What I learned about Rush Limbaugh

[boobooday]

I was having a discussion with another DUer about Rush, and referred to him as a failure. It was pointed out to me that he was the highest-rated radio talk show host. Why is this? I did some research on it for an academic paper a few years ago and this is what I found.

Rush is a product of a vertically integrated media market. His initial radio stations were owned by ABC (if you want to go even deeper, look at Reagan's CIA Director, Casey, who owned Capitol Cities Communications, which bought ABC). Now he is syndicated on Clear Channel stations by a subsidiary of Clear Channel. They own every station, and have the power to make sure that there is little competition at his time slot.

Who told us, early on, that Rush was a media sensation/phenomenon?

ABC's Good Morning America
ABC's 20/20
The ABC Evening news

Who published his book? A publisher owned by ABC. Who told us his book was great? You guessed it. Who owned the magazines that told us Rush was a phenomenon? That's right.

He is a manufactured phenomenon. He has high ratings because he was plugged so relentlessly that those who agreed and those who disagreed had to check him out. He has no major corporate sponsors other than the Sleep Number Bed, and really never has. How can this be the case for the highest-rated talk show host?

This is the story of Rush Limbaugh, a sad, pathetic nobody sportscaster who grew into a sad, pathetic tool of corporate media.

My research was done via Lexis Nexis academic. The paper I wrote won a prize in 2005 at the Broadcast Education Association.

[liberal N proud]

1. All reasons why it is impossible to get rid of the cockroach

[anonymous171]

2. Cross promotion is one of the perks about being a gigantic media corporation

It's pretty anti-competitive as well.

[boobooday]

5. Yes, my paper was about the consolidation of radio

I called it "The Canary Died."

[orleans]

74. sounds very interesting. did you write it for college? high school?

any more detail on this? can we turn it into a little email for our republican friends and families?

[billybob537]

3. now would be a good time to offer that paper to the NYT

[boobooday]

4. I know. I was thinking of going back to it

A lot of it was about Clear Channel and pay-to-play, but the Limbaugh part is as relevant as ever.

[bobd0]

6. Limpdick sounds like the Britney Spears of talk radio.

Plenty of hype, very little talent.

Limpdick needs to be shut down by any means necessary. :)

[boobooday]

8. Ha -- the Britney comparison is perfect.

;-)

Exactly.

[TheCowsCameHome]

17. Except Britney isn't as much of a coward.

[conscious evolution]

40. and has more talent.

jesushchrist did I really just say that?

[boobooday]

43. That's right. She can dance.

And she's cuter than him too.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[boobooday]

9. I didn't say anything about Rush and Obama

Rush is the mouthpiece of the corporate shills.

I really don't think Obama is listening to Rush.

I approve of the stimulus bill. Contraception and all.

[Idealism]

10. Spell-check is your friend, Freeptard!

[Catherine Vincent]

11. That's President Obama to you, dittohead!

[Wildewolfe]

12. Making rush the centerpiece of the repubs...

... forces all the repubs to back away from his positions like the plague. He's too extreme for most of America. By making Rush the de facto republican spokeperson he just neutered the real threats.

[Aristus]

13. Here it is, ladies and gentlemen: proof positive that listening to Rush Limpdick rots your brain!

Not even enough smarts to click the "Spell Check" button... :eyes:

Someone TS this MF!

[TheCowsCameHome]

15. Watch for the pizza delivery guy.

He'll be arriving shortly.

[maddezmom]

53. the delivery guy was a gal

:evilgrin:

[TheCowsCameHome]

68. Heh, heh. A great disguise, I must say............

[orleans]

75. LOL

"the delivery guy was a gal"

:rofl: :rofl: :yourock: :fistbump:

(unfortunately--or fortunately--i missed what the deleted message said)

[Lex]

20. "Obama is sitting in the Oval office listenning to Rush telling everyone to stop listinning to Rush"

Didn't get past the 3rd grade, eh? Typical Rush defender.

[lpbk2713]

27. You're gonna catch hell when Mommy finds out you're using her computer again.

:rofl: :rofl:

[BrklynLiberal]

41. ROTFLMAO!!!!!!

[boobooday]

44. awesome graphics

:rofl:

[SIMPLYB1980]

52. Pwned!

[Maven]

28. How many brain cells does it take to spell "listening"

you freeper moron?

