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Rush Limbaugh's Ultimate Betrayal of His Audience
The Atlantic ^ | CONOR FRIEDERSDORF

Posted on 08/30/2016 7:17:55 AM PDT by ToxicMich

For almost a decade, I’ve been angrily documenting the way that many right-wing talk-radio hosts betray the rank-and-file conservatives who trust them for information. My late grandmother was one of those people. She deserved better than she got. With huge platforms and massive audiences, successful hosts ought to take more care than the average person to be truthful and avoid misinforming listeners. Yet they are egregiously careless on some days and willfully misleading on others.

And that matters, as we’ll come to see.

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: dsj02; rush; rusharticle; rushlimbaugh; rushlive; trump
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To: lacrew

Exactly. I’m with you. I never expected Trump would deport every individual residing illegally in this country, but I expect he will do at least better than Bush did, just by getting rid of the executive orders that tie the hands of the BP.


61 posted on 08/30/2016 8:06:58 AM PDT by ichabod1 (Make America Normal Again)
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To: LS

I believe Rush himself is taken aback by Trump’s success.

It’s impossible to explain something you don’t fully understand.

Trump’s campaign style is unique — ‘stream of consciousness’.

Trump’s position on the issues is ‘macro’ rather than ‘micro’. He lays out the overall plan. But that confuses wonks who underestimate that he’s been thinking seriously about immigration and other problems for over a decade.


62 posted on 08/30/2016 8:08:37 AM PDT by Arthur Wildfire! March (ICANN reform = Obama giving away Internet on Sept 30. Call/Write SENATE please!)
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To: BenLurkin

I’ve been listening to Rush since 1996, and I’ve never felt he was misleading me .. or misinforming me.

The Atlantic is just showing how afraid they are that the people might actually start believing what Rush is saying; which means The Atlantic is going to end up in the “dustbin of History” .. just like Hillary and her following.

The LEFT is in near hysteria at the thought that America may be finding out what the LEFT has really been up to all these years (enslaving America).


63 posted on 08/30/2016 8:09:23 AM PDT by CyberAnt ("Peace Through Strength")
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Yeah but much more than that:

1) Cruz didn’t accomplish anything in the senate. People had real questions about whether he would be as ineffective in the presidency.

2) Cruz didn’t attract evangelicals as he should have. This was due to a) some evangelicals seeing the issues of security and rebuilding the economy as THE key “evangelical” issues-—and Trump seemed stronger-—and b) I do think the sneaky “dirty trucks” caught up with him. I said over and over: other candidates could get away with that stuff because they weren’t running as “the pious/moral” candidate.

3) Cruz rightfully had enough “mainstream/GOPe” baggage & support to indeed make him look like an insider.

4) Naming Fiorina early and doing the deal with Kasich made him seem desperate.

I could give more, but Rush owed it to his audience to at least ACKNOWLEDGE that these were real factors.


64 posted on 08/30/2016 8:10:47 AM PDT by LS ("Castles Made of Sand, Fall in the Sea . . . Eventually" (Hendrix))
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Because he started taking himself seriously. Years of adoration went to his head.


65 posted on 08/30/2016 8:12:35 AM PDT by Pelham (Best.Election.Ever)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

I miss the G-Man’s show.


66 posted on 08/30/2016 8:13:34 AM PDT by wally_bert (I didn't get where I axm today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
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To: LS

Worse than that he was a Marco Rubio fanboy and apparently still is. The same is true with Hannity.


67 posted on 08/30/2016 8:13:49 AM PDT by Pelham (Best.Election.Ever)
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To: Always A Marine
While true, remember, Rush just said he never took Trump seriously. Yet this author points out where he did say that Trump was serious. So forget this guys position on Trump. Someone totally politically opposite of your worldview can still be correct. It's whether the information he is providing is factual. And he is using Rush's own words in the article. Like this example from his show on 8/17/15. "He goes on Meet the Press yesterday and, have to tell you, the establishment is shocked, angry, saddened. He came off as presidential. He had a serious immigration plan." Again talking about Trump: "The American people haven't seen anything like this. It's a teachable moment here. Standing up for what you believe after you say it and doubling down on it is rewarding."

Yeah Rush. You never took Trump seriously.

68 posted on 08/30/2016 8:15:09 AM PDT by joesbucks
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To: Pelham

Yesterday when dissing Trump’s “purported” backtrack he said Cruz and Rubio had serious immigration plans.


