Rush haters don't like the dittoheads either

Enter Stage Right ^ | Oct. 20, 2003 | W. James Antle III

[CyberAnt]

In the last sentence of the 4th paragraph - the author uses the following word. It's not only rude, it's slanderous. The word "SCHLUB" means: "A person regarded as clumsy, stupid, or unattractive; blockhead"

It really is slanderous because truthfully, Bush is none of those things. But .. these elitists think we're too stupid to figure out what the word means.

[gridlock]

I've been a dittohead for about 3 years but have never considered Rush a "paragon of virtue".

The one thing that strikes me is that he seems to genuinely love his new wife. She's not his first, but third time's a charm, I guess.

Not a paragon of virtue, but a nice guy nonetheless.

[Interious]

"...your values and every opinion you have that you formed in agreement with Rush, because his hypocrisy has refuted it all!"

There has always been this notion amongst the enemies of conservatism that Rush is the ONLY one who has ever expressed roughly mainstream neo-conservative views.

How the devil was Reagan elected fully 8 years prior to Rush's arrival onto the national scene? National Review established in 1955 (I think). Irving Kristol, Norm Podhoretz. ... I need not go on.

The notion that all conservative conclusions have been shown to be false because of the failings of one man is preposterous. (Not that I've not been a Rush fan for years.)

[Born Conservative]

[b4its2late]

Rush haters don't like the dittoheads either

Good, that makes it all worth it!

[SpinyNorman]

I am starting to find out that I am addicted to Rush.

The withdrawal is killing me......

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

The more neurotic liberal types, the ones having nightmares every night about brown-shirted Limbaughoids taking over the country, tend to be rather mentally unbalanced. Rush flirted with the verbal margins of propaganda and ridicule in ways which set them off into paranoid hysterics. The people who want a population control culture-of-death tyranny so bad they wet their pants over the the supposedly "mean-spirited" comments of Limbaugh, the ones who wanted it so bad they were willing to look the other way when a grotesque hillbilly rapist was their president, these people will always find some way to divert attention from their own bizarre abnormalities.

Arnold Schwarzenegger will become their next "biggest threat" to liberal domination. It never ends. Rush Limbaugh was never the leader of the conservative movement. The frenetic libs chose him as their favorite whipping boy because he was an easy target for oversimplifying what the liberal vs. conseravtive battles are really about. They were never about Rush Limbaugh. His personal problems are his own. The liberal piling on Limbaugh reveals a lot more about their personal problems than his.

That John Kerry has decided he is running against Rush Limbaugh for the presidency reveals quite a lot about the abnormalities of the liberal brain. Al Franken, Barbara Streisand, Alec Baldwin, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton...if they represent America, it doesn't matter how many pain pills Rush pops. Their pills are much too hard to swallow. People who wanted to take it up the a_ _ from Bill Clinton are in no position to lecture to anyone about morality or correct behavior.

[madison10]

...and we cannot stand their sorry butts either.

[Republic_of_Secession.]

Great article. It is amusing that so many of Rush's critics do not seem to know what he is all about. Even dullards like Ted Koppel practically called Rush Limbaugh "hate radio". What he said was: "I don't want to call it hate, but..." One wonders if Koppel actually ever took the time to tune in to one of Limbaugh's brodcasts. Limbaugh is a satarist who pokes fun at things -especially pointing out the hypocracy of the Demos.

But many anti-Limbaugh jeremiads are not aimed solely at Rush; indeed, they drip with contempt for his roughly 20 million listeners. Ever since he burst onto the national scene, liberals and elitists of every stripe have spoken derisively about the "dittoheads" that form his adoring audience

Here is something elese that the critics do not seem to get. Dittoheads are not "mind numbed robots" & not even necessarily adoring fans. Here is how Rush explained it.

friends, since new listeners flock to my radio program each and every day, once in awhile I have to clarify what "Dittos" means. First, let me tell you what it doesn't mean, because a lot of people misunderstand. It does not mean, "Rush, you are right and I agree with everything you say." Dittos simply means, "Rush, I love the show, don't ever stop."

Dittos is an abbreviation for what was eating up valuable broadcast time at the beginning of each phone call. When someone gives me a dittos, or even a mega dittos, that doesn't mean they agree with me, it just means they like the program and enjoy listening. Even liberals can give me dittos.

