by Mark Steyn
Ave atque vale
February 17, 2021
It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of Rush Limbaugh, a giant of American broadcasting, a uniquely talented performer, and a hugely generous man to whom I owe almost everything.
Rush died this morning, after a year-long struggle with lung cancer. I was scheduled to guest-host today’s show. Instead, as you can hear, his beloved Kathryn will be introducing a special program put together by the EIB team to celebrate a great man’s life and legacy. It’s a hard thing to do – compressing a glorious third-of-a-century into three hours – but Snerdley, Kraig, Mike, Allie and everyone else I’ve worked with there for so many years will do their best.
Usually, in this line of work, if you’re lucky, you get a moment – a year or two when you’re the in-thing – and you hope to hold enough of that moment as it slowly fades away to keep you going till retirement. Rush did something unprecedented in the history of TV and radio. Commercial broadcasting began in the United States in 1920: The Rush Limbaugh Show came along two-thirds of a century later, became the Number One program very quickly, and has stayed at the top all the way to today – for a third of the entire history of the medium. And throughout all those decades Rush and his show stayed exactly the same: a forensic breakdown of the day’s news, punctuated by musical parodies, satirical sketches, and Rush’s own optimism and good humor, even through this last terrible year.
The comedy is what his many enemies and half his own side missed: Rush took politics seriously but not solemnly. In the early years of the war on terror, he introduced an Afghan version of himself “with talent on loan from Allah” and sold Club Gitmo merchandise for those seeking a tropical retreat from jihad. When Brokeback Mountain was in the news, the show ran trailers for Return to Saddle-Sore Canyon: “It’s John McCain and Lindsey Graham as you’ve always wanted to see them!” Which, in my case at least, is true.
I know precisely when I first heard Rush. It was not long after he started the show and not long after I bought my pad in New Hampshire. I was driving some visitors from London through the North Maine Woods toward New Brunswick in that dead zone where the only thing that comes in is the soft-and-easy station on 94.9 FM from the top of Mount Washington. And then that died, and there was nothing, and I forgot to switch it off so it was automatically scanning up and around the dial as we chit-chatted in the car. And then suddenly it found some guy, and there he was talking about “the arts-and-croissants crowd” moving into your town, and reading out press releases from NOW (the National Association of Women), whom he called the NAGS (National Association of Gals), and playing Andy Williams’ version of “Born Free” punctuated by gunfire to accompany any environmental story.
And, in my car, conversation ceased. My friends were what you might call slightly skeptical lefties, so they disagreed with what Rush said on the issues but they were rapt by the way he said it. Because they had never heard anybody say it like that before. It was a unique combination – absolute piercing philosophical clarity, and a grand rollicking presentational style honed through all the lean years of minor-market disc-jockeying. First, he perfected the style, and then he applied it to the content. When Clinton was elected, Rush opened his shows, for years, with “America Held Hostage, Day Thirty-Nine… Day Seventy-Three… Day Hundred-and-Twenty Four…”, and when Newt’s Republicans won the 1994 mid-terms he started with James Brown singing “I Feel Good”.
One man doing what he wanted to do saved an entire medium – AM radio – and turned all its old rules upside down: Traditionally, morning drive is your big audience, and everything tapers off from there. Rush figured that everyone needs a local guy at that time, with traffic and weather updates, and that the opportunity to build a national show lay in the hitherto somnolent slot of noon-to-three Eastern/nine-to-twelve Pacific. And within a couple of years hundreds of stations were building the entire schedule around the midday guy. In the scheme of things, I am not sure how many of those stations will be able to keep that going without him.
Read More HERE
if Rush was a racist like the other lies told about him from Snowflakes, why would he have a black man as his producer? hmmm
I want to compliment Mr. Steyn on the professional way he conducted Rush’s show on Tuesday. I listened to the whole program and never realized that Rush had died. Mr. Steyn spoke of him respectfully, but never with a hint of his passing. It must have been difficult to keep his own emotions under control through the 4 hours of broadcast and the callers who kept wishing Rush well. Thank you, Mr. Steyn for being such a great support to the EIB network and to Rush Limbaugh! We still need that great conservative platform to voice the great principles of the constitution and the Bill of Rights. Please stay on the air for us all!!!
Just another hateful Republican silenced. He was one of those who brought out the worst in people. They say love runs deep but rage and hate seem to be just below the surface. He and his ilk exploit that flaw in mans character for their own benefit while mocking civil behaviour and the civilized among us.
Rasterman
Are your family and or friends aware that you post this kind of hateful garbage ?