69 posted on 08/30/2016 8:15:45 AM PDT by LS ("Castles Made of Sand, Fall in the Sea . . . Eventually" (Hendrix))
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To: bigbob
"Anyone who looks to radio talk shows as a source of information is an idiot."

Amen. The writer is a typical liberal who assumes Conservatives aren't smart enough to have an original thought, form our own opinions, or know what's going on in the world without it being spoon-fed to us.

I first started listening to Rush during Operation Desert Shield. Over the years I listened to him most often while I was at work. When I retired in 2003, my listening opportunities dwindled, so that I usually only get to listen to him while I'm in my car...and it isn't every day. I still enjoy his show when I have the opportunity. And the only two subs I ever enjoyed listening to are Mark Steyn and Walter Williams, and I haven't heard either of them in quite a while. If someone other than those two are hosting, I turn it off.

70 posted on 08/30/2016 8:17:09 AM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: Always A Marine

That’s all good. Then why are people getting mixed messages from people like Stein and Limbaugh when they tune into their show?
Mark Stein says, “i will probably vote for Trump”
PROBABLY???
This is not the time to argue if Trump will do what he says.
Because we Know what hillary will do.
Quit play cutsie word games and get solidly behind Trump or at the very least ATTACK HILLARY!


71 posted on 08/30/2016 8:19:05 AM PDT by Leep (Cut the crap!)
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To: ToxicMich

Rush has opinions. . .sometimes he is wrong. . .so what’s the big deal? Generally, I agree with Rush and I like to listen to him. . .unlike Mark Levin who went full-nutjob 24/7 butthurt over Cruz. . .but I would even start to listen to Levin again if he could just pull out of his self-destructive #neverTrump nosedive.


72 posted on 08/30/2016 8:23:11 AM PDT by McBuff
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To: bert

Yeah, this is a #NeverTrump hit piece blaming Rush for the failures of the GOP and the rise of Trump.


73 posted on 08/30/2016 8:25:11 AM PDT by yuleeyahoo (Those are my principles, and if you do not like them...well I have others. - Groucho Marx)
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To: LS

Yeah Rush is still a Cruz/Rubio boy who resents Trump, it’s the root of his passive-aggressive treatment of Trump.

Except for one brief period Rush has always been worthless on immigration, he never lifted a finger and wouldn’t even take calls on it for years while we were fighting a desperate battle here in California. So I guess it’s no surprise to find him calling a dedicated amnesty hack like Rubio as someone with “a serious immigration plan”. A plan that La Raza would support, definitely.


74 posted on 08/30/2016 8:25:35 AM PDT by Pelham (Best.Election.Ever)
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To: ToxicMich

I’m pretty sick of people bad mouthing Rush because they disagree with something he says or he doesn’t say exactly what they want.

He has been a big plus for conservatism for 28 years. I appreciate it and will always be grateful. He is going to support Trump because he is the alternative to Hillary Clinton. No other has a chance.


75 posted on 08/30/2016 8:30:40 AM PDT by FXRP (Just me and the pygmy pony)
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To: Pelham

He said Rubio’s throat was full.


76 posted on 08/30/2016 8:31:03 AM PDT by ichabod1 (Make America Normal Again)
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To: LS
I'd add being born in a foreign country to one citizen parent to that list.

I think it did matter to many Americans that Cruz's claim of eligibility also applied to children born in Vietnam in the 1960s and early 1970s from American soldiers.

The "Canadian Anchor Baby" label stuck, and it also stuck to Jindal and Rubio.

-PJ

77 posted on 08/30/2016 8:34:44 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.From Foxnews, May 31,)
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To: LS
It's hard to take seriously the immigration plans from anchor babies.

-PJ

78 posted on 08/30/2016 8:37:09 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.From Foxnews, May 31,)
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To: ToxicMich

Rush Limbaugh is one of the greatest TRUE conservatives to ever live. The other is Phyllis Schlafly.

You newbies and millennials have NO clue what your talking about when you disparage Rush.

The Atlantic magazine is a communist rag. Why post any articles from them on here?


79 posted on 08/30/2016 8:39:36 AM PDT by Flavious_Maximus
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To: reasonisfaith

“Limbaugh is an establishment tool. Trump got the nomination in spite of Limbaugh, not because of him.”

I don’t think Limbaugh had anything to do with Trump getting the nomination. He usually sits out the nomination.


80 posted on 08/30/2016 8:43:27 AM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (It appears as if Trump is our Yeltsin.)
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