Rush Limbaugh death pool?

[lpetrich]

I was thinking about starting a thread on his death, but I was not sure of what to call it. "RIP" seemed too great an honor for him.

He has issued two versions of his 35 Undeniable Truths, the second one an update of the first one.

Sacramento Union article, 1998

1. The greatest threat to humanity lies in the nuclear arsenal of the USSR.
2. The greatest threat to humanity lies in the USSR.
3. Peace does not mean the elimination of nuclear weapons.
4. Peace does not mean the absence of war.
5. War is not obsolete.
6. Ours is a world governed by the aggressive use of force.
7. There is only one way to get rid of nuclear weapons - use them.
8. Peace cannot be achieved by developing a "understanding" with the Russian People.
9. When Americans oppose America, it is not always courageous and sacred; it is sometimes dangerous.
10. Communism Kills.
11. Neither the US, nor anyone else, imposes freedom on the peoples of other nations.
12. Freedom is God given.
13. In the USSR, peace means the absence of opposition.
14. To free peoples, peace means the absence of threats and the presence of justice.
15. The Peace Movement in the US, whether by accident or design, is pro-Communist.
16. The collective knowledge and wisdom of seasoned citizens is the most valuable, yet untapped, resource our young-people have.
17. The greatest football team in the history of civilization is the Pittsburgh Steelers of 1975-1980.
18. There is no such thing as war atrocities.
19. War itself is an atrocity.
20. There is a God.
21. Abortion is wrong.
22. Morality is not defined and cannot be defined by individual choice.
23. Evolution cannot explain Creation.
24. Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women access to the mainstream of society.
25. Love is the only human emotion that cannot be controlled.
26. The only difference between Mikhail Gorbachev and previous Soviet leaders, is that Gorbachev is alive.
27. Soviet Leaders are just left-wing dictators.
28. Abe Lincoln saved this nation.
29. The L.A. Raiders will never be the team that they were when they called Oakland their home.
30. The US will again go to war.
31. To more and more people, a victorious US is a sinful US.
32. This is frightening and ominous.
33. There will always be poor people.
34. This is not the fault of the rich.
35. You should thank God for making you an American; and instead of feeling guilty about it, help spread our ideas worldwide.

Talk-radio show, February 18, 1994

1. There is a distinct singular American culture - rugged individualism and self-reliance - which made America great.
2. The vast majority of the rich in this country did not inherit their wealth; they earned it. They are the country's achievers, producers, and job creators.
3. No nation has ever taxed itself into prosperity.
4. Evidence refutes liberalism.
5. There is no such thing as a New Democrat.
6. The Earth's eco-system is not fragile.
7. Character matters; leadership decends from character.
8. The most beautiful thing about a tree is what you do with it after you cut it down.
9. Ronald Reagan was the greatest president of the twentieth century.
10. The 1980s was not a decade of greed but a decade of prosperity; it was the longest period of peacetime growth in American history.
11. Abstinence prevents sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy - every time it's tried.
12. Condoms only work during the school year.
13. Poverty is not the root ("rut") cause of crime.
14. There's a simple way to solve the crime problem: obey the law; punish those who do not.
15. If you commit a crime, you are guilty.
16. Women should not be allowed on juries where the accused is a stud.
17. The way to improve our schools is not more money, but the reintroduction of moral and spiritual values, as well as the four "R's": reading, 'riting, 'rithmatic, and Rush.
18. I am not arrogant.
19. My first 35 Undeniable Truths are still undeniably true.
20. There is a God.
21. There is something wrong when critics say the problem with America is too much religion.
22. Morality is not defined by individual choice.
23. The only way liberals win national elections is by pretending they're not liberals.
24. Feminism was established as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.
25. Follow the money. When somebody says, "It's not the money," it's always the money.
26. Liberals attempt through judicial activism what they cannot win at the ballot box.
27. Using federal dollars as a measure, our cities have not been neglected, but poisoned with welfare dependency funds.
28. Progress is not striving for economic justice or fairness, but economic growth.
29. Liberals measure compassion by how many people are given welfare. Conservatives measure compassion by how many people no longer need it.
30. Compassion is no substitute for justice.
31. The culture war is between the winners and those who think they're losers who want to become winners. The losers think the only way they can become winners is by banding together all the losers and then empowering a leader of the losers to make things right for them.
32. The Los Angeles riots were not caused by the Rodney King verdict. The Los Angeles riots were caused by rioters.
33. You could afford your house without your government - if it weren't for your government.
34. Words mean things.
35. Too many Americans can't laugh at themselves anymore.

