From the undocumented anchorman

Mark Steyn has been a primary backup anchor for the Rush Limbaugh show in recent years.
He offers his thoughts on Rush's passing.
I have come to admire him even more this last year. When he announced his diagnosis, we all knew this story only has one ending, and it's just a question of how many chapters there are leading up to it. Rush loved what he did more than anything in life except his family. He had no interest in going to Tahiti to watch the sunset. He wanted to be behind the Golden EIB Microphone every day that he could. So initially he took a couple of days off every three weeks for treatment, and then the two days became four, and the treatment weeks took their toll and spilled into the following week. But, through it all, he remained determined to do every single show he could - because, aside from anything else, he wanted to make sure he, his listeners, his brand, his stations did everything they could to put President Trump across the finish line on November 3rd.

Brother to brother

David Limbaugh pens a column about his brother's impact on the country.
He has been the tip of the spear for political conservatism. No one has done more to bring conservatism into the mainstream of American life, and he’s paid a heavy price for it — but he never complains. He has been the left’s favorite target for hate and abuse for decades, opening myriad pathways for thousands of other conservatives to bring their talents and share their message with like-minded Americans.

We all have our roles

Powerline features Rush Limbaugh's comments from Friday's radio return.
I remember when I was at the National Review 50th anniversary dinner in Washington — some of you will remember this story — I’m sitting at Mr. Buckley’s table, and a man walks up to me who has been severely wounded in battle. And he asks if I could come over to his table to meet others at his table who also have been wounded. So I did. 
 I got over there, and I was listening to these guys who have nearly died defending the country, telling me how much they enjoy listening to my program and all that. I said to these guys, “You know… (sigh) I don’t know, guys. You’ve faced bullets, almost died. I sit behind a microphone in an enclosed room and talk.” The leader of the Wounded Warriors said, “Sir, we all have our role,” and I’ve never forgotten that.

Rush to a quick recovery

Kurt Schlichter joins those wishing Rush Limbaugh well in his battle with lung cancer.
Every once in a while, my phone will go nuts, and I know the great Rush Limbaugh has read one of my Townhall columns on the air again, and no doubt mispronounced my last name!
Rush, you can pronounce “Schlichter” any way you please. If not for you, I probably would not be a columnist, or an author, or an occasional radio host. Thank you.

Starting the new year right

Rush Limbaugh returned to his show Monday.
President Trump joined him for an interview.
A great way to get the word out.

President Trump is quite a bonus

Rush received a call this week from someone at Comcast who just got a raise - after the tax bill passing.
CALLER: Yeah. I had a quick comment about Comcast. It’s not just bonuses that they’re giving out. I received $1.50 an hour raise yesterday as well as 10 other folks in my office. So if they’re saying it’s just bonuses, it’s not. I mean, this is fantastic.
Good news all around.

Seeing the real Trump

Rush Limbaugh tells the reason for Democrats' horror - they saw the real Donald Trump for the first time.
I think one of the things that happened last night — and not just in that chamber, but I think in many parts of the country… I really believe this. I think the Democrats in that chamber may for the first time actually have heard Donald Trump say what he thinks and believes. I think they are so devoted to their media, I don’t think they spent much time actually watching Trump rallies, I don’t think they spent much time listening to what Trump was saying at his rallies, because if they had, there would not be this degree of anger and shock and disbelief.
But we know how cocooned these people are. We know how removed they are. They live in their own bubble, and they live in a bubble that has very thick boundaries to protect them from anything they disagree with. They don’t expose themselves to things they don’t agree with; they just characterize it based on their own bigotry and their own prejudice. And as the Democrats were shown on TV last night in these sporadic moments when the camera cut to ’em, yes, I noticed them sitting on their hands, and I noticed them looking really childish.

I survived the hype of 2016

Hurricane Matthew did not drown Rush Limbaugh.
He's on the air again, after Matthew passed his part of Florida.
This is a different storm - most don't hug the coast like this. They blast an area, like Hugo in 1989 and Katrina in 2005 and then move onshore.
This one pushed lots of people from the homes - just in case it turned bad.
This weekend, they'll be stuck in traffic headed home.
Their neighbors who rode out the storm will be all cleaned up before they get back.

If you like your dad, you vote for Trump

The Progressives at DFA want people to watch a movie "The Brainwashing of My Dad" in their pursuit to get more liberals elected.
See the problem?
Lack of respect for your elders and their experiences.
Instead, they try to blame conservative talk radio for changing their dad's mind.
Do they have so little respect for their dad's intelligence that he could be brainwashed?
Just because he doesn't agree with you doesn't make him brainwashed.
My mother hated Rush Limbaugh for years, and now she's a big fan. She hasn't been brainwashed - she's seen bad things over the years that eroded her support of the traditional Democratic party.
I wonder if a pollster asked people about their experiences with their dads and the candidates.
I'd bet people who have a good relationship with their fathers would prefer Donald Trump more than those with a negative or neutral relationship.
If you trust your dad and his years of knowledge from the game of life, you'll trust a man from his generation - likely with his temperament - to run the country.

