Rush always used to say, “With talent on loan from God!” I guess God called in the loan. I started listening to him around ’93 or ’94. He did a lot of outrageous stuff back then simply for the press (the free advertising), as liberals got their panties in a wad about this or that. The way it was supposed to work (in their minds at least) was that they would make fun of conservatives and we were supposed to take it silently in a dignified manner. Rush just slapped ’em upside the head and made their liberal ass cry! Cry baby! Cry! And their bowels would let loose and they’d try to gin up a boycott on one of his advertisers, or file an FCC complaint, and he’d just slap them upside the head the next day.

I suppose that’s why he and Trump were such good buds. Trump slaps GD liberals upside the head too. But like I say a lot of the early stuff was just showmanship. Putting himself on the map. You don’t revolutionize an entire industry by being Marty Milquetoast. AM radio had pretty much been declared dead in the ’80s. Rush made it the place to be. Regrettably he made it so big, it became ripe for corporate takeover. It became big business and all the eccentric independent operators and family owned stations disappeared. Now its just various branches of the same corporation parroting, “iHeart radio app! iHeart radio app!” all day long.

But back to Rush. His positions evolved over 33 years (mine did too). When he started in ’88 he was pure establishment. GHW Bush had him stay overnight in the Lincoln Bedroom for Pete’s sake. He was a country clubber plain and simple. He had no use for Buchanan when he challenged Bush in ’92 and Dole in ’96. No use. And later Limbaugh had no use for Ron Paul either. I mention this because Buchanan and Trump’s platforms were identical. A lot of people made note in 2015 that Buchanan paved the way for Trump. Plowed the field. So when Trump started his run in 2015, it was surprising that Rush was his biggest supporter.

Rush provided me with many hours of enjoyment, and many hours of aggravation. Aside from the political trivialities, my main beef with him didn’t come about till later. He was a “cigar aficionado”. It gave him the cancer that killed him at only 70. That’s his choice. But from that amazing platform he had, how many other men did he entice into smoking them? Thousands? Tens of thousands? How many other men might never of smoked a cigar? Got lung cancer? Esophageal cancer? Tongue, mouth? His advertising for cigars helped the delay of my own kicking the habit for 10 years. He promoted the smoking of cigars for 30 years. And if he ever went back and apologized for that, I didn’t hear it.