 

[ZiprHead]

Listening to Randi Rhodes this afternoon. She knows the person at Clearchannel that will be choosing Rush's replacement. She says a good chance the woman at CC will try to get Trump to replace Rush.

BTW, Randi has a great deal of respect for Rush as a broadcaster.

 

[none]

meh, rush should have died as the result of fire

 

[Ford]

Guys like Rush and Howie Car are a huge part of the rise of the right wing Trump deplorables. They command huge audiences on AM radio of all fucking things. Which tells you just how out of touch with modern times they really are... these guys were there before Fox and right thru to the end.

Granted, Rush was a terrible human being, but as a broadcaster he was a very important figure. He wasn't just on AM radio. In a very real sense he saved AM radio...at least for awhile. When he came on the scene in the 90s, AM was still viable for some formats (like news), but it was losing audience share quickly to FM. He adapted a syndication model from another AM talk host (Dr. Dean Edell) and turned it into an extremely successful thing. Stations that had been dying on the vine before just syndicated Rush in the middle of the day, and quickly rose to being the top rated and top billing stations in their respective markets. Any old AM news station in town with middling ratings became "the station that has Rush" and became very successful as a result.

The formula went something like this:

Top of the hour news, followed by the bloviating host setting up that hour of the show. He'd go over some of the news stories of the day (offering spin on them, of course) and go into the first commercial break teasing you about the one thing that was so outrageous you wouldn't believe it. Back in the 90s it usually involved someone named Clinton.

Commercial break.

Return to tell you about the outrageous thing, encouraging listeners to call in. Bloviate for a bit, and maybe take a couple calls from listeners who were gosh darned outraged about the thing. Do that for another 15 minutes, tell people to call in, and we'd be right back, folks!

Bottom of the hour news, commercial break.

By this point, the phone screener (Al Franken had a hilarious chapter in his Limbaugh book about Rush's phone screener) would find someone with an opposing view. The token liberal. But if the phone screener did their job well, the person they picked to go on the air and spar with the host was totally out of their depth. The host isn't looking for balance, but rather someone they can verbally decimate on the air. Do that with one or maybe two callers for the next 10 minutes.

Commercial break.

Return with a slate of callers primed and ready to tell the host "I can't believe what that idiot said before...you sure showed him, Rush!" Lots of positive affirmations and "I told you so" for that segment, and then maybe a tease about what was coming up the next hour.

Commercial break. Top of the hour news. Repeat.

The reason this formula worked so well is that it kept listeners hanging on through those 4 commercial breaks. That's what the radio business calls "TSL" or Time Spent Listening. Ratings are about not just how many people tune in, but how long they stay tuned in, and what Rush did was to keep people listening through the commercial breaks.

If you can do that, then your station can charge premium rates for advertisers, and basically print money. What's more, Rush aired during the "midday" time slot, which was normally when stations lose listeners and have to charge less for advertising. Morning and afternoon drive times were the money makers, but Rush flipped that on it's head and made the middle of the day the most profitable time on these stations. What's more, the company that syndicated Rush - Premiere Radio Networks - became a major player, not just syndicating AM talk shows, but tons of other content...backed up by their parent company, Clear Channel Communications (now iHeart Radio).

It's not an understatement to say that Rush was to daytime radio what Oprah Winfrey was to daytime television.

What does his death mean? Well this is a matter of some debate on the radio forums. Of course Premiere has known this was coming for some time, and they've got a replacement to go into that time slot, but it won't be the same. A lot of advertisers only bought Rush, will only pay for Rush, and now that he's gone they'll pull back. AM talk radio has been on life support for years, and this is the point where the kids will be shuffling through grandpa's papers to see if he signed a Do Not Resuscitate.