[Occulus]

76. Two too many for the Freeps.

Has anyone noticed that Freepers spell as if they learned to read from Hooked on Phonics?

They spell words the way they sound. That is OFFEN RONG in Inglish.

[JuniperLea]

31. That's not what Obama said...

He said you can't JUST listen to Limbaugh and expect to know what's going on.

Jeez... you guys are such freaking cretins!

Interesting how all y'all felt the stimulus crap was fine and dandy when your boy the Chimperor was making them happen... WITHOUT OVERSIGHT no less.

Go whine somewhere else... somewhere where your atrocious spelling and lame talking points are expected.

[Shiver]

35. Hmmm...

"all the stupid things the dems want to put in this outragous stimulis"

You know, I typed up something very long about this, then I realized... it's far easier to point out that you're and idiot and a Freeper. How you managed to get up to seven posts in the midst of our communist socialist Marxist tendencies is a mystery for the ages.

Yes, yes... "idiot" and "Freeper" is redundant, I know.

[Ikonoklast]

36. Because it makes fools like you get rocked back on their heels

and have to defend Limballs utterly invented, non-factual, racist stupidity.

You are playing defense now.

Hard to score when you're getting backed up the entire game, Skippy, and dopes like you and Limpballs are falling right into a trap.

Keep playing checkers against a Grand Master.

[Dukkha]

46. Why the h#ll you let a pedophile junkie think for you?

the grown-ups are back in charge now and we don't make our decisions based upon the ranting lunatics of hate radio.

oh, and YOU LOST! GET OVER IT!

[eridani]

71. Pedophile junkie?

Is Limpballs really a pedophile junkie? Or is it just some sort of intertubes rumor that Rush Limbaugh is a pedophile junkie?

[eShirl]

73. I hear some people are saying that

that Rush Limbaugh is a junkie pedophile

[gratuitous]

48. Almost a good point

Except that Limbaugh gets his attention anyway. By putting the onus on the minority party Republicans, Obama has rather cleverly left them with two options: (A) admit that Limbaugh is an official spokesman for the Republican party; or (B) distance themselves from Limbaugh and deny that he speaks in any official capacity for the GOP.

For years, Limbaugh and the Republicans have gotten away with using Limbaugh as an unofficial spokesman distributing right wing talking points. Whenever his rantings got taken too seriously, both Limbaugh and the Republican party danced away from controversy, claiming that Limbaugh was "just an entertainer." Limbaugh likes to style himself as the Fourth Branch of the federal government, and it suits the GOP to kiss up to him.

Obama's talking about him because Limbaugh has stated publicly that he hopes Obama fails. In rough terms, Limbaugh is saying that the country can go to hell as long as it benefits him personally. By putting those words on the Republican "brand," Obama is basically turning a right wing talking point back on them: That is, for years, the Republicans conflated opposition to Bush administration policies as treasonous opposition to the United States. Now, Obama says that what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander; if Democrats were hoping for the failure of Republican policies and the downfall of America, then the Republicans can fairly be said to be doing the same thing.

Of course, the Democrats were doing no such thing during the Bush years. We simply pointed out that the inevitable result of the cock-eyed Bush policies was going to be failure, not that we hoped they would fail. Fuzzing up this rather easily distinguishable point was a political gold mine for the Republicans, at least for a while. It surely helped Bush steal his re-election in 2004, when the media chuckleheads couldn't figure this out. But by the time Sarah Palin came along, trying to take this tired old dogma out for a walk, it failed miserably.

Limbaugh is trying to revive the talking point, but its day has probably passed. Obama putting it on the GOP almost surely is the death rattle for this bogus bit of demagoguery.

Does that explain the "why" of it for you in sufficient detail?

[boobooday]

49. Love your analysis that Pres. Obama is calling them out

The (A)(B) choice sounds exactly right.

[Uncle Joe]

14. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, boobooday.

[Moostache]

16. I will gladly volunteer to be the Liberal counterweight !!!

Sign me up!

I would LOVE to go toe-to-toe with Limbaugh and Coulter and Hannity and O'Reilly....we have keith Olbermann and Rachael....like Limp-brain I am also from Missouri....can't be a coincidence!!!


:toast: :party: :woohoo:

[boobooday]

21. Imagine if you had that kind of media machine behind you!

We can see how well liberals do when they get a major platform. Imagine if Air America and/or one of its hosts had the same kind of marketing machine!

