the last conservatives in America who subscribes to the New York Times, to cancel your subscription.
In its report on Limbaugh's death, the Times blasted Rush as a bigot and claimed that he pushed "misogynistic and racist language and conspiracy theories." The New York Times is not some undereducated, social justice warrior tweeting from their basement. It still carries the patina of "news."
They also pointed out that Rush never had an on-air co-host, but often mentioned the unheard voice of someone called "Bo Snerdly." So the Times just disappeared a successful black man, James Golden, who for 20 years helped to make the Rush Limbaugh Show the smashing success that it was.
Golden is an accomplished man in his own right. The fact that the Times didn't want its readers to know that the man they labeled a racist was a good friend with a black man speaks volumes about the depths the Times will sink to in order to smear conservatives.
Ready For Reparations?
When Democrats weren't busy dancing on Limbaugh's grave yesterday, they were holding a hearing in Congress to establish a commission to study reparations for slavery.
Don't be fooled. The commission will be stacked with leftists and it will embrace the idea. By the way, President Biden also embraces the idea of reparations, and he wants to include Native Americans too. The vast majority of Americans oppose the idea.
But simply debating reparations will predictably make the racial divide in America worse. It is illogical on its face. What "justice" is served by forcing Americans who never owned slaves to pay money to Americans who never were slaves?
And here's an interesting fact: Even Barack Obama's ancestors owned slaves. If reparations are approved, does Obama pay reparations or does he get reparations?
I'm trying to imagine what that conversation looks like in the Oval Office between President Biden and his former boss: "Barack, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that reparations passed. The bad news is that you owe them."