When was the first time you heard of Rush Limbaugh?

[thucythucy]

For me it was when he attacked thirteen year old Chelsea Clinton as "the White House dog."

At the time I couldn't believe any program manager or sponsor with a shred of decency would allow a comment like that to pass.

This was followed very quickly by his mocking Robert Reich's disability.

Since then it's been slash and burn, burn and slash, especially when the victim is female or a person with a disability (remember his attack on Michael J. Fox?).

So I'm curious, fellow DUers. When did you first hear of or notice Rush Limbaugh?

[onehandle]

1. The first time I stepped in dog shit.

I looked down and thought, 'Someday, dog shit will lead the Republican party.'

[rurallib]

2. Coming home from work early on Jan. 20, 1993

I got off early due to accumulated hours.
So as I drove home I was dancing around my cars radio dial.
I landed on Limbaugh because he came in fairly clear.
Shortly after noon he made some outrageous statement about the newly inaugurated Pres. Clinton and then said he was "taking off my gloves and going after him."

I admit my curiosity was piqued and so listened to him for a couple of weeks. By then I realized what a total turd he was.

[Bluzmann57]

3. My first time

He was attacking some Walmart workers for actually wanting to...START A UNION! He said that they should be greatful to have a job and maybe even should consider working a week for nothing. I got so mad I started yelling obscenities at the radio and nearly drove off the road. I decided that it just wasn't worth getting into a wreck and turned him off forever.
Good question btw. I saw it posted in another topic about limbaugh.

[slackmaster]

4. I believe it was 1991, around the start of the first Gulf War.

[lpbk2713]

5. I actually thought it was some sort of comedy schtick.

I don't recall how long ago but it was several years back. I had to listen a
few times before I thought to myself "this asshole is really serious".

[RKP5637]

6. Looking for something to listen to on the radio when doing cross country driving years ago. It was

the only station that came in loud and clear. It seems like it was broadcasting out of Chicago, one of the AM stations that used to blast pretty much almost coast to coast.

[brewens]

7. I had heard of or seen a bumpersticker "Rush Is A band". Then I was around my

brother-in-law's younger brother and he was talking politics. A couple of times he sited Rush. Then I started hearing about him frequently.

One friend that was a big Rush fan has since turned liberal. His wife was making big money at one time. He's always been kind of a slacker. When she figured out what he was worth, she finally showed him the door. No doubt if he finds another sugarmama, he'll go conservative again.

[MarianJack]

8. A 60 Minutes report around 1991 and it included...

...a shot of poppy bush carryinf limbooger's suitcase into the White House. I knew then that the repubs were his errand boys.

PEACE!

[Frustratedlady]

11. Really? That's interesting.

I first heard Rush when he was solving people's personal problems with insurance, carpentry, cars, lawyers, etc. It must have been real early-on as I don't recall any politics. He had a vast amount of resources where he could find the answers. I thought it was rather interesting.

Then, I was driving home from work one day and heard a local commentator say that the Pugs had purchased rights to broadcasting stations and that would be the worst thing for the country, as we would be hit with Repug propaganda 24/7. I don't remember the details, but he sure was right. I probably have this all wrong as to who purchased the rights, but I do recall the Pugs were mentioned as having power over it and that it was not good for the country.

[MarianJack]

33. I can't imagine being so desperate...

...that I'd need rush limbooger to solve my problems.

PEACE!

[ejpoeta]

9. my dad LOVED limbaugh. listened to him regularly.

In fact, my brother (who also is an avid listener) brought in a radio in the hospital for my dad to listen when he was dying and was heavily medicated. That's what my dad would want, but it was hard for me to sit in there and hear the bs.

[Blue_Tires]

17. My mom listened to him back when he was a nobody in the 80s

I had to listen in the morning while she dropped me off for school...

(She's a good liberal and has always hated Limbaugh; her take on it was finding out the other side's talking points)

[pnwest]

10. i dont quite remember when, or what he was

saying precisely, but I clearly remember my reaction. I asked people around me 'who IS this blowhard?' I remember asking why is this guy such a big deal? He's just a guy with an opinion, what makes him so special? Why does anyone give a shit about what this guy thinks? No one could quite explain who he was, where he came from or why his opinion mattered. And to this DAY, I never understood why anyone gave this gasbag the time of day. He's just an asshole with an opinion, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a dozen assholes with opinions. He's just some random dude who likes to hear himself talk! No one can explain it to me WHY Rush IS!!!

