Posted on 11/10/2001 6:05:37 AM PST by carlo3b
Rush Limbaugh has single-handedly brought us to a stage in our politics that we have the luxury to complain about how conservative this or that jerk Republican is, in what power position of control within our government. Rush is my hero, and always will be, and if you are over 50 and can remember where we Republicans came from, it will remind you what he did for all of us, that lived and suffered through it while sober.
It must have been 1988 or early '89, I was driving the interstate in Houston, when I switched radio channels and heard Rush the very first time. These were difficult times politically, the media had a full court press on, to soften the newly elected Bush Sr for the political slaughter that would mark the entire 4 years of his administration. It was obvious from the beginning, that the dignified President G H Bush, and his experienced adult and truly exceptional advisors were no match for the political task that lay ahead. The left, had endured Reagan, and his fatal near charm for 8 long years, and that was just about all they could handle.
Every TV and radio news station, every newspaper, each and every commentator in the public arena of political, academic, financial and entertainment life, was working off the same script... "this is the worse economy, worse indicators, worse direction our national health, and poor homeless citizenry have ever endured ...Blah blah blah" ...HUH .....WHAT??? WHERE??? WHO????
Didn't anyone remember THE "Double Digit" CARTER, or THE "Double Crossing" JOHNSON, or THE "Duel Devils" KENNEDY, administrations??? Apparently not on the nation scene, with the exception of few intellectual writers, a couple of obscure and totally despised and dismissed former Republican politicians, only one moderate voice, Paul Harvey, no one was speaking out for me .....until ... MR. RUSH LIMBAUGH.
When I heard him say, "It's lies, all lies, damned lies, and we didn't have to sit quietly and listen to it without saying so!!!!!!.." Whoa!!! YES!!! Who was this guy?? How could he say these things, and get away with it?? How long before someone in a position of power hears him, and shuts him down.. HA! In the interim, I'm going to do everything I can to encourage him, amplify his words, promote his station, and get as many others as I can to do the same. I think I opened the very first Houston "RUSH ROOM", a lunchtime, radios blasting Rush showcase.
At first, the culture shock and my blatant bias worked to the detriment of my own business. However, within 3 months we were packed again, only with a different mix of people ..these were for the most part ...LOL.. the new choir. When it started, people would look around and wonder what was happening. Arguments broke out spontaneously, and people listened intently, and commented across tables, and between strangers, among the classes and cultures ..it was a nervous, high five, laughing, red-faced, shouting mix of radicals. To say the least, not everyone agreed with my change of atmosphere, I was screamed at, and scolded, and cursed, and applauded, and yes ...thanked!
Rush, you may not be able to hear me, but thank GOD, I can still hear you. You are and always will be an inspiration to hard core conservatives, and clear thinking people of the world. Just thought someone should say so...
God Bless you Rush, I love you my friend!
Odd that you would post this glowing tribute under the screen name of Trailer Trash.
A long long time ago, in the days of FTP internet chat rooms, before PPP was possible, there was a Chat Room by the name of Trailer Trash.
It wasn't totally political chat, but was joined daily by a conservative group of folks that learned to discuss their political differences in a respectful manner.
I echo your opinion of Rush.
Now I conclude that Rush is a survivor. The Brown Crash is a highly polarizing and divisive issue. Many conservatives refuse to take it seriously. And so long as the conservatives are divided on it, Rush will avoid it. Why risk all he built up over that one controversy? I guess the same goes for the tainted blood scandal. Too many other conservatives ignore it. So Rush avoids it. He looks for some semblance of unity before diving in.
He is a powerful, positive, educational force, for the most part issue oriented. And so, I realise that it is up to guys like me to get the real dark side of the Rats exposed. I think he would pick up a lot more listeners if he dared to dive into those turbulent waters, but I don't hold it against him for being cautious.
God Bless You, Rush!
What the libs don't understand is that Rush IS the antidote. The antidote for the NBCCBSABCCNNNYT liberal propaganda machine.
The fact that the left considers Rush such an unchecked threat is very, very telling, IMHO.
Keep playin' the hits, Rush. Keep playin' the hits.
By 1990, all that had changed. Talk radio (especially conservative talk radio) was still a nascent phenomenon, and new Presidential Candidate Bill Clinton never really saw it coming. He had the major networks (plus CNN) in his pocket, and couldn't get his mind around the fact of a simmering mainstream American population between the coasts who needed Rush and Company's pressure-relief valve.
A scant five years later, conservatism already had more than enough momentum to be a driving force on the brand-new Internet. (I hope I'm not mixing metaphors here.)
Clinton, meantime, occupies the no-man's land between "laughingstock" and "irrelevance." Still sniffing about for a "legacy," he brings shame to the newly-awakened patriotism we see all around us in America today.
And Rush rightly deserves the credit for a big part of this.
BTW, I didn't want to start a thread on this, but does anyone know why National Review hasn't been updating lately?
Recently there was a thread on FR for young people in their teens and 20s. I read it, even though I'm not in that age group. I noticed that many of the young people credited Rush Limbaugh with helping them to become conservatives. Rush does a lot of good.
My daughter had just gone off to college in '88 and I was working around the house and stopped to look around the radio dial. What do you suppose I heard...Dear, Dear Rush. One of the first things that took my attention was his wonderful voice and then what he was saying I couldn't believe. I just stood there and looked at the radio. I was the happiest person alive that day (as far as I was concerned.)
Well needless to say my kids and husband said the radio was so loud that the sound seemed to emmanate through the walls. I was working in the house so I had three radios going so I wouldn't miss a word and I didn't because I wouldn't vaccum till the commercial came on. (Sorry Rush).
It took about 3 years for my hubby, who is a conservative to come around but now he is a faithful as I am. My children love him as well. Since then I have turned many people on to Rush. He is the greatest!
Same here. Rush helped me decide that no quarter can be given to the Left, ever, without caving in on some principle that you must hold on to in order to remain free and independent.
Growing up with liberals taught me how easy it is to 'feel' something is right rather than to 'know' when something is. Rush deserves much credit for exposing this difference as well as he has.
When I listen today, his voice reminds me of the father on Frazier. No matter, Frazier's dad is a fun character.
Rush is the bravest, brightest media-man we have! Many FReepers like to FLame him while others merely bow to his impressive skill and knowledge. I choose to bow.
(signed)
A Ph.D. from the Rush Limbaugh School of Advanced Conservative Studies
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