Don't rush to judge this court (RUSH HUDSON LIMBAUGH COURTHOUSE IN CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO)

Chicago Tribune ^ | January 21, 2007 | Bob Secter

[Chi-townChief]

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- Painted along the floodwall protecting this historic Mississippi River town is a huge mural of famous Missourians, and right up there along with Harry Truman, Mark Twain and Jesse James is Rush Limbaugh.

Visitors can buy refrigerator magnets and postcards hailing Cape Girardeau's status as boyhood home of the sharp-tongued conservative talk radio host.

And if members of Missouri's congressional delegation get their way, a new U.S. courthouse set to open this spring on Independence Street also may carry the Rush Limbaugh name.

But before the liberals, "femiNazis" and "environmental wackos" the radio host loves to ridicule get too bent out of shape, they should consider this: It's not that Rush Limbaugh who is in line for the honor. It's his grandfather, the late Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr.

---

The Limbaughs clearly tilted Republican, but unlike his grandson, Rush Sr. is remembered not for bombast but rather moderation and modesty.

"The grandfather was the epitome of what a lawyer and distinguished community leader should be," said Frank Nickell, director of the center for regional history at Southeast Missouri State. "He was very cultured, very genteel, very quiet and very polite."

In short, Rush Sr. was the antithesis of Rush III. Folks here say the distinction is clear to them.

bsecter@tribune.com

[Chi-townChief]

It sounds like the grandfather and Rush actually have a lot in common, just working in differents venues. Hopefully, this will drive the MO rats nuts.

[Drango]

I'm kewl with either or.

[Tamar1973]

Sounds like David was the one who followed the family profression.

[kinoxi]

Wouldn't surprise me if they came out and protested the wrong man.

[Vigilanteman]

In Rush Sr.'s time, Liberals were coherent, and occassionally reasonable people like Walter Mondale and Hubert Humphrey, not the moonbats we have now. The moonbats like Bella Abzug and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. were on the fringes of the party. Today, they are in control and reasonable Democrats like Ben Nelson and David Boren are on the fringes.

[SAJ]

Drive? Brother, that's not a drive, it's a tap-in putt.

[HarmlessLovableFuzzball]

unlike his grandson, Rush Sr. is remembered not for bombast but rather moderation and modesty.

What the grandfather didn't realize is that

bombast = fun = ratings = high demand = confiscatory advertising fees.

But bombast is not easy, it takes a highly trained broadcast specialist to do well.

[Fiddlstix]

Didn't Rush have his grandfather on his show once or twice way back when....... or is my memory playing tricks on me?

[JohnBovenmyer]

Rush Sr (who outlived Rush Jr, working past age 100) was a major role model for his grandson and was on III's show several times, often on his birthday. IIRC Sr. referred to III as Rusty. Both were proud of what the other had achieved. The difference was that in Sr's prime bombast wasn't necessary to get truth past liberalism's defenses.

[Fiddlstix]

Thank you. I was pretty sure I heard him on the show. I don't remember just when but is was several years ago.

[KarlInOhio]

The Air America version:

bombast = boring = no ratings = low advertising revenue = confiscatory bankruptcy judgments.

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

You must be happy today! Looking like a rematch of 86

[paltz]

< a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/eibessential/extraordinary_

Remembering Rush Hudson Limbaugh, Sr.

January 14, 2005

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Here's Dennis in Katy, Texas. Welcome to the EIB Network.

CALLER: Hello, Rush.

RUSH: Hi.

CALLER: Excalibur cigar smoking dittos to you.

RUSH: Excellent cigars.

CALLER: I just told your call screener that I wanted to take the occasion of Open Line Friday to relate to some of the people who listen about how I started listening to you. It happened to have been very fortuitously -- I think it was the hundredth birthday of your grandfather.

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: And you had him on your show.

RUSH: That's true. It was in Kansas City.

CALLER: '90, '91, something like that. My brother had been urging me -- you know, he kept telling me -- my brother's name is Woody. My brother told me. He said, "You need to listen to this guy, you need to listen to this guy." And I said, "Well, yeah, he's just like all the rest of them." But lo and behold I just happened to turn on the radio that day and as I said, it was your grandfather's birthday and you had him on your show and I could not believe what I was listening to. I mean, you know, I finally found someone who was in the media who thought -- at least talked the way that I did. And over the years, obviously it's become, you know, obvious that you do think exactly like a real conservative does. One other thing I wanted to mention. You know, these guys come and go, all these folks. You've been an enabler for all the conservative talk shows and even as far as Fox News is concerned. You know, you take some of these guys like Bill O'Reilly, for example. You know, they ought to be paying you homage instead of dropping their little snide remarks because you made it happen for all of them.

RUSH: Well, that's very kind of you to say. The pioneers take the arrows, though.

CALLER: Oh, I know.

RUSH: And when you're at the top everybody is gunning for what you have and what you want, and that's just part of the territory. But you're very kind.

CALLER: True, true.

RUSH: You're very kind. I appreciate that. You know, my grandfather lived to be 104. He worked until he was 102. He was a lawyer. He was born in 1891, so it was 1991 that you heard that program. He was in Kansas City being honored by the Missouri Bar Association at age 100. You got to wonder what you have to do to be honored by that group. It was a great week for him and our affiliate there, KMBZ, brought a surprise birthday cake during the interview and it was a great day. The whole family was there for this, because everybody was extremely proud of him. He was the patriarch of the family. He was the example that everybody tried to follow and the example everybody tried to meet, and some in the family have gotten closer than others, but the effort is what counts. And his influence, we all get together for Christmas, if that happens, he and our grandmother, their presence is still there. He was an amazing man, and I'm glad -- if you were listening to that and it was your first show, I'm surprised you even noticed me. Because I just asked a couple questions, and he launched on a history lesson of this country and a defense of the legal profession like I have never heard before, explaining when he thought the country became a great nation, with Teddy Roosevelt and the Navy. He gave all these historical references. His hero was Abraham Lincoln.

He was only born something like 30 years after the Civil War ended, 35 or 40. He was born closer to that than the era in which he died. He was born in 1891, no television, no phones, barely any electricity. He wrote a book to all of us that was really just a compilation of the letters that he had written over the years to my grandmother when they were courting, in the horse and buggy era. Everybody said, "When did you have time to do this?" Relating their own lives to his. He said, "What do you mean, when did I have time? This is all we did." There was no TV, none of that.

END TRANSCRIPT

Watch the Best of Rush on TV...
(A Tribute to the First Rush Hudson Limbaugh - Original Airdate April 9, 1996)

[Chi-townChief]

It pretty much means nothing to me; I'm a Cleveland Browns fan. The only advantage is an extra party or two here in Chicago.

[okie01]

In short, Rush Sr. was the antithesis of Rush III. Folks here say the distinction is clear to them.

Just couldn't resist taking a gratuitous shot, could he?

Whatcha wanna bet the "folks" he interviewed were on the Southeast Missouri campus and/or local Democrat committee members?

Hell, those were probably the only two groups of people in Cape Girardeau who would've given the time of day to a Chicago Tribune reporter!

[paltz]

check out the link I posted. There's a video interview where Rush's Grandfather talks about his influence on Rush (aka-Rusty)