I'd tune in to you, Moostache.

:woohoo:

[orleans]

77. but...but...but...randi rhodes works for clear channel

even when she was on air america she was the property (?or some such shit) of clear channel. (granted, i really don't understand how that works--but...at least they did have one liberal voice)

[Brother Buzz]

18. Was ABC pushing/promoting him when he was KFBK?

He was big here is the Sacramento valley and I am unaware of any promotion other than simple word of mouth. KFBK was affiliated with ABC, but not owned by them.

[boobooday]

22. There is always promotion beyond word of mouth

He may have been popular in Sacramento, but word of mouth wouldn't cut it in the national market.

[monmouth]

19. I'll bet Keith would love this nugget of gold...n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

23. Promoted by Big Brother. The media domination by a few neocon interests

must be reversed.

[DailyGrind51]

24. That's Ed Schultz's point, that Rush is sustained by ownership, not ratings.

[boobooday]

26. I'm glad to hear that someone is pointing this out!

I'm so sick of hearing how "popular" he is, when I know that's BS!

I've also noticed a disturbing number of government agencies among his advertisers, fearmongering mostly. I hope President Obama is going to put a stop to that.

[JuniperLea]

25. Wake up and smell the op-ed, boobooday!

This is great work. If some newspaper doesn't buy it, you should op-ed it!

[boobooday]

30. You inspire me!

I had an offer to publish the original paper in an academic journal (I presented it at a conference, and it was very well received) and like an idiot, I didn't follow up.

Now would be a good time to pull it back out and make it ALL about Rush, and look for a publication people (besides academics) read.

Thanks!

[JuniperLea]

34. Yay!

I've done my good deed for the day!
:)

[JuniperLea]

29. I took another look..

At the local Los Angeles station that airs Limpballs... yep! Clear Channel!!

[onenote]

32. a couple of quibbles:

First, limbaugh's books are published by Pocket Books, which is owned by Simon and Schuster, and has never been owned by ABC. Your confusion may be due to the fact that Simon and Schuster was bought in the 1980s by Gulf and Western, which eventually morphed into Viacom and then into CBS.

Second, while William Casey was one of the original investors in Cap Cities in the 1950s, along with Frank Smith, Lowell Thomas, and Thomas Dewey, he didn't "own" Cap Cities. He sat on the board until 1981 and he held around $7.5 million in Cap Cities stock when the company bought ABC in 1985 for $3.5 billion (which makes his $7.5 billion share rather trifling).

Third, rush's first radio talk gig was for a Sacramento station that was owned by McClatchey -- never owned by ABC. He got that gig as a replacement for another blowhard idiot, Morton Downey, who parlayed his success a rw asshole into a syndicated tv show. Again, the source of the confusion may be that limbaugh, after several successful years in Sacramento, did a syndication deal that landed him on WABC as his flagship station.

THe reason I point these things out is not to defend limpbaugh, who is a slug who I wish people didnt listen to. But if we're going to build our case against him, we ought to make sure we have all of our facts right, or else the credibility of our case suffers.

And, to be honest, I don't buy the claim that rush is popular because of some conspiracy. ABC and other big media players invest in and launch shows all the time and some succeed and some fail. If rush didn't appeal to a certain audience, he wouldn't have a show. But the sad fact is that he does have an audience -- there are a lot of rw'ers out there that eat up his crap.

[ThisThreadIsSatire]

37. certainly agree that he appeals

to the lowest common denominator. Unfortunately they're always the last to realize that assholes like Rush who exploit them are laughing at them too -- all the way to the bank (or in Rush's case, the pharmacy).

[boobooday]

38. Quibbles duly noted, but . . .

I never said conspiracy. I said a marketing machine. Perhaps throwing in the CIA gave that impression.

On edit: I probably should have pulled up my paper. I documented everything, but haven't looked at it in a bit.

It was a big deal when Cap Cities bought ABC, and certainly Casey had enough of a share to be a player.

[orleans]

78. omg-- i remember that asshole morton downey--what a dick he was! n/t

[Cleita]

33. Last week Clear Channel announced it would lay off 1,850 employees.

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2009/01/19/daily24.html

Yet, they signed a contract with Limbu$h in July for $400 million dollars.

