In The Mailbox: 02.19.21 (Evening Edition)

Posted on | February 20, 2021 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 02.19.21 (Evening Edition)

Usual deadlines in effect for the usual weekend linkagery.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

More celebration of the Lunar New Year, with my favorite death goddess.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Nexit – Are The Dutch Next In Line To Leave The EU?
EBL: (some opera stuff, I know some of you are into this, but whatever)
Twitchy: Neera Tanden’s Nomination For OMB Just Hit A Major Democratic Senatorial Roadblack
Louder With Crowder: Five Things I Care About More Than Ted Cruz Going To Cancun
Vox Popoli: The Civil War For Star Wars Is Over, also, Disinviting Baen
According To Hoyt: Again And Again – What Are The Facts?
Monster Hunter Nation: An Open Letter To The Old-Time Fans At Worldcon

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Greasy Pole #16 – The Put It On Paper Episode
American Conservative: Looking Back To Our Realist Past
American Greatness: Nearly 5000 National Guardsmen To Stay In DC Until Mid-March For Fear Of QAnon, also, Retired General Chosen By Pelosi To Head “Independent Review” Of Capitol Riots Under Fire For Partisan, Profane, & Bigoted Remarks
American Power: Lauren Boebert Rips Gun Control Dems Who Mocked Her For “Gun Fetish” On Zoom, also, Joe Manchin (D-WV) Opposes Far-Left Radical Neera Tanden For OMB
American Thinker: Green New Deal Frozen In Its Tracks, also, Our Dire Future Under Biden
Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Patent Pending Friday
Babalu Blog: Art World Aghast At 9000 Cubans Who Have Called For Culture Minister’s Removal, also, Rush Limbaugh Stood Shoulder With Elian Gonzalez’ Family When Most Americans & Even Some Conservatives Applauded The Castro-Clinton Kidnapping
BattleSwarm: LinkSwarm For February 19
Behind The Black: Today’s Blacklisted Americans – SF Publishers Baen Books, also, Bloomberg Editorial – Scrap SLS!
Cafe Hayek: Walter Williams Explains The Simple (Il)logic Of Using The Minimum Wage To “Help” Poor Workers, also, What About Maximum-Work-Effort Legislation?
Da Tech Guy: Be Very Afraid Of The Biden Administration’s Coming Crackdown On “Domestic Extremism”, also, Four Americans, Two Campaigns – Bainbridge, Stewart, Limbaugh, & Palin
Don Surber: Media Thinks Ted Cruz Should Fix Your Furnace, also, National Review Trashes Rush Limbaugh
First Street Journal: Climate Cultist Arrested For “Sedition, Promoting Hatred Among Groups, And Criminal Conspiracy”, also, The Editors Of The Lexington Herald-Leader & Its One-Sided Op-Ed Pages
The Geller Report: Chattering Liberal Elites Encouraged BLM’s Insurrectionary Behavior, also, Sky News – “Never Before Has The Leader Of The Free World Been So Cognitively Compromised”
Hogewash: Sour Grapes, also, Team Kimberlin Post of The Day
Hollywood In Toto: How Lynch’s Mulholland Drive Invaded Our Dreams, also, Siskel & Ebert Warned Us About PC Culture, Ideological Conformity
The Lid: Rasmussen Polls Show Voters Convinced That Slow Joe Is Puppet Of Radical Left
Legal Insurrection: House Democrats Introduce Bill To Ban “Twice Impeached Presidents” From Burial At Arlington, also, Trump Doesn’t Rule Out 2024 Run – Polls Show GOP Voters Want Him To Have A Major Role In The Party
Nebraska Energy Observer: Sadness
Power Line: Red States Trounce Blue States, also, Bo Snerdley Recalls Rush
Shark Tank: In Trying To Bash DeSantis, Nikki Fried Humiliates Herself
Shot In The Dark: Indoctrination
This Ain’t Hell: Coast Guard’s Greatest Rescue, also, Valor Friday
Transterrestrial Musings: The Goal Of Black Lives Matter, also, Bill Gates
Victory Girls: Six Capitol Police Suspended Due To January 6 Breach
Volokh Conspiracy: SD Supremes Rule Property Owners Not Entitled To Compensation For Severe Damage Done By Police
Weasel Zippers: Biden On Red Chinese Death Camps – “It’s A Different Culture”, also, Trump Snubs Nikki Haley
The Federalist: Biden Administration Prepares The Way For Banks To Deny Service To Democrats’ Enemies, also, Chuck Schumer Flips On PR Statehood
Mark Steyn: Corpsing With The Cuomos, also, Born Free & Resting Merry

