Al Franken is the former Senator from Minnesota. He wrote this retrospective on Rush Limbaugh in the New York Daily News.
Rush Limbaugh died this week. His impact on our nation’s discourse and polity will long outlive him.
Many Americans had been puzzled when President Trump bestowed upon Limbaugh our nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. After all, previous honorees include Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King and the crew of Apollo 13. I, however, was not surprised. Because without Limbaugh, there is no (former) President Trump.
Rush was the first broadcaster to take full advantage of the FCC’s little-noticed 1987 repeal of the Fairness Doctrine. Since its adoption in 1949, the rule had required broadcasters to present controversial issues in a fair and balanced manner. Its repeal cleared the way for disreputable broadcasters to present manifestly dishonest and unbalanced content, and Rush, it turned out, had a real talent for just that kind of thing.
And when I say talent, I mean it. Limbaugh created right-wing talk radio, holding court three hours a day, five days a week for 32 years, attracting an audience of 20 million listeners because he was compelling, sometimes funny, always provocative, if routinely sexist, homophobic and racist.
Racist? He once asked his audience, “Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”
Homophobic? In 1990, Limbaugh ran a recurring segment entitled “AIDS Update,” in which he’d mock the death of a gay man who had just recently died of AIDS, cheekily playing ironic popular songs like Dionne Warwick’s “I’ll Never Love This Way Again.”
Sexist? You may remember Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown University law student who testified before Congress in 2012, on an exception within the Affordable Care Act that would allow religious institutions to opt out of covering contraception. Here’s Limbaugh referring to her testimony that contraception can cost as much as $3,000: “What does it say about the college co-ed Susan Fluke (sic), who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex, what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute.”
Rush went on like that for quite a while. He had three hours to fill.
But mainly, he was a shill for the right wing of the Republican Party. Along the way, he promoted conspiracy theories: Hillary Clinton had Vince Foster murdered; global warming is a hoax; Barack Obama was born in Kenya; COVID-19 is no worse than the common cold and is being used by the media to prevent Donald Trump’s re-election. And, yes, the election was stolen.
Here’s what he told his listeners on Jan. 7: “There’s a lot of people out there calling for the end of violence…lot of conservatives, social media who say that any violence or aggression at all is unacceptable regardless of the circumstance…I am glad Sam Adams, Thomas Paine, the actual tea party guys, the men at Lexington and Concord didn’t feel that way.”
In 1995, I wrote a book, “Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot And Other Observations.” The book was satirical, but its intent entirely serious. Limbaugh’s radio show had become an effective arm of the right wing of the Republican party. The previous November, Republicans had won the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years, and the new Speaker, Newt Gingrich, named Limbaugh an honorary member of the class of ’95.
At the time, Limbaugh had a TV show in which he referred to “The White House dog” while the control room put up a picture of Chelsea Clinton.
The show’s producer, Roger Ailes, would go on to run Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News Channel, whose slogan, ironically, would echo the “fair and balanced” language of the Fairness Doctrine, purporting to provide a balance to the liberal mainstream media.
Fox’s right-wing propaganda machine had built a huge, rabid audience by relentlessly attacking Democratic administrations and then functioning as virtual state TV for President Trump. Currently, the network is faced with a $2.7 billion lawsuit from election software company Smartmatic, for spreading false rumors that the company had helped Joe Biden steal the election in several states (none of which, by the way, had used Smartmatic’s software).
Right-wing radio. Right-wing TV. Then came the internet, where websites like Newsmax and Breitbart and social media platforms like Facebook have created a more opaque world where far more extreme and untethered worldviews fester and grow.
This is how you get QAnon. How not a small number of Trump supporters believe that not a small number of Democrats are blood-sucking pedophiles. It’s how you get a member of Congress who blamed Jewish lasers for starting the wildfires in California. It’s how you get Jan. 6.
The most dangerous problem facing America today is the existence of two universes of information. The second universe, a universe of disinformation, has been expanding since 1989. Rush Limbaugh was the Big Bang.
Bette Midler wrote about Limbaugh’s death on Twitter and was not as polite as Franken.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Imagine how powerful Franken’s voice would be if he were still in the Senate, perhaps even a committee chair. I was a bit nostalgic for him yesterday and found this gem which also fits today:
Boy, do I miss Franken.
I will never forgive NY Senator Gillibrand for railroading Frankenstein out of the Senate for a sexist prank that happened before he was in office
Frankenstein was in the Senate?
Did he make any good speeches?
Was he a Right to Lifer?
Forty -four members of Congress signed a resolution this month to honor Limbaugh.
Forty-one men and 3 women, two of whom were Rep. Boebert and QAnon supporter, Marjorie Greene (Daily Mail provided a report about the family values that Greene lives) signed the document.
Rep. Chabot of the Cincinnati area was a signee.
The Governor of Florida has ordered that all flags be flown at half staff on the day when Limbaugh. It has been a time honored tradition that flags are flown at half staff for hero of this great nation. Individuals who have given their lives and liberties to ensure our democratic way of life.
