After 24 years, Limbaugh's influence continues to grow

Los Angles Times ^

[matt04]

Rush Limbaugh celebrated 24 years on his national radio talk show Wednesday, and that date is as good as any to benchmark when the country began its journey into a deeply polarized political climate. Limbaugh -- universally called Rush by friends and critics alike -- almost single-handedly started a narrative that recast Americans into conservative heroes or liberal villains, patriotic saviors or mainstream media dupes.

He was helped by the 1987 demise of the Fairness Doctrine, the longstanding regulation that required broadcasters to present both sides of a issue in roughly equal measure. He was perfectly poised to take advantage. A fervent audience quickly congealed around him and became the largest in talk show history. Some listen for three hours a day, alternately outraged by his latest discoveries of Democratic malfeasance or entertained by his often politically incorrect humor.

As in the last presidential election, he seems lukewarm about the presumptive Republican nominee. In 2008, he ridiculed John McCain as a moderate until McCain got the nomination and took on Barack Obama. This year, he warned against nominating another moderate. But Mitt Romney has nothing to worry about. Rush is all about exposing, bashing and unraveling the Democrats, especially Obama. He will be Romney's hatchet until election day, urging his audience to take on liberalism in all its forms and disguises.

[Colinsky]

Correction: "He was helped by the 1987 demise of the Fairness Doctrine, the longstanding regulation that required broadcasters to present the leftist side only, or be thrown off the air.

I don't recall that there were any shows presenting just the leftist side, because, then as now, nobody listened to shows that presented the leftist side. AM radio was drifting toward doom, nothing but drive-time happi-talk and oldies stations that nobody listened to. It's true that the demise of the Fairness Doctrine made Rush possible, but it was thought to be a safe move because there was no audience, that was proven, so they thought guys like Rush would gasp and collapse and vanish even if they were allowed to spew their anti-Left drivel.

[Political Junkie Too]

It was always my opinion that the polarization began with Bill Clinton's strategy of triangulation. Triangulation was designed to pit one group against another so that Clinton could take the middle position.

Nobody should be surprised that after 8 years of splitting the country into two groups, Clinton ended up with a divided nation.

-PJ

[samtheman]

If we all just believe everything the leftwing media says, then we won’t be polarized.

Wow! Why didn’t WE think of that???

[RobbyS]

I amend my statement: you sound like a true believer. But no ideology under the sun deserves total obedience, and I do not look at Limbaugh as a prophetic voice. Limbaugh has got rich because he met the needs of millions of people, Ditto someone like Paul Harvey. Ole Paul shilled for ethanol. As I grew up in the oil fields, I knew that was a scam, a way for farmers to get top dollar for their crops. That does not diminish my fondness for Harvey.

[Misterioso]

Why do we need to guess? The author is clearly shown. His name is Roger Smith. Why can’t we all just follow the rules?? (Paraphrasing Rodney King.)

[driftless2]

What Mr. Smith doesn't realize is that before Rush filled the airwaves, W.F. Buckley was about the only conservative voice people were aware of. And his program on PBS "Firing Line" was probably only seen by a tiny percentage of the country. Rush, and the people who followed him, reach a far larger audience. Plus, Rush is far more of a showman than Buckley. I doubt Buckley paid any attention to the showbiz aspect of his program.

But the thing is, which Smith is obviously unaware of, conservatives were waiting for a Limbaugh to come along and give voice to their thoughts and feelings. Libs don't understand that. They think Rush tricked or conned his audience into believing in conservatism. The opposite, of course, is true. Rush said/says excellently what average conservatives feel. He'll never be forgiven by the libs for that. Not that he cares what they think.

[Misterioso]

When I first heard that Rush was going to get a radio talk show, I thought....”Why would they give some guy who sells football tickets a talk show?” or whatever he did with football.

Total BS.

[driftless2]

I sent Mr. Smith a very polite e-mail correcting most of his egregious errors and filling him in on the history of politics as presented to the American public in the last thirty years.

[rwa265]

You are correct, I shouldn’t have guessed. I didn’t go to the link because my computer at work has been locking up when I click on links.

[donna]

the country began its journey into a deeply polarized political climate

Ever heard of President Nixon?

[Balding_Eagle]

Man, you’ve got to do something about that bitterness. It’s killing you.

[Just mythoughts]

Man, you’ve got to do something about that bitterness. It’s killing you.

I am NOT a man. I suppose to the causal reader my comments sound bitter. IF there be a bitterness, it would be with myself for spending so much of my time and back when I had the money, on Rush. I believe his pampered lifestyle has clouded his judgment. I was not impressed with the 'slut' comment, especially after Rush embraced Elton Jon because he only wants to be around people who are the best at what they do.

There is a modern day lesson about that parable of the 'rich' man observing Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham praying for somebody to warn his relatives. 'RICH' Romney is NOT going to 'save' this nation from its cultural rot that permeates our society from the top down.

[Theophilus]

I look forward to listening to Rush again...

...after the election.