There really is no need for all this back and forth about my unsuitability as Rush’s successor.
I was honored to guest-host, at Rush’s pleasure, for fifteen years. My penultimate show (on February 19th, two days after his death) was my personal tribute to Rush. On my final show (February 22nd), I had the pleasure of hosting his beloved Kathryn.
And that is that.
Welcome aboard Mr. Steyn.
Thank you Mark. I loved it when you guest hosted.
Always enjoyed the whimsy you added to the show. Best of luck in your endeavors.
Thank you Mark for all you do for the survival of western civilization. Your pleasant manner and fine sense of humor made you my favorite guest host.
And that is that.
Some of us still love you. Thanks for your part in pulling the train..
Thank you for helping out our beloved Rush. You are a brilliant man and I always enjoy seeing you on Tucker.
Welcome aboard. Thanks for all you do!
I hope you become a Senior Fellow at Free Republic.
I think you do a great job. I miss hearing you and hope you’ll be back on EIB soon.
Does this mean we won’t be hearing you on EIB again? I sincerely hope not.
This will give “One and done” an entirely new meaning around here.
My take...I've said before that I believe Rush's strength was that he was a conversationalist first. That's what made listening to him and his callers so entertaining.
The problem with Mark Levin and Dan Bongino is that they are subject-matter experts first. Their style is to lecture; while informative, it is not necessarily entertaining.
Mark Steyn is a conversationalist, too. What differentiates Steyn from Limbaugh is that his personal interests are different. Rush liked football, golf, cigars, and rolled with the great thinkers of conservatism. Steyn is steeped in popular culture, movies, music, theater. Their conversations with callers are different, but both are witty and entertaining.
Levin is the farthest thing from a conversationalist on the radio, with Sean Hannity right alongside. Levin is grating, yells at callers, and runs hot and cold. But Levin is an expert on the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the law. Hannity is repetitive, falls back on rote boilerplate clichés whenever a trigger word is mentioned, and interrupts guests with meaningless inside jokes at the worst possible moments in an interview. However, Hannity's Rolodex is large and he has access to top-tier people in government.
Bongino brings new keen insights as a former Secret Service agent, but I'm afraid that he will become a one-note song (full disclosure: I never listened to his radio show, but I have heard him as a guest on various shows). As a substitute host for Levin, Bongino would often take an entire show to detail the "big picture" on the plot against President Trump over the past four years. While it was a needed voice at the time, I'm afraid that it isn't sustainable radio entertainment unless we're in crisis mode.
Ken Matthews and Todd Herman are listenable and engage well with the callers, but they don't have the gravitas (in my opinion). That isn't to say that they won't in the future, but they were Rush's guest fill-in hosts and were purposefully deferential to him and his show. They will need to break out of that shell and define themselves without being in Rush's shadow if they want to be the next vanguard of advancing conservative thought.
All that said, Premier Networks needs to step up and make a final decision sooner than later, or events will overtake them and individual stations will peel off and make their own decisions on how to fill the noon to 3 time slot.
-PJ
Stated well. You’ve been a solid stand-in for Rush. I’m sure you would admit that, as radio talk goes, the man was magical. It’s a tall order to fill those shoes.
I think what made the difference with Rush was his personable nature. When I listened, I pictured him at the mic, but somehow I was in the room and he was talking to me. When he said “Folks!” in his booming voice, he was talking to us, me and you.
We need his “We’re going to win this” attitude - It’s something I feel you can do really well if you focus on it. I’ve heard you do it. It’s not about what’s going wrong in the world, though those things are important and have to be covered. It’s really about the inevitable victory ahead - because truth is on our side.
My 2 cents - No matter what you do, I always enjoy listening.
Welcome aboard. You were my favorite guest host. Always entertaining and smart.
Welcome to FR, FR Mr. Steyn.
If I can’t have Rush, you’d do just fine. Thanks for all you do for the cause.
Regards
Mark,
Its been a pleasure having you host Rush’s show these past years. Hope to hear your words again in the future, too!
I’ve got Rush on tape staring about the Lewinsky years, and on HD starting a couple years later recorded using the same Windows 95 machine from then until now. It was a treat while working to come home and hear the Rush Limbaugh Program on my schedule!
73 and best wishes for now,
_Jim
You did a great job and you were my favorite guest host. Thanks again.
Sadly a lot of Freepers have lost a step or two and can’t keep up with you. Don’t pay attention to them.
Well I love you.....I looked forward to when you guest hosted...
Your wit and cultural references are without equal
You’re funny as hell
You are missed.
Thank you for your times as our guest host for Rush, Mark. It was always good to hear great analysis about the issues in not only in the US, but other countries as well.