 

[Patooka]

A fitting obituary for Limbaugh:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8CEFQXg67U[/youtube]

 

[lpetrich]

I once saw Rush Limbaugh called an entertainer who was extremely impressed with his success.

In 1989, he had "caller abortions", playing a vacuum-cleaner sound when he'd hang up on some caller.

I remember when he called Chelsea Clinton the White House dog.

When on someone's TV show, he said that a certain picture of Hillary Clinton makes him look like a hood ornament. The host said something like he is a fine specimen. The audience roared with laughter and RL went "Hoo boy, hoo boy, hoo boy, ..."

I won't try to assess all of his "Undeniable Truths", but I'll comment on some of them.

I.7. There is only one way to get rid of nuclear weapons - use them.

Demonstrably false. That's what's routinely done with old nuclear bombs.

I.17. The greatest football team in the history of civilization is the Pittsburgh Steelers of 1975-1980.
I.29. The L.A. Raiders will never be the team that they were when they called Oakland their home.

I don't pretend to be an expert on that.

I.24. Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women access to the mainstream of society.
II.24. Feminism was established as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.

It's like how talk radio was invented so that fat, lazy, whiny, gluttonous losers could have show-business careers.

I.26. The only difference between Mikhail Gorbachev and previous Soviet leaders, is that Gorbachev is alive.

MG let the Soviet empire end peacefully, and he did likewise with the Soviet Union itself. I feel very grateful to him, even though doing so cost him his career.

I.28. Abe Lincoln saved this nation.

What do his neo-Confederate fans have to say about that?

II.1. There is a distinct singular American culture - rugged individualism and self-reliance - which made America great.

A fairy tale that many Americans like to tell themselves. That would make military forces, police forces, big businesses, and team sports un-American.

II.2. The vast majority of the rich in this country did not inherit their wealth; they earned it. They are the country's achievers, producers, and job creators.

There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in the works of Ayn Rand.

II.8. The most beautiful thing about a tree is what you do with it after you cut it down.

Seems like he's trolling.

II.9. Ronald Reagan was the greatest president of the twentieth century.

Doubtful at best. Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and LBJ easily outshone him.

II.18. I am not arrogant.

Of course he'd believe that about himself.

II.35. Too many Americans can't laugh at themselves anymore.

I'm sure that he found fat jokes about him to be uproariously funny.

 

[lpetrich]

Listening to Randi Rhodes this afternoon. She knows the person at Clearchannel that will be choosing Rush's replacement. She says a good chance the woman at CC will try to get Trump to replace Rush.

Let's see how that turns out. He strikes me as some undisciplined spoiled brat, someone who wouldn't have the discipline to take phone calls and listen to the callers before responding.

This was assembled from his radio and TV shows, from snippets of his voice taken completely out of context.

Rush Limbaugh - I'm A Nazi Video - YouTube
The words to it are in:
RUSH TO JUDGEMENT

Rush Limbaugh also invented the term "feminazi".

 

[ideologyhunter]

Way too much work for Trump's fat ass. A day gig? For this overweight hobby-golfer? Nah. He'd be good for a few days in a row, and then he'd be gone.

 

[ZiprHead]

Way too much work for Trump's fat ass. A day gig? For this overweight hobby-golfer? Nah. He'd be good for a few days in a row, and then he'd be gone.

Yeah, I can't see trump taking a real job with actual work and all. 3 hours a day having to talk to his rubes, the types pf people he would never associate with IRL, let alone let them join one of his stick-up-the-ass clubs.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Way too much work for Trump's fat ass. A day gig? For this overweight hobby-golfer? Nah. He'd be good for a few days in a row, and then he'd be gone.

Yeah, I can't see trump taking a real job with actual work and all. 3 hours a day having to talk to his rubes, the types pf people he would never associate with IRL, let alone let them join one of his stick-up-the-ass clubs.

