Rush Limbaugh:  An Army of One

By Zev Chafets

Sentinel.  229 pp.  $25.95

The good folks at Sentinel were kind enough to send me a copy of the recently published book, Rush Limbaugh:  An Army of One, by Zev Chafets.  I first started listening to El Rushbo about nine years ago when I was still an undergraduate.  So, as you might have guessed, I’m a big fan–a “Dittohead,” as Rush’s fans are known.  I tend to agree with 99.9% of what Rush says and I find his delivery and on-air persona hilarious.  This is in stark contrast to many including my wife who actually agrees with much of Rush says but finds his delivery obnoxious.  I find it endearing.

After reading Chafets’s book, I find Rush an even more endearing and interesting figure.  This was not an authorized biography, but the author, Chafets, had unprecedented access to Rush, his family, and others in his life (including his psychologist).  Chafets certainly did his research, traveling to Limbaugh’s boyhood home of Cape Girardeau, MO and speaking with hundreds of Rush’s friends and colleagues.

Chafets paints an intimate portrait of Rush Hudson Limbaugh III, as a man whose love for radio started when he was just a child.  The book proceeds in classic biographical fashion:  Rush’s boyhood years in Cape Girardeau; his brief stint at Southeast Missouri State University; his time in Pittsburgh and Kansas City; his big break in Sacramento; national syndication in New York; and the present day at the Southern Command in sunny Florida.

I was familiar with Rush’s life before reading this book, but Chafets’s portrait definitely added some meat to the bones.  It chronicles, in detail, Rush’s power-struggles with his father over the direction of his life (his father wanted Rush to join the family business and practice law) and Rush’s early years in the broadcast business.  This book humanizes Rush in a way that his radio program does not (which, of course, is largely by design).  It details his struggles with addiction, weight, marriage, and discrimination–my word, not his.  (I’m not sure how else to characterize his treatment by the NFL when he made the push to buy the St. Louis Rams.)  What is more, the man behind the Excellence in Broadcasting microphone is fiercely loyal and compassionate, as Chafets notes on several occasions throughout the book.

Rush obviously elicits strong opinions on both sides of aisle, but nothing bothers me more than critics who have never listened to Rush a day in their lives–not even for a minute–and then proceed to make absurd judgments.  They demonize Rush because they can’t compete with the ideas he espouses.  All they know about Rush is what they heard in a six-second sound bite broadcast on MSNBC or CNN (always blatantly out of context, of course).  The limited government, low-tax, individual liberty principles that form the nucleus of conservatism will always triumph over the tax and spend, big government ideology of liberalism.  Rush believes this to his core, and so do I.  Anyone who has listened to his program or reads this book will find that this theme is at the core of Rush Limbaugh.  One of these critics is Professor Todd Gitlin of the prestigious [italics for Rushian emphasis] Columbia School of Journalism who told Chafets, “Limbaugh is a liar and a demagogue, a brander of enemies, a mobilizer, and a rabble rouser.”  Gitlin then proceeded to admit that he doesn’t listen to Limbaugh.

Professor Marc Cooper of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication calls Rush’s fans “embittered and battered.”  The professor goes on a ridiculous tirade which appears in the book but that I won’t repeat here, accusing Rush’s fans of being intolerant, racist, and paranoid.  As author Chafets notes, “Professor Cooper didn’t cite a source for this conclusion.”  These hacks are teaching the next generation of journalists to be objective?  Really?  The only things these two seem capable of is hurling harsh invective and making judgements about things they clearly know nothing about.  I wonder:  Do these guys have tenure?

While there are no earth-shattering revelations in this book for someone who’s been listening to Rush for nearly a decade, it is well-written and an overall good read–especially for Dittoheads.  Fans of Rush will find that it provides an interesting glimpse into Rush’s personal life and formative years.  Critics of Rush–both those on the left and right–could learn something as well.  The fact remains that Rush is and will continue to be a powerhouse in the conservative movement.  Those who dismiss him merely as an entertainer couldn’t be more wrong.

Chafets writes that when President Obama was asked if he would play a round of golf with Rush, the response, relayed through an intermediary, was that “Limbaugh can play with himself.”  I would like to like extend an offer to Rush to play a round of golf the next time I’m in Florida.  I’m sure after playing a round with El Rushbo my drive would increase by 20-30 yds and I’d take at least 10 strokes off my score.