Rush On Limbaugh
Jul 25th, 2009 | 14 responses
It’s no secret I am not a fan of conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. That does not mean I don’t respect the guy for the millions he has earned milking the political juices from his loyal following. Hell, I don’t even own a radio so I obviously don’t listen much. The “listening” comes from snippets of video clips mostly his enemies play on MSNBC-TV. Usually they are unflattering and outrageous.
As a result of being an open-minded guy, I downloaded the transcripts of his interviews with Greta Van Susteren aired on the Fox network this past week. Greta did a good job, journalistically speaking. For the most part Limbaugh was candid and spoke on current issues with a point of view of which I disagree. But, that’s OK. I would have preferred he offer an alternative to improve the health care system other than we can’t afford it. Not OK, but, that’s Rush. In fact, I was willing to cut this guy a lot of slack, trying to take his conservatism seriously.
But, it was the last several minutes of the final segment that totally blew my mind and realized this guy can’t be taken seriously. Van Susteren asked Rush how he maintained his radio popularity for so many years, a record almost unheard of in the industry. Amazing in that he survived charges in connection with his addiction to prescription drugs and fired from a network sports television show for racial remarks slurring black quarterback Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles. Here’s the transcript on the segment that rattled my mind:
And I was — you know, I made a deep connection with the audience. I mean, there was a whole bunch of Americans who were conservatives and never saw their viewpoint reflected in mainstream media news coverage. So here comes me. And I — you know, I’m not a Svengali. I’m not creating (INAUDIBLE) robots. I’m simply validating what people already believe. And they’re going, Yes, yes, I like this guy! He says what I think.
So I got a head start, so I’ve got this deep font of loyalty with this audience. And I — you know, it’s been 21 years on August 1st. But I — when I sit down at that microphone, my expectations of myself are — well, I do everything for the audience. Everything I do is for the show. And I will never phone it in because I’ve got too much respect for the audience. I will always give it my best shot every day.
What happened yesterday doesn’t count or 10 years ago doesn’t count. I don’t remember — if you had asked what I talked about yesterday, I could give you a broad paintbrush health care. Specifics, I don’t know because I’m thinking about tomorrow. And it’s — I think it’s a respect for the audience, respect for their intelligence, and a deep appreciation for what they have meant to my life.
My parents wouldn’t understand my life. They didn’t think it would be possible for some guy who refused to go to college to have this kind of success. They came out of the Great Depression. This just wasn’t possible.
And I owe all of this to a devoted and loyal audience who stuck with me through all these years. Why they do it? It’s a good show. It’s a fun show. It’s positive. People don’t want to be beat up every day with, This caffeine product is going to kill you, or, The seas are rising and New York’s going to get flooded. They want to hear about greatness.
They want — people want to be inspired! People want to be motivated. They want their positive thoughts validated. They don’t want to hear every day how everything’s going to hell in a handbasket and there’s a shortage of handbaskets. They don’t want to hear this. That’s what gets ratings on television.
I have shown you get ratings on radio being positive, respecting the audience, being inspiring and motivational at times, when it’s necessary. I just try to share as much of my life experience with everybody because I — it turned out pretty well. I’m very proud of it.
Positive? Until portions of the transcript printed above, he spent all his time trashing the Obama administration and calling the president and his political agenda everything short of traitorous. He said the Democrats are destroying America and he puts his love for his country above politics. He even would vote for a Democratic presidential candidate if he believed the person was a true conservative. He wants Obama to fail because it would save America.
Limbaugh should check his inflated ego at the door and listen to himself. It would validate his gig. A showman. Plain and simple. Playing to the masses. A funny guy in a macabre fashion.
But, positive? I don’t think so. In my mind, positive is offering something constructive.
14 Responses to “Rush On Limbaugh”
Rush Limbaugh:
“They want — people want to be inspired! People want to be motivated. They want their positive thoughts validated. They don’t want to hear every day how everything’s going to hell in a handbasket and there’s a shortage of handbaskets. They don’t want to hear this. That’s what gets ratings on television.
I have shown you get ratings on radio being positive, respecting the audience, being inspiring and motivational at times, when it’s necessary”
Yes, people want to be inspired, motivated, positive thoughts validated, they don’t want to hear every day how everything’s going to hell in a handbasket, as in:
“I’ll say it again. Not only do I want Obama to fail, I want this package to fail. I want this to blow up in their face.
I hope the stimulus bill fails. I hope it does exactly what we know it will do, blow everything to smithereens and not do one thing that has been promised. Apparently, experience is the greatest teacher, and when these poor people who think Barack Obama means a new house, a new car, a new job, when they find out that’s not what Barack Obama means, maybe then they’ll see. So I hope that happens.
I hope Obama fails. Now the bill has passed the House. I hope when they implement it, that it fails. If I hope it fails beforehand, I better hope it fails afterwards to be consistent, right?”
And various forms of the above, and worse–including the most vile, tracial comments and innuendo about the president of the United States and the First Lady–repeated day after day, ater day, after day
I don't know how Greta could keep a straight face
Yeah, I couldn't agree with you (and Dorian) more about his “false positive” comments….
