I find the calls to ‘not speak ill of the dead’ truly bizarre. Being accurate is not unethical. The real disservice to morality would be to whitewash Rush Limbaugh’s history.
As one of my favorite writers Ijeoma Oluo said, let’s “speak honestly of the dead.” The only thing I’m interested in honoring today is the truth.
So if you don’t have anything nice to say, feel free (within reason) to say it here.
I just read an interview by Emily Atkin claiming that Rush Limbaugh talked about climate change more than any other journalist/reporter/talking head to date. His deadly chatter about 'environmentalist wackos' changed the Republican Party and made it impossible for common ground. His shitty legacy involves so much more death to come.
In the 1990s and early 00s, I would listen to a rush Limbaugh radiate through my grandparents house in maternal in Maryland and paternal in SC. On my mother's death bed (she was 49), her father drove six hours to NC and when he didn't know what to say, he started talking about politics, things I know he heard from Limbaugh. And I was just like, "not now" to my 80 year old grandfather who was highly educated and a Coast Guard veteran. It's like he forgot how to be a human, if RL talks that way, then I will, too. It was devastating.
I’m just an ordinary person of average intelligence and I’ve managed not to be brainwashed by Rush or FoxNews. If I can do it anybody can. If someone is then that is on them.
Now Jessica on the other hand has me completely under her spell. It’s taken a while (I first got introduced to her writing at The Nation 20 years ago) but I’ve come around to her viewpoint over the years.
I hadn't heard of him. But I see that whole "Aids update thing" and that's all I need to tell me i shouldn't feel even a little remorse or sadness about this.
it's good to see people who can just read a CNN headline talk trash about someone that they didn't listen to ever in their whole entire history just know about being part of cancel culture. Keep it up, you are showing exactly what you are made of. A headline that you saw on your favorite news source therefore it must be true. He's a racist yet Bo work with him forever. He has his point of point and at least unlike you he was honest and not a rat. You get into communities like this to not hear other point of views and to say protected from someone making you think. Grow up, and learn to come to your own concussions and not repeat everything that is flashed in front of your face like a 2 year old. Just go back to eating your McDonald's, blaming all your problems on everyone else and living off the government. You are the reason I hate what the democratic party has gone from the party I loved to the party we need to fix.
Thrush Limpbag was reading the names of men who died with AIDs on the radio and ringing celebratory bells and whistles while my cousin was dying. I have no jokes about him today, but if I did I would go big. Here is my eulogy:
Rush Limpbag originated talk hateradio, built his career on making white men angry, and helped to invent fake news. He made the U.S. a worse place to be, specializing in misogyny, racism, and homophobia. He deserves to be remembered for the hateful person he was and for his role in destroying civility, facts, and progress. If there is a hell, he is where he deserves to be. #RUSHwentTOhell
Nothing to add because all of you have commented all of my thoughts. But WOW it's nice to not feel alone in having -no- remorse over this man's death (and possibly some joy). Hateful, family splitting, evil, vile piece of shit.
Had something of a epiphany last night during a discussion thread on my Fbk page — an old high sch friend of mine was criticizing us for having a double-standard, that we were just jumping on the Meanie Wagon while speaking ill of Rush. I countered that Rush is in the same category as Hitler, Eichmann, Mengele, Stalin: they and Rush were all unrepentant, remorseless sociopaths who reveled in the deaths of others. So I asked the friend if he would defend any of those historical figures when they died? I actually think he got the message and stopped criticizing us all with that libertarian tone he took.
My father was a Rush fan — not quite a Rush shittohead but he listened to Rush during the day at work and during the drive home — we were both working at the same place while I was a student. (I spent a lot of time listening to my Walkman so I wouldn’t have to hear that ugly voice.) Just about everything that Dad spouted from the early 90s forward was one of Rush’s opinions. We eventually figured out how to deflect conversations like that with him but he was very insistent on it at family functions, holiday dinners, etc.
Rush did more to divide the country and he tried his hardest to keep that division going, perhaps hoping that one day this country would end up a Republican dictatorship. We have to brace ourselves for the next pundit to fill the void. Could be the Most Recent Former President, could be someone like Tuckey Carlson. Let’s keep our guard up folks!
