From the archives after I heard about Rush's cancer diagnosis.
There are times when an event is so monumental that you will never forget where you were when you heard about it. For me that would be moments like the Challenger explosion and 9/11 - I can remember the exact moment I heard about them or saw them on television and they are forever seared in my memory. The same has been true this week of the admission by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh of his devastating diagnosis of late-stage lung cancer. It was truly a gut-punch that has created a shockwave throughout the conservative movement, both on a personal and political level, and a level of sadness that one would never associate with such a brash person as Rush. The words sad and Rush just don’t go together.
I’ve been crying off and on since I heard the news, and even while writing this, my heart hurting at the thought of what he’ll be facing in his fight with this ravaging disease, particularly in light of the late-stage nature of the diagnosis. Having heard and met Bo Snerdley (James Golden) and Mark Steyn in Florida speak about their love of the guy, I know that they, and particularly Bo, are crushed. Actually, we all are. There isn’t a conservative talk radio show host alive that either doesn’t directly owe his career to Rush or has at least been inspired by him, and the Republican Party also owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude for his furtherance of the cause of conservativism, liberty and free-market principles.
I used to scoff at Rush, at his brashness and what I perceived as self-aggrandizement, especially when he said things like ‘talent on loan from God’, that one really got me. Now I know he just says stuff like that to goad the Left, understanding that they hate conservatives, and in particular him, so much that they’ve lost all sense of humor. Talent on loan from God is funny! You can just feel the exasperation of the Left’s minions who get paid by subversives such as Media Matters to listen to his show when he calls himself a ‘harmless, lovable little fuzzball’. I laugh as I write it because I know it makes them crazy.
It’s part of why people love Rush, and for that matter, why they love President Trump.
Conservatives get beaten down so much that we relish both a respite from liberalism - or as I call the 3 hours of Rush Limbaugh my ‘Safe Space’ in a play on that odious SJW phrase - with someone who steadfastly stands up for our principles while at the same time being incredibly funny. A master showman of the mic, for over 3 decades he’s commanded the #1 talk show in America, doing 3 hours a day on radio – by himself without guests – a formidable and incomparable feat. There is no one better, no one comes close, which is why the news is so stunning.
There have already come out many odes and outpouring of love and support from the conservative family, prayers and well-wishes for Rush, who’s influenced and informed so many millions over the years, educated the youth with his Rush Revere books, and contributed to and inspired to contribute to wonderful charities such as the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, and Tunnels to Towers with his ‘Stand Up for Betsy Ross’ t-shirt campaign among others. Rush has used his platform to bring millions of dollars to worthy causes, and with the Betsy Ross t-shirts, to create symbols of conservative pushback. He’s a pioneer and patriotic warrior for America!
Unfortunately however, some despicable liberals are cheering the news about his diagnosis. I can understand they don’t like him, but why you’d actually post on social media that you want him to suffer is beyond me, it only shows what an awful person you are! But I won’t give any time to other than to say they should check themselves and understand karma, because Ruth Bader Ginsburg also has cancer and President Trump has the power to appoint her replacement, so if they really want to go down that road it will come back to haunt them and we’ll give no quarter over their atrocity.
I knew something was wrong with him, he kept having a recurring ‘gurgle cough’, and though I know what it’s like to have the flu clear up only to return again, I was worried about it and said so to friends. But it was after having already taken 2 weeks off last Christmas and then after only a week back when he missed yet another entire week with no explanation that something seemed off. I was mad at the moment (I need my Rush time!) but now see he probably learned about it at that time and obviously needed to get some things squared away to begin treatment for it. It’s one reason the announcement was so stunning and sad, and the look on his face and the humility and resignation as he told us, was so vulnerable it just added to the gut punch for those who watched it. The usual bravado was gone, and Rush the king of conservative radio was now a very sick mortal man in need of Divine Help and prayers.
Even though I’m a relatively latecomer to the Joys of Rush, having only been listening about a decade, I’m very grateful to have discovered him and become a fellow Rushie. I always joke that ‘I don’t know where I was I before met Rush’. As a person with an insatiable thirst for knowledge and information, I love Rush for his unbelievable ability to synthesize and explain information into a clear message, with a special affinity for breaking down the Left, as such I call him the Liberal Whisperer. And my friends know not to call during his show or you’ll get the W.O.B. (Wrath of Brooke), lol. Other people have their soaps and sports, I have Rush, don’t mess with me!
While a brokenhearted community of conservatives prays and hopes the very best outcome, it’s a very serious diagnosis, and as the Mayor of Realville, Rush knows that himself. As difficult as it was for him to hear it, you could tell it was hard for him to announce it because it would crush his fans, which it did. It’s also why it’s both beautiful and a bit unsettling that President Trump gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom so quickly after hearing about it. It’s completely deserved and I’m glad he got it in such a public forum as the State of the Union, but the implications of the haste of it give heartbreaking pause.
It’s also a wakeup call and reminder that although people like Rush and Trump are titans and irreplaceable, at some point they will be gone and we must prepare the long term strength and endurance of our movement. Rush set the path, Trump refreshed it and realigned it with new vigor and the insane Left reminds us that we must be ever vigilant and reinforce our positions. But for now, we simply hurt for this person we don’t know but who feels like our friend, this incredible guy who’s been in our living rooms, cars and on our phones with us for so long. Sending our well-wishes as he gears up for the fight of his life, wounded with him at the terrible news. He needs our prayers and we need him in this fight. Godspeed El Rushbo, we love you!