Angry White Male (Rush Limbaugh)

Why is Rush Limbaugh - the Right-wing radio presenter - considered 'the most dangerous man in America'? Toby Harnden finds out

"The most dangerous man in America" takes a contented puff on his Fuente Fuente Opus X cigar, shuffles the papers on his desk and leans into the microphone. "Testing, testing," he purrs, like a racing car revving up. "Yep, there we go. Greetings, my good friends and welcome.

Rush Limbaugh: he has 20 million listeners and is routinely portrayed as racist, ignorant and hateful

"I'm your host - the all-knowing, all-caring, all-sensing, all-feeling, all-important, all-concerned Maha Rushie, firmly ensconced here in the prestigious Attila the Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies."

Rush Limbaugh III is broadcasting to more than 600 talk radio stations across "the fruited plain" - his term for the United States. It's midday and time to settle down to three riotous, Right-wing hours of funny voices, parody and trenchant political analysis as he baits, mocks and smites bleeding hearts everywhere.

With an audience of nearly 20 million a week, Limbaugh is an American institution. He may be reviled as much as he is revered, but he has never once been ignored since his syndicated show went national in 1988.

In 2001, he signed an eight-year syndication contract worth £180 million - with a £25 million signing bonus - and it is no exaggeration to say that one cannot properly comprehend George W Bush's America without listening to Limbaugh in full flow.

His "35 Undeniable Truths" include the observations, "the most beautiful thing about a tree is what you do with it after you cut it down" and "feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society". Another is, "I am not arrogant", though he delights in boasting that he performs "with half my brain tied behind my back, just to make it fair because I have talent on loan from God". He has described himself - with a degree of accuracy as well as irony - as "a man, a legend, a way of life".

He broadcasts from a skyscraper above Penn Station in New York, and his studio is decorated with a large oil portrait of himself sent in by an avid Dittohead (the term for a Rush fan), a neon replica of his signature and blown-up magazine covers with his image on the front.

Having slimmed down to 15.5 stone (he once weighed more than 23), Limbaugh, with his slicked back hair and devilish grin, now bears a passing resemblance to Jack Nicholson rather than being the Benny Hill lookalike of old.

He is supposedly the prototypical angry white man, but there is no pick-up truck, gun rack or red neck in sight. Dressed in a grey suit, white shirt and yellow tie, he conducts our interview from behind a desk in his office, which is stuffed with books and political memorabilia.

So how does he feel about being routinely portrayed as racist, ignorant and full of hate? "What, not sexist and homophobic as well?" he says, feigning disappointment. "Those are all the stereotypes. I will lay you 10 to one that the people who have said those things have never listened to my programme.

"I'll tell you, I am hated by more people for what I think than I would have the capacity to even dislike. Nobody that's filled with the kind of hate that I'm described as having can prosper in the American media like this.

"Hate does not attract and grow an audience and maintain it. When I started, 14 years ago, this stuff bothered me because throughout my life nobody ever hated me and nobody thought I hated anybody. I get on the radio and I start telling people what I think, and all of a sudden I'm a hatemonger."

Limbaugh, 52 this month, is certainly not short of detractors on the Left. Linking Right-wing talk radio with the Oklahoma bombing in 1995, Bill Clinton urged Americans to speak out against "purveyors of hatred and division" and "loud and angry voices" who "leave the impression, by their words, that violence is acceptable".

Clinton once complained, during an interview: "After I get off the phone with you, Rush Limbaugh will have three hours to say whatever he wants and there's no truth detector." Al Franken, a Left-wing polemicist, published a book called Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot.

Al Gore, the former vice-president, recently named Limbaugh as part of a "fifth column" in the media, "financed by ultra-conservative billionaires". Tom Daschle, Democratic leader in the US Senate, complained that "when Rush Limbaugh attacks those of us in public", threats "go up dramatically, on our families and on us".

Limbaugh, whose audience increases every time he is attacked by a senior Democrat, laughs out loud at the charges. "The genuine hate and the phobia are on the Left." And it is the Right, he insists, which provides solutions, rather than just lofty sentiment.

"It's the most gutless choice you can make in the world, to be liberal," he says. "It's the easiest thing in the world to do, because all you have to do is feel. All you have to do is say you care and express sorrow for somebody's plight. You don't have to do a damn thing to fix it."

