Posted on 02/26/2021 3:12:30 AM PST by Kaslin
Rush Limbaugh created modern national talk radio as we now know it. For over three decades he kept at rapt attention -- live from noon to 3 p.m. on weekdays -- the largest conservative audience in broadcast history. More than 15 million tuned in each week.
Last week, 32 years and more than 23,000 hours of on-air commentary after he went national in August 1988, Limbaugh died of lung cancer at age 70.
By the 1990s he had become the voice, literally and iconically, of the conservative movement and its hot/cold liaisons with the Republican Party. Limbaugh was hated by the left because he was deadly effective in fighting them, and he was feared at times by the Republican establishment -- because he could also be deadly effective in fighting it.
Limbaugh had an uncanny sense of what conservative populism could do -- such as abruptly end Barack Obama's control of Congress after just two years in the sweeping Tea Party midterm election of 2010. He also instinctively sensed what it should not do: endorse Ross Perot's quixotic third-party surge of 1992 that eventually would split the conservative vote and ensure Bill Clinton the presidency with just 43 percent of the popular vote.
Limbaugh was a master comedian. His pauses, intonations and mock tones were far funnier than those of our contemporary regulars on late-night television. He was a gifted mimic, an impersonator, with as wide a repertoire as masters of the past such as Vaughn Meader, David Frye and Rich Little. Yet Limbaugh worked mostly behind the microphone, without the aid of an onstage presence.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
“More than 15 million tuned in each week.”
Uhhh, that was a bit over 20 million, Victor-baby, at least during most of Rush’s run.
I used to listen to Rush on my car radio, but the reception was so bad many times, and often the station that carried the program pre emptied it and the towns Highschool football game instead.
“...and often the station that carried the program pre emptied it and the towns Highschool football game instead.”
I mostly listened in the big cities, where Rush had more clout. Just sad to think of the damage being done to the country for pre-empting Rush’s show, even once, even in a small town. Bummer, I wish the owners of those stations better understood Rush.
I began listening to Rush on his first day of syndication. For a number of years I wasn’t able to due to work. For the past five years my office has been a pickup truck and lots of miles.
I loved the ability to drive out of a station’s range, hit a couple buttons and hear the voice of my friend again then repeat in about an hour.
R.I.P. Rush
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