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What a Difference: The Impact of Rush
Human Events ^ | July. 30, 2008 | Dick Morris

Posted on 07/30/2008 8:52:08 AM PDT by Reagan Man

I distinctly remember when my phone at my Washington hotel room rang at 1 AM during the spring of 1996. A distraught President Clinton was calling. “We’re getting killed on radio,” he blurted into the phone as soon as I picked it up.

“What do you mean?” I answered blearily trying to get a grip on what he was talking about.

“Hillary’s mothe r just drove here from Pennsylvania and all during the trip she heard them saying the most awful things about me on radio,” the president explained.

“On whose show?” I probed.

“Rush Limbaugh,” Clinton replied.

“He’s been on your case for years,” I answered.

“Yeah, but its getting serious,” he insisted.

The next morning, I got in touch with Terry McAuliffe at the Democratic National Committee to discuss setting up a war room to feed talking points to liberal talk show hosts to counter the pernicious influence of Rush!

Now that the wind blows at my back – no longer in my face – Rush sure comes in handy when its time to put the liberals in their place. There is, quite simply, nobody like him.

After all, before there was talk radio, there was Rush.

And before there was Fox News, there was Rush.

And before there was NewsMax, there was Rush.

And before their was Sean Hannity or Neil Boortz or Michael Medved or Dennis Prager or Mike Gallagher, there was Rush.

No other modern political commentator can lay claim to founding a branch of political discourse.

Honoring Rush for his contributions to America is not an empty exercise. At this moment, the liberal forces that hope to come to power with Barack Obama are set on a course to destroy the very institution that Rush founded – talk radio. Through a rigid application of the so-called fairness doctrine, they threaten to drive talk radio off the air and onto the Internet. Who knows if the listeners and the advertisers will follow?

Their goal is not to assure that liberals will be heard on the airwaves, but to guarantee that conservatives will not. The liberals know that left wing talk radio does not attract an audience and is a financial black hole. The collapse of Air America attests to that fact. NPR, black radio, Hispanic stations, and radio aimed at young people creams off the bulk of the would-be audience for liberal talk radio. So if stations can only air Rush or Sean or Neil if they also air the likes of Al Franken, they’ll probably cancel all talk radio and play music instead.

In our new book Fleeced, my wife Eileen McGann and I also raise the prospect that the left will seek to enforce sections of the FCC law which require “community participation” in the “ownership and management” of radio stations. As the National Review has pointed out, this can be a cover for infiltrating boards of directors and programming departments with liberals – an effort to hijack talk radio.

The liberals wouldn’t be trying to destroy talk radio if it weren’t working. And it was Rush who founded it and Rush who still leads the parade. Having attempted to discredit him, imprison him, silence him, or cow him, they have failed miserably. And, as a result, Rush still rules….and rocks!


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: anniversary; clinton; dickmorris; rmthread; rush; rushlimbaugh; talkradio; tribute
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To: griswold3
On Human Events I wrote an article entitled, "Anybody Remember the Red Lion Case?" That 1969 case upheld the Fairness Doctrine and its cousin, Equal Time, against challenges that those rules violated the First Amendment. To make a long story short, Justice White for the Court ruled that broadcast outlets were "scarce" compared to print media, which justified the rules.

Even then, the media outlets were about equal, so White's Opinion was about 20 years behind the technological curve. Today, almost half the daily newspapers which existed then, have disappeared. Meantime, media outlets have exploded into tens of thousands (TV) and hundreds of thousands (radio). And that's not counting the Internet, pod casting, etc.

So, the factual basis of the Red Lion case has not only disappeared, it has reversed. Only a grossly dishonest Supreme Court could possibly stand on Red Lion and uphold a new Fairness Doctrine, regardless of whether it came from a new FCC or a new Congress.

Of course, that discounts the possibility that President Obama would appoint dishonest Justices who would rule the way the politics dictated, and say to Hell with the Constitution.

Congressman Billybob

Ninth in the ten-part series, "The Owner's Manual (Part 9) -- The Bill of Rights"

Latest article, "Three Tours de France"

21 posted on 07/30/2008 9:09:13 AM PDT by Congressman Billybob ( www.ArmorforCongress.com)
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To: fishtank
While Rush`s best years are behind him, he still does a good job attacking liberals and exposing their hypocrisy and disdain for our Republic.

Still, Rush deserves kudos for advancing conservatism.

22 posted on 07/30/2008 9:12:08 AM PDT by Reagan Man ( McCain Wants My Conservative Vote in November --- EARN IT or NO DEAL !!!)
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To: Reagan Man

I vividly recall sitting in my office parking lot during lunch hour to catch my first Rush show (on recommendation from my brother).

I was awed, delighted, and amused. That was the summer of 1992.

The Fairness Doctrine plot is a bit overblown IMO. There is overwhelming public and commercial support for unrestrained talk radio. The emergence of satellite radio and Internet podcasts makes the entire purpose of the FD to seem a bit antiquated. I don’t think the public would ever permit such a gross intrusion of the government into free speech on the airwaves.

Finally, the reason Clear Channel paid Rush $400 million isn’t merely his commercial status, but because he is their best insurance against the Fairness Doctrine. It will take only one Rush talking 3 hours every day against it to make certain that the FD is never put into place again.