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/07/02/rush-limbaughs-400-million-contract-good-for-clear-channel/

What is wrong with this picture? This more than anything begs for us to bring back the high tier IRS tax rate of 90% so dickwads like him won't make those obscene salaries. This is what kept paychecks down back in the sixties for overrated entertainers, executives and other over payed nobodies. No one is worth that kind of money, especially him. It seems to me that his wages could pay to rehire all those laid off employees, who would stimulate the economy by spending their checks. You know Limbaugh can only spend so much and put the rest away in his nameless accounts in the Cayman Islands and Dubai.

[BrklynLiberal]

39. thanks. That answer alot of questions for me.

It is information that needs to be widely disseminated. What we have here folks, is another example of The Emperor's New Clothes phenomenon.

People were told that pigboy was the end all and be all among conservatives, and so they just jumped on the bandwagon and started listening and/or quoting this fat, ignorant tub of lard.

You are right. He is nothing more than a media manufactured character. The Emperor is Naked!!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

42. Liberal media, my black ass! He's the highest paid talk show host EVER!

I believe his contract was for $40 million. Then, he gets on the air complaining that $40 million is NOT enough, that he should have asked for more!!!

I think the bottom line is that Rush has been a failure in his personal life: three or four failed marriages, addiction to drugs, a fat, unattractive douchebag. He has nothing else but his miserable show; it's the only thing that he can call a success. I sometimes feel sorry for him; he has such a lonely, miserable existence. That's why he's so full of hatred for others; he's projecting the hatred for himself outwards onto others. It's really pathetic, and he's a pathetic excuse for a human being.

[BrklynLiberal]

45. and don't forget that he got out of military service because he had a cyst on his ass!!!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

47. Sorry excuse for a man. He can't get it up so he gets some underaged

boy to cop him some Viagra overseas? Pitiful! x(

[ihatehannity]

50. just another cronie

that hannity associates himself with. Hannity drives me crazy. Anybody watch his show ever? You should hear the things coming out of his mouth

[boobooday]

51. I find him more difficult to listen to than Limbaugh

But when I have, I noticed that he has even more "government sponsored" advertising than Rush. The Department of Homeland Security, for one. God I hope Pres. Obama cuts off that taxpayer funded propaganda!

Hannity is heinous.

[orleans]

79. i thought 90 percent of his show went something like this:

"you're a great american, :patriot: sean. :loveya: "

"and you're a great american, :patriot: my friend. :loveya: :hi: "

"thanks sean, :loveya: you're a great american:patriot: for saying that.:thumbsup: :hi: :loveya: "

"you're welcome because i think (:tinfoilhat: ) you're a great american:patriot: for saying i'm such a great american:patriot: :hug: :loveya: "

"well, i'm just proud:patriot: you took my call, sean, :loveya: because i really love you:loveya: :hug: :pals: "

"thank you, my friend:pals: :hug: :pals: and i want to send you a dinner certificate :donut: so you and your lovely wife:loveya: can have a great steak dinner :puke: at house of hamsters (:shrug: ) and a lovely evening out:beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :puke: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :puke: and then maybe go home, put the kids to bed:smoke: turn on some soft music :nopity: and then go have some fun:blush: :bounce: because we need more great americans:patriot: :applause: just like you:hug: to try and rekindle the great bush years:tinfoilhat: "

"thanks, sean:hug: :loveya: you're such a great american:patriot: i think i'd rather sleep with you than my own wife:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: "

"um...well, thanks for saying that:hug: :loveya: you're a great american:patriot: semper fi:fistbump: "



:banghead: wash :banghead: rinse :banghead: repeat

[lpbk2713]

81. If I hadn't already rec'd this thread I would now for this post. LOL.

:thumbsup: :hi: :thumbsup:


(you're a great American) :rofl:


:kick:

[FormerDittoHead]

54. Sorry. There are many gaps in your narriative. It just didn't happen that way.

OK, I guess after posting almost 3,000 posts here, I still have to preface this by saying I'm a FORMER Rush Limbaugh fan. My experience, however, varies with what you've written and the facts don't jibe with the basic thesis.

Rush Limbaugh did not start out where he was. I remember when he came to Philadelphia in 1992. The station (WWDB) was NOT a Clear Channel station, and it wasn't owned by ABC (privately held by the Beasley family). In fact, Rush Limbaugh was the VERY FIRST syndicated host they had - all of the others were seasoned right wing talkers who considered themselves libertarians.

