The Way Things Ought To Be

By Jim Buckley

The Way Things Ought To Be

Thirty-seven years ago, on July 4, 1988, beginning at 10 am, Rush Limbaugh launched his new political talk show. Rush had been on the air in Sacramento, California, at KFBK-AM from October 1984 to July 1988, before moving to New York City to begin his nationally syndicated show at WABC Radio, which had given him a 10 am-to-noon time slot to do a local talk show in exchange for permission to broadcast his own national show (which would not be aired on WABC) directly afterwards, from noon to 2 pm (later, another hour was added).

Before I tell you “the rest of the story,” as the late Paul Harvey might have intoned, here’s the backdrop:

In 1927, Congress passed The Radio Act, which decreed that radio frequencies were public resources, and that government should control them; to that end, radio station operators would be licensed.

By the late 1940s, three networks had monopolized the airwaves: NBC, CBS, and ABC. In 1949, in response to that monopoly, The Fairness Doctrine was introduced; it then enshrined what had become the emasculation of broadcast media. The new Fairness Doctrine would ensure that license holders wouldn’t devolve into the kind of partisanship that most newsprint had fallen into.

In the 1940s and ‘50s, there really were only two political points of view: that of the Democrat Party and that of the Republican Party, so requiring “fairness” of access was rather simple. If a station said something positive about a public figure, or negative about his opponent, it would have to give equal time to the public figure either maligned or ignored. By the 1960s, Communists, Socialists, Atheists, Libertarians, and others were clamoring for their “fair share” of rebuttal time in the public airways.

Networks dealt with that phenomenon as best they could: by offering virtually no controversial points of view, and very little political editorializing. Otherwise, every show would become an unmanageable readout of various insults, counter insults, and apologies. Radio and TV shows had become as bland as mayonnaise on white bread and people were tuning out.

When the unworkable “Fairness Doctrine” was officially rescinded (August 4, 1987) by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in a 4-0 vote, that Reagan-era action was the impetus behind Rush Limbaugh’s decision to air what became the most controversial – and successful – talk show ever.

His show – one of the first to launch in the new “No Fairness” era – was so far over the top of what had been that many early listeners didn’t believe he’d be “allowed” to say what he was saying.

Trading Feminazi cards mocking feminist icons such as Gloria Steinem, Anita Hill, Betty Friedan, Pat Schroeder, Bella Abzug?!

Really?

Bungee Condoms: “The strongest, most reliable rubber products available.”

You can’t do that, can you?

Ted Kennedy, The Philanderer: “Where pretty girls are, well you know that I’m around. I kiss ‘em and I love ‘em, ‘cause to me they’re all the same. I get so gosh darned hammered, I don’t even know their names. ‘Cause I’m a philanderer, yes, a philanderer. I sleep around, around, around, around, around…” this was recorded (to the tune of Dion’s hit song, “The Wanderer”) by a singer with a definite Ted Kennedy sound and accent.

Is this really allowed?

Are they going to throw Rush in jail?

They didn’t throw Rush in jail, though they probably wished they could have.

Rush’s audience loved what he was doing and before long The Rush Limbaugh Show was being beamed across America to a record 650 radio stations and a listening audience of some 15 million people.

Those listeners were demeaned as “mind-numbed robots,” who received their daily “marching orders” from the self-described Great One who was only “doing God’s work with half my brain tied behind my back just to make it fair.”

I was one of those mind-numbed robots… and proud of it.

It was a wonderful, delightful, not-to-be-missed three hours of news, views, and entertainment, driven by the active half of Mr. Limbaugh’s brain.

His was a one-man show; he rarely had guests and often took very few calls. And they were screened by his longtime associate, James Golden (who, incidentally, was/is African-American), known by Rush’s audience as “Bo Snerdly.” I mention that Mr. Golden was Black only because “racist” is just one of the many epithets flung at Rush.

He was no such thing.

Rush became a billionaire “having more fun than any human had a right to have” over the 33 years he was on the air,

His love of cigars probably had much to do with his untimely death on February 17, 2021, at the age of 70. We, (his listeners) knew he was suffering from lung cancer, and he kept us informed of his treatments. We were the first to know that he had passed away. Rush’s wife, Kathryn, went on air at the beginning of what would have been his show, to inform us of his death.

•••

Rush published his first book, “The Way Things Ought To Be” in 1992, just a couple years after his show went national. In 27 chapters, he outlines not only his own personal agenda but the steps that would have to be taken to set the United States back on the right track.

It became an instant best-seller and is still very much worth reading.

Limbaugh takes the Left on in a full frontal assault in chapters such as “Animals Have No Rights–Go Ahead and Lick That Frog,” “Condoms: The New Diploma,” “Feminism and the Culture War,” “Gorbasms: Always Fake,” “The Fraud of Homelessness Advocacy,” “What Happened to Hollywood?”, “The Socialist Utopians,” and “Religion and America: They Do Go Together,” as well as the rest of his chosen subjects.

The last page of his book, in the final chapter entitled “The Last Word; We Are Winning,” offers the same kind of optimism he always mixed into his insightful skepticism, with this message:

“… Don’t give up. Be confident… Those who would tear down the great traditions of this country are, in fact, losing… This is a never-ending battle and if you want to follow the chronicling of their demise and learn about the people who are helping make America great again, I can think of no better way than for you to tune in to my radio and TV shows. I must warn you, however, both are highly addictive.”

•••

How I miss that daily 9 am Monday-to-Friday clarion call to arms, introduced by the very first few powerful bass guitar notes – struck by session musician Tony Butler – of “My City Was Gone,” The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde’s elegiac salute to her hometown of Akron, Ohio. After Limbaugh’s death in 2021, guest hosts and successors Clay Travis and Buck Sexton retired the theme and chose “My Own Worst Enemy” by Lit, as their calling card.

Our “lovable little fuzz ball” is gone now; President Trump awarded him a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the last State of the Union address he gave at the end of his first term. First Lady Melania Trump, sitting in the gallery with Rush, did the honors and placed the medal over his head. He was visibly humbled by the gesture.

•••

Turns out that what our new and former president – Donald J. Trump – is in the process of doing is advancing and possibly finishing the work of “making America great again” that Rush Limbaugh began with his radio show.

And that’s a good thing.

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