[KharmaTrain]

12. August 1, 1988

I worked at a radio station that was one of his original affiliates. I'd heard about him previously and then had a chance to actually interview/chat with him. As other have noted he can be very plreasant in person...chatting about topics other than politics. I've detested what he's stood for and done to radio...seeing many local talents losing jobs as his swillfest replace many local shows and was the opening round of the corporate destruction of the medium.

[Ganja Ninja]

13. I remember the first time I heard his show.

I was working on a job and another guy was playing his show on the radio. I wasn't paying too much attention to what he was saying but just picked up on the tone of his voice. He was just bitching and complaining on and on and on. I had no idea who it was but I remember saying "What the fuck is this asshole's problem?" I still don't understand why anyone would find him entertaining.

[obamanut2012]

14. During Monica Lewinsky Gate

[Brother Buzz]

15. 1987 KFBK, Sacramento

I despised him before the nation even learned of the ass.

[SidDithers]

16. Back when Bartcop was RL-LNW...nt

Sid

[all american girl]

18. I first heard him back in the late 80's

My car was in the shop and my step-dad was taking me to work. He had El Rushbo on. All I could do was sputter...completely dumbfounded...and I have know idea what he was talking about, now. My step-dad is a happy clappy liberal, and still a chauvinistic pig...bless his heart.

[guitar man]

19. When I heard him splash

...in the bowl

[Initech]

20. Al Franken's book "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot".

I heard about him during Clinton's impeachment but W's "election" really opened my eyes to these assholes and what they were saying.

[MadrasT]

21. Back in the 80's...

Last edited Mon Mar 5, 2012, 02:45 PM - Edit history (1)

...I remember listening to him on the radio driving to and from college classes.

It was a l-o-n-g commute with limited radio options. But I don't remember him beign so offensive then as he became in later years. I remember him as an occasionally amusing opinionated blowhard.

Now he is just vile.

Not sure how much he changed and how much I changed, but Rush isn't on my radio any more.

[nolabear]

22. Back during the Clinton years when he attacked Hillary. I couldn't believe it.

I cringed every time he said "Feminazi" and spewed his venom. I have hardly been able to listen to him. I hate that he's in my thoughts now, but I'm willing to now in order to help get him off the air.

[doc03]

23. The first I remember was after Clinton became President when he opened his

show every day saying America being held hostage x number of days. He raised hell every day about how Clintons tax increase
Would put us into another great depression.

[kysrsoze]

24. IIRC, it was 1991. I was attending Illinois State and worked with a local high schooler

who was a rabid fan. It was pretty obvious he listened b/c his dad listened. I remember being in a car with him for some reason, and he had it on the radio. I wasn't very political at the time, but laughed at it and told him it was all bullshit, and the dude was nuts. I started making fun of him for it from there on out, but he was already a true believer, telling me I would eventually be proven wrong.

Wonder if he still feels the same way

[jillan]

25. During the early Clinton years. I will never forget it.

My dear, sweet, read the bible every morning with her coffee Mother in Law was blushing with excitement while listening to his show.
Thanked my soon-to-be-ex for telling her about his radio show.

It made me sick.

[OmahaBlueDog]

26. Mid to late eighties

IIRC, they ran him on KGO for a week when Jim Eason was on vacation. I don't remember if he was in Sacto at that point, or if he was in NY. Hw eas on (and promptly off) a bunch of stations in Miami/Ft. Lauderdaye in the late 80s, early 90s. He was on in mid-day, and that was ruled by the late Neil Rodgers at that time. Randi Rhodes was also in that mix.

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. He was mediocre sports reporter here in KC back in the 80s

Also good friends with George Brett. They used to prowl the bars here and caused all kinds of problems. My friend who worked in one of the bars where they hung out would check the Royals schedule to set up her nights to work when George and Rush were out of town.