Now that we have established the ditto definition, have you ever wondered where the word came from in the first place - how it all started, by who, and that sort of thing? Well, it's kind of like the American Revolution as far as who fired the first ditto. But I'll tell ya, when we hit the airwaves on August 1st in 1988, it was the broadcast heard 'round the country, and now the world.

It was unlike any other program out there nationally and people just gravitated to it. Every caller began by saying, "Rush, this is the greatest thing I've ever heard, don't ever stop doing what you're doing, just keep it up." Of course, I liked hearing it, so I let the compliments keep rolling in. This went on for months until one day some guy hung up after saying, "This is the greatest show, Rush, whatever you do keep it up and don't stop." The next caller was a woman who said, "Dittos to what that guy just said," and soon dittos became a practical way to save time, it became shorthand for, "Boy, this is the greatest show I've ever heard, and don't ever stop." You can hear more about "Dittos" in the link below, along with the definition of a dittohead. You may be one and not even know it - even you liberals!

From Rush Limbaugh.com.

The reality is that it has always been clear that large parts of Limbaugh's persona were an act and that his lines about being the "epitome of morality and virtue" with "talent on loan from God" were tongue-and-cheek. More importantly, the overwhelming majority of his listeners knew it.

Indeed. Much of those bombastic lines are shtick which is likely based on Leftist idioms & caracatures. For example: one editorialist called Limbaugh "the Patriotism Police". Which Rush then used this line on his show in referene to himself -all done tongue-and-cheeck. When Lefties complain about his satirical use of these idioms, they do not seem to realize that Rush is making fun of them.

While a champion of God and country, Limbaugh never pretended he was not a sinner. Many of his conservative Christian fans – and critics – have always faulted him for being too secular, too inside-the-Beltway and insufficiently moralistic in his outlook.

Indeed. Rush is even a fan of The Sopranos & uses some "blue" language now & then on his program. Rush is not a religious brodcastor delivering a sermon. He is more of a sataritst with a political bent.

It's obvious that a lot of Rush's critics just don't get him. They take his shtick a lot more seriously than most of the dittoheads do. But it is more disturbing how little they understand that vast section of America that votes Republican, believes in traditional values and prefers free enterprise to big government. You have to wonder how some of these elites can speak out in the name of "working families" and yet find so many of them so alien.

Well said. I myself am critical of Rush in areas -such as his Lincoln worship & pro war views- but anyone listening to his program can tell that he is a satarist.

[Republic_of_Secession.]

Even liberals can give me dittos.
Quote from Rush Limbaugh.

Rush's critics should really take the time to actually listen to the program before making asumptions & jumping to biased conclusions.

[maxwellp]

Yes, the liberals think Rush's listerners are dumb dittoheads. Liberals think all conservatives are dumb. I always loved Rush best when he spoke about the greatness of America. And liberals think American patriots are dumb. You are right - let them think we are dumb. I can't wait until Rush returns! His substitutes are doing a fine job, but there's only one Rush. God Bless Rush.

I also think there are so many liberal "wannabes" Rush and they are so envious of his success, yet they are so dumb not to realize that very few Americans want to hear their crap.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

No one pays any attention to Ted Koppel anymore. They have to try to explain the popularity of conservatives in the media as something dark and abnormal. It was actually Bill Clinton, Hillary, and the Clinton-Gore people who started the spin about stopping the "hate." They blamed the Oklahoma City bombing on Rush Limbaugh. Anyone who told the truth about sick Willie was guilty of "hate." It was a defense mechanism to deflect attention from Clinton's rape charges.

[gitmo]

While personalities like Limbaugh always attract uncritical admirers and sycophants, the bulk of his audience isn't comprised of people whose views were formed by what they hear on talk radio. On the contrary, Rush struck a cord with so many millions because they liked hearing somebody say things they already agreed with, things they weren't hearing anybody else in the broadcast world say.

I think the author misses the point a bit here. Rush's popularity wasn't because he espoused conservative viewpoints. His popularity rose because he exposed the stories that support a conservative world view. Those news stories were almost completely suppressed before Rush. The media published news that supported a very liberal world view, and suppressed those that did not.

[AnnaZ]

Great article, but the editor really needs to be upgraded. (Pinged ya 'cause I needed someone else to be as thrown off as I was... ;^)