Rush Limbaugh and the Right’s Generational Despair

When ideology is malleable and confrontation is mandatory.

By
477

If you’re reading this and you’re younger than I am (I was born in 1969 and came of age politically during the Reagan era), it’s almost impossible to conceive of the pre-Rush Limbaugh media environment. It was as if we lived on a different planet. You read your morning paper, you watched the evening news, and if you were really a political hobbyist (I was!), you subscribed to Time, Newsweek, or both. The smallest micro-slice of Americans was exposed to intellectual journals like National Review or The New Republic.

My exposure to conservative commentary was the library’s copy of NR, combined with a few syndicated conservative columnists. In those days, George Will was a lifeline. And even if you were a political hobbyist, it was virtually impossible to marinate in politics. The content just wasn’t available—even when CNN debuted. Hardly anyone watched.

Rush blew up this world. He nuked it from orbit. It wasn’t just that his show was popular (and it was phenomenally popular): He created an industry, and that industry created a lifestyle. It’s the lifestyle we see now, where a person comes home from work, turns on Fox News, and doesn’t turn it off until they sleep, or where a person never flips the dial from their favorite talk radio station, or rolls from podcast to podcast, all while the phone is in their hands, scrolling through Facebook and Twitter.

Is there a Roger Ailes and Fox News without Rush? Perhaps. Is it the same? Absolutely not. 

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  1. Mary Stine

    David has made a good point about some of Rush Limbaugh's audience. People hear what they want to hear. In the early 90's we had an employee who listened to Rush the entire day, it seemed. His work suffered and when I pointed this out to him, in the form of incomplete and shoddy work, he accused me of being a feminazi. He was ultimately fired and spent the next several years telling anyone who would listen what a feminazi I was. (and my hubby was the one who fired him)
    Then there was the 90's April Fool's Day episode where Rush went on a rant about poor people being a drag on the economy and how they should pay more taxes, not less. Many dittoheads, including our employee, called in to agree and Rush had to enlighten them that it was a joke. He actually felt it was counterproductive for the poor to pay any taxes at all, that they should be saving that money for necessities or a better car or education.
    But the effect of words like "rino", feminazi and dumbocrat, was no joke. Any real discussion of
    issues was ended, any real respect for someone of different views or any religion other than Protestant Christian was over. Rush had given permission, many believed, to be rude and unyielding.
    My father, who had never allowed any racial or ethnic slurs to be used in his house or in the presence of his family, became resentful of all people of color, citing Mr. Limbaugh, perhaps inaccurately.
    I don't wish to imply that I blame Mr. Limbaugh entirely for his listener's reactions or their embrace of anger and hate, and sometimes racism. I know lifelong Rush listeners who never embraced hate in any form.
    For my part, I had so much trouble listening to him and feeling the rage just under the surface, that I took to just reading his books. He was more entertaining as a speaker, but his books were
    worthwhile. Given his success as an entertainer, it's a wonder he even bothered with books.
    While much of his prescriptions for a better America just seemed like the plain common sense I had grown up with, there were more unchained ideas I didn't feel so sure about.
    And while I am grateful that he created a sound stage for conservative thought, I wish there had been less anger and more joy.

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    Rome, 410 A.D.

    Did it bother anyone else that Rush never permitted callers & didn't actively open himself up to engage in genuinely oppositional viewpoints? Was he even capable of actual debate... give & take, being openly challenged & dealing with it constructively? Because otherwise...yeah, okay, he was a "refreshing" voice in bashing the Left but... isn't "bashing" a little more impressive if you do it to the face of the person/group you're bashing? Otherwise, I could bash people all day long from my bedroom with all the bravado in the world. For me, nothing matters unless you open yourself up to be disagreed with. Proven wrong. This, to me, is not a minor point. When you study the personalities of constructive, humble leadership versus tyrannical rule... you notice right away that this is a cardinal issue: does the leader tolerate opposition? Does he surround himself with a "team of rivals" or otherwise make sure he has people who WILL say no to him, challenge him, hold him to account? Einstein demanded that his Theory of Relativity be tested. And tested again. If I'm not mistaken, he asked that it be run through 3 vigorous tests, & if it failed those tests, he said it should be wholly disregarded. Marx, Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler - all enraged by opposition. Banned, exiled or killed dissenters. This is a test, to me, of actual leadership - whether political, ideological or cultural. I guess this is another reason why it doesn't sit well with me to have rosy feelings about this guy. (Sorry, I'm having trouble letting go of this conversation. The whole thing really troubles me. Thanks for putting up w/ all my comments, all. I appreciate your patience).