Back in the late 80s, I actually used to listen to Rush. I found him entertaining, but didn't take him seriously. Then around '90 or so I watched a PBS documentary about the spotted owl. I remember listening to Rush the next day, and he quoted a sentence (I forget which one) from that documentary, but it was completely out of context. For the next few days (or weeks?) he seemed to launch an entire campaign against spotted owls based on his lie that he pulled at random from the documentary, apparently without actually watching it. Then (can't remember when), I listened one day while a woman (who didn't seem adversarial to Rush at all), called in to talk about what she and her husband were going through- Between the two of them, they had three Master's degrees and a doctorate. Her husband had lost his job of 20 or so years, and they were in a position of working three jobs between them. Rush proceeded to belittle her on air, yell at her and call her "Lazy". The woman was just silent while Rush went off yelling at her, and I believe she was crying at the end of the call. It was the last time I listened to him on purpose. Then a few years later, I was in the car with my brother, who was listening, and I heard him making fun of Chelsea Clinton, just calling her "ugly" and some other names, and I thought, "What a disgusting human being! A grown man with a nationally syndicated radio show is using his bull-horn to make fun of a teenager?" I could not imagine anything lower. I also blame him for the rise of "Trumpism". I point to him as the personality who first made it OK to say things like "Liberals should be shot", and "Democrats should be hung for treason"
His was the first anti-woman voice I ever heard and it chilled me. I was in junior high and was so upset that people with such hateful ideas had a mouthpiece. Watching his fame, platform and influence grow over my lifetime has been so sad and infuriating. I blame him for contributing to Trumpism and conservative ideology in the states. May his death remind us to keep fighting fuckers like him who want to narrow our ideas of humanity, judge others for being nonconformist, and not leading with love. Sending love to all the wonderful folks out there who are building a better world.
I remember the Sandra Fluke incident and the "Flush Rush" campaign(it was a big topic in my college class at the time) fortunately my dad never listened to his show so i've only ever heard his voice in clips. I remember in my sex-ed college course my female instructor told me about how in one of her classes one of her students(who happened to be a big Limbaugh fan) called in a death threat to the school which forced classes to be cancelled for that day.
Ive taken it upon myself to write a fitting dirge for the upcoming #RushLimbaugh parade to hell, I'm sorry, funeral. The tune should come naturally, feel free to join in. Ahem.
🎵Ding dong that bitch is dead/which dumb bitch/this stupid bitch/ding dong that little bitch is dead🎵
Rush loved to call women who wanted to take birth control sluts, as he did Sandra Fluke. By Rush's definition, I am one of these college-aged sluts, who he so kindly offered to buy "as much aspirin to put between their knees as they want.” I am happy to report that I'm not in need of any free aspirin, as I take birth control (for free, too! Wouldn't he be so proud!?) When I took my little blue pill today, I thought of Rush, and all the birth-control-taking, sex-having, college-aged sluts who will live on in spite of him.
The radical right and left have so much in common - it can be bewildering. What stands out about Rush Limbaugh is how he expertly centered the right around hate. As I become more and more radicalized on the 'left' it's clear to me how much I need to center my actions and words on the opposite; use my anger to fuel love and kindness. Rush gave us that - something to observe, painfully digest, and do the opposite.
I’m so glad he’s gone. My father’s problems were not all RLs, but there was a definitive before and after. We haven’t spoken in almost 5 years, and we never will again. Over this covid summer a dear friend, whose job requires him to spend long hours driving, began throwing out Rush lines in conversation. It escalated and before it ended I knew that he, too, was gone forever.
I will never forget his voice. I wish I could. It's not just what he said, it's how he talked. He spoke as if he was so sure of himself, that everything was exactly as he said it was, and that he alone was here to educate the listeners. His arrogance was beyond measure. There are so many who speak just like him. It's exhausting to live in a world full of Rush Limbaugh's. But today, there is one less. And, that is always worth celebrating.
it's unfortunate that the conservative perspective will invariably be one of disgust and contempt for any such discussion; it's unfortunate that a man so vile and heartless can be beloved by so many, pointedly ignoring the series of blemishes and faux pas that marred his entire legacy purely because he hated the same people they did; it's unfortunate that they draw comparisons between this cruel, bitter man and those who passed before him, failing to understand that the circumstances of their lives couldn't possibly be more dissimilar.