Rush Limbaugh took Howard Stern's idea of syndicating a talk show. Believe it or not, there was a time when all radio was local. (actually, in it's earliest days radio was national, up until the early 60's and Arthur Godfrey, who I remember, then for a long, long time it was exclusively local). It started to change with consultants who packaged "Kiss 100" and "Magic 103" etc. There were like 100 "Kiss" stations across the country at one time (or so it seemed there was one everywhere I went)

Howard Stern (re)pioneered taking a talk show and syndicating it. I was there in Philly in the 80's when he went head to head with "The Morning Zoo". Everyone thought it would fail, that radio had to be local. This was years before Limbaugh.

Well, it worked out, as we know, and Limbaugh saw the same opportunity to do it with his show, although he claims it was his idea. Unlike Stern, however, Limbaugh didn't risk getting station owner's licenses taken away with complaints to the FCC, and unlike Stern, Limbaugh offered his show for FREE to stations who were willing to pick the show up with Limbaugh's commercials (which most notably was SNAPPLE, just like Stern).

The local and regional owners of talk radio stations got on the bandwagon, and all of this happened at the time when media consolidation was underway. Please note that radio was not alone in this, it was newspapers, tv stations, book and magazine publishers, etc., etc. Everything happened when the traditional rules concerning the number of newspapers and radio stations were relaxed.

Lastly, I'd like to address ratings. It's only by the grace of HELL that I have enough experience in radio (ugh) to know it's NOT RATINGS - IT'S *DEMOGRAPHICS*.

YOU'VE GOT TO REALIZE in this context that THE CUSTOMERS OF RADIO STATIONS ARE THE ADVERTISERS - NOT THE LISTENERS! Rush Limbaugh and right wing talkers make a LOT of money for their stations. The CORE of a radio station is its sales staff. THEY make the money for the station.

Rush Limbaugh etc appeal to a VERY SPECIAL demographic for advertisers:
http://www.quantcast.com/rushlimbaugh.com
(Look at the INCOME statistics...)

I should point out my experience comes from Philadelphia, which voted for Gore like 80%. It ain't ratings.

A LITTLE Googling will show that there are **PLENTY** of sponsors who have supported the medium, and what's most important (IMO) is the LOCAL sponsors of talk radio. Check out any radio station website carrying the programming and you'll see the sponsors there.

Personally, I think that media ownership should be broken up and the fairness doctrine should be brought back. Fuck talk radio stations - fucking cesspool of assholes, in my personal experience.

But this thesis about it being some kind of centrally run conspiracy, he loses money if not for his "masters", etc., etc. Sorry, it didn't happen that way.

[boobooday]

57. Thanks, this is very thoughtful

But could you just explain why he only has three or four advertisers and they are all companies like "GoToMyPC.com?"

[Brother Buzz]

70. Maybe he jumped the shark

Here's a list of advertisers he had in 1994, his halcyon days.


takebackthemedia.com for more details or to view a more up-to-date list.

Overstock.com
1-800-989-0135
(customer comments and service email)
[e-mail]

They are still running banner ads as of 10/26/03

Here's a letter from Overstock regarding their support of Limbaugh (10-26-03):

"To provide some clarification, the Overstock.com banner on RushLimbaugh.com is not a paid advertisement placed by Overstock.com. The banner was placed via our Affiliate Program -- a program open to everyone and comprised of thousands of affiliate members who post our banners on and sell our merchandise through their own web sites. Affiliate programs are widely used in the Internet retailing business, and the task of connecting affiliates with online retailers is typically handled by an independent third-party organization.

Overstock.com does not sponsor, support or endorse the views and opinions of Rush Limbaugh or any political party, organization, personality, or issue. We simply provide a great selection of quality merchandise at deep discounts. As vigorous supporters of free speech, we firmly believe society as a whole benefits enormously by encouraging a diversity of ideas.

After carefully reviewing the matter, we do not plan to change the policies with regard to our affiliate program at this time.

