The Heritage Foundation - Leadership for America

Today is the 20th anniversary of Rush Limbaugh’s national radio show. Rush can be heard on over 600 radio stations and gets more than 14 million listeners every week. This week, Human Events, has been paying tribute to Rush with essays from major conservative luminaries with titles like Empowerer of the Modern Conservative Movement (from Steve Forbes), The Babe Ruth of Broadcasting (from Sean Hannity), and The Engine of Conservatism (from Mark Levin).

But perhaps the best tribute to Rush’s career comes from the very liberals he makes light of every day. Last month at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said she personally supported legislation by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) to revive the Fairness Doctrine. The death of the Fairness Doctrine in the 80s was a major victory for free speech. And without its abolition, Rush’s career would not have been possible. Hence the liberal interest in making sure the government can control what opinions get voiced on radio.

Last year a senior adivsor to Pelosi told the American Spectator: “Conservative radio is a huge threat and political advantage for Republicans and we have had to find a way to limit it.” A Government Reform chair Henry Waxman (D-CA) aide added: “Salem [Broadcasting Co.] is a big target, but the big one is going to be Limbaugh. We know we can’t shut him up, but we want to make life a bit more difficult for him.”

The Heritage Foundation salutes Rush and his twenty years of making life difficult for liberals everywhere.