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Category: Linkagery

Erasing America’s Anglo-Saxon Heritage

Posted on | February 19, 2021 | Comments Off on Erasing America’s Anglo-Saxon Heritage

An inherent problem with the contemporary rhetoric about “white supremacy” employed by the Left is that it is ahistorical. The first time the SPLC accused me of being a “white supremacist,” I was dumbfounded. What does that term even mean in the 21st-century United States? No intelligent person could imagine — certainly, I have never contemplated — that we could revert to something like mid-20th-century Jim Crow. The Left’s rhetoric is about accusing people of secretly harboring such plans, however, and thus is based on a lie.

“White supremacy” has an actual historic meaning, and this term cannot be stretched to cover anything that liberals wish to condemn, as for example restrictionist views on immigration. If we are not allowed to disagree with open–borders enthusiasts without being accused of “white supremacy,” then no debate over immigration policy is possible. And that’s exactly the point, you see. By applying the epithet “white supremacist” to their antagonists, the Left seeks to silence dissent, in effect making it a hate crime to disagree with liberals.

And what does the category “white” signify, historically? For most people, through most of human history, there was little knowledge of racial categories as we now think of them for the simple reason that most people had no knowledge of anyone outside their immediate area. My remote ancestors, living in the British Isles, never in their lives encountered anyone from Asia or Africa, and prior to Columbus’s voyage in 1492, the existence of the Americas was unknown in Europe.

Only with the European colonization of the Americas, and subsequent advances in travel and communication, did the concept of race develop into something resembling our modern ideas of humanity as being divided into several large categories. Prior to this development, Europeans did not think of themselves as sharing any common heredity, but rather the English viewed the Irish as a foreign “race,” and the people of continental Europe also viewed each other as distinct “races” — the Germans, the Italians, the French, etc. — each with their particular characteristics. And these various European “races” fought bitter wars against each other. This is something I addressed last month:

Anyone who thinks the natives of North America suffered a worse fate than other conquered peoples in other places at other times is simply ignorant of history, including the history of England. The original population of the British isles was first conquered by the Belgae, then by the Romans, who made it part of their empire for about 300 years. In the twilight of Roman power, the province of Britannia was invaded by seafaring Anglo-Saxon marauders, from the vicinity of modern-day Hamburg, Germany. The Anglo-Saxon conquest marked the beginning of the Dark Ages of England, two centuries where the light of civilization in the island was practically extinguished. Scarcely had this Anglo-Saxon realm become somewhat of a Christian civilization than England began to be raided by the heathen Vikings from Scandinavia. Once the Viking era had past, and the descendants of those piratical savages incorporated into the population of Britain, England was conquered by the Normans.
By the time William of Normandy crossed the Channel in 1066, his was the fifth conquest of England in the span of about 1,000 years. Every successive wave of conquest was attended by its share of massacres, atrocities and oppression, but this history of our English ancestors is apparently unknown to young Americans, who are taught to despise themselves as perpetrators of heinous violations of “human rights.”

As I explained in that post, the establishment of the English colonies in North America occurred in the context of England’s rivalry with Spain and other European powers. The question was not whether Europeans would settle the area now known as the United States, but rather which of the various European peoples would accomplish this. While in retrospect it may seem impossible that the Spaniards (or the French, the Dutch or the Portuguese) might have beaten out the English in the colonial struggle for North America, the fact is that England faced formidable competition in this struggle. Spain had a powerful navy, and France was far more populous than England, yet nevertheless the English prevailed, and it was this hard-fought English victory against her European rivals that laid the basis for what became the United States of America. What is strange is that it is necessary to remind Americans of this history, which every schoolboy once knew. In their ignorance, our “educated” class now insists that our history can only be understood in terms of white-versus-black (or white-versus-POC), when in fact American history really was more England versus Spain (and France). Again, I remind you:

The oldest permanent settlement in the U.S. is not Jamestown, Virginia, or Plymouth, Massachusetts, but St. Augustine, Florida, founded in 1565 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. St. Augustine was founded by Menéndez, a commander of the Spanish treasure fleet, as an outpost against the French, who had sent an expedition to Florida led by Jean Ribault. Shortly after the founding of St. Augustine, Menéndez’s Spanish troops killed Ribault and about 350 of his men in two separate massacres.

