The article title are the words of Thomas Paine who lived by that dictum. When I write I don’t intentionally go out of my way to stir a pot. But if not to stir a pot means I cannot tell the truth, then what good is my writing and who does it benefit? No one, that’s who. My article “Time to say goodbye to the Rush Limbaugh Show” caused some offense in certain quarters. Here is what a few folks had to say about my honest appraisal of the Rush situation —
Brian Carolan via a public Facebook post (as he wrote it, no edits were done to any of his posts when I quote them):
“And with your comment you proved how juvenile your assement was of Rush’s tenure. When you used the term ‘soldier’ you proved you have no idea who Rush was. He was a general as well as an architect of the conservative movement. Perhaps it’s not ‘panties in a bunch’ (are you 12 years old?) rather people who knew and listened to him, defending his legacy, and who just knew you were full of crap writing this garbage. Your article was a joke and if you need material for your comic book you’re doing fine on your own. You have no standing to write about or critique Rush. Mary Grabar perhaps you need better friends who don’t use the death of an American patriot to gain material. I’ll say it again, your article was trash.”
And another from Carolan to the woman who shared the article on Facebook:
“Mary Grabar it was just so badly thought out. Absurd references to soldiers and ‘his last show being the worst’ Does she have any experience in what he did or any measurable success? If not she should seriously spare us all her baseless opinions. I listened to Rush over 30 years and all he has said has been relevant for decades and will continue to be for many more. I think your friend wanted to write an edgy piece but it turned out to be just silly. I’m sorry but this was just a pathetic piece of writing. It’s stinks of jealousy and just plain false characterizations.”
And another:
“Angela Durden as I said your own writings are material enough for your comic book nonsense. Funny your public page has you listening to “Rage Against the Machine” Either you just wrote that to sound “cool” or you’re knowingly listening to devout Marxists(look up Tom Morello(he would be the guitarist ;))) so you writing about Rush is just hilarious. By the way you’re also not funny just looking for reactions. Spare us all.
From Chuck Stephens via a public Facebook post (again, unedited):
“Angela who? I’m well read and have never heard of her… She’s likely a Stealther throwing more transparent lefty manipulato to try and remove an image they can’t cancel in their usual fashion… I pay no attention to Lefty’s trying to destroy heroic statues, either physically or symbolically…”
I enjoyed the interesting word choices like, for instance, “transparent lefty manipulato”. That was brilliant! A couple of women weighed in, but they had nothing interesting to say that hadn’t already been said by Brian and Chuck, but wowzers could they ever emote without reasoning.
I found quite interesting the amount of almost religious fervor following Rush after his death. He was brilliant and witty and kind and helpful and more good stuff, causing me to listen for years to his show. He will be missed. But he wasn’t Jesus Christ. Rush was merely a man.
Unlike Chuck and Brian, I refuse to worship at the altar of the Cult of Personality.
The Rush Show distributor network was interspersing some of his old commentary with current stuff from rotating hosts to show how “timeless” Rush’s advice was; all in the old time slot of 12-3 EST.
But industry listener reports showed that the vast quantity of listeners were tuning out. Advertisers were not happy with shrinking ear count and the push was on to find someone to take over that slot. Dan Bongino won that race. Hope he does well.
My editor sent me a radio industry article showing there were two smaller (low-powered) stations who were going to play his old shows. Not sure how many Dittoheads are tuning in for that. I caught a small bit on a fuzzy station late one night, so that content might not be available to them even if they want to listen.
But I am not the only one who refuses to worship at the altar of the Cult of Personality.
Here is one reply I got from Doug Dalghren:
“I appreciate what you were saying in your article about Rush’s program. It was, and shall always remain, unique. Even prior to his leaving us, a fill-in host was only that. Rush could not be replaced.
“Yet even he would tell you that what he did was not creating an ideology or a new way to look at politics. Rush Limbaugh tapped into what millions of citizens already believed and were quietly thinking to themselves.
“No one before had dared to speak out with unvarnished truth and then stand by that truth with facts to back it up. That, was the Rush Limbaugh program. That’s why it stood for some thirty years and cannot be duplicated. Only one other person has touched and used Rush’s basic formula, though it were in a totally different arena.
“When Donald J. Trump decided to run for, and in fact won, the Presidency, he didn’t do it by creating a regime, a way of looking at freedom, or establishing new rules for our Republic. He read, studied, and understood the rules that existed through our Constitution and followed them closer than any other President in history.
“This is why these two men were loved by many and hated by others. The rules they followed were our rules, the people’s, as written by our founding fathers. Those rules were normally abused by politicians to keep their opponents at bay, direct the money stream toward themselves, and protect them from retribution.
“What Rush accomplished will never be forgotten and it does not need to be duplicated to be honored. What Donald J. Trump did is similar; it can’t be duplicated, but could be copied if we have the will. It took over 200 years, but those two men interpreted our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution in ways the Founders intended, but never dreamed we would be so slow.
“Thanks again for your thoughts and words. I hope this can supplement those and make sense.”
And this from S. Parkman Pace, Esq., who also agreed with the article, writing —
“The only thing I’ve seen worse than parading Rush’s corpse around is the way OxyClean ran Billy Mays’ commercials from the grave, saying ‘As Billy always said…’. When Wally Cox died, Hollywood Squares ran a bottom third line that said ‘pre-recorded’ when they got to his square.” I hope Brian and Chuck don’t read this article. They’ll get absolutely apoplectic after reading the Pace comment. Maybe have a stroke or heart attack. Have to double-up on their meds.
After Brian complained that he didn’t like reading anything I’d written, I responded that he certainly didn’t have to read another word. His choice. But armies study their enemies leaders, previous battles, and tactics in order to learn how they think. As a writer, I do the same when it comes to ideas. It serves me well to listen, read, and watch a wide variety of material so that I don’t miss broader contexts, learn how people think, etc. For instance, that Brian kept responding to what I wrote tells me a lot about him. See? I’m always learning.
And if the sharing of that knowledge, or my opining about it, causes offense, then that is the proof of my desire to be honest in my writing. Besides, anyone who writes something that absolutely everyone agrees with is merely a writer acting as a prostitute peddling their intellectual honor. “Hey there, big boy. Read something ya like? Love ya long time. Guaranteed. Give ya a little sumpin’-sumpin’ to tickle your ears with all night long.”
Ain’t no way in hell I’m going to do that.
So, agree, disagree. Makes no nevermind to me. But I hope I make you think. And I want to know what you think, too. My spine is strong. My ego is intact…as is my sense of humor.
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Born and raised in Georgia, Angela K. Durden is an author, publisher, editor, songwriter, performer, and more, living in the Metro Atlanta, Georgia, area. Support your Citizen Journalist and visit her Consolidated Author Page and buy a book. See more about Angela here. Want to watch a fun video? Click here.
