Self-proclaimed Dittohead
defends Limbaugh program

EDITORíS NOTE: The following letter refers to John Northís column headlined ìYes, Rush rules the radio, but his values merit debateî that appeared in the Oct. 17 edition of the Daily Planet.
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All in all, your article on Rush Limbaugh was relatively balanced.

I am a self-professed Dittohead which has been listening to Rush since 1993. I was introduced to Rush by a friend and immediately related to his message.

Rush Limbaugh

I was attracted to his program because it resonates with what I already believed. Iíve always been conservative but he was able to articulate what I believed and help me do the same. I felt marginalized by much of the news when most of what I heard expressed negative views of Christianity (yes, Iím one of those), morals, and patriotism.

His listeners arenít the ìmind-numbed robotsî that they are often accused of being. The 9 point difference in the Pew survey doesnít surprise me. Could it be that his listeners (now numbering closer to 22 million) are interested in current events and can get both sides with commentary from Rush which we can then take or leave?

At the very least it inspires me to look into issues more deeply. Most of us rarely agree with Rush 100 percent of the time.

Your definition of ìdittosî is not totally correct. It was first used by a caller to shorten his respects so as to get to the point of the call quicker. At Rushís suggestion, it has been adopted by callers since.

He has often said that he moves callers disagreeing with him to the front of the call line. Iíve never heard him hang up on or mute a caller unless they talked so incessantly that Rush couldnít get a response in edgewise or were obvious ìseminar callersî trained by liberal groups to try to trip up conservative talk show hosts (and you know they exist).

Most people disagreeing with Rush misquote him and use sources such as MoveOn.org or Media Matters to make their point.

Rush has often said that in order to understand his program, one must listen for at least 6 weeks. ìFacts punctuated with irreverent humorî is his MO. Sound effects and parodies are designed to tweak liberals by ìillustrating the absurd with the absurd.î

Finally Iíd like to address our ìbeing willfully obliviousî to his ìnumerous hypocrisies.î

Have you listened to or reported on the $4.2 million raised by the auction of Senator Harry Reidís infamous smear letter signed by 41 senators against a private citizenís free speech rights (see attachment) to the Clear Channel Radio president, Mark Mays, asking him to force an apology from Rush for criticizing a particular soldier, Jesse MacBeth, ìwho never served in Iraq; he was never an Army Ranger. He was drummed out of the military in 44 days. He had his day in court; he never got the Purple Heart as he claimed, and he described all these war atrocities. He became a hero to the anti-war left. They love phony soldiers, and they prop ëem up.î

This is a direct quote which I cut and pasted from the transcripts of his September 28th program as can be found on his website for all to see.

I was listening when he said these words. Compare his direct comments with the 3 week ìRush hates the militaryî story in the drive-by media which culminated with Harry Reidís letter and subsequent E-bay auction. Rush matched the winning bid of 2.1 million with 2.1 million of his own money for the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation (MC-LEF).

Didnít hear a peep of news from the ìdrive-bysî about that or about the 41 senators who signed the letter contributing nothing in response to Rushís challenge to match the bid themselves. Please Google ìJesse MacBeth retractionî to go to the source.

When the story hit concerning his Oxycontin addiction, he devoted a whole broadcast to it and apologized for his actions.

His main complaint was not in being ìcaughtî but in the illegal obtaining and dissemination of his private medical records by the DAís office in an apparent attempt to bring Rush down. The HIPAA laws apparently protect the privacy of everybody except those with whom some of us disagree.

My reaction to Rush is not polarization or to be inflamed on an issue but to be informed.

The thing that irritates some folks most is that someone like Rush is so dogmatic and claims to be ìalmost always right 98.8% of the time.î

This just automatically grates on those who feel the same way about their own way of thinking.

Mike Richard
Fairview

P.S. By the way, you have an interesting paper and donít look at all like Perry White.

Reader adds another detail
to column about ëImagineí

John Lennon

EDITORíS NOTE: The following letter refers to John Northís column headlined ìImagine if John Lennon had practiced what he preachedî that appeared in the Oct. 3 edition of the Daily Planet.
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I liked your recent article criticizing John Lennon. Another fact about Lennon is that he basically abandoned his first wife and their son when he started his relationship with Yoko Ono.

I commend you for holding up practical ways of changing the world. I hope every-body who wishes to make a difference, practice what they preach and not follow Lennonís life as an example.

Greg Woods
Greensboro