Shownotes Transcript
I want to stop for a moment and honor a friend of mine and a friend of the California ProLife Council.
Now, I know some of our supporters are not Conservatives. I, more than most, understand that the ProLife Movement is very diverse. And that means that some of you may not be Rush Limbaugh fans. If that's you, please bear with me. I believe you need to know that the dominant media’s presentation of who Rush Limbaugh was, is false; very, very false.
And if you have been a supporter of the right-to-life for any time, you already know that the dominant media – the drive-by-media - is regularly false and misleading.
They most certainly had it in for Rush Limbaugh.
Don’t believe them.
Rush Limbaugh was a friend of mine. It’s not that I knew him well, or even hung out with him. But I did work with him on several occasions. He knew me, and we were cordial. We had many friends in common.
First you should know that, in many ways he really was a gentle and “harmless fuzzball!” - his common self-description.
I first met Rush on October 5, 1986, in the studios of KOVR-13, in Sacramento. Jack Kavanaugh, the host, had aligned us as a debate team against the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. The topic was the pending parental notification law in the state legislature.
I can track that exact date because Eugene Hassenfuss, an employee of the CIA, was just shot down over Nicaragua. He was ferrying supplies to the Contra rebels and this dominated the news.
There were lengthy commercial breaks through the hour. Rush had strong thoughts on these events, and I listened intently. I agreed with him (I personally hate Marxism for a number of reasons) but I explained that on public-policy discussions I was constrained to a very defined folio, the right-to-life. Rush nodded in agreement and we discussed certain aspects of the coming debate.
Rush was never hesitant to share his point of view. But contrary to his image, he was actually a very intense and careful listener. And a very kind and warm man.
Over the years Rush donated many items to the California Prolife auction and sent kind supportive notes. His commitment to life was deep and if anything, only grew deeper. A common hero we both shared was William F. Buckley (WFB). Years before, I began reading Buckley’s National Review because often in his column, Notes and Asides, Buckley would write jokes in Latin and without translation! (Finally, something fun I could attempt to translate!)
But there is something deeper that William F. Buckley, Rush Limbaugh, you, and I, all share. That is a commitment to objective reality, to self-evident truth. We share a commitment to stand as our founding fathers stood, looking for those self-evident truths, in “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” This is such a vital and down-to-earth premise for all of society. And as I’ve said many times, “If Natural Law does not exist, there is no Right to Life.”
Rush made a point to address himself to objective reality. I believe this was the key to his success. He regularly called himself, “The Mayor of Realsville”. People grow tired of political games and even though Rush was clearly delving into the realm of politics and policy, he was not playing political games. He was dealing with objective facts, not ‘politicized’ issues.
In terms of American cultural personae, I can think of no greater chasm than in the cultural demeanors of William F. Buckley and Rush Limbaugh. The polysyllabic, Ivy League raconteur and the Cape Girardeau down-home, college drop out, son of the show-me state. Rush and WFB were cultural worlds apart, but like all great Americans, committed to the deeper, transcendent, inspired values America's founders have handed off to all of us.
Many listeners were deeply offended by the ‘caller-abortions’ that Rush would occasionally employ. He would stop in the middle, but usually the beginning of a caller's question and declare, "I'm choosing a caller abortion." He would then hang up, and you would hear the sound of a vacuum cleaner and a flushing toilet. Often the caller was a supporter, but still he insisted he could do it if he wanted to. It didn't matter.
Many were offended by this. “But Rush, you are hanging up on supporters.” "So, it's my choice!" And the pro-abortion crowd were the most upset. But unless you shock people, they often don't understand or get your point.
"Why are you upset about me dismissing a unique person on a phone call, without even asking or informing them?" "Why is it offensive to dismiss a call, but you are not offended to dismiss unique lives, and to do so without any other consideration?" Why is choosing to abort a phone call offensive, but choosing to abort human beings not? What's wrong with this culture?
Talent returned to God. Thank you Rush, and God bless you!