sEd notes that it’s Rush Limbaugh’s birthday:
Happy Birthday to the man who made conservative talk radio a dominating presence — Rush Limbaugh. We’re all in your debt, sir, and thank you for all of the hard work you do.
In 57 years, he’s had more impact on the world than any radioman I can think of.
And on me, actually; when i was a 25 year old neophyte talk radio host, Limbaugh’s big surge sorely constricted the number of stations that would actually pay kids like me to work mid-day and evening shows; while a mid-market station might have paid me $24K, LImbaugh’s satellite show was scot-free to the stations. In a sense, the industry ate its seed corn; there aren’t many local political talk hosts out there under age 50, anymore. But that’s the fault of a ton of short-sighted General Managers – and without Limbaugh, the market wouldn’t exist at all.
So happy birthday, El Rushbo. Enjoy the weekend. There is much ass to kick.
(And keep my chair warm for me).
….he’s had more impact on the world than any radioman I can think of.
Mangy Clown probably echoes these sentiments in reference to another radio guy, whose birthday is also January 12. Howard Stern, who turned 54.
Limbaugh has been nothing less than cyanide to civil debate in the United States. He’s a pawn of large corporate interests, and proud of it. He represents that which is worst in terms of potential, of Americans, without being criminally insane. Ammoral and hate-filled, he has no shame, nor decency, that you would applaud him says as much about your culture, your ‘party’ as would ever need be said. I am prevented by faith and good propriety from wishing ill upon him, but he’s as much a traitor to the ideals of this country as Cat Stevens or Jane Fonda, and has done more harm than either. It is clear you see yourself as molding in his image and has been clear for a very long time, and I suppose you should always hold out hope, but rather than hoping to be him, you should count yourself a better man for not ever causing so much harm or hate.
With specifics like those, it’s hard to argue.
Godfather? More like a fat-ass Fredo.
He’s done more harm than Cat Stevens? Ouch, that stung.
You can see peevish’s point, though. Before Rush actually started delivering a point of view contrary to the liberal media’s mindset, the debate in the media was only about how far to the left to go in presenting opinion, er, I mean the facts. Now there’s someone who actually can disagree with their perceptions and assumptions, and that’s extremely hateful and disruptive!
But there aren’t too many folks who could rework an entire medium. He does deserve respect for that I suppose, but I’ve never been able to listen to his show; I think my grand total time listening to it has been less than two hours.
The only guy who had more impact, I suppose, was Orsen Wells… that and certain ad writers.
I had a chat with my brother a few years back. It was about the political acrimony that everyone was bewailing. Here is how I arrived at discovering the reason for that acrimony and animus:
I asked him where we got our information 40-45 years ago? Radio, tv, newspapers and magazines.
30 years ago? The same.
20 years ago? again, the same.
And then, in 1993, a few months after Dad died, people asked me and I kept hearing about this guy on radio with a really strange name. And had I listened to him? Well, no I hadn’t. So, in June, 1993 I tuned in at 11:00 a.m. on AM1500 KSTP and heard this guy named Rush. WOW. He was speaking my language. And then I kept listening afterwards and heard Joe Soucheray. And about a year later there was Jason Lewis. Then in 1999 I bought my first computer and discovered the internet. And NewsMax, World Net Daily, and a whole slew of columnists. And I could do more research in an hour than I could do in a library in a month. I could go to Cato and Heritage. I could share my thoughts with as many people as I had in my email contacts.Then came blogs. And we now have a number of conservative talk stations here in Minneapolis (including a Christian talk radio station) And I found out that the left wing controlled media had been lying and perverting or burying the truth for all those years. And I was angry. And now I could do something about it.
And Rush was the beginning.
Thank you Mr. Limbaugh.
And gnash your teeth lefty liberty haters.