But what Rush said about that is really just all fluff for Greta. It's really just a continuation of his own radio show and he's playing to the audience.
In my mind the telling phrase is this, “I’m simply validating what people already believe. And they’re going, Yes, yes, I like this guy! He says what I think.”
Rush is a great showman and entertainer. Part of the formula to being great at this is the ability to stir different emotions, which Rush does. So his audience comes back for more. And it's easy to get hooked on it because you can be doing almost anything… all that is required is your ability to listen.
Rush's audience is filled with people who are angry and frustrated. Rush gives them a cause to rally around and allows them to blow off some steam.
The real danger with Rush is that people believe his stuff and will take his “advice” to heart. As pointed out above, instead of solving problems constructively, Rush calls for destruction. On the one hand it's great on an emotional level. But on the other hand it doesn't allow for civilized and constructive debate. It's this “us versus them” America that Rush is helping to create. Could you imagine the achievements of this country if we had both a president who called for open dialogue (which we do) and if Rush (as de facto leader of the Republican Party) called for the same open dialogue?
Actually, I think the key line is “I’m simply validating what people already believe”.
It is pandering populism, plain and simple.
Yes, I agree AR— also what people believe is very often not based on any facts— but on rumors, half-truths and emotional impressions. Rush has never endeavored to get to the truth– just to inflame the masses based on their innate prejudices.
His audience hears a lot of what they want to believe is true and when these truthy statements are coming from Limbaugh the Great, they become validated in their minds.
I do believe, however, that he also shapes public opinion; he is in a position of trust for millions of listeners and uses that trust to further the far right wing agenda.
he also shapes public opinion; he is in a position of trust for millions of listeners and uses that trust to further the far right wing agenda.
Well, yes, of course. But that is a true statement for any commentator/opinionist with a large national audience nationwide (except, I hope, Maureen Dowd. It is even scarier than Rush's influence to contemplate millions of Liberals basing their opinions on her ramblings). It is their whole point of existence.
Austin, I LOVE Maureen Dowd! So knock it off.
(Just kidding about knocking it off. Just some friendly banter.)
She's got some good insights and is literate, but I view her mostly as entertainment. I'm not going to base my decisions on Obama's healthcare policy based on what she says (I don't even know what her position is on Obama's healthcare proposal).
Unfortunately Rush's listeners will look to him to make their decisions for them. Though admittedly a large part is Rush saying what people want to hear (or what sounds good), and those people then not looking for further information.
Yes — I agree that they all do that– but Dowd doesn't have 20 million or so dittoheads aping her column.
She is a very vocal force that doesn't have a huge following- therefore her influence is minor compared to Limbaugh's.
Guys – calm down. I was just making a joke at her expense. Certainly she is not at the same level of influence as Rush.
But LITERATE???
AR, I rather enjoyed your comment about Dowd- I'm not jumping up and down…. so sorry if it seems that I need to calm down. I inserted that “friendly bantering” phrase to relay that but I guess I failed.
As a sometime Rush listener, I have to say I agree with him. If you actually listen to his show, it does come across positive–positive in a sense for those who agree with him. As a conservative for years I had quietly asked myself if anyone else reacts to the liberal media like I do. After years of frustration at liberal media bias, when the conservative radio and FOX became available, it gave me hope. They still give me hope because the conservative voice is not silenced. And, no we are not a bunch of racists as the liberals accuse us of being. Most of us are fiscal conservatives based on very solid economy principles. We don't think the economy is the place to work out social experiments. We favor merit over identity in hiring and in policy. It's not complicated. But, it is profound.
A liberal will not experience Rush's words as inspiring. But a conservative will experience hope. And, that is why many are very, very loyal to him. So be it.
SB – note the smiley face in my post.
AR, so how have you been? I saw Transformers last night- great movie. There was a line in there about one trait of humans is their capacity to be destructive. I immediately thought of Rush. I suppose his being “positive” would be another man's negative.
SB – I don't think I would characterize Rush a 'positive', but I don't think you mean me. As you know, I am no fan of his. I think he, and his left-side equivalents, do more to lower the level of political discourse in our country than almost anything else.
Things go well for me. I recently left an update on my daughter over here: http://themoderatevoice.com/40606/this-is-a-lea…
Other than that, trying to keep a cool head while blogging here (not always easy with some particular people), and keeping work from overwhelming me. I saw The Wrestler the other night on Blu-ray. What a great piece of film making and acting. Highly recommended.
How about yourself? Things go well, I hope.
BTW – we have always had a pretty cordial online relationship, even though we disagree on a lot, and I do appreciate that. This board really shouldn't be a personal discussion board, but I have no idea how to pass my email to you without placing it an open post, which I will not do.
AR
AR and StockBoy, I think your nods to one another are wrapped in comments about the topic at hand. Either way is ok. People who dont want to read an update on a person's health and happiness or struggle and challenge, will scroll on by. I was glad to know about AR's girl and keep her in our family prayers. I am glad SB is doing well. I have more people from TMV on my prayer list than will ever know. I forget, but I think it's in the job description. lol.
dr.e