Thank you. I felt like I was living in an alternate universe reading the obits yesterday. Limbaugh is responsible for so much pain and so many family divisions...including in mine. He unleashed the ugly beasts that other generations have tried to civilize...or at least keep locked away.
Limbaugh was, indeed, an awful human being. Like Andrew Breitbart, God smote him and sent him directly to hell to talk shop with Josef Goebbels. Trump profaned the Presidential Medal when he gave it to Limbaugh. The Limbaugh legacy is the army of local imitators who took to the airwaves to regurgitate Limbaugh's crap on a daily basis. And it happened for the same reason Trump proved to be catnip to the media: it drew eyes, ears and clicks and, at the end of the proverbial day, that's all that matters to the clowns who call themselves editors, program directors and sales managers.
The front page obit on the Washing Post actually ran with a photo of him with the the Medal of Freedom hanging around his neck, perhaps the most egregious blasphemy of all. Another insult-of-the-hour trump inflicted on the country. May we never have to suffer those two again.
He was indeed the worst of humanity. I remember him crying as he got the Medal from Trump and thought to myself, this is the lowest of the low, the bottom of the barrel moment, boy, was I ever wrong. The capacity of humans to behave in this abhorrent manner and be rewarded by it will be our downfall as it has been many empires. We are not special, exceptional, or beyond reproach. The only caveat is that when they remember what America was, we will have Julius Caesar-like evidence on film to serve the world as a cautionary tale of what can happen to a nation that once was great for white men and how those very men led to its downfall or we survive and learn -- what we do at this moment will define us and I do not want to be defined by a weak media who are too afraid to say boo about a character so vile. So, thank you for writing this honest piece.
The white washing, no pun intended, of Limbaugh’s brand of hate speech is not surprising. The media’s reluctance to accurately name hate, lies, racism et al will be their ultimate demise. I hope.
Let's not forget his promoting the song "Barack the Magic Negro" in 2007. See link:
https://youtu.be/5_FAJUFutyw I'm not one to believe that death redeems the wicked whatsoever, as some in the press seem to think judging by some of their rhapsodizing obits. Truly a heinously odious human being.
Thanks Eric. Limbaugh's hatred and cruelty, racism and misogyny are the contributions he made to the world. My mother's admonishment about speaking under these circumstances prevents me from saying more.
Rush Limbaugh is the single reason why so many members of our families are at odds with each other. His ability to turn people's feelings of inadequacies into hatred toward minorities and educated folks, liberals, was his talent. He's the grandfather of divisive rhetoric that has aided in almost exterminating democracy in this country. The obituaries from the mainstream press should be writing about how he was an enemy of the people. The fact that Trump presented him the medal of freedom would have been a brilliant Saturday Night Live sketch if it weren't true. I am not without heart. Of course there are people in Rush's life that are mourning his loss today. But the press should not be rewriting history. While Rush succumbed to cancer, the irony is that his constant hate speech has been nothing less that a cancer on our society. If there is anything beyond this life, hopefully there is accountability, certainly more than what Republicans seem to be facing here in this world.
I haven't seen a single obituary of Rush Limbaugh -- even the glowing ones -- that has referenced anything he ever said that was smart or funny or perceptive or clever. Just "He was a beacon of conservatism" followed by "He said decades of racist, sexist, stupid stuff" (the better obituaries even give examples) with absolutely no drawing of lines. That's exactly how conservatism has skated by for 40 years now. They've learned nothing.
I remember in the early 90s when smart, sensible liberals said I should just ignore Rush Limbaugh, because he was so ridiculous he would dry up and vanish on his own.* It only took 30 years, but they were right! Great call, guys!
At least there is some truth-telling out there. I just saw this article by Jeremy Peters in the Times:
“Rush Limbaugh’s Legacy of Venom: As Trump Rose, ‘It All Sounded Familiar’
Weaponizing conspiracy theories and bigotry long before Donald Trump’s ascent, the radio giant helped usher in the political style that came to dominate the Republican Party.”
Hopefully the media has been so scared by what Trump brought this country to that they are finally losing the “never speak ill of the dead” dictum. I keep trying to imagine what will happen when Trump dies. Nixon was treated with honor. I believe that when a leader does very damaging things to our democracy they way Nixon did he or she doesn’t deserve to be honored even if they did some good things.
Actually, Limbaugh WAS the intellectual engine of the modern conservative movement. I always think of Lars-Erik Nelson's brilliant description of the supposed intellect, I believe to Eric Alterman for his fine book on Washington pundits: "Bill Buckley exist[ed] to wrap up peoples’ base, greedy, low-life, mean and nasty views into high-faluting language so that they don’t have to go around thinking they are just mean, stupid and nasty, but instead have a philosophy like Buckley’s." Limbaugh fit that, too.
Interesting: I heard a show on which the host and his sidekicks satirized Limbaugh as early as the late 1980s as a totally megalomaniacal, lying, bigoted coward. It was beautifully done. The host was Don Imus.
Our CCCP--Corporate Controlled Conservative Press is hell bent on canonizing Rush as a Real American.
Sure am glad Democrats hold the Presidency and Congress because if the GOP won Rush would be lying in state in the Rotunda and Republicans would prepare a special burial plot at Arlington...
The Mainstream Media's focus on his "talent" as a "satirist" and "entertainer" also enabled the mainstreaming of his racism, bigotry, misogyny and Fascist Friendly right wing rhetoric. This is why I refer to most of the Mainstream Media as the "Mainslime Media".
Thank you. I felt like I was living in an alternate universe reading the obits yesterday. Limbaugh is responsible for so much pain and so many family divisions...including in mine. He unleashed the ugly beasts that other generations have tried to civilize...or at least keep locked away.
