Rush Limbaugh's role in the present political struggle between conservatives & liberals is examined. This includes the damage liberals allege that the conservative talk radio host has done to America and countermeasures the liberals might use to control him.
This is not to be considered a complete biography of Rush Limbaugh's life, just the elements that I feel are pertinent to the ongoing conservatism - liberal struggle.
As the midterm elections of 2006 approached, Limbaugh was thrust into the foreground of the political debate by his vicious verbal attack on actor and Parkinson's-victim, Michael J. Fox. (See Famous People & Politics for details on this episode.) Limbaugh also tried to play down the Mark Foley page scandal by asserting that the whole episode might have been a practical joke by the pages.
With his assertions, Limbaugh thrust himself into the midterm elections spotlight as a player. After the Democrats cleaned house in the midterms, the Republicans first appeared to be trying to make Limbaugh a scapegoat of the election. But, now, all is forgiven and Rush is busy ranting against Hillary Clinton, again.
So, what else is new?
I used to laugh at Rush Limbaugh and his conservative ranting. To me, he represented a small group of right wing conservatives who, under our freedom of speech laws, deserve to have their own mouthpiece as most political groups do. This is true of conservative, liberal, left wing, right wing, communistic, socialistic, and off-shoot political groups. I still believe they should have the right of freedom of speech.
I only hope these conservatives continue to give the rest of us the same rights of free speech. Down here in Louisiana, that is not the case. Two days after the 2006 midterm elections, the conservatives who control the radio media in Louisiana, in effect, banned progressive radio in the region. You either listen to Rush Limbaugh, Rush Limbaugh reruns, or get yourself a short wave radio.
So much for free speech in conservative Louisiana.
I don't laugh at Rush Limbaugh anymore. I realize now that I had underestimated his hold on a large part of the American people. I thought that most of them were also laughing at Rush. I should have known better. I saw my fellow employees listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio throughout the day; I heard them repeating Rush's quotes and his oft-repeated philosophy day after day. I heard them repeat Limbaugh's countless tales of Clinton and liberal horrors over the years and had seen the smiles of agreement.
The truth is the signs were all there but I chose to ignore them.
I should have known that it was only a matter of time until many of the American people would adopt a Rush Limbaugh as their hero? Limbaugh takes no prisoners and a large part of the unwashed masses love that. Thumbs down instead of Churchill's "V" is their favorite expression! Indeed, the signs certainly were there but I failed to properly read the significance of them.
It appears that the Democrats also underestimated the ability of Rush Limbaugh to brain-wash the American people.
Rush Limbaugh is the heart and soul of the conservative movement and of the Republican Party.
Rush Limbaugh, the king of conservative talk radio, was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on January 12, 1951. His father was a successful attorney in the area. His father was also an outspoken conservative and, obviously instilled this philosophy in his two sons. (Rush's brother, David, is also a political commentator.)
Rush Limbaugh - Childhood. Rush Limbaugh was a shy, serious child appearing much older than his compatriots. He was a little chubby, not very popular, and did not date much. He did play sports, however, and he was on the debate team. He kept up with the news and was very well-informed. From an early age, Rush showed a great interest in being a disc jockey and used to play-act one. At age 16, while still in high school, he began to work as a part-time disc jockey at Radio Station KGMO. He loved the work. Behind the microphone, Rush was confident and assertive - qualities which he did not possess away from the microphone. The microphone became his life.
Rush Limbaugh at College . At his father's urging, Rush Limbaugh tried college - South Missouri State - but became frustrated with it and dropped out after three semesters. His father was not happy with this.
Rush Limbaugh's Early Radio Career. After college, Rush jumped immediately back into radio as a news announcer and failed at several radio stations because he would not follow the script and insisted on throwing in his own analysis. He did manage to hang on for three years at KUDL in Kansas City because he was allowed to pretty much do his own show with commentary. He finally did lose this job also.
Rush Limbaugh and the Kansas City Royals. In 1970, Rush Limbaugh's multiple firings from radio got the best of him and he went to work with the Kansas City Royals where he eventually became Director of Group Sales and Special Events.
Rush Limbaugh's Big Breaks - KFBK and WABC. In 1983, Rush Limbaugh decided to return to radio again as a political commentator at KMBZ in Kansas City. Again, he was fired for not following the script. He then got his big break when KFBK in Sacramento needed someone for a talk show. KFBK did a great job of backing up Limbaugh and the Rush Limbaugh talk show's audience grew at an impressive rate. After several years of this top notch performance, Limbaugh got a chance for a national audience (55 radio stations) with the New York station, WABC. His conservative talk show on WABC took off and the rest is history. Rush Limbaugh is now a radio legend in his own time. He is the king of conservative talk radio and also the king of the conservative movement.
Rush Limbaugh and the School of Hard Knocks - The point of going over his long work record is to show that Rush Limbaugh is not a farm boy that just fell off a turnip truck in front of a radio station and was offered a big talk radio host job when he wandered up to the station. Limbaugh did not have his position given to him by his fairy godmother. No, he is a true professional who has learned his trade in the school of hard knocks (please, conservatives, don't ask me again where the school of hard knocks is located). Limbaugh is in the work he likes to do; he does it the way he likes to do it; and, he takes great pride in his work.
(Note: the fact that I like his work ethic does not mean I agree with his politics or his morals. It does explain why he is the successful professional he is - he worked for it!)