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    1. Scroop Moth

      Reactionaries think conflict is a disease rather than a useful method of knowledge. They detest dissent and complaint as unjust challenges to authority. Limbaugh’s listeners adored him because he shut out contrary voices, not because they were starving for supply-side economics, family values, God, guns, and military glory. He gave them a safe space, not an improved marketplace of ideas. Rush hanging up on callers was the precursor of Trump ejecting protesters from his rallies.

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    Rome, 410 A.D.

    Not the most erudite point, but can we stop praising Rush for merely being able to bloviate self-indulgently for 3 straight hours. Can we stop the fiction that that is even difficult for many people who are Massive, Insensitive Talkers who like to self-indulgently monologue? Every one of us has an uncle somewhere who could do that in his sleep. For a big-mouthed, highly opinionated & egotistical Talker, this isn't an impressive skill b/c its their favorite thing to do.

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      Rome, 410 A.D.

      (...And thanks to sonofasailor35 on here for beautifully reviving the word "bloviate" for me).

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    Birch Barlow

    David touched on it a bit but somewhere along the line the whole talk radio audience changed. Yes it has always been older but back when I listened to Boortz in the morning and Rush in the afternoon the ads were pitching Mercedes, jewelry, vacations and real estate. Now you turn it on and its Ron Paul's 'survival food", hyperinflation Gold hedging, Bible cures for cancer, herbal miracle pain relievers, etc. That's marketing to totally different people.

    It's totally depressing. I only tune in AM radio when I'm in a parking garage and my satellite radio goes out. I can't imagine listening to that crap hours on end. Thank goodness for podcasts.

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    Jason Gibson

    I agree completely about rush changing. I think i posted this in the TMD but my mother was obsessed with rush. I remember at the time feeling that it was weird to see someone so openly conservative. Anyway we taped an episode of Donahue when he had rush on and they had a very real debate about issues like abortion, the B1 bomber, and environmentalism. This episode I believe was recorded just after the 92 election because Donahue rubs the election in Rush's face.

    The thing I most remember is that Rush was always smiling and almost giggling in reponse to both Phil and his audience. Then fast forward to any interview i have seen him in and he is almost deathly serious with (it seems to me) almost a clenched jaw. I know that he went though a great deal in recent years with losing his hearing, pain pill addiction, and cancer. But he became a very mean spirited person. (even while losing all his weight)

    I was in college back then so I struggled with squaring "rushism" with a lot of the information I was getting in my classes. (this was the closest I came to a liberal phase)

    Looking back I never imagined that the Rush Limbaugh movement would morph into where we are. HOWEVER...........as an aside my liberal history professor at the time compared Limbaugh to Father Coughlin in the 1930's who was openly fascist. It was only years later that I discovered that Father Coughlin was more in line with the new deal and would better be compared to Huey Long. Discovering this made me an easy sell when I read Liberal Fascism