Sincerely,

Landon P. Overstock.com

eharmony
300 N. Lake Ave., Suite 1111
Pasadena, CA 91101
[e-mail]
Web contact form
626.795.4814
FAX [phone]

Inverness Medical (maker of stresstabs)
51 Sawyer Road
Waltham, MA 02021
1-800-899-7353 weekdays, 8 am. - 6 p.m. (Eastern Time.)
Ron Zwanziger Chairman, CEO and President Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc.
http://www.invernessmedical.com/index.htm
http://www.invernessmedical.com/nutritional_products.htm

Onstar
Online comment form

From Geico < no longer on list of companies to boycott>. "We have indeed reconsidered our advertising on Mr. Limbaugh's program. While we never 'sponsored' Mr. Limbaugh's show we have run advertisements in his show for several years. That will no longer be the case. We also found his remarks concerning the treatment of Iraqi prisoners outrageous and inappropriate. We have decided to cease all advertising on his program." Please feel free to write Geico at the addresses listed below thanking them for disassociating themselves from Rush.


Ted Ward - VP Marketing [e-mail]
Marketing Generic Email [e-mail]
Christine Tasher - Director, Public Relations [e-mail]
Celeste Fernandez - Public Relations Specialist [e-mail]
Janice Minshall - Assistant VP, Communications [e-mail]

1-800-947-AUTO

Sleep Number Bed
1-800-438-2233

Home Office, parent company of The Neptune Society of Northern California
Stewart Enterprises
110 Veterans Memorial Blvd
Metairie LA 70005
William E. Rowe Chairman of the Board, President & Chief Executive Officer 1.504.837.5880
1.800.535.6017
Online Contact page
[e-mail]

Oreck Upright Vacuum Cleaners
Oreck Corporation
100 Plantation Road
New Orleans, Louisiana 70123
Online contact form
1-800-289-5888

Smart & Final
Customer Relations
PO Box 512377
Los Angeles, CA 91001-0377
(Heard on KFI 640 in Los Angeles)
Customer Relations
Media / Investor Relations - Randall Oliver

Mid-West Life Insurance Company of Tennessee
9151 Grapevine Hwy.
North Richland Hills, TX 76180
Phone [phone]
(web banner ads on rushlimbaugh.com)

Blue-Emu
Jennifer Golleher
<[e-mail]>
1-800-432-9334
http://www.blue-emu.com/

Lumber Liquidators
Toll Free: 877-645-5347
Contact list: http://www.lumberliquidators.com/contact_us.html
Lisa Jones - Customer Service Manager, [e-mail]

Avacor (hair loss treatment)
(customer comments email)
[e-mail]

Lazerguide® (golf instruction tool)
PO Box 807
New Hudson Michigan 48165
1-877-266-6430 (toll free)
Online Contact page: http://www.lazerguide.com/feedback.html

Mission Pharmacal Company
10999 IH-10 West Suite 1000
P.O. Box 786099
San Antonio, TX 78278-6099
Telephone: [phone]
Bennett Kennedy - Citracal Product Manager

General Steel Metal Buildings
1075 South Yukon, Ste. 250
Lakewood, Colorado 80226
Toll Free: 1-888-98-STEEL
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Online Contact page: http://www.gensteel.com/
http://www.gensteel.com/emailform.htm

Life Quotes, Inc.
32045 Castle Court
Evergreen, CO 80439
1-800-670-5433
[e-mail]

Select Comfort Corporation
6105 Trenton Lane N
Minneapolis, MN 55442
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

Scottrade Inc
12855 Flushing Meadows Drive
Saint Louis, MO 63131
1-800-619-SAVE
[e-mail]

RegionalHelpWanted.com, Inc.
1 Civic Center Plaza, Suite 506
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
800-365-8630
845-471-5200
[e-mail]

The Swap Shop CLICK HERE
3291 East Sunrise
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
[e-mail] - email has been bouncing from this mailbox
Phone - 954.791.$WAP

Pfizer Inc
235 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
212-733-2323
[e-mail]

Lending Tree
[phone]
Online Contact page

Tarrant Books
http://www.tarrantbooks.com/
[e-mail]

Stewart Enterprises (no website info found)
12070 Telegraph Road #107
Santa Fe Springs CA 90670 - info on this is unknown

The Neptune Society of Northern California
One Lorraine Court
San Francisco CA 94118
1-415-771-0717, 1-800-229-5706
http://www.neptune-society.com/
Online Contact page

[spanone]

55. he's dangerous. he's yelling fire in the crowded theater.

what american hopes the new president, who won by an overwhelming majority, fails....?

