|
|
|
|
|
|
|
To grassroots political conservatives from coast to coast, his name alone is enough to bring on an adrenaline "rush." He is their media leader, their official voice. And, to the extent that his extraordinary public influence contributed largely to the Republicans' 1994 takeover of Congress, he is their political savior. No wonder the Rush Limbaugh show is a broadcasting phenomenon, reaching 20 million listeners each week over more than 600 radio stations nationwide.
Not even his most ardent fans would call Limbaugh shy or modest. With the air of one who knows his power, he devotes virtually all of his show's three hours, five days a week, to a one-man all-out attack on those he perceives as "the enemy" --- the nation's political liberals from the President on down, women's rights activists he calls "feminazis," and "environmentalist wackos" ---all the while reminding his audience that his talent is "on loan from God," and that he does his show with "half his brain tied behind his back just to make it fair."
When he is not issuing his own conservative commentary, Limbaugh accepts phone calls from listeners. His rare on-air guests are among the upper echelon of the Republican Right, such as President George Bush who called Limbaugh to the White House in 1992 asking for the broadcaster's public support in the upcoming election campaign.
Aware that there are many in his audience who devour his every word as conservative gospel, Limbaugh provides them more than his daily political sermons: His two published books, "The Way Things Ought to Be" and "See, I Told You So," rose quickly to the top of the best-seller list. He followed them with an audio cassette, "American Dream," and a videotape, "Sometimes You Just Gotta Laugh." It has reached the point where some restaurants have set aside "Rush Rooms," where Limbaugh devotees can hear his show even while dining.
As busy a schedule as Limbaugh maintains, he finds time to hit selected stops on the lecture circuit as one of the nation's most sought after --- and highly paid --- speakers. Limbaugh admits that, wherever he goes, he is "preaching to the choir," but keeping the faithful fulfilled has its own political and personal rewards.
The unprecedented success of the Rush Limbaugh Show has literally changed the face of talkradio, as stations throughout the U.S. take on an increasingly conservative stance in an effort to follow his high-ratings popularity. None have come close, because Limbaugh's extreme right-wing conservatism is only part of his secret; it's his in-your-face, take-no-enemies style of delivery that draws listeners who share his views and demand nothing less than such narrowly focused conviction.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Blowing Smoke!
Thursday 07-03-2008 5:12pm CT
You remember years ago -- liberals sued Big Tobacco and then hit consumers with massive tax increases, and I predicted that the settlement money would fund government operations -- not health care, as promised. And I said a thriving black market for cigarettes would emerge.
Well, since then, states have indeed spent their settlement money on non-health care initiatives and have become totally dependent on tobacco tax revenue. And now they're worried about the thriving black market of cigarettes; there may have been a tipping point reached in cigarette taxation here.
Criminal gangs are smuggling cigarettes from lower-tax states to higher-tax states. It's gotten so bad that the ATF has developed a national strategy to combat the trafficking. It's a lucrative business, especially in states like New York. That's where yet another tax increase will push the price of a pack of legally purchased cigarettes to almost nine dollars. An Indian reservation 60 miles from New York City sells over ten million cartons a year to people trying to avoid these high prices.
But it isn't just Native Americans and domestic criminal gangs: Smokers are turning to Internet sales operations, too. Tons of counterfeit cigarettes are now showing up from the ChiComs.
Now, all of this unfolded precisely as I predicted. See, the one thing the liberals can't get through their thick skulls is that people respond to confiscatory taxes by changing their behavior. This was the lesson of the American Revolution -- a war fueled by high taxes and lost liberties -- and it's going to be true forever. Trust me, folks. I mean, I'm not blowing smoke up your skirt: It actually happens the way I tell you!  Surprise!
Thursday 07-03-2008 5:11pm CT
Hey, folks: I have three surprising items for you today.
First: Curators at the museum of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Vienna are surprised at the outpouring of anger over a current exhibit. The museum is honoring 80-year-old Austrian artist Alfred Hrdlicka (Herd-licker?): atheist, communist, antiwar activist is who he is. (Herd-licker?) One of his sculptures depicts the crucified Christ without a face -- or loincloth. A painting of the crucifixion shows a soldier beating Jesus... while fondling him. The most widely criticized "art" is a painting of the Last Supper with the apostles engaging in what the artist calls "a homosexual orgy." (That's why his name's Herd-licker!)The curators of the Catholic museum don't understand why people consider the works blasphemous.
Closer to home, in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, school authorities were surprised by the response to this year's "Wacky Day." Students at Pineview Elementary school were encouraged to dress either as senior citizens or members of the opposite sex. The school was flooded with protests after local radio picked up the story. School District administrator Tom Benson assures everybody that encouraging the kids to cross-dress was not an attempt to promote cross-dressing. (Why would anybody think that?)
Final surprise: The 9th Circus Court of Appeals ruled the website Roommates.com cannot require its users to identify their sexual preference while seeking out -- or applying to be -- a roommate. So the real surprise, for some of these lucky users, will come later.
Don't you just love surprises, folks? Especially the way I tell you about them? Libs are Libs
Wednesday 07-02-2008 6:09pm CT
Well, look at this, folks. Students nationwide are enjoying their annual break (except, of course, for the poor schlubs forced to go to summer skrool; I never had to do that, thank goodness). But nevertheless, there's education news. We have two items from overseas.
First up: A British high skrool student, asked to describe the room that he was sitting in as part of his "English" exam paper, used just two words to complete the assignment. The first was the "F bomb", followed by the word "off." A senior examiner, Peter Buckroyd (the guy who grades the exams), awarded this student points... two points, out of possible 27. Buckroyd said: "It would be wicked to give it a zero, because it does show some very basic skills we are looking for... like conveying some meaning... and some spelling." Buckroyd said that the kid would have gotten a higher mark if he had given his "F- off" some punctuation, like an exclamation point.
Next item. In Lund, Sweden, an 8-year-old student was handing out birthday party invitations in class when skrool administrators seized and confiscated the items. The reason? They said the skrool had "a duty to ensure against discrimination." The student's father later admitted that his evil 8-year-old kid did exclude two of his classmates from the invitation list -- one was a kid who had bullied him; the other was a kid who had a party and didn't invite him.
So, no matter where they live -- anywhere in the world -- liberals are going to be liberals. And if you learn nothing else... please learn that.
|
|
© 2008