Badger Benson

http://thehill.com/capital-living/in-the-know/99609-rush-limbaugh-mocks-bill-oreilly-in-new-book

This is an interesting little article. In a new unauthorized biography Rush Limbaugh refers to Bill O’Reilly as Ted Baxter – a character from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. The character was a vain goon newscaster type. Now I like Bill, and I’m a major fan of Rush Limbaugh as you all know. But I do think that Bill tries way too hard to “call it down the middle” and “lookin out for the folks”. He can also be a bit cheesy – check out some of his wonderful Factor gear – the Factor tote bag, even a welcome mat. All wonderful items I’m sure. But really the only person I can think of who needs a tote bag regularly is my grandmother on long distance trips. And a welcome mat? I’ve never understood them. Isn’t it kind of demeaning to wipe your shoes on something that you support?

Another note in the article is how Rush views his “competition”. He considers Hannity and Levin to be protégés. But considers none of them to be in his league, Glenn Beck included. Though in the past he has defended Beck, and Beck has even had Rush on the show at least once. (Phony Soldier fiasco) I know some people will think of Rush as having a huge ego, being full of himself, the usual stuff we hear. But that said the man is at the top of his game…still. He was the pioneer that paved the road for everyone else in talk radio. He continually puts out a quality product and brings in the most listeners and largest amount of advertising. Whether or not he has a big ego, he is telling the truth. He’s in a league of his own. There is Rush Limbaugh and then there’s everyone else. That’s not to detract from everyone else either. It’s just the way it is. I would say that there are a few levels below him. That second tier of broadcasters (on the conservative side) are Beck, Hannity, Levin, Ingraham, Savage, and I’d even put Andrew Wilkow in that group. The next level is Michael Reagan, Mike Church, Mike Gallagher, Rusty Humphries, Bill Bennett, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, and Hugh Hewitt. And even another level, Bill Cunningham for example I’d put in the bottom tier of the nationally known broadcasters.

We also get a peak into how Rush spends his money. Details about his lavish estate north of Palm Beach, Florida. Sounds pretty sweet! Critics will once again blab about how much money this guy has, as if it’s any of their business what he does or does not do with it. Most of these people probably don’t realize how much Rush gives away. His yearly telethon for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is an example of that. There’s been at least one occasion where a caller had fallen on hard times and Rush made arrangements to buy her a new vehicle. There’s all sorts of stories like this. What we don’t hear about is what he gives that is kept private, which I imagine is considerable.

So here’s another example where someone will be smeared because of their success, when instead we all ought to take a lesson from Rush – hard work, ambition, dealing with failure, refining your talents, striving to be the best, endurance and perseverance, overcoming your faults. That’s success.

Rush Limbaugh is an AmeriCAN.