I find it totally appalling that the Governor of Florida would even consider should a thing but considering who he is I do to find it hard to believe that such an order would come out of his mouth.
It is totally disrespectful that a person like Limbaugh would honored in such a manner. Limbaugh spent his life trying to tear down the very framework that underpins the way we live in the country.
Appalling is too weak a word for this travesty. One wonders of Che/Lenin/Stalin-like iconography is next. They could add a manatee with his face on it to the state seal.
From WESH 2 News: Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said Monday that she is telling all state offices under her direction to disregard Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order to lower flags to half-staff for Rush Limbaugh.
“Lowering to half-staff the flag of the United States of America is a sacred honor that pays respect to fallen heroes and patriots. It is not a partisan political tool.
Therefore, I will notify all state offices under my direction to disregard the Governor’s forthcoming order to lower flags for Mr. Limbaugh — because we will not celebrate hate speech, bigotry, and division.
Lowering the flag should always reflect unity, not division, and raising our standards, not lowering them.
Our flags will remain flying high to celebrate the American values of diversity, inclusion, and respect for all,” a statement from Fried said. end quote
Limbaugh was a despicable piece of garbage who spewed lies, hatred, racism and bigotry non stop for decades. And of course he was for “school choice.” He deserves no honors, only condemnation.
Lowering the Limbaugh bar would be more apt.
How low can he go?
We can only hope that Limbaugh’s legacy/”puddle of slime” dries up and blows away sooner rather than later.
Make sure not to stand down wind! The bigotry might be infecting.
Franken sums up the toxic atmosphere created by the new media following cable TV, the computer, the internet, and all other technological wonders. We should have known. Radio produced a world-wide fascist movement during the great depression era.
The interesting thing is that the TV did not produce a similar movement until the rise of Roger Ailes. Was it the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine? The general failure of education of a people who got too fat in the years after World War II? Cultural splintering due to modern choices in the marketplace of ideas? Why did not TV produce a similar far-right movement?
Florida is flying flags at half mast in honor of Limbuagh. Why would any sane person want to honor this undeserving media muckraker? Kudos to Nikki Fried, the sole Democrat in leadership in the state, as the head of the department of agriculture. She ordered her department offices to not fly flags at half mast.https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-nikki-fried-limbaugh-flag-20210222-nfrc6bx2pbhtzf2yoe6mrl6744-story.html
Good for Nikki Fried!
Yes, she’s great and is contemplating a run for governor. She was elected to her office as head of the department of agriculture. What’s next, lowering the flag to half staff for Sean Hannity because his brain is dead.
Limbaugh weaponized satire, ridicule and propaganda to help consolidate a right-wing, white-supremacist, anti-feminist mass of voters who took over GOP. But, Limbaugh required access to mass media to serve such a destructive right-wing function. That very costly and very controlled access to mass media was made available by an ultra-conservative segment of media oligarchs. No such access or funding was available for opposition left and progressive pundits who could have competed with Limbaugh if they too enjoyed such costly access to the airwaves. Some progressive opposition comedic figures never given such vast media access to audiences include the inimitable, hilarious, and brilliant George Carlin(harassed by the FBI, in fact); two Texas progressives Jim Hightower and Molly Ivins. An award-winning younger progressive who could have competed with Limbaugh for the past 30 years is Jeff Cohen, founder of FAIR, and his co-author Norman Solomon. Samantha Bee is now on cable TV for 30mins/wk, but Limbaugh got 3hrs/day 5days/wk for 32 yrs—abusive, sexist, racist bullying in a charismatic popular insulting discourse familiar to his everyday audience. Called “the majority-maker” by Newt Gingrich in ’94 when GOP took majorities in Congress, Limbaugh helped widen the opening to the right through which Trump and Jan. 6 marched in. As always, we can have democracy or vast wealth, social justice or a billionaire class of oligarch, but not both. The First Amendment is no obstacle to great wealth weaponizing public discourse, mass media, and policy-making in its own interest.
And who built the superhighway that Limbaugh paved with his endless lies, racism, and sexism?
The First Teflon Don. It was President Ronald Reagan who got rid of the Fairness Doctrine.
After Reagan was gone, Congress passed legislation to bring the Fairness Doctrine back and make it legal so another president couldn’t get rid of it again, who vetoed that bill to kill the Fairness Doctrine for good?
The one-term, former CIA director, another sewer sack, President George H. W. Bush.