Mention of the "angry white male" label starts him almost spitting with derision. "It's meaningless pap," he barks directly into my tape recorder. "It is liberal drivel and I learnt long ago that I've got to look at these things as badges of honour.

"And since the liberals cannot counter the substance of what they hear on my programme, or choose not to, they say: 'Oh, he's angry, he's full of hate, he's inciting this or that'."

But he fights fire with fire. When his enemies compare him to Hitler, or accuse him of being a mean-spirited zealot, he hits back by calling them "feminazis" or tree-hugging wackos.

With President Bush, whom Limbaugh supports staunchly, under fire from many in Britain as he limbers up for war with Iraq, the talk show host is happy to launch a broadside or two against the Euroweenies.

"I have the luxury of not really caring what the Europeans say about American policy," he says cheerfully. "All I know is that Europe, as it exists, wouldn't if it weren't for the United States."

As well as failing to win the Second World War on our own, he avers, we have substandard lavatory facilities. "You go to European countries that have been around for thousands of years and you will find just basic human services that are centuries behind, such as bathrooms and toilets and automobiles and roads."

Anti-Americanism or antipathy to Mr Bush is based on little more than envy, he says. "There's anger that we are the superpower. There's anger at our economic prosperity." Jealousy and resentment are "just normal human emotions" that nations have, just like people.

"A lot of Europe looks at America and says, 'Well, yeah, but they used their muscle and they run around the world and they steal other nations' resources and they use it up for themselves and deny everyone else; they're irresponsible and they're profligate'.

"I look at America as just the opposite. I think we feed the world, we lead the world technologically, we improve living standards and conditions for our own people and people around the world.

"And in places that are underdeveloped economically, it's not the unequal distribution of resources that's the problem, it's the unequal distribution of capitalism. America is still the land of opportunity and the number of people trying to get into this country proves it. I just wish more people in Europe and around the world understood it, instead of being resentful of it."

He exempts us Brits from much of this criticism and suggests that ordinary people don't necessarily believe all they read in the Left-wing press. "When I'm in London, I read the papers and see all this hatred for America and see all this criticism, but I get in a cab or I talk to people in a pub and I don't hear it.

"I'm sure it's there, but I go to my favourite cigar shop, Desmond Sautter's in Mayfair, and I don't hear any criticism of America. In the hotels where I stay, I don't hear much. France is different. Last time I was in France, it was scary."

Limbaugh's success in life did not come quickly or easily. He dropped out of university, has twice been virtually bankrupt and has been fired six times by radio stations and other employers. He once said that "when I hear women are interested in me, I don't believe it". He met his third and current wife, Marta, in 1994, four years after she e-mailed him, asking how to stand up to a Reagan-bashing history lecturer at the University of North Florida, where she was a student.

About 18 months ago, an autoimmune attack left Limbaugh deaf for three months. Following a cochlear implant - an electronic device which stimulates nerves in the inner ear - his hearing is much improved, though still impaired. Now, during each show, a stenographer types out what every caller says so that he can read their words on a computer if his ears fail him.

"A one-on-one conversation like this is easy," he says. "But this air-conditioning unit - you can probably barely hear it - sounds like a jet engine to me. I don't hear enough of the high frequency spectrum to be able to detect a melody any more. I thought my career might be over and I wasn't ready to quit. I had been taking for granted that I could get up every day and do this, and now it was about to be taken away. It rejuvenated me, gave me a 16-year-old's type of energy and enthusiasm."

Despite all the bravado about "serving humanity simply by opening my mouth", in person, Limbaugh is affable and seems almost bewildered by his popularity. The setbacks and struggles have left him with a streak of vulnerability that is endearing and also gives his shows an edge.

Although arguably one of the leading conservative thinkers of his generation, he still cannot quite believe the company he finds himself in. "Lady Thatcher is a historical figure and it's a thrill for me to be able to count her as a friend. She's still the Iron Lady and I am just this little kid from Missouri talking to her about world events."

Part of him still has an almost childlike desire to be liked. "When my mother was alive, I'd call her every week, sometimes every day, and she'd say: 'How was your day?' And I'd say: 'Oh Mom, it was great - half the people who heard me hate my guts'. That's a tough measure of success.

"They call me 'the most dangerous man in America' [a term he rejoices in], because I'm able to make people agree with me. Very few people ever take issue with the substance of what I say. They call me a big fat idiot or they say I didn't go to college or whatever."