It is absolutely acceptable not to like the politics of Rush, Cruz, O’Toole, Obama, Biden,
PM Justin, Horgan, or anyone else but to actually celebrate the demise of someone is really creepy at best and says a lot about you, time to get some help .
I am embarrassed for you .
Civil behavior as you put should never be defined by a very flawed person such as yourself .
Don’t you think your statement about civilized behavior is somewhat Hypocritical ?
BMCQ,
I 100 percent agree with Rasterman.
Rush brought very little that was positive to the microphone. All he did was belittle the LGBTQ community, immigrants, African Americans and liberals.
The rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement can be directly attributed to Rush, his opiate addiction and his bigoted views.
Head
You and Rasterman must be sharing the same stuff and it is not working too well for you .
Facts DO Matter, prove your ridiculous claims .
Better yet, perhaps you can ask the Right Hand People Kind of Rush Limbaugh, he might shed some light on your claims . Show the “Great Unwashed” where Rush did any ham to any of the groups you have noted, I will wait patiently . I especially await your evidence of Rush being a Bigot, considering his past life you might find it difficult to prove such juvenile and moronic accusations .
DO YOU know anything about the background of Rush ?
https://rumble.com/vdz3t5-james-bo-snerdley-golden-delivers-tearful-tribute-to-rush-limbaugh.html
I know it is very easy for someone like you to simply spew out Liberal Talking points but every once in a while someone may ask you to follow up with some facts, please enlighten us with your vast knowledge about Limbaugh and his flaws .
The percentage of the vote of each group you have mentioned increased for the Republican Party under Trump, even in the 2020 election loss, how would you account for that .
So now as a Liberal you are going to vilify someone like Rush who fell into Opioid Addiction after being prescribed the same by a Dr. ?
Do you feel the same way for Elvis, M. Jackson, Prince, Robert Downey, and several thousand you might or might not know in the DES of Vancouver, SFO, SEA, JFK, or any other large city the Liberal/Democrat Machine is very quickly turning into Sh*t Holes” ??
At best, you are “Very Shallow” .
Listen man heres the deal – we need all of us to hook up to the plough and pull
together and in one direction. We are in deep fkn doo-doo right now – all of us world wide
People hooked up do not need others complaining about the colour of your skin.
Right now that doesn’t matter we need to steer away otherwise we all gonna fry or freeze.
Oh BMCQ. I agree that celebrating the demise of someone should absolutely not be done. But the irony in your message is somewhat laughable given Mr. Limbaugh’s tactics in past years. As Paul Elliott Johnson, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh, tweeted: “Rush Limbaugh had a regular radio segment where he would read off the names of gay people who died of AIDS and celebrate it and play horns and bells and stuff.” So maybe lay off the holier than thou stuff.
PSR Fact Checker: This story is FALSE
Those who use their public pulpit like a radio show to bully and denigrate those who cannot fight back, get all they deserve. Limbaugh’s shtick was divisive and hateful. Locally, we have that blowhard in Bruce Allen who constantly bullies and denigrates the less fortunate and is never called out for his hateful words—and on a station that promotes anti bullying. How hypocritical can you be. I wouldn’t spend two seconds in their company. Just be thankful, we can turn them off and relegate them to the dust heap. Bullies always get their due.
You either agree with me that it is not right and proper to celebrate the demise of someone or you do not,
I am not holier than thou, I simply will not celebrate the death of someone I disagree with because of their political beliefs .
Many in media and politics make me sick with their beliefs and their dishonest rhetoric but I cannot imagine celebrating their death .
As Top Mensa Member and POTUS Joe Biden might say, “Come On Man” !
An Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh ? Really ? U of Pitts, WTF ?
Personally I would rather take the word of Mr. James Golden and others that interacted with Mr. Limbaugh on a regular or day to day basis .
In the case of your friend Rasterman I would suggest that his own commentary tells me enough about him that I do not need any more information, his own words explain everything I need to know about him .
If you believe I am “Holier than Thou” just because I do not agree with someone like Rasterman celebrating the death of another human being he might not like, I cannot help you .
You my friend have shown me what your principles and standards happen to be, talk about Holier than Thou ?
Rasterman
It is very obvious to me that by the predictable low standard of the “Mumbo Jumbo” in your reply to me you are totally incapable of defending your comments and position in an intelligent manner .
You should “Rest Your Case“ now before you put yourself further behind, You cannot afford to lose any more ground to the rest of the field .
Eschew obfuscation I always say!
BMCQ, you have certainly lowered the bar for real debate. Rush L, was somebody we can happily live without. The reasons he received a good salary is because he stoked hatred and division in a country overflowing with it. There is a reason why millions despised him, women ran from him, and Trump sucked up to him. He couldnt save himself or Trump. Good bye Rush and glad I never had the chance to be in your company.