This history is inconvenient for the SJW crowd, since the Spanish conquests in America are the heritage of today’s so-called Latinos, who for purposes of political activism are lumped into the category POC (“People of Color”), suffering together under “white supremacy.”

Question: Would America today be a better place if the Spanish empire had conquered the whole of what is today the United States?

Answer: I don’t think so. Nor does anyone else, for that matter.

Why is the southern border of the United States a magical demarcation between advanced industrial democracy, on this side, and that particular sort of squalor we call “Third World” on the other side?

Until you can explain this — i.e., the undeniably superior quality of life in the United States, compared to nearly any place in Latin America — you have no business criticizing the United States for an alleged deficit of “social justice” or anything else, for that matter. The fact that the U.S. quality of life is declining in some places (e.g., California) also calls into question the “social justice” critique, in that there is no evidence that advocates of “social justice” have actually improved the quality of life in those places where their political influence is hegemonic.

Why is it that in the 20th century, the U.S. and Great Britain were victorious as allies in the two most dreadful wars in human history? We defeated Germany twice, and added in Japan for good measure the second time, then as soon as WWII ended, we began the “long twilight struggle” of the Cold War against Soviet imperialism — and won that, too.

The very success of our civilization, however, is an offense to the “social justice” mob, and thus in England a couple of years ago, it was decided that “Anglo-Saxon” must be banned from the language:

Leftists academics are pushing to erase the term “Anglo-Saxon” from the study of history, claiming it is “inextricably bound up with pseudohistorical accounts of white supremacy”.
One such academic is Mary Rambaran-Olm, whose Academia page describes her as an “active member of the Medievalists of Color organization”. Her areas of interest include such topics as “Race and Critical Race Studies in Anglo-Saxon Studies” and “Anglo-Saxon Studies in the Post-Colonial Caribbean”.
Ms Rambaran-Olm claimed in comments to The Times: “Generally white supremacists use the term to make some sort of connection to their heritage (which is inaccurate) or to make associations with ‘whiteness’ but they also habitually misuse it to try and connect themselves to a warrior past.”
“The term ‘Anglo-Saxon’ is inextricably bound up with pseudohistorical accounts of white supremacy, and gives aid and comfort to contemporary white supremacists. Scholars of medieval history must abandon it,” concurred John Overholt, a curator at Harvard’s Houghton Library.

In case you didn’t guess, Mary Rambaran-Olm is a brown person, who is seemingly offended by the very existence of white people. Her desire to banish any reference to the historic origins of England — which, as I have previously explained, involved the Anglo-Saxon conquest of the former Roman province of Britannia — is just the symptomatic tip of a massive iceberg of racial hatred toward white people in general. Do not be deceived as to what is actually involved in this “woke” nonsense.

This is not just a squabble among academics in England. It’s part of the larger project of tearing down Western civilization in general, and this genocidal anti-white crusade — to call it what it is — is intended to deprive Americans of a knowledge of, and love for, our own heritage.

Category: Great Britain, Racism

Yes, China Caused This Pandemic

Posted on | February 19, 2021 | Comments Off on Yes, China Caused This Pandemic

Everybody knows this, but you’re not supposed to say it:

A new study from renowned University of Hamburg researcher Roland Wiesendanger concludes the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the “cause” of COVID-19.
The February study argues against two prevailing theories that COVID-19 was transmitted to humans either via a wet market or a lab accident.
“To date, there is no scientifically based rigorous evidence for either mentioned theories,” Wiesendanger, a three-time recipient of the prestigious European Research Council grant.
Wiesendanger’s 105-page report continues, asking: “is the current global crisis actually the result of a coincidence in nature — a coincidental mutation of a coronavirus a bat with the assistance of an intermediate host — or the result of a Scientist carelessness when carrying out the project is high-risk research with global pandemic potential?”
To answer the question, Wiesendanger cites 600 incontrovertible facts to bolster his theory that “the number and the quality of evidence clearly indicate a laboratory accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
A summary of the report outlines the primary arguments in favor of Wiesendanger’s case, emphasizing the fact that the host has still not been identified; the virus can “couple surprisingly well to human cell receptors”; The Wuhan lab “carried out genetic manipulations on coronaviruses for many years with the aim of making them more contagious, dangerous and deadly for humans”; and that there were “significant safety deficiencies” at the facility . . .