there are a lot of unfortunates these days, but the death of a man who dedicated his life to hurting and to hating with callous disregard for humanity is not one of them. his legacy was not one of greatness, of compassion, of character. his legacy was one of unabashed spite, of unbidden vitriol. his legacy was that of a scared, vengeful man; a prideful, angry man in a world that wished only to leave his ilk to the wayside, much like the body shedding its skin after prolonged exposure to the sun. this man was a malignant tumor, a cancer that spread predictably, insidiously, reaching out and growing its roots of despair and unbridled fury within the hearts and minds of those weak enough to be preyed upon. pardon the tone-deaf analogy.
i don't think i can bring myself to celebrate it, in good conscience... but i'm not particularly saddened by the loss of a life that brought so much pain to so many.
fuck him, i’m glad he’s dead and hoped he suffered some the pain he was complicit in driving throughout the world. there shouldn’t be tolerance, nor respect after death, for those who perpetuate intolerance of other livings things. it’s a beautiful and harmoniously driven paradox that i stand by.
my cousin's husband used to listen to the his radio show back in the day, "he has some smart ideas". my cousin used to roll her eyes and now she's posting crap about today being "a sad day indeed ". FUCK Rush for making this shit mainstream. Half my fucking extended family has turned into people I would avoid if I saw them in public.
Thanks for radicalizing my grandpa, Rush. He may have died in 2006, but the legacy of your racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic beliefs continues to ripple throughout my extended family today. He listened to your show everyday, and I'm grateful he didn't live to become the Trump loving piece of shit I know he would have been. Fuck you forever, Rush.
What makes me really mad is that there are talk show hosts all around the US and the world who are trying to emulate what he did, and be the next Limbaugh, without a thought for the harm they are causing.
I don't have anything insightful to add to the conversation, but I just love, love, love these comments. They are fantastic! He was a vile, damaging blowhard who spewed poison and caused immense harm. Let's "speak honestly of the dead" indeed!
This vile man did untold damage to this country and the people in it. I'm fortunate in that my close family members never listened to his show, but I feel for those whose relationships are strained/destroyed because of him and his ilk on right-wing media.
Rush poisoned my relationship with my mother. Starting in the 90s she would bring up the oddest topic in the oddest way, and I soon realized it was from his show. And we couldn't talk politics starting then. Fox News contributed later, but Rush got the ball rolling.
I remember when he rose to fame and the hateful, disgusting venom he would spew. I fucking hated him then and I fucking hate him with now with my entire Gen X soul.
Rush was just one of many toxic right wing influences in my family. I can't count how many arguments and screaming matches my narcissistic mother and I got into because of some topic he decided to bring up that day. No matter what I said if it wasn't 100% in compliance with Rush I was wrong, stupid, and "subhuman" as she put it. I'm glad he's gone and can't utter another spiteful, hateful, disgusting word. There's a lot left to tackle but I'll cherish this day for now, because it is still a small victory. As far as trying to say nice things, we need to take a good hard look in the mirror and start being honest and truthful about how downright dirty and slimy some of these people are. If we keep playing nice we're never going to make progress.
I’m a millennial. My entire life of understanding has been shaped by men like him. His particular type of bile has marked this country’s decline. I loathed him and all of his emulators. Like rog@n, making the discourse toxic for women and minorities.
This is a doozy. As an impressionable young southern man I heard Rush Limbaugh's voice on many rides to school. I once jokingly referred to someone as a "feminazi" and my chorus teacher completely called me out for it--thankfully. Rush Limbaugh was crass, unthoughtful, and shitty in ways that overly influenced my white parents. He put entertainment and his own money above what was right or kind or just. I think the world is better without him and his selfish choices. Very glad I got out from under the veil.
Rush Limbaugh brainwashed my father in law and in turn made my life hell for years. He was the fucking worst and I cackled when I saw that he was dead. Can't wait to forget his name.
A lot of my relatives listened to Rush. I detested him but I really started to hate him when he was talking about Michael J Fox. Making fun of a person with Parkinson’s was too much for me and I tuned him out then.
Adam Serwer wrote, early in Trump’s time in the White House, “The cruelty is the point.” So it was for Limbaugh. We rented our house out in 2000-2001, and the (horrible) tenants left a Limbaugh book behind. It made me feel as if I needed to fumigate the place.
It is natural to feel relief when someone who wished you harm & harmed ppl goes & w that relief other things. He was a disgusting homophobic, racist, sexist, xenophobic grotesque arse. The tributes to his arseholery could also do with fucking right off. I don't celebrate the lives of sick & twisted monsters - not knowingly. Not when they are alive & not when they die. May he rot. The sick fuck is dead. It is what it is.
