Customer Reviews

Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

[Note: I've changed my rating from 5 to 4, only because the more I think about it, the more I feel that the lightweight nature of the book does not push it into a 5-star category. Still a good airplane read. But not great biography. M. Alexander]

Zev Chafets new book works as a kind of corrective to the spin put on Rush by our Legacy Media. And because this book (probably for the most part) is based on Rush's cooperation with the author, the reader gets some fascinating insights into Rush.

Unlike Zev, who first heard Rush as a national radio host, I first heard Rush long before he became a national icon, and so I had exposure to him without media spin. Although I don't agree with some of what Rush says (for example, I am pro-choice and okay with gay marriage...what business is it of the government anyway?)

I lived in Sacramento, California, when Rush Limbaugh first came to town and tried out his new 3-hour radio format without guests, just his own power as an entertainer and political commentator. Nobody knew about Rush, so nobody had much of a chance to plant a manufactured picture of him before he went on the air.

A friend and I listened to his moderate conservative voice, irreverent humor, and his intelligent political commentary. He was a hit in Sacramento, and within a few years was marked to go national. We knew he would be big.

We also anticipated how he would be attacked as a far-rightwing extremist, a hate-filled conservative. Nothing could be farther from the truth, but the politics is such that implanting that image before people had a chance to hear him would guarantee that a significant portion of the audience wouldn't hear him. Unfortunartely, once people were predisposed to be convinced of the "truth" that Rush Limbaugh was extremist and hate-filled and meanspirited, they would filter their experience of him in light of that "truth."

As a side note, and to dispell the myth of Rush as a rightwing Christian extremist, in the 1980s in Sacramento, during the time when Christian evangelists were finding evil lyrics being recorded in reverse on record albums to program the Devil into the nation's youth, Rush decided to expose how ridiculous that was. (Rush's has a DJ's background, and you will notice that many of the entertainment tactics on his show are DJ-oriented).

On a Monday, he announced that to his listeners that Slim Whitman's "Una Paloma Blanca" contained such reversed lyrics. He did not play an example that day, but he seriously assured listeners that Slim Whitman's albums were a danger to the American Way of Life. Christians called up seriously believing Rush. They did not catch on that he was making fun of them.

On Tuesday, he kept the satire going and people still bought it. By Wednesday he brought in an example, which he played on the air. It was ridiculous, with a devilish voice saying, "Well, you found me, Old Beelzebub...etc" People still thought it was real.

On Thursday, finally, readers were calling up saying they knew it was a satire, astonished that the Sacramento evangelical Christian community did not recognize the satire, and finally Rush admitted that he had manufactured the whole thing to make a satirical point.

Rush was not well-liked by those Christians in Sacramento.

If you have a reactive negative response to Rush, AND you have not invested much time in actually listening to him, I would suggest that you are a victim of intentional programming. Rush is a conservative, but has intelligence and a fine sense of humor. Zev's book gives you wonderful details, even for the devoted Rush fan.

(Added from my comments)

A book like this will primarily attract longtime fans, who like me will know all the stories in it. Chafets provides a lot of ornamentation, but nothing substantively new. Which is fine. Rush is very transparent about his life, and his critics have already dug up the light amount of dirt in his life story.

Chafets writes in a conversational style. This is neither great biography in the Churchillian sense, nor it a mere pap. It strikes a nice light middle tone, and is a fast airplane-trip read. The greatest strength of this book is that Chafets has done some legwork, traveling to the cities Rush inhabited, speaking with people from his past and present, quoting conversations, as well as current conversations with Rush. The book is only gently chronological, jumping around in time, especially in the second half. It has an index that is good enough, and reads quite well on my iPad's iBook app. (Not available in Kindle yet.)

I received the book from Amazon as I arrived home yesterday evening. I was obviously pleasantly surprised as displayed by the picture I sent to both of you. The irony was not lost on me either, as a book about Rush Limbaugh, defender and champion of the private sector was actually delivered ahead of "shed"-ule, (not to be confused with "sked"-ule) and un-damaged by that wonderful government program - The U.S. Postal Service. Who knew?!?