Rush Limbaugh has a major problem coming in the coming years from a source he could never have dreamed of several years ago. No, it is not his apparent illegal use of prescription drugs or being exposed as somewhat of a racial bigot when it comes to football. No indeed! Rush has always had much fun ridiculing assertive women on his show. " Feminazi's" is one of the favorite expressions he uses against such women. Now, he must keep an eye in his rear view mirror as the queen of feminazi's, Ann Coulter, wheels up along side him to challenge for the conservative propaganda leadership.
Ann Coulter is more aggressive (and outrageous) than Limbaugh ever was. Even some of the most conservative Republicans pretend to be ashamed of her. But Fox News loves her and they are in control of the conservative TV propaganda area. It will be hard for Limbaugh to compete using only talk radio while his adversary has a major TV news network to work with. Limbaugh is tough, though, and he has a shot at holding off Coulter. In any event, even with the terrible beating the conservatives took in the 2006 elections, Rush Limbaugh is still, at least temporarily, the conservative propaganda minister and the Democrats must deal with him.
Ann Coulter will have to wait her turn.
Rush Limbaugh has repeatedly thrust himself into U.S. world affairs. For example, he maintains the French in World War 2 fought as cowards. He also attacked the French for not participating in the botched occupation of Iraq. Once again, time has proven that Rush didn't really know what he was talking about with his French comments. But he is still almost worshipped by conservatives, even conservatives in my home state of Louisiana which is almost one-half of French heritage. I was shocked to see my fellow Louisiana citizens willing to denounce their French heritage because Limbaugh doesn't like the French. They even talked of renaming the French Quarter in New Orleans. Fortunately, the issue died away as the Bush's Iraq War debacle unfolded.
Rush also has pretended to be a "war strategy expert" even though he never served in any military organization. He is batting "0" in the war expert category as his observations always prove 100% wrong. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration military folks appear to pay close attention to Limbaugh's observations.
To deflate or derail Limbaugh was not going to be easy for the liberals and moderates in the Elections of 2004 and 2006. Their work was cut out for them. Still, they had no choice. To win, they had to bring the big boy down. The Democrats failed to do so in 2004 and that election is history. Even in 2006, the Republicans made so many mistakes that Limbaugh escaped most of the blame for the debacle.
Limbaugh still thrives in talk radio!
Rush Limbaugh is the very heart and soul of the conservative movement - you hear all the conservative dogma on his show first then his ditto-head followers spread it by word of mouth through the offices and homes of the land. And this same very successful conservative movement that Limbaugh represents so well has to be brought down if the liberals and moderates are going to regain permanent power in Washington.
Many Democrats still don't get it. There are a lot of ditto-heads out there and they all love Rush. Twenty million ditto-heads can't be all wrong. No, the Democrats are going to have to bring the talented fat boy down if they can develop the stomach for it and if they really want to continue winning future elections.
If they can bring the big boy down, the ditto-heads who follow his every word may scatter and lose their effectiveness. (Or will they simply jump to Ann Coulter's bandwagon?)
"Why, we could even survive without any owls. So what if they are no longer around to kill the mice. We'll just build more traps. Either that or we'll breed more cats." Rush Limbaugh, "The Way Things Ought To Be"
It would be nice if so-called talk radio (and TV) political commentators such as Rush Limbaugh were required to state the true source of funding for their programs. Rush is a big boy with a healthy appetite and requires quite a bit of funding to keep going. Somebody is paying for it. Do advertisers pay for it? Or do right wing organizations pay? Are we really listening to right wing political advertisements when we listen to Rush Limbaugh? If so, shouldn't there be a pre-broadcast statement informing the listener that he is listening to a paid political broadcast?
Shouldn't Limbaugh have to tell us who pays him his paycheck? The Democrats ought to get someone on this. But then the Democrats still don't realize how effective Limbaugh has been against them.
(Note: I really received a shock on this subject during the past week............I actually heard a Medicare ad on the Limbaugh show. What hypocrisy! No one has done more to discredit Medicare than Rush Limbaugh! And now the taxpayers are having to help finance the big boy's massive appetites! Talk about political payoffs! Have the Republicans no shame?)
1. Election 2008. The important midterm elections of 2006 are over and the conservative agenda was stopped - for the moment! Can Rush Limbaugh and the conservatives recover?
2. Democratic Politics & Strategy. The Democrats beat Bush in the midterm elections? Can they keep Rush Limbaugh marginalized and continue to win elections?
3. Republican Politics & Strategy. The Republicans were winning until the 2006 midterm elections. Can Rush Limbaugh help them regain the momentum?
4. Oil Companies & Energy Companies Someone is going to get rich off the arrival of Peak Oil and the energy crisis. It could be you if you can pick the right oil companies!
5. Project Management & Project Managers. Prior to the 2006 midterm elections, the Republicans were good at using the concepts of project management in winning political campaigns. Can they get back on a winning track.
Rush Limbaugh is truly Mr. Conservative, the very heart and soul of the conservative movement and of the Republican Party, and the Democrats are still having a problem facing up to the damage he has done to them and to the country. Democrats, he is not a buffoon! Rush Limbaugh, conservative, has 20,000,000 ditto-heads hanging on his every word.
Last Updated: 08/03/08
e-mail me @ vanc13@cox.net
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