Obituary: Rush Limbaugh

The Legacy of the Mid-American Talk Radio Host

America’s foremost talk radio host died on Wednesday. Broadcast journalist Rush Limbaugh infused a middle class American ethos—forged by his years in Cape Girardeau, Pittsburgh and Sacramento—into his top-ranked weekday program. I think this is integral to his success. He never conducted himself as an intellectual who thought he was inherently better than anyone else. Speaking of and for himself, he was simply Rush. He mostly reported the truth about America. At 70, Rush died in what’s become a refuge for freethinkers, Florida. He had lived up to the standard of his company’s name: excellence in broadcasting.

In his three-hour program, Rush generally spoke for capitalism, individualism and, if not explicitly for egoism, one’s right to pursue happiness. Whatever his failures, flaws and limitations, he was an American patriot. As his guest host, Mark Steyn, observed on the day Rush died, The Rush Limbaugh Show afforded “a forensic breakdown of the day's news, punctuated by musical parodi…