[Brigid]

28. I don't really remember,

But I do remember when my brother heard him for the first time back in the early '90's. I was with my brother, and the fat man came on the radio. My brother was busting a gut laughing. He honestly thought it was a joke. By that time I knew enough about the fat man to know he was dead serious. I had to set my brother straight.

[cynatnite]

29. He used to be on TV and I watched him for about a week...

when I was really stupid.

I wised up quickly when he kept calling women who wanted equal treatment "feminazis".

I look back on those days and wondered WTF was I thinking.

[DenverDad]

30. On the Phil Donahue show, just after Bill Clinton was elected.

I remember thinking how hypocritical is was to blame all the ills of the nation on "liberalism" when the White House had been occupied by Republicans during the previous 12 years.

I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

[librechik]

31. I heard him tell a vicious lie, which surprised me. I'd never really heard that

sort of thing on live radio. A Blatant , smearing ppersonal lie, against someone's character. (Can't remember who) First sentence I ever heard him say. This must a have been about 1990.

Later, I was forced to listen to him for a half an hour or so because we were in the tornado shelter. He spent the whole time rambling on about the difference between french cuffs and regular cuffs. Fussing like a little girl.

[Populist_Prole]

32. '88 or '89. I was a young stupid neocon in my 20's.

I listened regularly till the early 90's even if I didn't always agree with him. His bashing of the working class ( and pretty much everybody other than archetypes of himself ) became too much and I also noticed he became more vicious, caustic. That was it for me. Now, as Madras above stated, he is absolutely vile.

[Jamaal510]

34. In 2008 when I was in the 12th grade,

in my economics class, that was when I first heard of him. Our teacher, Mr. Durston, was telling everyone how biased he is.

[WCGreen]

35. 1990...

was driving back and forth from Cleveland to Ft Wayne on a regular basis working at a small FM station and there were times no radio stations came in but when they did, it was Rush...

At first I thought it was parody and then I realized it was serious.

I remember bringing his name up at one of the first Green Party meetings I went to and they all laughed, basically thinking who would listen to a guy like that...

I also talked to some of the people affiliated with the radio station who knew very well who Rush was. They explained to me how he got all those rural and small city stations to air his show.

He self syndicated by giving the show away for free. The EIB would only ask for three spots at the top and three at the bottom of the hour. The radio station was then free to sell the rest of the time or run the, at the time obligatory, Public Interest Messages.

It worked well for the locals since all they needed was a board op who would work for min wage or better yet, a student from one of the high schools who wanted to break into the business.

There was a whole lot of reorganization with the relationship between the government and radio stations that made it even or even cost effective to syndicate.

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. 1986... And my history instructor predicted,

Predicted, correctly mind you, that Rush was well on his way to ruin the country. Then he introduced me to father coughlin and how much they matched in the rythm of speech. As he put it, " this is a dangerous man."

[thucythucy]

37. I've wondered how similiar Rush is to Father Coughlin.

It would be interesting to find some tapes of Coughlin and compare.

Best wishes.

[nadinbrzezinski]

38. They exist, from YouTube

&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Broken_Hero]

39. I first heard of him

in late 91. A somewhat friend of mine had him recorded on tape and I listened to Rush for about 10 minutes or so, and I couldn't find any value, truth, or wit in the rant. What I did find was a large amount of hate, especially for women, aka what Rush calls Feminazi's....I haven't listened to him since, except the little excerpts that play on the news/TDS/Colbert

[The Genealogist]

40. I think it was about 1991

It could have been 1990 or 1992, but I think it was 1991. My father was talking about hearing his show. I think it was after this that I came to understand what Rush Limbaugh was all about. The first time I heard his name, I thought the name itself was interesting, and sounded like some kind of rich person who had once played football. It was only after riding in the van with my father while the show was on that I was introduced to what a nasty human being he was.

[BumRushDaShow]

41. Heard him on his first day on the air at WABC in 1988

when I had tuned in to hear Lynn Samuels @ noon (her regular slot at the time) and she was babbling something about being moved down the hall to a different studio or something and then he appeared.

[Herlong]

42. My mother listened to Rush Limbaugh in the eighties.

Last edited Fri Mar 9, 2012, 09:21 PM - Edit history (4)

She liked his personal responsibilty message.

[Herlong]

43. Kick