So, what did Reagan do that was so terrible, aside from
a. illegally and traitorously trading arms for hostages and consistently and continually lying about this to the American people?
b. ignoring the AIDs epidemic and letting gay people die?
c. illegally and traitorously funneling arms and money to Contras in Central America, resulting in genocidal massacres of whole villages of men, women, and children; destabilizing governments; and leading to a decades-long refugee crisis, as well as consistently lying about this to the American people?
d. de-institutionalizing people with severe mental illness, leading to a vast homelessness problem in the United States?
e. ramping up a War on Drugs,with the result that the United States ended up with the highest percentage of its adult population under penal control (in prison, in jail, or on parole)?
f. passing enormous tax cuts for the wealthy, leading to historic income and wealth inequality that persists to this day?
g. shifting the Republican party sharply to the extreme right by appealing to fundamentalist Christian evangelical nutcases?
h. trading constantly on racist tropes, like the Cadillac-driving welfare queen, and using extremely racist language in private conversation?
i. militarizing U.S. police forces
j. producing the Nation at Risk Report, which falsely trashed U.S. public schools as “failing,” leading to decades of disastrous “Education Reform”?
k. Supporting murderous dictatorships around the world, including those of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, the South African apartheid regime, Augusto Pinochet in Chile, and General Suharto in Indonesia?
Evangelicals like Matt Schlapp of CPAC? Or, do you perceive Schlapp’s cult as joining the right wing after the time of Raegan?
Suggestions for Rush’s gravestone:
Here lies Rush Limbaugh. But that’s nothing new.
Rush Limbaugh. As you stand here, signals from his three decades of radio broadcasts are headed out, in an ever-expanding arc, into deep space. This might well constitute a protective shield, keeping alien life forms from wanting to establish contact. So, thanks, Rush. We owe you, buddy.
Rush Limbaugh. We’re the ones resting in peace now.
Rush hushed. Finally.
Or, Everyone in Texas froze but where Rush went, it was always hot as Hades. And it wasn’t Cancun.
LOL
Do the Limbaugh.
How low can you go?
At the opposite end of the spectrum of human decency:
Goodbye, Lawrence. You made the world a more beautiful place
to be born into.
City Lights Bookstore is one of my favorite places on earth. Actually chatted with him there about books in the early 90s.
It’s a holy site, in my book. I love this place!!!
Continue to speak ill of the dead. What does it accomplish? He was revered all over the world. His generosity, largely done in secret and only now leaking out was huge. What goes around will come back to bite you in a similar way. Chuckle on you shining examples. Karma awaits.
Limbaugh spoke ill off the dead all the time.
It was his signature.
”
Twenty-five years ago, the great Molly Ivins noticed Limbaugh’s schtick of targeting “dead people, little girls, and the homeless,” an act that only accelerated as he approached the end of his life and his own death approached. He spoke ill of people who died of AIDS, of people who died by suicide, of people who were dying of Parkinson’s disease, and unarmed Black children who were murdered under racist pretenses.”
perhaps the most bracing example of Limbaugh’s complete lack of respect for the dead were his infamous “AIDS Updates” in the 1980s, where he would read the names of gay and bi men who had died of AIDS while Dionne Warwick’s “I’ll Never Love This Way Again” played in the background. He sometimes called AIDS “the Rock Hudson Disease,” after the closeted actor who’d died of AIDS. “When a gay person turns their back on you,” he once quipped, “it’s not an insult, it’s an invitation.”
That is why Rush Limbaugh’s death is the truly rare instance where it is appropriate, and indeed necessary, to speak ill of the dead as people on the right try to lionize a man who made himself very rich by speaking ill of the dead and training conservatives to have contempt for death itself, or at least the deaths of their supposed enemies.”
// End of quotes
And regarding “karma”, I’d have to say it’s a lot off religious mystical BS.
The quotes were from this article
https://www.thedailybeast.com/rush-limbaugh-spent-his-lifetime-speaking-ill-of-the-dead
April believes that Brent Bozell IV who was charged in the Capitol riots is heroic like his father who said Limbaugh’s voice was a gift from God. Rush speaking for God, said, “You know how to stop abortion? Require that each one occur with a gun.”
April surrounds herself with people who long for the days in which white, masculine, heterosexual, Christian, culturally conservative Americans were the unquestioned center of culture. April and her buddies cling to Trump because he promises a return for them to a place of privilege that they think they are entitled to despite their lack of merit.
One-third of the Capitol rioters were or had been financially
strapped. In other words, to April’s way of thinking, an inability to compete in an economy that is not rigged for white men, gave them the right to attack democracy.
I think it is time to forget about Limbaugh and Trump and move on to discuss people and subjects that have made a positive difference in the lives of people in the United States and the rest of the world.
Discussing the positive work of people will do more good in our lives than the likes of people like Limbaugh and Trump whose main goal in life was to destroy our democracy. It is because of people like these two subhumans that there is so much division in our state and federal legislature. It will take years to correct all the wrong doing that these two and others like them have done to the this country.
Let’s move on. Leave them behind in the dust of time.
Hard to move on when their evil survives them.
Especially when their body survives them (as in Trump’s case)
Rush was powerful because he played the “sage on the stage”. Teachers need to return to this wrongly-maligned role if they want truth to be able to compete with disinformation.
What a pest this guy was.