Much has been written already following yesterday’s passing of Rush Limbaugh at age 70. There’s been a lot of praise, but also much criticism that, no doubt, Rush would have expected and even relished in.
He was, after all, always up for the fight. And that’s a big reason why he inspired so many, including yours truly, to get involved in the world of politics and policy.
I started listening to “Russ” when I first heard him on the radio in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1988. It took me a few shows to realize that his name was “Rush.” The next two years of my life changed a lot, from Knoxville, to Mobile, Alabama to Athens, Georgia, but the one constant was Rush Limbaugh on the radio. Today’s generation, with instant access to the internet and on-demand podcasts, will not understand this, but I recall sitting in my car in freezing temperatures listening to Rush because I couldn’t get the AM radio show on my apartment’s radio.
Rush was a pioneer of talk radio, a true entrepreneur. He all but single-handedly saved AM radio following the exodus of music to FM. Many others have followed in his footsteps, but none have come close to being him.
What made Rush unique was his ability to make politics entertaining and accessible, which shouldn’t be taken for granted. While those of us in the think tank world aspire to produce scholarly works, we are much less effective in our missions without the ability to reach and keep the attention of regular Americans too busy working and creating our nation’s prosperity to follow the ins and outs of every policy debate.
Whatever one might think of Rush’s legacy, that’s a lesson worth heeding.
Rush was inspirational and his unique voice spoke to me. Like many others, Rush motivated me to come to Washington, DC, even moving away for a time from my then fiancée in Athens, Georgia. And Rush’s ability to explain complex issues and boiling them down for people like me to understand, gave me confidence to drop everything and show up at a friend’s Washington, DC-area home in the winter of 1990. I didn’t have a job waiting for me, but Rush inspired me to take a chance to be part of something special.
Twenty-years later, Rush’s iconic 2009 CPAC speech showed he could still have the same impact. One of my dear colleagues was at that speech, along with many other young conservatives and libertarians who were inspired by Rush to carry-on the good fight for freedom, liberty, and prosperity … and against tyranny.
Rush said that what makes America so different from the rest of the world, and I’m paraphrasing from memory, is that you can become anyone, or you can do anything that you choose to do. He proved that with his life, and in so doing inspired many of us. For those who see Rush as a partisan or vitriolic figure and wonder at the source of much conservative mourning, it’s that inspirational aspect that you do not understand.
El Rushbo, thank you for everything. Mega Dittos… you will be missed, rest in peace… but rest with the knowledge that your inspirational legacy will live on for generations.
