Like many of you I’m sure, I was taught not to speak ill of someone who has recently passed from this life, considering that to be part of a typical upbringing in my evolution to become a person of decency, kindness and compassion. And for what it’s worth, I believe I’ve stayed true to that (and I emphasize that I’m not looking for medals, since I don’t think anybody should be rewarded for doing the right thing – you’re just supposed to do it and get on with your life).
But I’m going to make an exception for this occasion. And I’m probably committing a sin, and I apologize in advance.
I wasn’t sure I would know how to react to the news that Rush Limbaugh is finally dead after all of these years. And I’m still not sure that I know how exactly.
Even now, it’s hard to gauge and calculate the utter ruin on our media and political landscape inflicted by this man. Prior to his rise, right-wing media was pretty much the home of kooks and addled academics with a grievance against some kind of slight that can more often than not be traced back to the Democratic Party (or also what used to be called Eisenhower Republicanism, where our 34th president campaigned partly on a platform of making sure everyone eligible for Social Security enrolled as well as encouraging union membership). I’m thinking of William F. Buckley, Clarence Manion, and conservative book publisher Henry Regnery (all of whom are discussed in this great book).
But Rush Limbaugh turned all of it into entertainment. He made it profitable. And he kicked open the door for legions of wannabes to follow him, many of whom still ply their dark art to this day (and who will be noted elsewhere in this post).
There is so much that is utterly vile and despicable about Rush Limbaugh that I’m not sure anybody can properly catalog it in a single post or a series of posts (Media Matters has done a better job of that than I ever could). I just want to communicate one anecdote, if you will.
And that has to do with Sandra Fluke, who (as noted here) was a Georgetown University Law student who gave a speech about nine years ago to House Democrats in support of mandating insurance coverage for contraceptives. And of course, Limbaugh attacked her, labeling her a “slut” and a “prostitute” (noted in the second clip).
Well, later that year, I was phone-banking in the Bristol, PA Democratic Party headquarters, and Fluke stopped by with Cecile Richards, then of Planned Parenthood. And I complimented Fluke on her courage for speaking out on women’s health care. She acted a little embarrassed, though she appreciated the praise. And I was struck by the fact that, physically, she was about 5’ 4” or 5’ 5” with kind of a slight build, though that didn’t reflect her courage in standing up to the pre-eminent media bully of our age (as is often the case, when you see somebody through an electronic viewing screen of some type, they loom larger than they are in real like, with notable exceptions of course).
As I spoke with Fluke, I thought to myself, what kind of a pathetic, hateful alleged “man” would go after someone like this lady, who was only practicing the free speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution that is guaranteed to everyone, including him?
I’m sure there will be people praising Limbaugh in the coming days. He will be remembered as a media giant and influencer who played a big part in the conservative revolution in this country. And that will be true.
However, I will look upon him now and forever as one of the vilest life forms who has ever walked upright on two legs. And as far as I’m concerned, that is all the mention he deserves. Part of the reason is noted in this TYT clip from October 2009, in which Detroit residents gathered for economic assistance in the wake of the recession in the prior year, and Limbaugh used it as an excuse for his typical race-baiting (with the “Democrat” Party reference thrown in at the end for good measure - more here, here and here)...
...and as if we wanted more reasons to utterly detest this character...well, here they are (yep, Limbaugh getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom was truly an obscenity that I probably didn't say much about at the time because of more pressing news affecting our country and the world)...
Update: Yeah, I think this is pretty spot-on also from Will Bunch.
Update 2/18/21: And this is pretty well said from Eric Boehlert.
Update 2/20/21: What a sorry-ass legacy (here)...and Frank Bruni doesn't get any points either; when Bruni apologizes for being George W. Bush's PR flunky in the '00 election (here), then I'll take him seriously.
...and turning to the garbage network that Limbaugh helped spawn with Roger Ailes (and I hope both of them are incinerating in Gehenna at this moment), Ana and Aida Rodriguez tell us more about right-wing media saying the Green New Deal is responsible for the energy misery in Texas (and Rodriguez is dead-on about the coast-to-coast influence of greed on all of this)...
...and Chris Hayes gives us more on this (some of this is a little repetitive, but it’s important)...
...and you can consider this clip to be a reminder that we should NEVER, EVER FORGET the individuals in the U.S. Senate who just voted to acquit the Gropenfuhrer for the 1/6 insurrection against this country...
...and happy belated 70th birthday to Melissa Manchester.
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