As soon as I heard this morning, I texted my ex-husband, "I feel bad that I'm not sad about Rush Limbaugh dying but I'm not." He quickly texted: "He was truly terrible. Racist, hypocrite, chicken hawk. Found with a Dominican prostitute whom he fucked even though he is racist against Dominicans." Yup, good riddance.
Rush Limbaugh and his ilk were on the radio all the time in my house (and family car) growing up. His horrible, calloused, bigoted and sexist views influenced how I saw the world and myself, and his toxic perspective helped form a pattern and permission structure for my dad to be cruel and distant and (I think) unhappy to this day. I'm glad Rush isn't able to make the world he inhabited worse anymore, but I'm sad about what's irreparably lost or damaged because of his influence.
Thanks, Jessica. My tiny kid memories of my dad listening to this motherfucker in the car are so, *so* vivid. He was terrifying, a monster in the closet, and that was just his voice. But I especially remember him mocking Chelsea Clinton, and I remember my dad laughing, and that's just really fucked up. Imagine being such a ghoul that the harm you inflicted on LITTLE KIDS lingers for decades, and that being a relatively minor aspect of your shitty, poisonous legacy. Good riddance.
Thank you for this, Jessica! I 100% agree that we should speak truth about the dead. My opinion is that the world is a better place today with out his hatefulness and poison in it.
This is probably overly optimistic, but any chance with Trump off twitter and Rush six feet under, some of the right wing baby boomers may lose a little of their steam? A gal can hope?
Presidential Medal of Freedom... Really? I was and am still aghast.
I know I'm late to the party, but Rush was truly one of those people whose death immediately made the world a better place.
I just read an interview by Emily Atkin claiming that Rush Limbaugh talked about climate change more than any other journalist/reporter/talking head to date. His deadly chatter about 'environmentalist wackos' changed the Republican Party and made it impossible for common ground. His shitty legacy involves so much more death to come.
In the 1990s and early 00s, I would listen to a rush Limbaugh radiate through my grandparents house in maternal in Maryland and paternal in SC. On my mother's death bed (she was 49), her father drove six hours to NC and when he didn't know what to say, he started talking about politics, things I know he heard from Limbaugh. And I was just like, "not now" to my 80 year old grandfather who was highly educated and a Coast Guard veteran. It's like he forgot how to be a human, if RL talks that way, then I will, too. It was devastating.
I’m just an ordinary person of average intelligence and I’ve managed not to be brainwashed by Rush or FoxNews. If I can do it anybody can. If someone is then that is on them.
Now Jessica on the other hand has me completely under her spell. It’s taken a while (I first got introduced to her writing at The Nation 20 years ago) but I’ve come around to her viewpoint over the years.
I hadn't heard of him. But I see that whole "Aids update thing" and that's all I need to tell me i shouldn't feel even a little remorse or sadness about this.
I have not head of this guy ( I’m in Australia )
He sounds just like a person who used to rule the airwaves here. Alan Jones
He is a misogynistic, racist areshole
it's good to see people who can just read a CNN headline talk trash about someone that they didn't listen to ever in their whole entire history just know about being part of cancel culture. Keep it up, you are showing exactly what you are made of. A headline that you saw on your favorite news source therefore it must be true. He's a racist yet Bo work with him forever. He has his point of point and at least unlike you he was honest and not a rat. You get into communities like this to not hear other point of views and to say protected from someone making you think. Grow up, and learn to come to your own concussions and not repeat everything that is flashed in front of your face like a 2 year old. Just go back to eating your McDonald's, blaming all your problems on everyone else and living off the government. You are the reason I hate what the democratic party has gone from the party I loved to the party we need to fix.
Thrush Limpbag was reading the names of men who died with AIDs on the radio and ringing celebratory bells and whistles while my cousin was dying. I have no jokes about him today, but if I did I would go big. Here is my eulogy:
Rush Limpbag originated talk hateradio, built his career on making white men angry, and helped to invent fake news. He made the U.S. a worse place to be, specializing in misogyny, racism, and homophobia. He deserves to be remembered for the hateful person he was and for his role in destroying civility, facts, and progress. If there is a hell, he is where he deserves to be. #RUSHwentTOhell
Nothing to add because all of you have commented all of my thoughts. But WOW it's nice to not feel alone in having -no- remorse over this man's death (and possibly some joy). Hateful, family splitting, evil, vile piece of shit.