Read the whole thing. What we are looking at is this result of a Chinese experiment in developing a biological warfare weapon. Wiesendanger believes evidence indicates that the COVID-19 virus escaped the Wuhan lab as the result of carelessness by the lab’s staff. That is to say, China did not cause the pandemic intentionally, even though the virus was developed for malign purposes. You don’t manipulate a virus to make it more contagious and deadly just for the theoretical scientific value, eh?

(Hat-tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)

Category: China, Science

In The Mailbox: 02.19.21 (Morning Edition)

Posted on | February 19, 2021 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 02.19.21 (Morning Edition)

— compiled by Wombat-socho

SOTD: A new version of an old favorite.
Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Now That’s Something You Don’t See Every Day
EBL: Jorja Smith
Twitchy: Chris Hayes Claims Biden’s COVID Messaging Is “More Consistent” Than Trump’s, And The Jokes Write Themselves
Louder With Crowder: Remembering Rush Limbaugh – The Left Hated Him Because They Feared Him
Vox Popoli: Baen Under SJW Assault, also, The Third World Comes To Texas
Gab News: It’s Time To Build Our Own Economy
Monster Hunter Nation: Publishing House Baen Books Attacked By Cancel Culture

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: The “Toolkit” Greta Thunberg Tried To Hide
American Greatness: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Spearheading Effort To Declare Math “Racist”
American Power: Now Joe Klein, Of “Anonymous” Fame, Is Writing At The Bulwark?
American Thinker: Woke Politics – The Democrats’ Plan For A Permanent Majority, also, The Coup De Grace For Nikki Haley’s Presidential Ambitions
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Uneasy Echoes News
Babalu Blog: Bipartisan Group Of Cuban-American Leaders Call On Biden To Leave Sanctions On Castro Dictatorship In Place
BattleSwarm: Interview With TPPF’s Katie Tahuahua On The Texas Winter Storm Energy Crisis
Behind The Black: Texas Power Outages Delay Starliner But Not Starship, also, Perseverance’s Possible Travel Route On Mars
Cafe Hayek: Evidence That Labor Markets Are Competitive
CDR Salamander: Diversity Thursday
Da Tech Guy: We Want Belief, also, Biden’s Foreign Faux Pas
Don Surber: The Post-Limbaugh Era Will Be Awesome
First Street Journal: The Washington Post Defends A Book Burner
The Geller Report: Democrats & Leftists Celebrate Rush Limbaugh’s Death With Heinous Tweets, also, Michigan Removes 177,000 Voters From Rolls In January After Certifying Biden Won By 154,000 Votes In November
Hogewash: One Example, also, Team Kimberlin Post of The Day
Hollywood In Toto: Clunky Paradise Cove Shows Folly of California’s Progressive Politics, also, Why Kate Winslet’s Feminist Battle Cry Can’t Be Trusted
The Lid: What Role Do Big Government Regulations Play In Texas’ Freezing In The Dark?
Legal Insurrection: Biden To Pay $200 Million In WHO “Obligations”, Reversing Trump’s Decision, also, FBI & US Attorney In Brooklyn Considering Investigating Cuomo Administration Over Nursing Home Deaths
Michelle Malkin:
Nebraska Energy Observer: End Of Watch For An Indispensable Man
Power Line: How Gone Is He? also, Vaccination Priority For Teachers Or Medical Marijuana Workers?
Shark Tank: Charlie Crist Says VA Is Turning Away Vets Who Want COVID Vaccine
Shot In The Dark: All Is Proceeding As Joel Kotkin Predicted
The Political Hat: Three Man And A Baby Are Smashing The Duo-Normative Diarchy
This Ain’t Hell: Congress Shocked That The Troops Don’t Trust Random Hastily Approved Vaccines, also, Like A Case Of Herpes
Transterrestrial Musings: Boeing, also, The Texas Wind Turbines
Victory Girls: Framing Britney Spears – Portrait Of A Toxic Mix
Volokh Conspiracy: Standing Up For Civil Discourse
Weasel Zippers: Beta O’Rourke Blames Global Warming For Cold Weather In Texas, also, Bob Dole Has Stage IV Lung Cancer
The Federalist: Blue Checkmarks On Twitter Mock Rush Limbaugh’s Death, also, The First Step Toward Righting America Is Refusing To Believe The Left About Anything
Mark Steyn: Blizzards Real & Metaphorical, also, Death By A Thousand Lockdowns

