This is a time of great loss for so many reasons. The loss of a contentious election, the loss of being able to meet family and friends, the elimination or reduction of key life events like graduations and weddings, even the ability to take a deep God-given breath of air freely out in public. So many losses. Rush Limbaugh’s death this week is a devastating loss on top of so many other sad things.
I must admit, back in 1990, I was not a big fan of the Rush Limbaugh Program. But I was wavering. My worldview had already been shattered after the difficult delivery of my first child in an indifferent and harmful hospital/medical situation. Yet I remained a loyal, liberal Democrat.
My go-to modus operandi (the good girl, going along to get along, following the rules, and believing the experts) was starting to deteriorate. I questioned everything in my life from health to religion.
Yet politics was the platform I clung to. My family had been liberal Democrats for generations. FDR, in their view, had saved the nation during the depression and World War II. My friends were liberal Democrats. We used to have a picture of President Kennedy on the wall next to a picture of Paul VI. My grandfather followed the Watergate hearings with glee. That was a heritage that I just wasn’t ready to turn my back on.
Mr. Pete was the same. We grew up in Flint, Michigan after all, home of the famous GM Sit down strikes. In the ’60s and ’70s, Flint was still a complete company town with a strong Democrat identity.
We grew up and came of age in this place where you always voted for the little man, and that meant voting Democrat. As Catholic youth, with faith formation during the era of the elusive “Spirit of Vatican II,” it seemed like this political view blended nicely with what we were taught about our Catholic faith.
But one afternoon in 1990, while driving up to Cuyahoga Community College to take a course in Anatomy and Physiology, I turned on the radio to hear my favorite news program and was shocked to hear a new voice instead. This was something different. The voice was loud, conceited, aggressive, and I didn’t believe or agree with anything he said. I turned it off and started listening to music instead. That was my introduction to Rush Limbaugh.
That night I asked Mr. Pete if he heard the new guy on the radio. He had and he agreed with me. This new show would never catch on because the new guy was a big jerk.
Weeks went by. I was making that drive a couple of times a week. Once in a while, I gave the Rush Show a chance, but then he said something that struck a nerve and I quickly shut it off. He made me angry.
One day, I came home from class and asked my husband, “Did you listen to Rush Limbaugh today? He was saying some crazy things.” To my surprise, Mr. Pete said, “Actually, I’ve been listening to him a little more. I think he’s starting to make sense. ”
I couldn’t believe my ears! What was Pete hearing that I wasn’t? I decided to try and listen and give the benefit of the doubt. At first, I couldn’t go for more than a couple of minutes. Over time, I was able to get through an hour or so of the program. Maybe I wasn’t completely sold, but at least I realized that there was another side to the perspective that I never completely acknowledged before.
The real turning point for me was the 1992 election. Clinton was running for president but he was pro-choice. As a Catholic and as a mother, I was strongly pro-life. I didn’t think that I could vote for him with a clear conscience unless he picked a pro-life running mate. He picked Al Gore and I was panicking. Could it be possible that I was going to have to vote for a Republican? That’s when I truly started considering the perspective of the Rush Limbaugh program.
I kept learning new things every day. My biggest conversion was not going from Democrat to Republican but going from a climate change believer to climate change doubter. And that was thanks to Rush’s clear and compelling explanation of why the entire thing was just wrong.
Yeah, Rush was loud and he pushed a lot of buttons, but it was mostly because he was right about everything he said.
Over the years, I’ve blogged about Rush quite a bit.
Here’s Rush’s open letter to President Obama after his State of the Union in 2012.
Rush defending the Catholic Church!
Rush on The Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman trial.
Rush told the truth as he saw it. He didn’t sugarcoat it. And he never apologized for being right, which actually makes him a pioneer. How refreshing that is in this culture where we drag 24-year-old reality show contestants through the mud for attending a party in college – or worse, take a man’s job away for asking the public to give a little grace.
Rush never backed down when he was right.
I know God has a plan. To me, it seems that Rush’s death just before the start of Lent is a sign that our time of penance is going to be a long one. That he would go this year when the radical left is in charge of the government again is scary.
But maybe Rush’s lasting legacy will be his example. With whit and charm, he empowered the rest of us to quit cowering and stand by our convictions. His points were always compelling and persuasive. Maybe that’s the best example he gave us for moving forward.
RIP Rush. You will be missed.
Great interview with Rush and Phil Donahue back in 1992. Oh, that left and right could talk like that again!
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