Ruling the narrative

Rush Limbaugh loved Donald Trump's Tuesday press conference.

The problem is -- and they don't want to say this, but the problem is -- that Trump, no matter what anybody thinks of him, is interesting.  And Trump, no matter what anybody thinks of him, is funny.  Trump, no matter what anybody thinks of him, is different.  Trump, no matter what anybody thinks of him, is drama.  Trump, no matter what anybody thinks of him, is unpredictable.  All of that means, you can't miss it. 

You can't roll the dice and not cover it, hoping that it isn't anything.  You have to be there, as the media, and you have to hope that he's gonna attack you as the media.  But Hillary, on the other hand? Dull, totally colorless, mistake prone, scandal ridden, because Hillary doesn't have any natural talents. Hillary doesn't have any natural connection to people. Hillary doesn't have any charisma, magnetism. All of that has to be manufactured by the media. 

It's the final countdown

Watts Up with That reminds us that we're almost at Al Gore's 10-year deadline.
We only had 10 years to save the planet back then.
Rush Limbaugh talked about it in 2006.
When we get to February, we will have passed Gore's deadline.
So why bother doing what he wants then?

Do you see what I see?

Rush continues to explain why Donald Trump is popular with so many.
It's not because of what he says.
It's what he sees.
He sees what people see - government not working for them.
If you talk policies, people don't trust government to implement them properly anyway.
To be a serious candidate, you need to understand the people.
Trump does.
So he leads the polls.

Can Trump insult Rush?

I wondered if Donald Trump might be tripped up by Hugh Hewitt at the next debate.
Hewitt has a reputation for asking tough, intelligent questions to find out what candidates really know.
Trump went on Hewitt's show Thursday and came out calling him a third-rate host.
Why?
Hewitt asked specifics about the Middle East, not just generalities.
Hewitt is well-respected for his lines of questioning.
And when Trump is challenged, he offers putdowns.
When he finally decides to talk to Rush Limbaugh, will Trump offer insults to questions when he stumbles?
The Republican establishment wants to find a way to slow Trump's momentum.
Maybe Rush is their only hope.

Multicultural update

Visiting Rush Limbaugh's site, I found a link to a book in Spanish.
Would you believe Rush would put that there.
Yes.

Farewell too soon

Rush Limbaugh spent several long segments Monday telling the story of his chief-of-staff Kit Carson, who died of brain cancer Monday morning.
He loved everybody here, and everybody loved him.  We've all heard people remembered by having it said about them that they never heard the guy say a bad word about anybody.  How many times have you heard that in eulogy?  Well, Kit Carson, honest to God, never, ever had a bad word to say about anybody.  Kit Carson never, never had a critical thing to say about anybody he dealt with, anybody else on the staff.  He did not engage in back-stabbing. He did not ever, not a single time, try to undermine anybody else on the staff for his benefit.  And you know that's common in office settings, but he never did it.

Another year of Rush

Rush Limbaugh haters can be really disappointed today - it's another birthday for Rush.
The only good news for Limbaugh haters - he's distracted by his staff for a few minutes at the start of the show.

Still Rush lives

A Facebook friend posted Lewis Black's rant on Rush Limbaugh.
A rant by Lewis Black? How unexpected.
Both Robin Williams and Rush Limbaugh were born in 1951.
Both came from well-to-do families.
Both have had multiple marriages.
Both have brought enjoyment to fans over many decades.
Williams is gone.
Limbaugh goes on.

Rush's show prep

Ann Althouse got to the Scott Walker article in the New Republic first.
Rush Limbaugh picked up on the discussion to boost Walker as the kind of Republican who seriously threatens Democrats.
She finds a few small errors in his presentation, mainly due to the difference between writing and radio broadcasting.
I agree with the big point: Scott Walker is powerful and threatening to Democrats because he stands firm on conservative principles, that's why he is targeted for destruction, and the racial politics is the way they do it. And that's how talk radio works. A lot of the material is sketchy and a bit off, but you're caught up in the cascade, and in the end, you get the point, and you probably agree with it, even if you've just had the unsettling experience of hearing your own name tossed out and your own words used and abused.

Rush rides to the win

DaTech Guy noticed Rush Limbaugh won an award for his Rush Revere book.
And the spin attacking the book.
Which was just that - spin with no proof.
She said this was the seventh year of the awards. I asked he about press coverage in the past and she told me every year press releases would be sent out announcing nominations and winners. I asked if the press had contacted her about the awards in past years and she answered they had.
I then mentioned the AP story above and asked if in any past years the press had inquired about the integrity of the voting for the award. Not only did she say the press never had questioned the integrity of the award in the past but stressed that there was absolutely no reason to question the integrity of the vote this year either.
Good thing more people read Rush Revere than read the critics.

The power of Limbaugh

While President Obama bumbles his way into Syria, it's only a few days since he blamed his bumbling in Washington on Rush Limbaugh.
He sounds like a villain at the end of a Scooby Doo cartoon.
"I'd have gotten away with it, if it weren't for the meddling Limbaugh."