Had something of a epiphany last night during a discussion thread on my Fbk page — an old high sch friend of mine was criticizing us for having a double-standard, that we were just jumping on the Meanie Wagon while speaking ill of Rush. I countered that Rush is in the same category as Hitler, Eichmann, Mengele, Stalin: they and Rush were all unrepentant, remorseless sociopaths who reveled in the deaths of others. So I asked the friend if he would defend any of those historical figures when they died? I actually think he got the message and stopped criticizing us all with that libertarian tone he took.
My father was a Rush fan — not quite a Rush shittohead but he listened to Rush during the day at work and during the drive home — we were both working at the same place while I was a student. (I spent a lot of time listening to my Walkman so I wouldn’t have to hear that ugly voice.) Just about everything that Dad spouted from the early 90s forward was one of Rush’s opinions. We eventually figured out how to deflect conversations like that with him but he was very insistent on it at family functions, holiday dinners, etc.
Rush did more to divide the country and he tried his hardest to keep that division going, perhaps hoping that one day this country would end up a Republican dictatorship. We have to brace ourselves for the next pundit to fill the void. Could be the Most Recent Former President, could be someone like Tuckey Carlson. Let’s keep our guard up folks!
Sorry not sorry
Back in the late 80s, I actually used to listen to Rush. I found him entertaining, but didn't take him seriously. Then around '90 or so I watched a PBS documentary about the spotted owl. I remember listening to Rush the next day, and he quoted a sentence (I forget which one) from that documentary, but it was completely out of context. For the next few days (or weeks?) he seemed to launch an entire campaign against spotted owls based on his lie that he pulled at random from the documentary, apparently without actually watching it. Then (can't remember when), I listened one day while a woman (who didn't seem adversarial to Rush at all), called in to talk about what she and her husband were going through- Between the two of them, they had three Master's degrees and a doctorate. Her husband had lost his job of 20 or so years, and they were in a position of working three jobs between them. Rush proceeded to belittle her on air, yell at her and call her "Lazy". The woman was just silent while Rush went off yelling at her, and I believe she was crying at the end of the call. It was the last time I listened to him on purpose. Then a few years later, I was in the car with my brother, who was listening, and I heard him making fun of Chelsea Clinton, just calling her "ugly" and some other names, and I thought, "What a disgusting human being! A grown man with a nationally syndicated radio show is using his bull-horn to make fun of a teenager?" I could not imagine anything lower. I also blame him for the rise of "Trumpism". I point to him as the personality who first made it OK to say things like "Liberals should be shot", and "Democrats should be hung for treason"
What's the difference between Rush Limbaugh and the Hindenburg?
One's a flaming nazi gasbag and the other's a dirigible.
His was the first anti-woman voice I ever heard and it chilled me. I was in junior high and was so upset that people with such hateful ideas had a mouthpiece. Watching his fame, platform and influence grow over my lifetime has been so sad and infuriating. I blame him for contributing to Trumpism and conservative ideology in the states. May his death remind us to keep fighting fuckers like him who want to narrow our ideas of humanity, judge others for being nonconformist, and not leading with love. Sending love to all the wonderful folks out there who are building a better world.
I say we set this (cough cough) somber time of Rush Limbaughs passing to music and a song sung by none other than the man himself.
https://youtu.be/s4DMpgbabKE
May this forever be part of the skidmark he left in history.
I remember the Sandra Fluke incident and the "Flush Rush" campaign(it was a big topic in my college class at the time) fortunately my dad never listened to his show so i've only ever heard his voice in clips. I remember in my sex-ed college course my female instructor told me about how in one of her classes one of her students(who happened to be a big Limbaugh fan) called in a death threat to the school which forced classes to be cancelled for that day.
Ive taken it upon myself to write a fitting dirge for the upcoming #RushLimbaugh parade to hell, I'm sorry, funeral. The tune should come naturally, feel free to join in. Ahem.
🎵Ding dong that bitch is dead/which dumb bitch/this stupid bitch/ding dong that little bitch is dead🎵
Rush loved to call women who wanted to take birth control sluts, as he did Sandra Fluke. By Rush's definition, I am one of these college-aged sluts, who he so kindly offered to buy "as much aspirin to put between their knees as they want.” I am happy to report that I'm not in need of any free aspirin, as I take birth control (for free, too! Wouldn't he be so proud!?) When I took my little blue pill today, I thought of Rush, and all the birth-control-taking, sex-having, college-aged sluts who will live on in spite of him.