In America, conservatism is currently king and the desperation of his foes is as great an accolade as Limbaugh could hope for. "When you're in this arena and you're telling people what you think and being honest about who you are in the process, you're going to be a threat. And I like being a threat."

Cute, eddie did I touch a nerve or something?

No...just trying to flush you out.

Are you a 'Globalist, WTO, NAFTA, NWO Buchanan Brigadier'?
A follower of the aforementioned Lyndon LaRouche?
An anarchist?
Is Alex Jones the ideal talk show host?

Just asking...

Don't feel the need to link anything Mr. Raspberry writes about, he is a liberal dips*it who can be read in some major newspapers all across the country and has never made any sense to me.

I used to get mad, now I just shrug him off or laugh, he's a joke.

"And I get my comic relief by reading the smug, arrogant writings of Rushbots who really believe they're getting the full story regarding our current state of affairs from the old Blowfish himself."

Who Put The Turd In The Punch Bowl?

Judging from your post, it seems to me that you're a seeker of the truth and if Rush started you on that path then good for him (and you). My contention is, has been and will be that he does not go into enough depth on issues such as illegal immigration because I can absolutely gurantee you that if he was really hitting that subject hard he would have LULAC, MECHA, etc. calling for his scalp. The assault on private property rights goes much deeper than you would believe. Also, do a key word on "Free Trade Area of the Americas" (FTAA) and learn how our leaders want to create an American Union just like the EU complete with no borders, regional government....just one big multicultural family from Cananda to So. America and guess who'll get to pay for it all? Not sure if Rush has broached this topic lately.

Our country's problems are deep and systemic. My problem with Rush is that no matter how informative he may be but in my mind he is capable of much, much more but he'll never deliver.

"Listening to Rush is merely validation for things I ALREADY believed in, long before I ever knew the name Rush Limbaugh!"

I voted for Reagan twice before I ever heard Rush. The first time I voted for Reagan, I was a Democrat (Reagan Democrat). Please don't hold it against me, I guess it is like once being gang raped in jail and trying to keep it a secret.

However, I was ALWAYS Conservative. Rush just articulates it much much better than I can.

Sorry Eddie, I'm just a self made businessman who understands reality because when you run a company that has seen free trade practically debillitate the electronics industry that I'm in you learn to separate fact from fiction. If you and others are stupid enough to believe that everything "just happens by accident" and that that the mainstream presstitutes are telling us all we need to know about illegal immigration, property rights, free trade, etc. then all I can feel is pity.

Did he cover the fact that we've had numerous incursions of the Mexican federales into this country ...

Do you have a named source that backs up this statement?

Hey man more power to you, sounds like you've been around the track. However, it's imperative that you and others understand that the Reagan idea of conservatism is being re-defined right before our eyes by the current administration and the talking heads. I'm sure you remember Reagan saying (paraphrase) "a country that won't defend it's borders IS NOT a country any longer" yet, we're being swamped with illegals, costing taxpayers billions of $ and all we get get are the mainstream useful media/gov't idiots running around extolling the wonders of multiculturalism! Don't these morons understand the root word of conservatism!
Good exchange....good luck...gotta go home.

...he is capable of much, much more but he'll never deliver.

He is good at analyzing the democrat party. He will never apply the same standards to or deliver an objective analysis of the republican party.

He will never support an original intent interpretation of the Constitution.

He cannot get past the game mentality. For him the only score that matters is how many of his team infest congress and the WH.

What republicans do to further undermine the Constitution is of no importance to him with the exceptions of tax rates and freedom of speech. Two items which are hot buttons for him.

Regards

J.R.

Do you have a named source that backs up this statement?

Contact Cong. Tom Tancredo's office from Colorado. He's done talk shows on that subject.

That's a non-answer for those who wish not to be botlike. I asked if you could give me a named source who has witnessed incursions of Mexican fererales into the country and you can't do it.

SO THEN HOW DO YOU KNOW IT TO BE FACT?

I guess that's why he's the most popular radio host in the history of the world. Who says we agree with everything he says - I don't - but he certainly exposes liberals for their double standards and hyprocisy in a fashion that's not only intellectual but entertaining as well.

"These are just a few topics that I doubt Rush covers with any clarity or regularity. "

Maybe you should call him up and discuss it with him - If you identify yourself as a liberal - you'll move to the head of the phone line...

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