Rest in Heaven, Rush, and Thank You for Everything You Did for America

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was 1989, and News Talk WXYT in Detroit had just announced it would be running a national show out of New York during the noon-to-2 p.m. timeslot. This was unheard of. Aside from Larry King’s late-night show, talk radio was strictly a local phenomenon. How could some blowhard out of New York have anything to say that we in Detroit would want to hear?

But I tuned in.

What was this?

This guy . . . what did they say his name was? George Limba or something like that? . . . announced it was time for a “homeless update,” followed by some sort of trumpet fanfare and then a song by Clarence “Frogman” Henry titled “Ain’t Got No Home.”

He was making fun of the homeless? What?

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The Rush Limbaugh Show was a shock to the system. Conservatives on the radio didn’t sound like this. They were meek and mild. Almost apologetic for believing the things they did. They certainly weren’t brash. They certainly weren’t funny. And they didn’t dare make fun of liberals the way this guy was.

There was no way this could last, I thought. And yet there was Rush, assuring everyone: “It takes six weeks of listening to get what this show is about.”

You know the rest. Rush Limbaugh singlehandedly revived AM radio. He inspired hundreds of imitators, none of which were close to the original. He claimed complete ownership of the talk radio genre for conservatives. He challenged the liberal media, giving conservatives a voice in media where previously they’d had none.

Slanderously derided as a “bigot” and whatever else, Rush refused to concede any premise to the left. On race. On economics. On war. On anything. He completely reset how millions of people thought about issues because, for the first time, there was someone prominent who refused to play the left’s game or to give them any quarter.

None of this would have worked if not for the fact that The Rush Limbaugh Show was a great show. Rush was funny and engaging. He knew just how to combine music, commentary and sound effects. He was a master at interacting with callers. And he was having a great time from start to finish. He knew how to touch people’s nerves with assertions of self-confidence, but he also recognized the moments for humility.

There were times when the news seemed so bad for conservatives, you couldn’t imagine anyone would have a take that would make you feel better. Yet those were the days when you couldn’t wait until 12:06 p.m. so you could tune into Rush. He always had a way of looking at things that would calm you down and make you realize the world’s mad perspective wasn’t necessarily the right one.

Rush had his struggles as a man. Struggles with opioid addiction. Struggles in his personal life. He never claimed to be perfect, but then again none of the rest of us can make that claim either.

Toward the end, I was cheered to hear him talk so openly about his relationship with Jesus. Whether that happened late in life, or he just decided to start talking about it late in life, I don’t know. But it means everything now that we’ve lost him, because I really look forward to crossing paths with him some day in the Kingdom of God.

And now I know that will happen.

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Conservatism has a real void to fill with Rush’s passing. But more so, America does. Rush did so much for America simply by standing up so eloquently for the truths about our country that matter so much – sometimes truths that just about every other prominent voice was trashing. Rush never did. Rush never would.

There will never be another one like him, but the trails he blazed will influence our nation and our discourse for a long time. He is in God’s hands now.

Dittos, Rush. Your eternal reward is waiting.