The book is about 210 pages long and is an easy and enjoyable read. I read it start to finish on the back patio in about 4 hours, where I smoked two Churchill's (La Gloria Cubana Serie R No. 7), consumed three "adult beverages" (Laphroaig single malt scotch), and wore my Club Gitmo t-shirt ("Your tropical retreat from the stress of Jihad").

For ditto-heads who are everyday listeners, much of the material covered about the show is already known, e.g. - Operation Chaos, The NFL ownership saga, "I Hope He Fails", Michael J. Fox, etc... While ditto-heads know about these events because we attentively listen three hours a day, it is nice to be reminded of them, as they always bring back fond memories. Especially some of the older things we forget about back during the Clinton years that aren't as fresh on our minds. What was interesting to me was discovering how Rush personally feels about some of these things as they pertain to his show (not his politics); such as "Barack the Magic Negro" (by "white comedian" Paul Shanklin) is his favorite parody they've ever done on the show.

Interestingly enough we also find out a little "inside baseball" about the show and the people who make it happen, such as "Bo Snerdley" is actually James Golden and his politics were unknown to Rush when he was hired (Snerdley is actually a conservative, it's not a act. " He don't front, yo!" as the Official Obama Criticizer, Certified Black Enough100% Organic Slave Blood, might say). Additionally we find out Rush is similar to most of his listeners, in that he didn't like George H.W. Bush nor Bob Dole. During the 1992 and 1996 campaigns, he may have been seen as actively backing those candidates but in reality his attitude toward those two candidates were similar to his feelings on McCain; as Rush contends they were all essentially the same candidate: Moderate wishy-washy Republicans who stood for something other than pure Reaganism. As always, Rush was right. His relationship with "W" is also explored. He felt GWB would be more Reagan-esque in his policies than his father or Dole, and was disappointed how far "W" veered off that path after his 2004 re-election. However, they apparently do have a close friendship, even before he became president.

The most interesting part for regular listeners however, is not the recap of previous feuds or topics discussed on the show, but finding as what Rush is like as an actual person. He has always been a very private man and ambiguous about who he really is and what he REALLY thinks of himself and his success (as opposed to what his "on air" persona thinks of El Rushbo). This book cracks that shell...slightly, but really enough. Rush is a complex person in that he is very much a regular mid-western guy but apparently lives a very extravagant lifestyle; which is no surprise to someone worth close to $600 million, however he only really uses 3 or 4 rooms in his house, the rest are for his guests...he's very conscience about his guest being comfortable. When they stay on his five home estate they get the privilege of driving a black Maybach 57 S ($450,000 each) whenever they wish, wherever they wish. He also has a suit of armor, a life sized painting of himself, an exact replica of the chandelier the hung in the NY Plaza hotel lobby over his dining room table. Not my taste, but it's his money. Also, unlike most liberals, he a good tipper. The author came to discover from the wait staff at a restaurant (not Rush) he often tips upwards of $5,000 at dinner. While being interviewed by Chafets, Rush asked the question, "Do you know what bought me all this?" Before Chafets could answer, Rush proudly decreed, "Capitalism"! Rush, being the regular guy he is may also be prone to "adult language", which he apparently inherited from his father. Off air, during commercial breaks, he often call the Bamster a "f-ing liar", to which Snerdley replies "If I could lie like that, I could have any girl in the world."

Reading about his family history (they're like "royalty" in Cape Girardeau, well before Rush III was born) and how Rush (Rusty as a child) navigated several attempts as a DJ with varying success, his time as a "racial pioneer" in the marketing department in Kansas City, to his relationship with his brother were fascinating. What was most fascinating to me was Rush didn't ever really speak of politics of his political opinions until he was in his early thirties. His childhood and adult friends, such as George Brett, has no idea he was such a conservative and so skilled at articulating what it means to be a conservative.