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    Earl King

    The bitterness, resentment and anger DF is talking about is real. I cannot speak to the anger Progressives feel that has led them to fight racism with racism. I cannot fathom nor will I ever think a biological male who has gone thru puberty would want to, nor be allowed to compete against women. I cannot imagine in what world any American leader would open our borders allowing thousands of untested, unvaccinated economic refugees loose in our country. Nor can I fathom that African Americans looking for vaccines would be just fine with a President vaccinating illegals over his own citizens. I cannot fathom a President suggesting oh well China is just is different, has a different view about genocide and saying we have to do something about it but unable to articulate what that something is?
    It is inexplicable that the greatest financial and political sponsor of Middle East death and destruction who's goal is the elimination of the US, Israel and every Sunni country would be wooed by a supplicant US President let alone two of them.
    Angry? How about not being able to hold a funeral for one of your parents while the man who ordered that dines at the French Laundry? How about your son who hold promise as a possible recruit to a Big Ten school for a full ride scholarship.....doesn't get one because playing an outdoor sport was forbidden?
    Maybe watching your city burn, you business burn and your livelihood trashed in the name of systemic racism when you black yourself might make you a tad angry. Maybe the women who leads one of our branches of government and who called a wall on our border "immoral" but is just fine with one around the Capitol because she needs protection from angry Trump voters makes you angry about the hypocrisy....Nope, their is a lot of anger these days....but some of it might be justified.

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    1. Stevemiller747

      Sounds like a lot of your anger stems from the reality of this virus. Standing 22 people face to face to smash into each other relentlessly for two hours during a pandemic with a disease that can kill seems like really bad idea. Some of the things you say are truly frustrating as Newsom as well as many, many Republicans have shown hypocrisy during this crisis, maskless garden parties for Supreme Court judges or rallies for an orange God. But people, even (especially?) politicians, are flawed and will let you down, as we all let ourselves at times. I am really sorry for the year you and your family have had to go through as so far the consequences have been relatively minor. The worst has been my bp going to 184/124 while taking 3 bp medications. I hope I am alive this time next year. I would really like to see my soon to be 5 year old son grow up. It's just us and I hope to be there for him. He missed a year of the best teacher he is likely to ever have and routinely says he hates school now bur life goes on. He has special needs and is bi-racial too, in a place that doesn't understand him very well, so I fear the potential real world consequences of his attitude, should we not be able to change it.

      In all, there has been a lot of loss, a good amount of hypocrisy by everyone, and a world that will be forever changed by this virus in an almost Biblical way. Good luck and hang onto your faith or whatever guides you, to everyone here and around the world who are suffering.

      I do hear some countries such as Germany have done well by listening to the science from the start and those places are significantly better off now. Tragic that we could not have been a country who took the virus seriously from the start.

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    2. Tim Johnson

      Everyone gets angry, and anger should spur one to action.

      But if your brand of anger leads to an insurrection against the government based on a mountain of lies about a democratic election, that's a 'you' problem.

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  7. Cliff Puckett

    David, this piece really resonates with me, as I too am of your generation and had a similar experience with Rush. I became disappointed in how he went from fighting for conservative principles, to fighting against "them". I began to feel left out, until I stumbled on a refreshing podcase by James Lileks, Rob Long and Peter Robinson, and now includes The Dispatch. I am no longer left out, and I hope you all realize how much The Dispatch fills the void of highlighting conservative values, and calling truths, even if they don't support "the team" that day.

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    David Eggleston

    Back in the late ‘90’s and early 2000’s, I spent a lot of time driving. I listened to all the talk radio guys. And one thing I noticed was, Michael Savage would throw an idea out there, it would flow through the ether gathering adherents, and about four weeks later, if it made it (like Oumuamua), El Rushbo would grant it his imprimatur and broadcast it to a much larger audience. And the ideas were getting more extreme and more aggressive even back then. Trump’s takeover of the Party and the destruction of state Republican apparatuses was a long time coming, and Limbaugh paved the way.

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  9. C.H. Ross

    I am never surprised when one of your eloquent and intelligent pieces causes an explosion in the sewer, as this one did. Even so, I am still always disappointed.

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  10. Dimmy Carter

    Once again David you are right on the money. As a former fan of Limbaugh from the 90's it crushed me to find out he embraced Trumpism full tilt boogey...including the election fraud hoax. I prefer to remember the Rush who made me question the liberal orthodoxies of the early 1990s...and did so in a very entertaining manner. RIP Rush.

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