October 24, 2009

Rush Limbaugh cares more than you do.



(Via Will (the commenter).)

(And, by the way, I am no fan of the old Rush Limbaugh TV show. In particular, I hate to see his audience reacting to him. He's much better on the radio, where he gives you the feeling he's talking just to you. I loathe seeing a group of people feeding him audible appreciation. I find it quite icky.)

16 comments:

Unknown said...

Many a true word is spoken in jest, or even satire.

Bruce Hayden said...

I know that there are a lot of people who don't think the guy is funny, but he really can be.

michaele said...

Quite a colorful tie...don't get to see Rush dressed up in finery very often. Does he still sell the silk ties?

Scott M said...

I spent almost ten years behind a mic, albeit in rock radio, not talk. Even in a radio format, I have a very hard time listening to callers tell a host, regardless of who it is, that they're (insert slobbering syncophantic compliment here).

Even if the topic is one I'm interested in, I'm just as likely to switch the channel when this happens.

Corky Boyd said...

Love Rush, but he does look better on radio than he does on TV.

Ralph L said...

I watched Rush TV for a year or two, until the local station moved it to 2 am. A little audience reaction goes a long way. Now all the talk shows have way too much, especially Leno's opening rally.

grimson said...

In particular, I hate to see his audience reacting to him.

Why does Rush's audience reaction bother Ann, yet I do not recall her complaining about Stewart's or Colbert's. Sometimes, I think even Stewart is annoyed by his audience.

Is it the audience itself that Ann does not like. They are so square--almost all the men are wearing suits and ties. When was the last time you any man in a television audience wearing a coat and tie. (Yes, I realize that this was decades ago.)

Will said...

I'm deeply honored by the tag, Ann.

And I agree, Rush was not at his best on the TV show. He claimed to have gotten bored with it, because he felt like he was repeating himself from the radio; although I suspect the ratings weren't brilliant since the show was always on in the middle of the night. He might have fared better nowadays, in the world of TiVo.

But the ribbon gag has always resonated with me. It reminds me of lesson in the Sermon on the Mount:
"(But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you." Matthew 6:1-4.

A substantial amount of charity, and particularly corporate charity, strikes me as being like this. For the benefit of onlookers, to show how darn decent and high-minded you are, rather than for the good of the less fortunate.

Scott M said...

If I remember correctly, Rush's TV show had a dress code to attend in person and that included jacket and tie for the men.

Unknown said...

I don't like Rush at all; I subscribe to the typical liberal view of him and what he does. But, I must admit that video is pretty funny. It comments on the discussion on another thread about who's funnier conservatives or liberals. Someone asked me if I thought all conservatives were stiff prigs, or something like that. I denied it but had the impression that liberals definitely win the battle of the laughs, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, et al. But I guess Rush and company can be pretty funny too.

Scott said...

...I am no fan of the old Rush Limbaugh TV show.

In a similar vein, I think Glen Beck is far less interesting on TV than he is on the radio.

Remember Stan Freberg? On the radio, he could paint amazing pictures, like draining Lake Michigan and turning it into a vessel of hot chocolate with whipped cream and a cherry on top -- a feat impossible to do with movies or video (at least before CGI).

Beck's schtick just doesn't work on television -- it's too small a canvas. Limbaugh had less of a problem with the medium, but I think he had enough common sense to back away from it.

Unknown said...

I smoked so much pot in college watching the Rush tv show that I became a conservative because it was so much fun to laugh at liberals. Jocylen Elders was comedy gold!

railrider said...

47 seconds, of video shown here, Rush still is the premier commentator on issues of the day.

Bissage said...

I was surprised by how funny I thought that clip was.

Maybe I’ve been misjudging Rush Limbaugh, all along.

I think I’ll make it a point to give him another listen.

Jon said...

@mikeb:

Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld (Fox news, 3 am ET) is much funnier than Stewart and Colbert.

kentuckyliz said...

Rush talked about not liking to have to strictly script everything for TV.

He preps out the wazoo and improvises quite a bit. He knows the point he wants to make and works his way into it.

He doesn't like giving speeches, either, too scripted.

I enjoy his radio show--don't agree with him on everything but it's freakish how often he's right. He clues in to things earlier than the rest of the crowd. It seems outlandish until it's eventually proven true.

I just started listening again this year, looking for someone to please gawd have a contrarian point of view. The Obama fellation crowd was wearing on my nerves.

I say, barbecue the holy bovines!