Rush Limbough is an interesting character and a he is not really a politician, nor is he an activist, nor is he anything other than a celebrity who has a career based upon the ratings he is able to draw or "generate" by inciting people and using divisive speech to draw an audience. To most, he is a curiosity and they wonder what he is going to say next. It is sort of like watching a train wreck. He is always speeding along at 110 miles per hour in his diatribes, is he going to screw it up, when will he crash and burn. He has a large listening audience, but, the greatest percentage of that audience does not worship the ground he walks on. For most he is entertainment. Rush is no different in reality than Jerry Springer.
Rush is not the inventor of this, and he has a long line of predecessors that taught him that hate sells. What is sad, is that the name of money and ratings this country is becoming a casualty with many developing a "National Enquirer" mind towards issues.
Some years ago in Orange County, California, there was a man by the name of Wally George. Wally was the real life Father to actress Rebecca DeMornay. They had not had any kind of relationship for years. Wally was a headline grabbing man who was probably one of the most venomous in history. Actually many of the debating techniques used currently by Bill O'Reilly came from Wally George. Because of his strong opinions, there was a local Los Angeles News Commentator that was given a chance to do this on a limited basis and that was George Putnam.
Individuals like Limbough, Wally George, and O'Reilly have been around grabbing ratings because they appeal not to peoples common sense, they appeal to the emotional side and the frustration many have towards others that they see as unresponsive to or an interference to their personal needs.
Many with the most open of mouths have major problems and Rush is no exception to this rule. Some of his personal problems have become very public.
The only motivation that Rush has is money. He earns a very good living at what he does and he is an expert at manipulation of people's feelings. Bill O' Reilly is the same. In any area other than his "controversial moments" he is extremely mediocre. An actor in a scene wants you to feel a given emotion. The idea is that you feel or see a viewpoint based upon the performance of another. It may be in a stage play, it may be in a radio or television performance. The voice is just as capable as is the visual if it is done well.
It is easy for all of us to criticize government officials or people we don't know or understand because we base our opinions on the information we are given or "fed". We have to realize that all information no matter where it originates should be questioned and verified.
What those who prey on others count on is the lack of motivation people have, and their unwillingness to take the time to research and to look at the real records and what the facts really are.
On Halloween Night in 1938, CBS, and a brilliant young radio actor by the name of Orson Welles proved the gullibility of most people who thought that up to that point that the media always told the truth. The War of the Worlds proved without a shadow of a doubt that people are easy to fool and manipulate in any direction simply by taking a fantasy and making it seem very real. In the years since, the same thing is done each and every day. The only difference is that we do not have Martians landing in Grover's Mill, New Jersey (a fictional place) we have alternative methods of capturing peoples emotions and capitalizing on their fears.
Rush Limbaugh is not anything other than a radio actor. He takes subjects of interest and puts a spin on them that will in the name of ratings, entertainment and most of all money draw an audience. The audience and financial rewards he creates for his sponsors empower him, but, at the same time they force him to try and maintain his position at the top . He must remain at the top to maintain those audiences, the sponsors and his very substantial salary. Mr. Limbaugh, like all of his contemporaries, face a major problem if there are times when nothing controversial happens on it's own. These individuals must in order to survive, take and create a "perception" of news or controversy that maintains their audience and ratings.
Mr. Limbaugh knew well that his remarks on the subject of birth control towards a student would have consequences. When he opened his mouth and hurt this student what did he do in fact was to offend everyone and at the same time boost his listening audience numbers. He placed himself Rush Limbough in every news report in the country. "Limbough the Great" created such a stir that even the President of the United States made a comment about his actions. Remember that when you do what Rush does there is no such thing as "bad publicity" he knew damned well what he was doing when he did it. He did not care about the young woman he insulted and hurt, he did not care one tiny little bit because she was in his eyes a tool, he saw an opportunity and he seized upon that opportunity.
The problem is that individuals such as Limbaugh in their zealous effort to maintain their jobs and entertainment value often do things that hurt others. Under the United States Constitution we have laws that guarantee free speech. When Rush Limbough retires or dies of coronary thrombosis, and he will eventually, the networks who feed at least partially on this kind of thing will without doubt look for another individual able to take over and carry on the tradition. The truth is that after the controversy with Rush himself begins to die down that his ratings will be higher than ever and he damned well knew this would be the case before he did it. What? The man makes a "little apology" on radio and eats 3 minutes of "crow" for his actions. There was no sincerity at all in this, the insult to the young lady was simply a "business decision" and a case of self-promotion. I give him credit he is an absolute expert at doing this. He always gets away with this and has done this kind of thing before. Other sponsors will come in and replace those lost and those airing his show know that. It is all about money.
Some day down the road, one of the possible replacements with the proper education and "grooming" could be a young actor by the name of Kirk Cameron. He can get up and play a role and do it well. He has name recognition. Where having controversial opinions can get you ratings in one forum it can kill a career in another. Kirk Cameron has been very vocal about issues that do not go over well in Hollywood. Becoming another Limbaugh could offer Cameron who has now offended a great many a new public career. Numerous careers have been killed by making bad decisions and using one's celebrity for purposes that create problems for others because where it works for people like Limbaugh it hurts those in front of a camera. Cameron has already made himself nearly unemployable in Hollywood because of his mouth and social positions. Where Kirk Cameron fails at this point in time is his complete and total lack of ability to do anything other than play a "role". In public speaking his speech patterns and use of the English Language are not good enough, nor is his mind quick enough to replace Rush. It does not mean that some individual wanting money from sponsors and a show like that of Rush will not "bankroll" him, but he does not have a quick enough mind without training to last or sustain it. With the proper education and psychological training in the art of manipulation, Mr. Cameron could and would be formidable and come across as believable because he was a "normal kid" as Mike Seaver in Growing Pains and that is all people will remember.
The ones that in fact have the power to get rid of offensive individuals are all of us who deal with this on a day to day basis. When the sponsors got hate mail for sponsoring a "windbag" they had to at least for a time pull their sponsorship of his show. What needs to be done is to make a real effort and that would take going after Limbough not on one market but in all his syndicated markets and target all the sponsors in all those locations. To remove Rush successfully one has to remove him in the Washington State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Miami and everywhere else he is playing and doing this requires the elimination of sponsors at all those locations.
What has happened with Rush is a token effort and Rush will be around spouting his venom until he keels over or people really do get wise. I would bet on the former not the latter.