Looks like some “Industry Professionals” have shown up in this thread.
Why the vitriol towards Rush?
He was a household name, airing on over 600 radio stations, with a long distinguished career, and he loved his country.
Sounds like the “IPs” are jealous of Rush’s career and his success.
On the other hand I’m guessing the “Industry Professionals” on here have been let go by their MSM masters, or will be in the future.
Rush Limbaugh & Fox news much of the same. Destroyed US way of life. RIP Rush & sort of glad you are gone– Now do we get rid of the idiots at Fox News??
Avid Listner, Christine, Rasterman, Nowayoutofthis, & Robb, talk about ‘Shit for Brains’ You Snowflakes are all the same. All LIARS! God help us
Rasterman
Just another hateful Republican silenced.Avid listener
Rush Limbaugh & Fox news much of the same.
You Bolshevik Communists always have to learn the hard way…..
Christine
I am sure your family are very proud of you .
They have my deepest sympathies .
What a sicko you are Christine. Typical hatefilled Democrat (Liberal) The world will be much better off without Liars like you.
Just finished watching a Youtube video of a 1992 Donahue episode with Rush Limbaugh on it… PROPHETIC! The man was prophetic near 30 years ago. The libtard, hateful nonsense was already entrenched and Rush called them out on it back in 1992. Quite an enjoyable episode of Donahue.
Ironically when one sees appearances on tv by Donald Trump back in the 80’s and 90’s he too was prophetic and ahead of his time.
Avid Listener
So Fox News and Rush Limbaugh destroyed the way of life. I am curious to hear how they did that?
Yo, Mr. Easton. I get that you can moderate however you want to on this site, but to rule my first post as False just because you hope with all your might that it is is a bit laughable. In my follow up, I provided a link to a Newsweek story. Now here are some others from:
* USA Today (https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2021/02/22/rush-limbaugh-contempt-for-gay-people-hurt-me-my-family-column/4515279001/)
* Snopes (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/rush-limbaugh-mock-aids-gays/)
* NBC News (https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/rush-limbaugh-s-true-legacy-how-he-persuaded-people-embrace-ncna1258297)
I know, I know. I don’t have anything on this from Rebel News, but you can’t have everything.
Robb,
I have been an avid listerner of Rush Limbaugh since day one. Had he ever said such as you and the liberal media are concerned, I would have dropped him like a hot potato. That was very difficult time for people with aids. I lost a number of friends through the deadly virus. Thankfully cures have been made and death rate has gone down. Like most of you people on the left, you really don’t know anything about the man, except what Fake News, msm continues to pump out, like NBC, USA Today is a very Left Wing and HATERS. CNN, MSNBC, are liars and fabricators of False news…
If by chance such a thing were true, there must be video/audio of those words coming out of Mr. Limbaughs mouth
As for Snoops, I carried numerous artilces about how fake they really are on my Easton Spectator website. Check out the following links…
https://www.eastonspectator.com/2018/06/28/snopes-gets-snoped-fact-check-site-caught-misleading-readers-border-news-procession-corrects-record/
https://www.eastonspectator.com/2019/05/03/snopes-defends-teaching-child-rape-to-children/
https://www.eastonspectator.com/2019/03/04/snopes-throws-in-the-towel-with-facebook-fact-checking-after-being-caught-fabricating-lies-and-covering-for-fake-news-media/
Dear Teddy
I think trump destroyed the lives of millions. The 500,000 that have died from Covid had millions of families, friends etc. I think if the US had a decent leader the deaths in the US would probably be 200,000 max. Fox & Rush never put any pressure on Trump to do better in fact they never said anything about Trump going on about using bleach & other stupid things that have come out of Trumps mouth. Isn’t it nice now having a normal leader in the US ???
Avid
I find myself wanting to ask a question in reference to your comments .
How do you explain that say ONLY 200,000 residents of the U.S. would have died of Covid if Joe Biden or Obama for that matter had been living in the WH over the past few years ? You seem very well informed and it is more than obvious to me you are a Top Member of Mensa so your answer should come very easily .
What background, education, or expertise in medicine or say epidemiology do you have that might qualify you to make such a determination ? What Data do you/have you cited to come to your conclusion ?
You seem to believe Joe Biden is “Normal”, please again explain how you came to that conclusion .
Personally I would never consider anyone of any gender normal when that individual makes no more sense than a “Sock Puppet”, to me that behaviour is not very normal, but that is me .
“Come On Man” !
“No Joke” !