The ghost of (Rush) Limbaugh lives...

Get the Point!

Rush Limbaugh is somewhere smiling...

Limbaugh, the late conservative firebrand who arguably was the most influential right wing media figure of the past 30 years, would have been ECSTATIC to see that former President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in decisive fashion two weeks ago.

Indeed, had cancer not claimed his life in 2021, I imagine that Limbaugh would be on air three hours a day extolling the virtues of a virtue-less Republican platform that will serve to create inordinately more wealth for the billionaire modern day Robber Barons, deport earnest and hardworking illegal immigrants while tearing their families apart, all the while working to undo many of the hard fought civil rights gains of the past 60 years to the chagrin of Blacks, religious minorities, and women.

Then President Trump with Rush Limbaugh in Missouri circa 2018

I got to thinking about Limbaugh earlier today after reading the latest blog from John Pavlovitz, a pastor, author and fellow Substack writer who reminds his followers in clear terms that there was NOTHING wrong with Kamala Harris's presidential campaign messages, but that the fault lies in the sad reality that we exist in an America in which critical thinking skills range from slim to none for a great many of the 76 million or so voters who cast ballots for Trump. 

Says Pavlovitz: 

"There is no messaging strategy that can overcome deeply-held prejudice and rising ignorance, and those two factors are the only explanation for someone like Donald Trump even being the nominee, let alone getting 76 million votes. Trump neither attempted to embrace working Americans nor offer them any substantive plans to help them, because he knew he didn’t need to. He simply peddled wild, racist fever-dreams and continually repeated grotesque fabricated nightmares about immigrants eating pets and sex-change operations on middle school students, knowing that terrified people without critical thinking skills are an easy mark..."

Bingo! 

Like many of you, I have read the dismal reports from the U.S. Department of Education and the American Psychological Association which provide that 54 percent of American adults read at a 5th grade level; trust, that number explains quite a bit as far as the dearth of intellectual skills necessary to read the news and make sound decisions which benefit the individual—and society writ large. 

But one's inability to read does not mean that one cannot hear, see, or have common sense; if your paycheck doesn't allow you to pay your rent or buy food and medicines, basic logic would suggest that you should support whichever candidate(s) speak to lowering prices, easing your tax burden, keeping prescription prices manageable, and forcing the extremely rich to burden their fair share of our collective social contract?

But alas, that's not what happened this election cycle, as a great number of middle, working, and lower class whites—still the bulk of the American electorate—decided to back a Trump campaign that was painfully devoid of any plans to address those pocketbook issues!

Trump won an inordinate percentage of the “Trailer Park Vote” for the third straight cycle

Yes, I also know that there were a larger number of non-Cuban Hispanics who are similarly financially strapped but still supported Trump, and a small number of Black men who cast their lot with the madding MAGA crowd as well—rich white adjacency is a Helluva drug!

But make no mistake about it, elections in America are still largely decided by which way white voters roll, and a great number of white voters willfully went against their own pocketbooks to side with Trump and his racist, xenophobic rhetoric that speaks to "his" people about "their" fears about the "darkening" and "othering" of America. 

And for that, I blame Rush Limbaugh and the right wing revolution he ignited way back in the 90's; Limbaugh's "America in Captivity" television and radio segments during the Bill Clinton era served as THE blueprint that led to the creation of Fox News; Limbaugh's bombastic and openly racist remarks were the lampposts that guided the paths of copy cat hosts like Bill O'Reilly,  Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and countless others who earned considerable wealth catering to the most base instincts of white "sheep" who were looking for shepherds to explain why "those people" (racial and religious minorities) are the reason why white folks just can’t seem to get ahead. 

Limbaugh's infamous shtick was adopted by Donald Trump as his own; listen to any Trump stump speech, debate, town hall, or presidential address since 2015 and trust you, me, when I exclaim that the tone and tenor are classic Limbaugh filth!

Limbaugh, seated next to then First Lady Melania Trump, during the 2020 State of the Union address.

Which is why I'm sure that had he lived, Limbaugh—a virulent opponent and mocker of the "Me Too" anti-rape movement, would applaud the fact that Trump, a civilly liable rapist who now will pay little to none of what he owes to his victim, E. Jean Carroll, will nominate one alleged child rapist—Matt Gaetz, to serve as Attorney General while nominating another alleged rapist—Pete Hegseth, as Secretary of Defense. 

And while many within the 76 million Trump voters will continue to shrug their shoulders at the immoral lot of rapists that will lead the Executive Branch of government, the day will surely come when they realize that the price of food is still high; that the price of goods are even higher due to Trump's tariffs; and that the price of medicines will expand exponentially to the benefit of the Trump's fellow billionaires in the pharmaceutical industry! And when their ends continue to not meet, the Merry MAGA's will have no one to blame but themselves! 

Which leads to my conclusion: moving forward, where Democrats can make significant gains among the millions of Democrats who sat this election out, and even among the modern day “Know Nothings” who voted for Trump, is in developing plans to provide pocketbook relief for all Americans! While protecting the civil liberties of those who are about to see what a police state really looks like once Trump fulfills his promises to use the military here at home to achieve his goals will not move the great unwashed, the high costs of living surely will as the value of a dollar grows less potent! That, my friends, is why there's no time to sulk or wallow in sorrow—the 2026 mid-terms will be here quick, fast, and in a hurry!

Lest we forget…