Limbaugh created right-wing talk radio, holding court three hours a day, five days a week for 32 years, attracting an audience of 20 million listeners because he was compelling, sometimes funny, always provocative, if routinely sexist, homophobic and racist. Its repeal cleared the way for disreputable broadcasters to present manifestly dishonest and unbalanced content, and Rush, it turned out, had a real talent for just that kind of thing.Īnd when I say talent, I mean it. Since its adoption in 1949, the rule had required broadcasters to present controversial issues in a fair and balanced manner. Rush was the first broadcaster to take full advantage of the FCC’s little-noticed 1987 repeal of the Fairness Doctrine. Because without Limbaugh, there is no (former) President Trump. After all, previous honorees include Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King and the crew of Apollo 13.
Many Americans had been puzzled when President Trump bestowed upon Limbaugh our nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His impact on our nation’s discourse and polity will long outlive him. He wrote this retrospective on Rush Limbaugh in the New York Daily News. Al Franken is the former Senator from Minnesota.
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