I was a leftist, pretty radical, read the Progressive, the Nation, Zmagazine, Utne reader...
One of the magazines had an article about this man called Rush Limbaugh. In the article the author spoke about how friendly and polite this talk show host was to his guests. And that all over the midwest from 1 to 3 diners and resturaunts paused to listen to Rush.
So one day I decided to try to find this phenomenon so I kept turning the dial on the radio in the SAAB. And I found him. This had to be 1991 - 3? Unsure. I listened to him as he provided a different take on women’s lib, and just about everything else I understood.
I was charmed. He was funny, witty and a bit off the wall, but ever so rational.
It was the beginning of a long walk to conservatism
If I’d started listening to him earlier, I could have had my mind cleared up in 1991 instead of limping along till I found Free Republic in 1998 (and through FR, Ayn Rand). I wish I had. Because that’s what it felt like when I finally understood the conservative point of view: like my head had been full of clouds, and a cold wind just blew them away.