General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRush Limbaugh is more responisble for the polarization of the politics in this nation then anyone
else. He got rich by using his talents to appeal to the worst in peoples nature. He was the king of other-ism. He was the first on the scene who was able to condition people to not think for themselves and just believe what they were being told. He did this thru the human instinct of tribalism.
I remember when he came on the scene nationally, it wasn't long before politicians in DC were giving speeches on the floor that sounded like they could have been written by him. Now we have the case where the House and the Senate are loaded with these idiots.
BannonsLiver
(16,387 posts)Wed have all been better off had he been hit by a bus 25 years ago. The damage has been done and its largely irreversible. Tens of millions of minds poisoned.
Mike 03
(16,616 posts)from an actual political party that was for a set of ideas into an identitarian party that was only opposed to a set of ideas.
Gingrich probably deserves honorable mention here too.
I could see Limbaugh's influence on people I worked with in the mid 90s, and also on their spouses. I worked for a great guy who complained that his wife had become addicted to Limbaugh and that it was changing her. And he was a conservative Catholic, and even he was worried about it.
cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)and hate messages. I cheered loudly when I first heard of his passing and will continue partying throughout the day.
Caliman73
(11,738 posts)The people who paid Rush Limbaugh are more responsible for the polarization of politics, than anyone. Certainly Limbaugh had a talent for lying and banking on White grievance, but that was low laying fruit. It has always been there to exploit. Someone had to bank roll Limbaugh and other right wing talkers.
You have billionaires like the Koch's, Mercers, Murdoch's, and others who have for the most part, remained relatively obscure and untouched by the polarity, but who have benefitted most from the division among people through the lies of people like Limbaugh and those who followed him.
orwell
(7,773 posts)...but Rush was certainly a major factor.
themaguffin
(3,826 posts)JHB
(37,160 posts)They rose in synch because they both mastered a medium for their incendiary rhetoric: AM talk radio for Rush, cable TV and C-SPAN for Newt.
irisblue
(32,975 posts)JHB
(37,160 posts)But he just supplied ammunition, he wasn't firing the foam-cannons.
kysrsoze
(6,021 posts)how it's shaped his thinking after 30 years of brainwashing.
jalan48
(13,866 posts)Limbaugh and others like him to start propagandizing on the public's media.
Grins
(7,217 posts)With the help of a guy named Bork, and another named Scalia. A year later, Limbaugh. A few more years and - Fox!
PghTiny
(276 posts)Congress needs to bring back the Fairness Doctrine and make it law. Before 1987, it was just a policy the FCC enforced.
Bucky
(54,013 posts)I would put Rush at number two behind Murdoch. TV has a broader reach the radio, but Limbaugh definitely set the mold.
Midnight Writer
(21,767 posts)He made it OK for public displays of hate, bigotry, resentment, sexism and just plain cruelty.
His formula was simple: Think of the worst, the meanest, the most ignorant thing you can say, then broadcast it on the airwaves with glee and pubescent giggles.
JHB
(37,160 posts)Newt was a bomb-throwing back-bencher in Congress while Rush was still trying to be an ordinary DJ. Newt's also the guy who sent memos to his fellow Republicans to use incendiary rhetoric. When Rush hit big, they were a natural pair.
Demovictory9
(32,456 posts)Johnny2X2X
(19,066 posts)When us kids got older, my mother went to work at the neighborhood pharmacy. She worked there for 20 years and the Rightwing owner played Rush Limbaugh every single day. She ended up a Trumpster and her relationships with her kids and grandkids have suffered. For that alone I hate him.
yaesu
(8,020 posts)Warpy
(111,261 posts)but most of his most ardent fans are in the over 50 crowd and always have been. When they die off, he'll die off with them.
A hundred years from now, he'll be a grotesque curiosity studied by political scientists.
FWIW, I never wished him dead. I wished him a long life, incapable of speech.
True Dough
(17,305 posts)North Shore Chicago
(3,316 posts)to his anti factual harangues?
I listened to him while driving quite a bit in the late 80's, because why? Only AM stations between urban areas. I knew he was speaking nonsense, was just an entertainer trying to stir the pot.
Other folks listening obviously just turn into rushbots. Quite interesting.
Turin_C3PO
(13,991 posts)When I was 18, before my political opinions had hardened, I wanted to see if Rush Limbaugh made any good points. I listened to him daily for a few weeks. I stopped because his opinions were utterly offensive to me. In no way was he able to hook me onto his hate.