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Category: Linkagery

Family Demands Answers

Posted on | February 19, 2021 | Comments Off on Family Demands Answers

Whenever police kill a black criminal, it is now predictable — as night follows day — that the media will run a story about how the family of the deceased suspect “demands answers” about the shooting. Generally speaking, there will be a “civil rights” lawyer at the press conference, and there will eventually be a lawsuit against the cops. We take this for granted nowadays, along with the media interviewing relatives of the deceased criminal, who had an extensive felony record, saying that he was really a wonderful person, a beloved father, blah blah blah.

All of this is part of building up the Black Lives Matter narrative that law enforcement is about “systemic racism.” It is necessary to mention in this context that cops kill white criminals, too. In fact, the majority of suspects shot by cops are white, and sometimes the circumstances surrounding these shootings are tragic (e.g., Sage Crawford, shot in front of her small children after she charged cops with a knife), but cops shooting white people doesn’t become a 24/7 story on CNN, and nobody’s rioting over these cases. No, it is only black criminals getting shot by cops that get CNN saturation coverage, and we are not supposed to notice the upside-down values involved in this liberal media narrative, wherein everyone is expected to sympathize with lifelong criminals.

OK, but what happens when cops don’t kill criminals? What happens when fear of being accused of racism convinces people that it’s a good idea to turn criminals loose, just because they’re black?

The latest news from Chickasha, Oklahoma:

It’s been over one week since a four-year-old and her 67-year-old grandfather were stabbed to death inside their Chickasha home. All of it was allegedly by one of their own family members, 42-year-old Lawrence Anderson.
Monday night, investigators said that same family member may be responsible for a third murder.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations is still investigating the unfolding story in Chickasha, but the family of the third woman killed are demanding answers. They said they want to know why the man’s sentence was commuted in the first place.
“We’ve lost a part of our heart that we will never get back,” said Brooke Burris Wofford, a cousin of 41-year-old Andrea Blankenship, who was found dead in her Chickasha home.
Anderson was just released from prison in mid-January. He was out for less than three weeks on a commuted sentence when the crimes occurred.
Investigators said Anderson stabbed his uncle and 4-year-old Kaeos to death. However, the alleged spree didn’t end there. Detectives now believe Anderson also murdered Blankenship, who was found dead in her home on the same street as the first two murders.
“We need some more answers,” Burris Wofford said.
OSBI officials said on Thursday they now have evidence that Anderson killed Blankenship before he killed Leon Pye and Kaeos and stabbed Delci Pye.
Wofford said Blankenship was a single mother of two who lived alone and worked from home. She said the family is unaware of any relationship between her and her alleged killer.
“We want to know why this monster who is dangerous was released,” Wofford said.
Anderson was originally sentenced to prison in 2006 for attacking and pointing a gun at his girlfriend. He went back to prison in 2012 for selling crack cocaine near an elementary school. Anderson was sentenced again in 2017 for having a gun and sneaking drugs into jail. However, just three years later, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed off on a commuted sentence, which was granted by the state pardon and parole board. Anderson was released from prison for a third time on Jan. 18.
“Let us know the reasoning behind why he would release such a violent criminal,” Burris Wofford said.

He attacked his girlfriend and sold cocaine near an elementary school, but why he should be in prison? That’s “systemic racism”! No, let’s turn him loose, because what could possibly go wrong?

