Thanks to the magic of being able to prewrite posts on WordPress and have them come online at the desired point in time, as this appears on monoblogue Rush Limbaugh should be seconds away from or into embarking on his third decade of “broadcast excellence” utilizing “talent on loan from God.” For that I’m certain I join millions of others in expressing my hearty congratulations and megadittos. I know the Human Events website has celebrated the milestone all week through its writers.
Rush’s national show got its start just as another icon was getting ready to leave the stage and the conservative movement faced an uncertain future. While President Reagan’s two terms in office advanced a trend toward smaller, less intrusive government and reestablished an attitude of American exceptionalism, the jury was still out over the man who would eventually be his successor, Vice President George H.W. Bush (better known today as Bush 41.) At that particular point in time, Bush the elder’s election was anything but assured over Democrat hopeful Michael Dukakis. And as events would bear out, conservative misgivings were proven correct as the hapless Bush told America to “read my lips” but sold out to Democrats who promised spending cuts if only he would increase the tax burden to address deficit spending. Bush delivered the tax increase but Democrats merrily broke their end of the bargain.
In the midst of all this, Limbaugh’s Excellence in Broadcasting network grew from its initial 56 stations on that fateful August day to over 600 stations today, reaching upwards of 20 million listeners weekly. Growth occurred despite naysayers who continually wrote Limbaugh off, first after President Clinton was elected, then after his 1996 re-election, and again after Rush’s well-publicized battle with addiction to painkillers and going deaf in part because of it.
I’m sure every one who claims to be a “dittohead” has their story about how they became a regular listener to the early-afternoon radio program, and I’m no different.
My introduction to Rush came in the fall of 1993, and the gentleman I have to thank for it is a guy who still occasionally comments here on monoblogue as “Bob from Ohio.” Having changed jobs and moved to a fast-growing architectural firm in my hometown of Toledo, he and I were among four employees who had a unique office arrangement where we subletted one room in a different suite because the firm had outgrown its original quarters. Being on the south side of the building and completely insulated from the main office (without even a phone line – we had to walk down the corridor to the main suite to answer phone calls) our room was dubbed the “Rebeldome” and at 12:00 Bob made sure it was a Rush room. We just had to keep it low so as not to disturb the main tenants, who were licensed social workers. Indeed we were a outpost of conservatism in a very liberal setting.
Both Bob and I moved on to other opportunities during the next year, but in the brief time we worked together (about six months) I was hooked by Rush. Here was someone on the radio who spoke in plain terms about principles I agreed with but really hadn’t heard being expressed before, except during Ronald Reagan’s latter two Presidential campaigns. So even when I moved on to a firm that played Muzak all day and worked in a windowless room where AM radio reception would have been difficult at best, my lunch breaks were spent in my car listening to the first half-hour of the Limbaugh program.
While perhaps things may have evolved this way anyhow, I think Rush was an influence on my own political activity. With the exception of a two-year period where I was registered as a Democrat (I did my own version of “Operation Chaos” and voted for Jesse Jackson in 1984, perceiving him to be the weakest Democrat candidate) I’ve been registered as a Republican the entire 26 years I’ve had the opportunity to vote, and I’m sure coming of age in the era of Reagan influenced my original decision. But while I had one college roommate who was a College Republican, I didn’t really become political until the mid-1990’s when I was invited to a gathering of Young Republicans based simply on being the proper age and registered that way. I decided to go and the rest is history. Perhaps had I not been a dittohead, I would’ve tossed out the invitation and things would have been totally different in my life. While I’ve seen much more failure than success in terms of those candidates for whom I’ve volunteered and voted, I can sleep well most nights knowing I at least made an attempt to get the right people elected; those who stood for principles I agreed with for the most part.
The Limbaugh influence, though, is most prevalent where you are reading today. While I’ve always had some talent in putting words to paper, I really didn’t use it in a political sense very often. 99.9% of people wouldn’t know this, but twice in high school I was a county winner of the VFW’s “Voice of Democracy” contest, and I remember one speech I had to write and deliver was on “My Commitment To My Country.” After that, there was the occasional letter to the editor of my local paper, then once I joined the Young Republicans I had a term doing their newsletter and also put together an occasional newsletter on party happenings for the GOP voters in my precinct. From that I was honored to be selected as a Patriot Post contributor. With the advent of weblogs earlier this decade, it’s likely that I would have eventually gotten into what I do anyway but perhaps without the focus I’ve placed on it.
I’ve gone over this a couple times before, generally on the occasions where I mark my blogiversary, but the inspiration behind the very name of this site comes from Rush. My favorite portion of the show is his monologue at the beginning of each hour and as I wanted to write my site in a similar freeform fashion about “topics that interest me” (as Rush would say about his Monday through Thursday shows) I thought of these as my own monologues, with the natural inclusion of the blog aspect being placed in the name. This is why the “b” in monoblogue stands apart both in color and italic font face, as the site is truly my own monologue on political items and other things I find interesting to write and comment about.
Rush has often commented that he won’t retire until everyone in America agrees with him and recently he signed an eight-year, nine-figure deal to keep on doing what he’s doing for the Excellence in Broadcasting Network – a deal that makes those big-money contracts in the world of sport look pedestrian in comparison. And while he’s a pitchman for a number of companies on his own show, it’s not all that often you’ll hear him outside that venue. With his stature he’s earned the right to pick and choose the appearances he’ll make, which is good both for controlling the message he wants to impart and a shrewd marketing move, giving the recipient of his appearance a near-guarantee of higher ratings. If nothing else, the Limbaugh marketing plan would be a great semester-long course in a business school.
Then again, there’s an opportunity to attend the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies at least five days a week on the radio, not to mention his Limbaugh Letter and website (I’ve subscribed to the newsletter since 2000 and am a 24/7 member.) Hopefully with good health on his part, we can look forward to enjoying Rush for at least another two decades of fighting liberalism (or, because Limbaugh was so good at making that term a non-starter in politics, the term is now “progressive”), advocating American exceptionalism, supporting our military, and generally being in favor of those people who make America work, such as entrepreneurs.
I’ve met a lot of politicians in my life, up to and including a former Vice-President of the United States, Dan Quayle. But I don’t think I’ve ever had a thrill quite like my opportunity to speak with the Great One himself last October. Not only did I find out about the powerful influence of his listenership (mentioning this site brought a Rushalanche that temporarily knocked my server offline) but I also believe I achieved the goal which Rush sets for any caller into his show, that of making the host look good. It doesn’t have to be with flattery; in fact that’s sort of discouraged and was made into shorthand by the advent of the term “dittos.” Making the host look good is simply having an interesting, intelligent conversation with him and keeping the radio listener’s hand from touching that dial and changing the station.
It’s an example I strive for each time I sit down behind my computer and begin plotting out the next post I’m going to write here. I want readers to come back on a daily basis to read what I have to say, and while I’m not nearly as successful as Limbaugh is he presents a worthy example to emulate.
So happy anniversary to Rush and the EIB Network. To close, I’ll paraphrase a greeting I send to friends each New Year’s Day: may the next two decades be the best of your life and the worst of the rest of your life.
Megadittos, Rush.
