Rush Limbaugh died a year ago today, on February 17, 2021. It seems a fitting occasion to remember, in good humor, philosophic levity, and political gravity some of the highlights of his remarkable American life.

 Read More

Rush was serious about politics, and what enabled him to be as serious as he should be, was his understanding that there were things more important than politics.

Good politics established the conditions for higher things: for freedom of thought, freedom of religion, the flourishing of art, music, literature; the happiness of husbands and wives and fathers and mothers and children in families; the joy of sports of all kinds and of watching sports with friends and rooting for one’s team. Rush’s seriousness, good humor, and joy were direct products of his understanding and appreciation of the freedom to pursue happiness that good politics makes possible.      

This is precisely why every pious liberal is miserable and spreads his liberal misery wherever he goes: because for the pious liberal there is nothing beyond politics. Everything is about power and is reducible to power. As the world has seen with shocking clarity these past two years, the pious liberal will not rest until he controls your every thought, word, and deed.

As Rush said on the air frequently, he wasn’t concerned about what happened to the Republican Party or even to conservatives. He was concerned with what was happening to the country. His conservatism was defending the freedom, interests, and sovereignty of the American people, and he saw that the greatest challenge to doing this was the liberal identity politics of what was once called political correctness and came to be called 'wokeness'.  

“What is it that sets us apart? There is one answer, and it is found in the Declaration of Independence. We are all endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. Because of this, America became the greatest nation in human history.”       

“We are in a battle for the kind of country this is going to be. We’re not in a battle over who is going to win every four years. The battle we are in is literally about will this remain the United States of America as founded.”