Why did the Republican governor of Oklahoma approve this commutation? Without bothering to research that question, my guess is that someone in the governor’s office decided it was a good idea to release inmates who were imprisoned for “non-violent” offenses. Selling cocaine near an elementary school? That qualifies as a “non-violent” crime. Nobody bothered to check whether Lawrence Anderson had any previous history of violence, and this is what happens when “social justice” replaces common sense as the guiding principle of law enforcement. That some Republicans are buying into this mentality should concern us.

Category: Crime, Oklahoma, Racism

In The Mailbox: 02.18.21 – The Rush Limbaugh Memorial Edition

Posted on | February 19, 2021 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 02.18.21 – The Rush Limbaugh Memorial Edition

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Home again in Tonopah for a few days. Should get caught up tomorrow.
Silicon Valley delenda est.

From Mike Ramirez at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. I didn’t know that he recruited Paul Shanklin for Rush.

OVER THE TRANSOM
Ninety Miles From Tyranny: The 90 Miles Mystery Box, Episode #1266
357 Magnum: Another Failure Of The Victim Selection Process
EBL: Rush Limbaugh, RIP
Twitchy: Drew Holden’s Megathread Comparing Media Obits Of Rush Limbaugh And Soleimani (Among Others) Speaks Volumes
Louder With Crowder: Dear Rush – Thank You For Your Talen On Loan From God
Vox Popoli: Still Not The President, also, The Talent Has Been Returned
Monster Hunter Nation: RIP Mr. Limbaugh

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Your Role In This Spiritual War
American Conservative: Death Of A Republican Kingmaker, also, Driving Alone & Talk Radio
American Greatness: Wuhan Biolab In Red China Eligible For U.S. Taxpayer Funding, also, Mainstream Media Networks Paid BLM Activist $35,000 For Footage Of Capitol Shooting
American Power: Talk Radio’s Conservative Pioneer Rush Limbaugh Dies, 70
American Thinker: Grief & Hope In The Loss Of Rush Limbaugh, also, Toasting Rush Limbaugh & His Place In America
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Hump Day News
Babalu Blog: We Will Miss Rush Limbaugh, also, The Cuban Artists Fighting The Totalitarian Effort To Rewrite Cuban Culture
BattleSwarm: Rush Limbaugh, RIP, also, Austin Winter Storm Update For February 18
Behind The Black: A Historian’s Memorial To Rush Limbaugh, also, Today’s Blacklisted American
Cafe Hayek: Price Controls Make People Work Harder, also, Monopsony Power, Schmonopsony Power
Camp of the Saints: Rush Limbaugh, RIP
CDR Salamander: The Use & Abuse Of Wargames
Da Tech Guy: The Seed Rush Sowed Will Yield A Crop 30, 50, Even 100-Fold, also, Report From Louisiana – Snowpocalypse 2021
Don Surber: Limbaugh’s Finest Hour, also, Impeachment Was A Diversion
First Street Journal: About That Getting Rid Of Fossil Fuels, also, It’s Not Just The NYT & WaPo Who Don’t Like Freedom Of Speech For Other People
The Geller Report: French Parliament Passes Law To Fight Jihad – Bans Hate Imams, Allows Police To Close Religious Schools, also, Muslim “Refugee” Working As Anti-Rape Trainer Arrested For Rape
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post Of The Day, also, Don’t Know Much About A Science Book
Hollywood In Toto: Five Apologies Hollywood Owes Us, also, Rush vs. Howard – How Limbaugh Got The Best Of The Reformed Shock Jock
The Lid: CloutHub May Not Be The Free Speech Social Medium It Claims To Be
Legal Insurrection: Winter Storm Kills 14, Leaves Millions Without Electricity & Heat, also, Rush Limbaugh Has Passed Away
Michelle Malkin: Pregnant Women, Beware of COVID Shots!
Nebraska Energy Observer: What Hath Government Wrought
Power Line: Rush Limbaugh, RIP, also, Howard Root – A Letter To My Prosecutors
Shark Tank: Murphy Claims Taking Care Of The National Guard Is A Priority
Shot In The Dark: Talent Being Paid Back (With Interest) To God
The Political Hat: Euthanasia In Canada – Killing The Lonely, Social Services So Bad People Would Rather Die, & Homicidal Hospices
This Ain’t Hell: Heartwarming Story Of The Day, also, Marines’ New Amphibious Combat Vehicle
Transterrestrial Musings: Rush Limbaugh, also, The American Cultural Revolution
Victory Girls: Rush Taught Me How To Be A Conservative, also, A Voice, A Patriot, A Legacy
Volokh Conspiracy: Why I’m Happy That We’re On Parler
Weasel Zippers: Biden Lies That There Was No COVID Vaccine Until He Was Installed, also, Yale Professor Celebrates Rush Limbaugh’s Death
The Federalist: Joe Biden – Minorities Don’t Know How To Use The Internet, also, Read The Most Touching Tributes To Broadcast Legend Rush Limbaugh
Mark Steyn: Remembering Rush, also, The Indispensable Man

