God bless you Rush Limbaugh. You were one of the great influences and inspirations in my life. Having just graduated college in 1988, I remember waiting with my father for your arrival in New York. We would sneak in portions of your show on the AM radio dial that neither of us had listened to for so long. Excellence in Broadcasting became our clandestine indulgence. In those early days, it was your voice alone calling out the partisan depredations of the drive-by media, which have finally become obvious for all to see.
Listening to you for more than half of my life, I consider myself fully matriculated through the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies. Thanks to decades of your tutelage, my fellow dittoheads and I are able to discern the truth through today’s media smokescreen. Although your critics denigrate us as mind numbed robots, you in fact made us better thinkers, better citizens, better people.
Your inspiration spread to the life experiences you shared with your fans. Overcoming early failure, divorce, addiction and deafness, while never wavering from your relentless pursuit of the truth, inspired each of us to overcome the hardships we all suffer through. Most American entrepreneurs are among your fans, inspired by your hard work and dedication to honing your craft with talent on loan from God. You taught us to follow our passions, find our individual talents and make the world a better place. When I thought about writing a book to share that message with early teens, you proved the market was receptive with your Rush Revere series of history books.
Beyond your example of a life well lived, we love you for bringing your brilliance to the events of the day and making the complex clear. Speaking for three hours a day, five days a week, it was a rare misstatement that would bring the hordes of enemies out to get you once and for all. They were nothing compared to the fierce adversaries you faced in addiction, deafness and finally cancer.
We know you weren’t a hate monger because your show was filled with joy and love. We know you weren’t a racist because Bo Snerdley is black, and we know you weren’t a homophobe because Elton John sang at your wedding. Anyone who listened to your show knows those are lies perpetrated by competitors envious of your unparalleled success. To their ideological passions, you were in fact the most dangerous man in America, although to us you were just a giant lovable fuzz ball.
You lived the American ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. You were the Conservative lodestar shining your light on the truth that society advances by ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We all know that your faith in God has brought you to His promised land, and your best friends agree that you are irreplaceable behind the golden EIB microphone. The void from noon to three on weekdays will eventually be filled with other lights shining in your absence. We knew this day was coming, and it seems fitting that you left us on Ash Wednesday. Cookies won’t be the only thing I give up for Lent this year.
God bless you Rush Limbaugh.
#RushLimbaugh
