Rush Limbaugh at 20

Chuck Raasch’s column in Friday’s Daily Times does an excellent job of presenting the facts on talk radio titan Rush Limbaugh as he continues to celebrate his 20th anniversary on the national stage. I’ve been a huge fan from the moment he began broadcasting nationally in 1988.

The only real problem with Raasch’s piece is the title:

Rush Limbaugh 20 Years Later Is Still the Conservative Voice

Now I realize that Raasch probably didn’t write the title. Regardless, it is still misleading to claim that Limbaugh is the “Conservative Voice” of America. It would be great if it were true, unfortunately it isn’t.

I know that Limbaugh fancies himself this way. Unfortunately, as the nation’s most prominent apologist for President George W. Bush, Limbaugh doesn’t qualify. Limbaugh is smart. He’s funny. He’s unbelievably talented. He’s an entertainer. He is not the leader of a movement based – first and foremost – on ideas.

He tries to be. He just keeps slipping back into old habits. If he were serious about his claim (and he does claim to be a true philosophical conservative) he would have led the charge against Bush’s unconstitutional use of signing statements. He would have decried the Department of Homeland Security, the Patriot Act and Medicare Part-D. He never would have bought into the post-modern GOP notion that fiscal responsibility nor deficits no longer matter. If he were serious, he would have led the cry against the DeLay / Hastert leadership of the House; just as he would be currently attacking the Boehner / Blunt leadership.

Four years of John Kerry in the White House would have been bad. Having Nancy Pelosi as Speaker is obscene. However, these would have been transient events; perhaps a Pelosi speakership would never have occurred. WE WILL win the hearts and minds of Americans again. Unfortunately, the fight will be longer and harder than necessary because voters feel the betrayal from within and loathe to trust us before sufficient penance is paid.

To quote a line attributed to the great Irish statesman Edmund Burke -

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

IF Limbaugh truly aspires to be more philosopher than entertainer, more leader than gadfly, he should realize that great power demands great responsibility. While I dismiss the notion of Limbaugh as the “Conservative Voice”, he certainly is the single most powerful media figure in the land. As such, he has a responsibility to those that love and respect him, even when he is misguided.

While I have, had, and will have periodic disagreements with Limbaugh, there has never been anyone quite like him. In all probability, there will never be another Rush Limbaugh – just as there will never be another Ronald Reagan. Despite these (hopefully transient) disagreements, I can only hope that we have him for another twenty years.

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