[Cardiff]

56. Are you suggesting that Limbaugh is a PSYOPS plant?

That could be very interesting.

[creeksneakers2]

59. I read a book by some professor about propaganda techniques

And it described his show to the last detail. Power on loan from God? That's a classic propaganda technique. It sounds silly and out of place to me but to some people that's a very powerful thing to say. That's just one example. The whole thing is a brainwash.

Rush used to say, "Do not think! I will think for you!" "Don't try this at home!" Now he says, "Don't doubt me!"

The whole schtick is cleverly devised to be just funny enough to pretend its not serious. But it is serious, because the listeners absorb it and believe it. Rush is the all knowing professor. Rush is always right. Rush is the only one (aside from his allies) that tells the truth. Don't listen to anybody else! They are all commies that hate America and motherhood.


Its part of manipulating what called the "authoritarian personality." Its well established among researchers. The people who listen are so under Limbaugh's control that they proudly call themselves "dittoheads." Whatever Rush says, they believe. Ditto. They are addicted to him and he brags about that. He tells them to be proud of that. It all abnormal. A normal person thinks for himself and reacts with anger at anybody telling him that he should not think for himself.

I'm not saying Rush was a psyops from the beginning. I'm saying he's using powerful and sophisticated persuasion techniques to do the work of the military industrial complex. He puts out what he's given from the core of the vast right wing conspiracy.

[Cardiff]

61. I see your point, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were a PSYOPS thing

ABC seems to be the flagship station for a lot of these guys: Limbaugh, Hannity, and I know O'Reilly runs on ABC affiliates.

[likesmountains 52]

58. How do talk radio stations make any money? I tried listening the other day

just to see what Rush and Hannity were saying about the election and it was about 5 or 10 minutes of talk, then 5-8 ads from the Ad Council (PSAs mostly), then some important sounding music and 5 more ads...none from any particular company you might have heard of. I think that even if you liked hearing Rush yelling and Hannity whining you'd get pretty frustrated with all the ads...

[creeksneakers2]

60. Often, Rush is doing corporate public relations

Today he defended the million dollar office for the Merrill Lynch CEO. I think its possible that the show gets payed for what it endorses between the commercials.

[maseman]

62. Your points above have some flaws

First off yes Rush is syndicated by Premiere Radio which is owned by Clear Channel. However hundreds of stations that carry Rush are not necessarily owned by Clear Channel starting with WABC in NY (Citadel), WLS-AM in CHicago (Citadel), KABC-AM in LA (Citadel), WRKO-AM in Boston (Entercom), WPHT-AM in Philly (CBS Radio), etc.

SO it is much more than Clear Channel running Rush. He is by far the largest syndicated talk radio program from both a station count and total reach in audience. (It pains me to say it but it's true.)

He has had hundreds of national and network sponsors over the years and next to Paul Harvey's program is the highest grossing synidcated show. In addition local stations also make huge amounts of revenue carrying his show.

Just because we don't like him doesn't mean that he isn't significant.

In addition, he was a rock jock before he was a talk show host. He was known in pittsburgh as Jeff Christie at KQV-AM in their rock 'n roll days.

[KharmaTrain]

63. From One Who Saw The "Birth" Of Hate Radio

You've hit on several very good themes...and glad others noticed it.

Here are a couple things from someone who was on the "ground" of talk radio in the late 80's and early 90's that may explain a bit more about Rushbo's "success"

He was radio's first "oursource"...stations could air Rushbo's show during middays for next to nothing rather than pay their own talent or produce their own programs. As "deregulation" got a full head of steam, downsizing was the vogue...shows like Rushbo helped prop up the bottom line as stations that used to have 5 or 6 talents now only need 2 or 3...then just one.

Things really kicked into high gear when Telcom '96 came along allowing companies like Cheap Channel, CBS, Citadel and others to control the majority of radio licenses and with it, they chose what the program. Ratings meant nothing...only "cleareance"...saturation radio. Sure, they claim Rushbo has millions of listeners, but that's based on his show being placed on hundreds of co-owned stations...and those numbers, not of one specific station, was how the show was sold...bulk rate. Again, making money but both cutting costs and talent.

