Limbaugh Remembered...One Last Time

Learning of the death of an individual you’ve never met is a tricky thing. It can be a cause for ambivalence, reflection perhaps, or even empathy. For most of us, nearly all of us I suppose, the death of a stranger, famous or otherwise, is rarely a cause for delight. Death and delight seem just so incompatible for those of us who don’t run with, say, the Russian Mafia. 

I have written several posts to this blog over the years with a focus on Rush Limbaugh. One I wrote eleven years ago was titled The Most Evil Man in America . Prior to that and ever since my opinion never varied, although became increasingly etched in stone.  I hated Rush Limbaugh, but not like I might hate someone who callously killed my dog. I hated Limbaugh like I could hate a disease. 

I believe most of the people who loved Limbaugh, and there were millions, never understood exactly what he was. If they understood without it affecting their devotion, it was due to envy.

Rush was an entertainer and an opportunist. The black sheep ne’er-do-well in a family of distinguished jurists, he was unleashed in 1987 (at the age of 36) by Ronald Reagan’s ending the 38 year old FCC regulation called The Fairness Doctrine. He realized he could apply his glib talents by being able to say and broadcast words appealing to the dark side of the American mindset without contradiction. 

Who were these devotees? I would bet my meager fortune that every one of the mob that formed on the Capital Mall January 6^th , to the last Man or Woman, were faithful listeners. Take that and extrapolate. 

Was Limbaugh an opportunist because he found a medium to relay a political and social philosophy he held dear? Not a chance. Nothing in his first 36 years indicates he had an activist bone in his body.  Like Roger Ailes, who in 1996 saw the same opportunity to create a news network that would make him and Rupert Murdock hundreds of millions, Limbaugh was motivate first and foremost by money…and succeed he did. 

Rush Limbaugh’s personal fortune is estimated to be well north of $500 million. Not bad for a college dropout disc jockey. I suspect we will find out specifically one day since his ego would never allow the degree of his success to go unappreciated. It is his happy legacy. 

Will his followers ever realize that he was milking them with every racist, misogynist, homophobic, hate laden, and conspiratorial utterance he made? Not likely. Perhaps their children will. 

So how does one deal with the death of someone as objectively dissolute and immoral as Rush Limbaugh? I almost reluctantly have to admit that delight was not the first reaction I had to the news. Had there been a compatriot nearby I might have high fived them, but it would have been without enthusiasm. 

Perhaps the only thing left is to survey the damage and move on.  The only real joy is the satisfaction of living long enough to see it happen.