I remember when the press were the truth tellers and didn't romanticize toxic people. They've lost their way.
Limbaugh was, indeed, an awful human being. Like Andrew Breitbart, God smote him and sent him directly to hell to talk shop with Josef Goebbels. Trump profaned the Presidential Medal when he gave it to Limbaugh. The Limbaugh legacy is the army of local imitators who took to the airwaves to regurgitate Limbaugh's crap on a daily basis. And it happened for the same reason Trump proved to be catnip to the media: it drew eyes, ears and clicks and, at the end of the proverbial day, that's all that matters to the clowns who call themselves editors, program directors and sales managers.
The front page obit on the Washing Post actually ran with a photo of him with the the Medal of Freedom hanging around his neck, perhaps the most egregious blasphemy of all. Another insult-of-the-hour trump inflicted on the country. May we never have to suffer those two again.
“Limbaugh was an awful, awful person.” And that is all that anybody needs to say.
My go-to song for this situation is a lovable ditty called “Platypus” by Green Day.
Harsh, but entirely appropriate.
https://youtu.be/7RLDZaWN8b4
He was indeed the worst of humanity. I remember him crying as he got the Medal from Trump and thought to myself, this is the lowest of the low, the bottom of the barrel moment, boy, was I ever wrong. The capacity of humans to behave in this abhorrent manner and be rewarded by it will be our downfall as it has been many empires. We are not special, exceptional, or beyond reproach. The only caveat is that when they remember what America was, we will have Julius Caesar-like evidence on film to serve the world as a cautionary tale of what can happen to a nation that once was great for white men and how those very men led to its downfall or we survive and learn -- what we do at this moment will define us and I do not want to be defined by a weak media who are too afraid to say boo about a character so vile. So, thank you for writing this honest piece.
The white washing, no pun intended, of Limbaugh’s brand of hate speech is not surprising. The media’s reluctance to accurately name hate, lies, racism et al will be their ultimate demise. I hope.
Let's not forget his promoting the song "Barack the Magic Negro" in 2007. See link:
https://youtu.be/5_FAJUFutyw I'm not one to believe that death redeems the wicked whatsoever, as some in the press seem to think judging by some of their rhapsodizing obits. Truly a heinously odious human being.
Thanks Eric. Limbaugh's hatred and cruelty, racism and misogyny are the contributions he made to the world. My mother's admonishment about speaking under these circumstances prevents me from saying more.
Rush Limbaugh is the single reason why so many members of our families are at odds with each other. His ability to turn people's feelings of inadequacies into hatred toward minorities and educated folks, liberals, was his talent. He's the grandfather of divisive rhetoric that has aided in almost exterminating democracy in this country. The obituaries from the mainstream press should be writing about how he was an enemy of the people. The fact that Trump presented him the medal of freedom would have been a brilliant Saturday Night Live sketch if it weren't true. I am not without heart. Of course there are people in Rush's life that are mourning his loss today. But the press should not be rewriting history. While Rush succumbed to cancer, the irony is that his constant hate speech has been nothing less that a cancer on our society. If there is anything beyond this life, hopefully there is accountability, certainly more than what Republicans seem to be facing here in this world.
I haven't seen a single obituary of Rush Limbaugh -- even the glowing ones -- that has referenced anything he ever said that was smart or funny or perceptive or clever. Just "He was a beacon of conservatism" followed by "He said decades of racist, sexist, stupid stuff" (the better obituaries even give examples) with absolutely no drawing of lines. That's exactly how conservatism has skated by for 40 years now. They've learned nothing.
I remember in the early 90s when smart, sensible liberals said I should just ignore Rush Limbaugh, because he was so ridiculous he would dry up and vanish on his own.* It only took 30 years, but they were right! Great call, guys!
*(Does that remind you of anyone? It should.)
At least there is some truth-telling out there. I just saw this article by Jeremy Peters in the Times:
“Rush Limbaugh’s Legacy of Venom: As Trump Rose, ‘It All Sounded Familiar’
Weaponizing conspiracy theories and bigotry long before Donald Trump’s ascent, the radio giant helped usher in the political style that came to dominate the Republican Party.”
Hopefully the media has been so scared by what Trump brought this country to that they are finally losing the “never speak ill of the dead” dictum. I keep trying to imagine what will happen when Trump dies. Nixon was treated with honor. I believe that when a leader does very damaging things to our democracy they way Nixon did he or she doesn’t deserve to be honored even if they did some good things.
Actually, Limbaugh WAS the intellectual engine of the modern conservative movement. I always think of Lars-Erik Nelson's brilliant description of the supposed intellect, I believe to Eric Alterman for his fine book on Washington pundits: "Bill Buckley exist[ed] to wrap up peoples’ base, greedy, low-life, mean and nasty views into high-faluting language so that they don’t have to go around thinking they are just mean, stupid and nasty, but instead have a philosophy like Buckley’s." Limbaugh fit that, too.
Interesting: I heard a show on which the host and his sidekicks satirized Limbaugh as early as the late 1980s as a totally megalomaniacal, lying, bigoted coward. It was beautifully done. The host was Don Imus.
Our CCCP--Corporate Controlled Conservative Press is hell bent on canonizing Rush as a Real American.
Sure am glad Democrats hold the Presidency and Congress because if the GOP won Rush would be lying in state in the Rotunda and Republicans would prepare a special burial plot at Arlington...
The Mainstream Media's focus on his "talent" as a "satirist" and "entertainer" also enabled the mainstreaming of his racism, bigotry, misogyny and Fascist Friendly right wing rhetoric. This is why I refer to most of the Mainstream Media as the "Mainslime Media".
Terrific commentary.