The fun is trying to track down Rushbo's numbers. Today I heard he either had 6 million, 12 million or 20 million listeners (depending on the right wing hag bag talking). Now how do they come up with those numbers? Besides out of their ass? It's taking the POTENTIAL audience a station can attract...a cumulative number rather than quantitative. It's a number derived by the people who happen to tune into the station as opposed to those who are specifically tuning into his show. Thus because you're in the newspaper, it's assumed everyone in town reads about you...this same game is played in radio.

Lastly, look up a fellow by the name of Edward McLaughlin...he was the head of EFM Media...the company that "discovered" Rushbo in Sacramento and is the "EIB". It was McLaughlin that was Rushbo's meal ticket...a dieheard repugnican who had a lot of connections and used them to get the "EIB" on the air. Many of his good friends became majority owners during the 90's...one back scratching another.

[mitchum]

64. And you didn't even have to mention that he was arrested for trolling for cock at the bus station

even though, that is also true

[CitizenPatriot]

65. I don't know the details

but I know enough about how "they" make someone a star --- and the poster who wrote the paper explained it perfectly. It is a tacit agreement that this piece of human flesh will sell things for us -- so the congloms work together, and suddenly you'll see That Person on every magazine, etc getting interviewed and being talked about and hailed as The Biggest Thing Ever.

The few times this happens naturally are when someone with genuine talent comes along and steals the show. IF this person refuses to sell their soul, then you see them relegated to indie projects until their name carries enough bo to force the corporate whore's hands.

it's not necessarily a conspiracy -- but it is propaganda and it is a lie and it is a way to sell us crap.

In honor of our Great President, may I say "You can't put lipstick on a pig, Rush."

When things start to disintegrate and public opinion goes in the other direction, the corporate whores will have no trouble dumping him. they're not flexible, though, and they change only when forced...so let's not hold our breath.

Please publish your paper! I'll bet the timing could not be better. Add to the new meme!!! Rush sucks.

[InvisibleTouch]

66. And if you're ever in need of a good laugh...

...put aside your revulsion and read one of his books. Seriously! (Or is that "seriesly"?) You will absolutely die laughing. Not just from the selectively tortured "facts," but even more so from the "voice" of the author. Stuff like "Good thing, dear reader, that you have my wit and brilliance to point out the truth for you." Over and over again. Eventually I wasn't sure if it was a self-parody or if he was absolutely dead serious, but either way it was an impressive work of humor!

[stevedeshazer]

67. It's always been astonishing to me that people put aside their disbelief to buy his product

This man sells "Club Gitmo" T-shirts on his website. He has made at least $250 million making stuff up.

Today, 1800 Clear Channel layoffs were announced. Think he might offer to cut his share of the Republican spoils? Naw.

[InvisibleTouch]

69. Oh, I'd never advocate BUYING one of his books.

That's what the library is for. You don't even have to read the whole thing; the first few chapters will provide plenty of entertainment. The rest just gets repetitive.

[stevedeshazer]

72. Didn't mean to suggest that

We're in agreement.

[Duppers]

80. ditto heads

I don't know if they still call themselves that or not.

Who listens to this asshole? I think most of Limbaugh's listeners are not only uninformed, but undereducated and delusional. I think they have so many personal issues in their lives that they meed external targets and use progressives/liberals for their misplaced anger. Their true anger lies with themselves, their background, and their situations. Certainly they're not the most mentally healthy people. And I think they certainly lack the capacity for much objectivity in other areas of their lives. They need something 'safe' to hate since they have little else to motivate their lives. They hate liberals, they hate the better educated, they hate gays, they hate minorities, etc. Hate keeps them from self-examination.

Some of these people can become dangerous. They fantasize about killing the objects of their hate and upon occasion, they have acted upon these fantasies. Take what happened in Knoxville Unitarian church last year for instance. This makes what Limbaugh, and those like him, truly dangerous for society for more than the obvious reasons.


I'm one of many (I would like to think a number of people did) who wrote the WH last week to suggest that Limbaugh be taken off AFR because of his unpatriotic stance, i.e. wishing Obama and his administration to fail. Someone here on DU suggested we do that and I followed through.

[nichomachus]

82. It doesn't hurt that Rush is BFFs with Clarence (Me Too) Thomas

Rush and one of his wives were married by Thomas in Thomas' living room.

And, did your paper get into the fact that Rush was big on picking up street hustlers (boys) when he was in local radio?