The radical right and left have so much in common - it can be bewildering. What stands out about Rush Limbaugh is how he expertly centered the right around hate. As I become more and more radicalized on the 'left' it's clear to me how much I need to center my actions and words on the opposite; use my anger to fuel love and kindness. Rush gave us that - something to observe, painfully digest, and do the opposite.
I’m so glad he’s gone. My father’s problems were not all RLs, but there was a definitive before and after. We haven’t spoken in almost 5 years, and we never will again. Over this covid summer a dear friend, whose job requires him to spend long hours driving, began throwing out Rush lines in conversation. It escalated and before it ended I knew that he, too, was gone forever.
I will never forget his voice. I wish I could. It's not just what he said, it's how he talked. He spoke as if he was so sure of himself, that everything was exactly as he said it was, and that he alone was here to educate the listeners. His arrogance was beyond measure. There are so many who speak just like him. It's exhausting to live in a world full of Rush Limbaugh's. But today, there is one less. And, that is always worth celebrating.
it's unfortunate that the conservative perspective will invariably be one of disgust and contempt for any such discussion; it's unfortunate that a man so vile and heartless can be beloved by so many, pointedly ignoring the series of blemishes and faux pas that marred his entire legacy purely because he hated the same people they did; it's unfortunate that they draw comparisons between this cruel, bitter man and those who passed before him, failing to understand that the circumstances of their lives couldn't possibly be more dissimilar.
there are a lot of unfortunates these days, but the death of a man who dedicated his life to hurting and to hating with callous disregard for humanity is not one of them. his legacy was not one of greatness, of compassion, of character. his legacy was one of unabashed spite, of unbidden vitriol. his legacy was that of a scared, vengeful man; a prideful, angry man in a world that wished only to leave his ilk to the wayside, much like the body shedding its skin after prolonged exposure to the sun. this man was a malignant tumor, a cancer that spread predictably, insidiously, reaching out and growing its roots of despair and unbridled fury within the hearts and minds of those weak enough to be preyed upon. pardon the tone-deaf analogy.
i don't think i can bring myself to celebrate it, in good conscience... but i'm not particularly saddened by the loss of a life that brought so much pain to so many.
The world is better without him in it. And my God, but isn't that just the saddest thing to say about a life?
fuck him, i’m glad he’s dead and hoped he suffered some the pain he was complicit in driving throughout the world. there shouldn’t be tolerance, nor respect after death, for those who perpetuate intolerance of other livings things. it’s a beautiful and harmoniously driven paradox that i stand by.
To quote my brother when Falwell died, “Fucker didn’t even have the courtesy to die on a Saturday so we could celebrate properly.”
my cousin's husband used to listen to the his radio show back in the day, "he has some smart ideas". my cousin used to roll her eyes and now she's posting crap about today being "a sad day indeed ". FUCK Rush for making this shit mainstream. Half my fucking extended family has turned into people I would avoid if I saw them in public.
Whenever someone awful dies and people get all 'don't speak ill of the dead' i go back and read Hunter S. Thompson's obituary for Richard Nixon.
Thanks for radicalizing my grandpa, Rush. He may have died in 2006, but the legacy of your racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic beliefs continues to ripple throughout my extended family today. He listened to your show everyday, and I'm grateful he didn't live to become the Trump loving piece of shit I know he would have been. Fuck you forever, Rush.
I hope he SUFFERED. I hope it HURT. He was a horrible creature, full of hate, and he hurt people who did nothing to him.
A must share - something I just saw on Twitter:
'Dear Liberals,
If Rush Limbaugh is so transphobic, why is his grave the world's biggest gender neutral toilet?'
What makes me really mad is that there are talk show hosts all around the US and the world who are trying to emulate what he did, and be the next Limbaugh, without a thought for the harm they are causing.
I don't have anything insightful to add to the conversation, but I just love, love, love these comments. They are fantastic! He was a vile, damaging blowhard who spewed poison and caused immense harm. Let's "speak honestly of the dead" indeed!
This vile man did untold damage to this country and the people in it. I'm fortunate in that my close family members never listened to his show, but I feel for those whose relationships are strained/destroyed because of him and his ilk on right-wing media.