No, but he would lease his name and likeness.
Might end up with something like the Tonight Show. Trump prerecords a monologue, whatever he wants to talk about, then his weekly guest co-host and sidekick capering monkey, Junior, Giuliani, or one of the Capitol invaders (working off community service time), field the callers inputs while selling books and emblematics.

 

[ZiprHead]

Seen elsewhere: I'm sad because Rush is no longer in pain.

 

[ideologyhunter]

meh, rush should have died as the result of fire

Well, he didn't freebase. It was handfuls of oxycontin washed down with, my guess, Johnny Walker Black. Scored them off his cleaning lady for a while, but definitely didn't share his stash with her.

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[Ford]

Way too much work for Trump's fat ass. A day gig? For this overweight hobby-golfer? Nah. He'd be good for a few days in a row, and then he'd be gone.

Yeah, I can't see trump taking a real job with actual work and all. 3 hours a day having to talk to his rubes, the types pf people he would never associate with IRL, let alone let them join one of his stick-up-the-ass clubs.

Yeah...about that...

Some of the hardest working people I know in the business are doing syndicated radio shows. For every hour you're "on the air" you spend three hours just getting the thing prepared to go on the air, and that doesn't include all the extra work to service the affiliates, promote the show, and keep an eye on the business aspects.

Of course a lot of that infrastructure would be already in place for Trump, but if his only job was to show up on time for a few hours and shout into a microphone? That's still not going to work. For this type of show, you have to be present. Not just physically, but mentally.

For all his many faults, Rush was focused. Every day he'd show up, have a plan for the day, know where he was going, and know what he was trying to accomplish. Trump - if The Apprentice is any guide - shows up, rants and/or pontificates for hours, and then leaves the mess for someone else to clean up after he's gone. That's not gonna work for a radio show.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Right. A rant about the Great Steal will grow stale in the first hour. Also -- consider how many sponsors he'd lure. That guy with the magic pillow can't pay for the whole broadcast M - F.

 

[ronburgundy]

Seen elsewhere:

Good riddance?

No, GREAT riddance!

 

[ronburgundy]

During the height of the AIDs crisis in the 80's, Limbaugh had a regular segment where he would celebrate and laugh at the deaths of homosexuals with AIDS by playing Dionne Warwicks "I'll never love this way again"

He is the godfather of the current Trump movement and the alt-right.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

meh, rush should have died as the result of fire

Spontaneous human combustion would have been amusing.

 

[RVonse]

Way too much work for Trump's fat ass. A day gig? For this overweight hobby-golfer? Nah. He'd be good for a few days in a row, and then he'd be gone.

Yeah, I can't see trump taking a real job with actual work and all. 3 hours a day having to talk to his rubes, the types pf people he would never associate with IRL, let alone let them join one of his stick-up-the-ass clubs.

Yeah...about that...

Some of the hardest working people I know in the business are doing syndicated radio shows. For every hour you're "on the air" you spend three hours just getting the thing prepared to go on the air, and that doesn't include all the extra work to service the affiliates, promote the show, and keep an eye on the business aspects.

Of course a lot of that infrastructure would be already in place for Trump, but if his only job was to show up on time for a few hours and shout into a microphone? That's still not going to work. For this type of show, you have to be present. Not just physically, but mentally.

For all his many faults, Rush was focused. Every day he'd show up, have a plan for the day, know where he was going, and know what he was trying to accomplish. Trump - if The Apprentice is any guide - shows up, rants and/or pontificates for hours, and then leaves the mess for someone else to clean up after he's gone. That's not gonna work for a radio show.

I tend to agree with this. But the biggest problem with Trump is he is even older than Rush was. He won't be around much longer either.

 

[lpetrich]

For all his many faults, Rush was focused. Every day he'd show up, have a plan for the day, know where he was going, and know what he was trying to accomplish. Trump - if The Apprentice is any guide - shows up, rants and/or pontificates for hours, and then leaves the mess for someone else to clean up after he's gone. That's not gonna work for a radio show.

Seems like Trump is very low in diligence.

Some of his aides claim that they could manipulate him by deciding what to put on his desk. He never seemed to have caught on.