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Category: Linkagery

Rush Limbaugh, R.I.P.

Posted on | February 17, 2021 | Comments Off on Rush Limbaugh, R.I.P.

The talk-radio legend has died at age 70, and his frequent guest-host, Mark Steyn, has a tribute to the man who attracted the largest radio audience in the world. Did you catch that?

Throughout his entire time on air, there were genius GOP consultants who, in reaction to any electoral setbacks, would insist that what the GOP needed to do was come up with a way to ditch Limbaugh. As I said on air many years ago: Really? For almost a third of a century, Rush’s audience was over half the total Republican vote. How many do all you genius “Republican reformers” bring to the table? I’ve recounted previously the first time I was asked to guest-host, back in 2006, when I happened to be down in Australia and the Prime Minister, John Howard, asked me to some or other event a day or two hence. And I politely declined, saying I had to get back to America to host The Rush Limbaugh Show. “I hear that’s a pretty big show,” said the PM.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Twenty-five, thirty million listeners.”
“‘Strewth,” said Mr Howard. “Rush has more listeners than we have Australians.”
Indeed. And all these GOP clever-clogs never explain, once you throw Rush and his millions overboard, what’s going to replace them.

Most critics of Limbaugh simply never acknowledged this truth. From the time Fox News began to be recognized nationally — the 2000 election was a turning-point of sorts — there was an inordinate amount of attention paid to Fox while, the whole time, Rush was reaching a larger audience. Five days a week, three hours a day.

Flashback to Rush Limbaugh receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom pic.twitter.com/zeaGxJeUJu

— The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) February 17, 2021

Rush was the best there ever was, and to all intents and purposes invented an entire new media category. Until Rush came along, “talk radio” was about interviewing guests. Rush seldom had guests, and instead focused on using actualities (“sound bites”) from current news events as the fodder for his commentary. His use of sound bites was the real innovative breakthrough in what Rush did, more so even than his interactions with call-in listeners. The main thing about Limbaugh was, he was a radio professional before he ever became a political commentator. He had worked as a Top 40 deejay from the time he was a teenager, and understood how radio works. His braggadocio — “Talent on loan from God,” etc. — was part of his genius as an entertainer.

To be successful on radio requires that the host establish a personal connection with the audience, and so Rush had to humanize himself for his listeners, to get them to think of him as a friend, to create a sense of shared experience — “we’re all in this together.” Listeners would sometimes complain when Rush would talk about anything except politics. He’d come on the air Monday afternoon and start talking about the previous day’s NFL games, or he’d talk about playing golf, and after 15 minutes or so, he’d remark that the callers were on the line complaining that he wasn’t talking about politics. But you can’t be 100% politics all the time, or you’ll burn out. Politics isn’t everything in life, so there was Rush on the radio talking to millions of people about the football game he’d watched on TV Sunday. This is what I mean by Rush humanizing himself to the audience. Radio was his job, and doing an occasional change of pace — that’s called entertainment.

Rush Limbaugh was the greatest broadcaster in history. The man created an industry from nothing and in the process taught several generations of Americans about the virtues of freedom and liberty. He was a giant, irreplaceable, a legend who made this country immeasurably better.

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) February 17, 2021

Three or four times, Rush actually read my articles on his show, and I’d get phone calls and messages from friends I hadn’t heard from in years: “Man, I heard you on Rush!” It was a pretty big deal.

One of the oldest maxims in show business is “always leave ’em wanting more,” and Rush Limbaugh has certainly done that. R.I.P.

Category: Rush Limbaugh, Talk Radio