Rush poisoned my relationship with my mother. Starting in the 90s she would bring up the oddest topic in the oddest way, and I soon realized it was from his show. And we couldn't talk politics starting then. Fox News contributed later, but Rush got the ball rolling.
Upon hearing the news my 65 yo mother said, "Really hmmm no loss"
I remember when he rose to fame and the hateful, disgusting venom he would spew. I fucking hated him then and I fucking hate him with now with my entire Gen X soul.
Rush was just one of many toxic right wing influences in my family. I can't count how many arguments and screaming matches my narcissistic mother and I got into because of some topic he decided to bring up that day. No matter what I said if it wasn't 100% in compliance with Rush I was wrong, stupid, and "subhuman" as she put it. I'm glad he's gone and can't utter another spiteful, hateful, disgusting word. There's a lot left to tackle but I'll cherish this day for now, because it is still a small victory. As far as trying to say nice things, we need to take a good hard look in the mirror and start being honest and truthful about how downright dirty and slimy some of these people are. If we keep playing nice we're never going to make progress.
I’m a millennial. My entire life of understanding has been shaped by men like him. His particular type of bile has marked this country’s decline. I loathed him and all of his emulators. Like rog@n, making the discourse toxic for women and minorities.
This is a doozy. As an impressionable young southern man I heard Rush Limbaugh's voice on many rides to school. I once jokingly referred to someone as a "feminazi" and my chorus teacher completely called me out for it--thankfully. Rush Limbaugh was crass, unthoughtful, and shitty in ways that overly influenced my white parents. He put entertainment and his own money above what was right or kind or just. I think the world is better without him and his selfish choices. Very glad I got out from under the veil.
i have nothing to add to the many insightful comments on this blog. i’m just glad you’re all here.
"You should never say bad things about the dead, only good… Rush Limbaugh is dead. Good.”
Rush Limbaugh brainwashed my father in law and in turn made my life hell for years. He was the fucking worst and I cackled when I saw that he was dead. Can't wait to forget his name.
A lot of my relatives listened to Rush. I detested him but I really started to hate him when he was talking about Michael J Fox. Making fun of a person with Parkinson’s was too much for me and I tuned him out then.
Adam Serwer wrote, early in Trump’s time in the White House, “The cruelty is the point.” So it was for Limbaugh. We rented our house out in 2000-2001, and the (horrible) tenants left a Limbaugh book behind. It made me feel as if I needed to fumigate the place.
It is natural to feel relief when someone who wished you harm & harmed ppl goes & w that relief other things. He was a disgusting homophobic, racist, sexist, xenophobic grotesque arse. The tributes to his arseholery could also do with fucking right off. I don't celebrate the lives of sick & twisted monsters - not knowingly. Not when they are alive & not when they die. May he rot. The sick fuck is dead. It is what it is.
As soon as I heard this morning, I texted my ex-husband, "I feel bad that I'm not sad about Rush Limbaugh dying but I'm not." He quickly texted: "He was truly terrible. Racist, hypocrite, chicken hawk. Found with a Dominican prostitute whom he fucked even though he is racist against Dominicans." Yup, good riddance.
Rush Limbaugh and his ilk were on the radio all the time in my house (and family car) growing up. His horrible, calloused, bigoted and sexist views influenced how I saw the world and myself, and his toxic perspective helped form a pattern and permission structure for my dad to be cruel and distant and (I think) unhappy to this day. I'm glad Rush isn't able to make the world he inhabited worse anymore, but I'm sad about what's irreparably lost or damaged because of his influence.
Thanks, Jessica. My tiny kid memories of my dad listening to this motherfucker in the car are so, *so* vivid. He was terrifying, a monster in the closet, and that was just his voice. But I especially remember him mocking Chelsea Clinton, and I remember my dad laughing, and that's just really fucked up. Imagine being such a ghoul that the harm you inflicted on LITTLE KIDS lingers for decades, and that being a relatively minor aspect of your shitty, poisonous legacy. Good riddance.
Thank you for this, Jessica! I 100% agree that we should speak truth about the dead. My opinion is that the world is a better place today with out his hatefulness and poison in it.
This is probably overly optimistic, but any chance with Trump off twitter and Rush six feet under, some of the right wing baby boomers may lose a little of their steam? A gal can hope?
Also, fuck that guy, Rush Limbaugh.