23 posted on 07/30/2008 9:14:00 AM PDT by angkor (Conservatism is not now and never has been a religious movement.)
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To: Reagan Man
Your Sponsor: Media Research Center

The Issue:

Once again, liberal leaders are pushing the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” to silence conservative leaders like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin. Their goal is clear -- silence conservative speech over the radio airwaves. Read MRC’s Special Report: Unmasking The Fairness Doctrine (.pdf)
The Media Research Center

24 posted on 07/30/2008 9:14:52 AM PDT by Foolsgold ("We live in the greatest country in the world and I am going to change it" Barry O'boomarang 2008)
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To: Reagan Man

Bump ditto


25 posted on 07/30/2008 9:16:31 AM PDT by Christian4Bush (End our long national nightmare. Vote Reid and Pelosi out of leadership.)
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To: Christian4Bush

Bbut, isn’t “black hole” racist?


26 posted on 07/30/2008 9:25:16 AM PDT by bicyclerepair (ETHANOL-- LOWERS MPG !)
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To: Reagan Man
I've noticed that 3WT (107.7 affiliated with WTOP news radio) in Washington, D.C. has taken an interesting tack to get their liberal message on talk radio. They have the motto "Left. Right. and whatever we want."

They mix conservative hosts with people like Randi Rhodes and Stephanie Miller.

The idea is a pretty good one (for their sakes) because if I tune in to hear Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, or Neal Boortz - sometime I get burned by the liberal idiots.

The funny thing is that their strategy is to use the popularity and inertia of conservatives to carry the liberal message.

27 posted on 07/30/2008 9:25:42 AM PDT by kinsman redeemer (The real enemy seeks to devour what is good.)
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To: Reagan Man

Congrats, Rush! wow...20...


28 posted on 07/30/2008 9:26:41 AM PDT by Gondring (I'll give up my right to die when hell freezes over my dead body!)
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To: humblegunner
The Left hates Rush for that very reason...he is sure of himself and is not riddled with the self-doubt that prevents Liberals from actually accomplishing anything.

I will say this...even I get fed up when he spends hours talking about football or namedropping. Come on! People listen for the politics, guy!

29 posted on 07/30/2008 9:29:21 AM PDT by 50sDad (OBAMA: In your heart you know he's Wright.)
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To: Reagan Man

If only McCain listened to Rush!

[sigh]


30 posted on 07/30/2008 9:33:01 AM PDT by Entrepreneur (The environmental movement is filled with watermelons - green on the outside, red on the inside)
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To: fishtank

You’re a moron... Post your drivel on the Savage thread... After all, Weiner’s your idol. He’s an absolute lunatic Skum.


31 posted on 07/30/2008 9:35:34 AM PDT by NYC Republican (Infuriate the MSM- Vote for McCain)
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To: humblegunner

Great... one of the most influential conservatives in the country, and you want him silenced... Fess up, you’re really a liberal, aren’t you?


32 posted on 07/30/2008 9:37:02 AM PDT by NYC Republican (Infuriate the MSM- Vote for McCain)
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To: bicyclerepair
But, isn’t “black hole” racist?

Only to racists!

33 posted on 07/30/2008 9:40:03 AM PDT by Christian4Bush (About Obama: "Overinflated balloons pop suddenly and catastrophically." - Bill Dupray)
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To: fishtank
Proof you haven't listened to Rush the last 4 years .. AND


34 posted on 07/30/2008 9:43:00 AM PDT by STARWISE (They (Dims) think of this WOT as Bush's war, not America's war-RichardMiniter, respected OBL author)
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To: NYC Republican
You mean to say anyone who does not revere Limbaugh must be a liberal?

Really?

35 posted on 07/30/2008 9:43:18 AM PDT by humblegunner
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To: Entrepreneur
>>>>>If only McCain listened to Rush! [sigh]

True. OTOH. At one time, McCain was a conservative. If only McCain hadn't abandoned Reaganism.

36 posted on 07/30/2008 9:44:17 AM PDT by Reagan Man ( McCain Wants My Conservative Vote in November --- EARN IT or NO DEAL !!!)
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton
And I wouldn’t be surprised if Rush was off the air by March.

Rush will be the last to go. Rush brings in enough listeners and advertising money that stations could afford to put on three hours of dead air to balance him - and a leftist show wouldn't have too much lower rating than that. Local and national hosts with small numbers of stations will be the first ones replaced with garden or sports talk shows.

37 posted on 07/30/2008 9:48:10 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (Whale oil: the renewable biofuel for the 21st century.)
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To: angkor
The Fairness Doctrine plot is a bit overblown IMO.

I think so too. As I recall, the FD only applies to either public broadcasts and/or actual news casts and conservative talk radio falls under entertainment. Government laws to stop talk radio would be censorship and would surely be challenged in court for decades if need be.

38 posted on 07/30/2008 9:54:48 AM PDT by subterfuge (BUILD MORE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS NOW!!!)
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To: Reagan Man; rush
Rush:

Congratulations on 20 years!! You are Talk Radio!!

39 posted on 07/30/2008 9:56:42 AM PDT by MaineConservative (Charlie Summers -- an Iraqi Vet and businessman for Maine's CD-1)
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To: subterfuge

Don’t be to sure. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the Left doesn’t like conflicting opinions. They were shouting people down forty years ago at the universities, and they’re still trying to do it today.


40 posted on 07/30/2008 9:59:43 AM PDT by popdonnelly (Boycott Washington D.C. until they allow gun ownership)
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