AM radio talk shows owe their survival to Rush Limbaugh

If there were a Mount Olympus of talk radio, Rush Limbaugh would be alone at the peak.

One hot summer day, I was driving the 169 mile, one way trek from Fort Lewis to Yakima to meet up with my new girlfriend, who is currently my wife. Not in any big hurry, I decided to take the I-5, I-405 to I-90 East route and about the time I reached I-90 at around 11:00 AM, I had accidentally pressed the AM button on the radio. Not wanting to play around with locating the local classic rock station while driving, I decided to leave it on the current station until I got to the first rest stop.

That was in 1988 and pressing the wrong button planted a seed in my psyche that changed my whole outlook on politics.

Listening to this person just going off on democrats was entertaining, though, I will admit I was 22 years old at the time and didn't have an interest at all in politics. Being in the Army, my life was pretty much laid out and I was on a mission to propose to my girlfriend, whom I only knew for a little over a month.

I had no idea who the person was that was railing on democrats and lauding Ronald Reagan was Rush Limbaugh (aka. ElRushbo, MahaRushie, Americas Truth Detector, The Doctor of Democracy). I was captivated by his rhetoric and even though I had no interest in politics, I agreed with everything he was saying. Odd, I know, but it felt right.

I'm not exactly sure how long he was on when another person got on the radio and began railing against the Republicans. I don't recall who he was, but, at twenty two years old, I needed blood pressure meds every minute I listened. What I do recall is people calling in and just giving this guy Hell; I seem to remember one caller mocking him with the voice of Elmer Fudd and another practically calling him a homosexual; I know now that they didn't have call screeners then like they do now.

About the time I got to the first rest stop, the signal was too weak to hear and I tried locating another station that might have been airing it to no avail.

I was hooked. I listened to Rush as often as I could until I was sent to Germany in 1992 for six years, returning to Fort Carson in 1998 where one of my first priorities was to locate a radio station that aired the talk show and pick up where I left off. Only to go back on another hiatus in 2001 when the Army decided I would make a great drill sergeant; the hiatus was due to the enormous pressures of drill sergeant duty causing a lack of interest. If you were ever a drill sergeant at Fort Benning, you will understand.

What I didn't know prior to 1988 was a law called the Fairness Doctrine. Prior to the emergence of Rush Limbaugh, AM radio was on life support with the doctor's hand getting ready to yank the plug. It wasn't until Ronald Reagan tossed the Fairness Doctrine into the waist bin, that Rush Limbaugh breathed life back into the nearly dead medium.

I attribute Rush Limbaugh with my current involvement in politics. Now that I am retired from the Army, I can openly voice my views without fear of reprisals. On a side note, ever since Glenn Beck started airing on my local radio station, he has pushed me even farther into politics, as well as my wife of 22 years, who just loves "Glenny".

With about 20 million listeners across the fruited plane, as well as on the Armed Forces Network, there is no doubt whatsoever that the Doctor of Democracy has emerged as the leader of the Conservative MOVEMENT.