Gregg said:
Either Rush has gotten lazy in his later years... or he's into a power trip.
Yes and yes.
In years past, there'd be plenty of humor in his shows. There'd be song parodies, there'd be Femi-Nazi and Homeless Updates. He was always trying to turn the nation more conservative and make his conservative fans more rigid.
Rush got old, rich, and lazy. So did his audience (other than the "rich" part). They, and he, have become a bunch of bitter old geezers and it shows in his performance. He used to be funny, regardless of whether I agreed with him or not (about 50-50 in my case). Now, he's the radio equivalent of the old man screaming "Get off my lawn" at the neighbor kids.
But now he holds such power in the Republican Party that there's no time for humor anymore. No song parodies, no silly updates on "Tree-Huggers."
I think the problem is that he doesn't have the power he used to have 10-20 years ago. The Tea Party movement doesn't need Rush Limbaugh anymore. They can get people elected without his so-called "help."
Of course, other big men in broadcasting get lazy in their later years too. I remember when David Letterman would do produced material in the day for showing later that night... get a group of models in a convertible and go to the beach with them. Or he and Paul might walk through Central Park doing crazy things. Now Letterman does nothing more than let his staffers do those things. He does his monologue, then talks behind his desk, then interviews a guest or two, then the show is over. I guess he realized he gets the same pay whether he knocks himself out or shows up a few minutes before the show starts.
Letterman's been lazy for years. He was his best at NBC, when he was younger and somewhat hip. But he's at CBS and is as old and tired as the rest of the network.
So is Rush simply too successful for his own good? Or in his mind he thinks he has to do everything in his power to bash Pres. Obama and the Democrats non-stop so we'll elect a Republican President and a Republican House and Senate... and make sure all those Republicans move from moderate to far right?
I thought the election of Barack Obama would be the thing that would rejuvinate Limbaugh, just like the election of Bill Clinton put him on the map in the first place. But he's more angry now than the humorously-sarcastic Rush Limbaugh of 1993. Also, I've never previously believed the racist charges that have been leveled at him over the years, but quite frankly, now I'm not so sure they aren't at least a bit true. It's not that I think he'd join the KKK (he wouldn't), and he's never tolerated bald-faced bigotry from callers, but part of his problem with Obama seems to be that he's black, not just that he's a Democrat or that he's even more liberal than Bill Clinton.
As you might tell, I'm a liberal and I can't figute out how Rush became so successful and so powerful. I think he tells half-truths and even withholds information to push his agenda. I live in NYC where we have a liberal talk station and I feel sorry for the 80% of the country that has no such outlet on the radio. You're stuck with either Rush and his clones or music or an all-sports station. NPR is good but it can be dry and some NPR stations also play Classical or Jazz music so maybe Rush is all that's available in some markets. Too bad.
I'm a fiscal conservative/social liberal that liked Limbaugh for 20 years (even if I didn't agree with him) but can't take him anymore. In fact, I don't listen to any talk radio - liberal or conservative - anymore. Nor do I watch Fox News or MSNBC. I want facts and intelligent opinions based on facts, not wacko-nutjob propaganda from either side. It's the Sunday morning news shows and websites like The Hill or even the Washington Post for me.
And my problem with NPR isn't that they're liberal. It's that they're excruciatingly boring. Listening to them is like having a root canal done.
