In his blog entry "Undermining Rush", Maloney accuses "industry insiders", including notorious self-promoter and consultant Holland Cooke, of "rewriting history" by disagreeing with the conclusion that Rush moved the House to the GOP in 1994. Even at the risk of defending Mr. Cooke, I must object:
Maloney's deification of Rush ignores the fact that years before, the "tea bag" movement of local talk hosts around the country had aroused opinion against the Democratic majority in Congress over a pay raise.
For those who don't recall, these local hosts urged listeners to mail tea bags to their congressmen to recall the Boston Tea Party. Rush had no part in the "tea bag" campaign. In fact, he disdained it on the air. "I don't tell listeners to call their congressmen, or mail in tea bags", I recall Rush saying. It seems to me that Rush has been the one trying to rewrite history, to suggest that there was no talk radio before him, and certainly all who have come after owe everything they have too him, and none can succeed without drafting in his breeze and following his wake on ideology.
Another quote from Maloney:
"Keep in mind that even after all of these years, many behind the scenes are still seething at El Rushbo's success, with additional ongoing railings against the "Rush clones" featured on local talk stations."
Very few seethe at Rush's success per se. Many rightfully fume at the aftermath, with syndication sweeping out local hosts, something Maloney ought to understand. Can you blame the seethers when the likes of Bob Lassiter and Mike Malloy, top tier hosts on the left of center, were canned and replaced with mediocre conservatives who owed everything to aping Rush's buzzwords, sometimes not very well? I remember many a host in 1994 having little skill to argue with, other than the continuous repetition of words like "Dumbocrats" and "Billary"; thus my name for radio's class of '94, "The Billaries." Many hosts had long careers of unearned glory by simply riding Rush's coattails.
Another quote: "... your Radio Equalizer once knew a programmer who openly dismissed Limbaugh as "just a jock" (as in disc jockey)."
That, essentially, is all Limbaugh brought to the table. A Top 40 DJ/ Morning Zoo approach to talk radio, designed to appeal to baby boomers. It stood out because with few exceptions, most conservatives were not of the rock 'n' roll generation and hated rock 'n' roll. I remember a few mumbling that John Lennon "had it coming" when he was killed in 1980. Limbaugh embraced rock even as he excoriated much of its politics,
making conservativism cool for the generation that grew up with stereo LPs.
Maloney not only disses liberal talk, which is his stock in trade. He also disses every talk host who isn't Rush, including by extension himself.
Maloney's deification of Rush ignores the fact that years before, the "tea bag" movement of local talk hosts around the country had aroused opinion against the Democratic majority in Congress over a pay raise.
For those who don't recall, these local hosts urged listeners to mail tea bags to their congressmen to recall the Boston Tea Party. Rush had no part in the "tea bag" campaign. In fact, he disdained it on the air. "I don't tell listeners to call their congressmen, or mail in tea bags", I recall Rush saying. It seems to me that Rush has been the one trying to rewrite history, to suggest that there was no talk radio before him, and certainly all who have come after owe everything they have too him, and none can succeed without drafting in his breeze and following his wake on ideology.
Another quote from Maloney:
"Keep in mind that even after all of these years, many behind the scenes are still seething at El Rushbo's success, with additional ongoing railings against the "Rush clones" featured on local talk stations."
Very few seethe at Rush's success per se. Many rightfully fume at the aftermath, with syndication sweeping out local hosts, something Maloney ought to understand. Can you blame the seethers when the likes of Bob Lassiter and Mike Malloy, top tier hosts on the left of center, were canned and replaced with mediocre conservatives who owed everything to aping Rush's buzzwords, sometimes not very well? I remember many a host in 1994 having little skill to argue with, other than the continuous repetition of words like "Dumbocrats" and "Billary"; thus my name for radio's class of '94, "The Billaries." Many hosts had long careers of unearned glory by simply riding Rush's coattails.
Another quote: "... your Radio Equalizer once knew a programmer who openly dismissed Limbaugh as "just a jock" (as in disc jockey)."
That, essentially, is all Limbaugh brought to the table. A Top 40 DJ/ Morning Zoo approach to talk radio, designed to appeal to baby boomers. It stood out because with few exceptions, most conservatives were not of the rock 'n' roll generation and hated rock 'n' roll. I remember a few mumbling that John Lennon "had it coming" when he was killed in 1980. Limbaugh embraced rock even as he excoriated much of its politics,
making conservativism cool for the generation that grew up with stereo LPs.
Maloney not only disses liberal talk, which is his stock in trade. He also disses every talk host who isn't Rush, including by extension himself.