The Limbaugh Letter: 28 Years of Conservative Excellence
Article by Mark Ellis in "PJMedia":
If Ronald Reagan brought large
swaths of our nation home to traditionalist America First values after
he was elected president in 1980, it was Rush Limbaugh who consolidated and upheld contemporary conservatism and those same values after Reagan left office.
George
H. W. Bush had ascended to the highest office by the time Limbaugh hit
the airwaves, and while 41 was due significant respect for his heroic
military service and his administration’s mostly-adroit performance
after having to follow a stellar figure like Reagan into office, his
tenure was ultimately anticlimactic. For reasons too lengthy to address
here, he was not reelected.
Into that conservative void came The Rush Limbaugh Show.
Limbaugh’s targets on the day I first (by sheer chance) tuned in were
President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Mikhail Gorbachev
and the soon-to-be-collapsed Russian Politburo. Drawn in by one of
Limbaugh’s favorite musical bumpers at the time, the Star Wars “Imperial March,”
it was refreshing to hear, after so much happy talk about a new era of
reconciliation with the Soviets, an authoritative voice still possessed
of healthy skepticism about the wiles and wherefores of what Reagan had
called an “evil empire.”
I
became a regular listener after that. I was also interested enough in
Limbaugh’s message at the time to become a charter subscriber to The Limbaugh Letter, a twenty-eight-year subscription I hold to this day.
Looking
through those old issues in the wake of Limbaugh’s announcement of his
advanced lung cancer diagnosis, I’m returned via a printed time warp
back to an informative and entertaining era of pioneering conservative
analysis.
First published in 1992, the earliest pages of the Limbaugh Letter
incisively took to task newly-elected President Bill Clinton. So
effective was Limbaugh’s commentary that political observers credited
him with an able assist that facilitated the Republican Revolution and
sweeping House takeover in 1994.
Bill
was fair game, but if it seemed at times that the premiere American
radio talk show host was especially hard on Hillary, her “vast
right-wing conspiracy” comment and health care schemes, subsequent
events too numerous to reference here show that scrutiny of the Clinton
first lady was wholly warranted.
Later, content in
the glossy, 16-page newsletter became all about Bill’s scandals, and his
resultant impeachment and acquittal in the Senate.
Here’s
a newsletter back page headline from the last year of Clinton’s term
(Dec. 1999), which featured Limbaugh’s accurate prediction that
Republicans would control the White House, House, and Senate after the
2000 election: “Warning: Out-Of-Power Liberals Are Going to Go Nuts”
(Footnote: Vermont Senator “Jumpin’" Jim Jeffords would usurp Republican control in June, changing his affiliation to Democrat.)
The
early focus on George W. Bush’s eventual eight year-administration was
on the controversial 2000 election, the “hanging chads,” and Vice
President Al Gore’s ultimate defeat. Things took a dark turn after the
September 11 attacks, when Limbaugh’s periodical begins to focus on the
threat of Islamic terror and W’s war on terror.
Here’s
the newsletter’s cover story headline from November 2001, published
while fires in the ruins of the World Trade Center were still burning:
“The Rebirth of American Resolve.”
Another
theme Limbaugh expanded upon with incisive wit and condemnation during
the Bush 43 years was the dangerous creep of progressivism and leftist
ideology.
When Barack Obama
defeated John McCain in 2008, Limbaugh stirred up a hornet’s nest with
his “I hope he fails” comment. If it seemed a bit harsh at the time, as
if Limbaugh was unwilling even to give the new president a fair chance,
subsequent events that have filled volumes confirm that Limbaugh was
right to suspect Obama’s “transformation” from the very beginning.
Newsletter cover story from the Obama Era (Dec. 2013): “Why do you think they wear Che T-shirts? Ideology.”
Limbaugh
kept his eagle eye and Golden EIB Microphone trained hard on all that
transpired during the 2016 campaign; when Trump became destined for the
nomination, Limbaugh became destined to be one of the president’s most
influential supporters. As Newt Gingrich in 1994 and the ever-expanding
roster of Republican representatives and senators during Obama’s term
can attest, you couldn’t ask for a better man to have in your corner.
Here’s
the newsletter cover story from the January 2017 issue, put together in
December of 2016, when Trump was president-elect: “Buckle Up for The
Trump Boom.”
While re-distributionist naysayers like New York Times
crybaby Paul Krugman were glumly predicting a catastrophic downturn as a
result of Trump’s victory, Limbaugh saw a different scenario playing
out. Again, as things turned out, so many, many times, Rush was right.
On a personal note, I got my fifteen minutes on The Rush Limbaugh Show in January 2017 when El Rushbo discussed an article I’d written for PJ Media.
Rush
Limbaugh’s announcement of his cancer diagnosis and President Trump’s
magnificent bestowal upon him of the Presidential Medal of Freedom moved
me to bring out my trove of Limbaugh Letters.
While
reviewing the issues full of top-shelf illustrations, interviews that
provide trenchant viewpoints from conservatism’s leading lights, and
Limbaugh’s own positive, uplifting cover stories, I also looked at the
2019 Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation that
periodicals must post each year. From the statement: “The average number
of copies of each issue during the preceding 12 months: 87,664, of
which 81,566 were … paid subscriptions.”
It
was always thus. 80,000-plus is a lot of readers, but that number
represents a mere fraction of the millions upon millions of listeners
Limbaugh reaches on the radio.
One
of President Trump’s favorite humorous asides is when he says that
“we”-- as in conservatives, Republicans, and his legions of Trump
Country supporters -- are the “real elite.” It’s a well-deserved zing at
the pointy-headed, doom-and-gloom, America-last bi-coastal liberals who
consider themselves the elite.
I’ll run with it. By virtue of my almost three-decade subscription to the Limbaugh Letter, I’m going to go ahead and consider myself part of Rush’s print-only elite.
Thank you.
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