The book is a fair portrayal of Rush, it's exactly what ditto-heads would have expected. There are some parts we may have a disagreement with the author; Chafets thinks Rush has a blind spot on race in America, or that he crossed the line when it came to "Caller Abortions" (which I still think were a brilliant piece of radio). Overall, I would say for ditto-heads it's a very satisfying book which basically confirms what we already know about Rush, or what we suspected. I would definitely recommend it to ditto-heads.

For liberals, my recommendation may be a different story. If you already have your mind may up about Rush, this book isn't for you. You'll dismiss it as an airbrushed, lying portrayal of "racist, bigot, sexist, homophobe" (which is liberal speak for any conservative) because it actually humanized him and paints him as a good person. And as most good liberals know, there are no good conservatives.

If you're on the fence about Rush or unfamiliar with him but interested, first of all, listen to him for three week...then pick up this book.

Combining historical data along with personal interviews and emails from Rush himself... author Zev Chafets has fashioned a detailed narrative of Rush Limbaugh's life from childhood to his current day *MEGA-STAR* status. While unabashedly admitting in the opening that the first time he heard Rush on the radio was akin to the first time he saw Elvis on TV... I found it refreshing that the author did not try to cover-up Limbaugh's gaffes whether public or private. Along with following Rush's life steps from Missouri... to Pennsylvania... to California... to New York... to Florida... and everywhere in between... this remarkably free-flowing easy to read tale of the man that Ronald Reagan himself dubbed "THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-MAN-IN-AMERICA"... includes his prescription drug addiction... rehab... legal battles... and public embarrassment and mea culpa.

Rising from not being an overly popular teenager who worked as a disc jockey and whose life goals were more of the same... to becoming perhaps the most influential non-politician in the country... Chafets digs deep to show the influence and history of the men in Rush's family. Rush's Grandfather, Rush Sr. was a lawyer and when he retired at the age of *ONE-HUNDRED-TWO-YEARS-OLD* he was the oldest attorney working in the United States. A fact that Rush's enemies might want to take into consideration if they're hoping Rush won't be around very long. Rush's Father, Rush Junior, also a lawyer... was an absolute hero to Rush III... "AND STILL CALLS HIM THE SMARTEST MAN I EVER MET." "BIG RUSH" was a World War II combat pilot and his anti-communist opinions and the way he thought the United States should be run formed the nucleus of what Rush is today. Brother David is also a lawyer and worked out most of the deals that have made Rush a multi-multi-millionaire. One of those deals was a partnership with the former head of ABC Radio, Ed McLaughlin. "THE ARRANGEMENT MADE A FORTUNE FOR BOTH LIMBAUGH AND McLAUGHLIN." David (With Rush's approval.) is interviewed and quoted throughout the book.

Along the way to conservative radio greatness Rush worked for the Kansas City Royals baseball team for five years in a number of non-glamorous positions... and despite his non-athletic capabilities and desires... became a close friend of Hall Of Famer George Brett. Limbaugh who is famous for assigning mocking nicknames to his political enemies wasn't always known as Rush Limbaugh. At times he was known as "RUSTY SHARPE" and "BACHELOR JEFF CHRISTIE". Along with making money Limbaugh created a whole new talk radio vocabulary. His fans became known as "DITTOHEADS"... and enemies fell under many "Rushian" categories such as... "UGLO-AMERICANS"... "COMMIE PINKO LIBERALS"... "FEMINAZIS" and "TREE HUGGERS". The author as well as Rush is not afraid to step up to the plate regardless of who's pitching. The author deftly writes: "HE HAD BEEN GIVEN HIS FIRST CHANCE TO REALLY TAKE ON THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS IN 1992, WHEN TED KOPPEL INVITED HIM TO DEBATE SENATOR AL GORE ON ABC'S "NIGHTLINE". LIKE THE FIRST ALI-LISTON BOUT, IT LOOKED LIKE A RIDICULOUS MISMATCH." Following a wordy Gore screed... "KOPPEL WAS EVIDENTLY IMPRESSED." "I DON'T KNOW ANYBODY ON CAPITOL HILL WHO IS MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE ON THE SUBJECT OF ENVIRONMENT THAN AL GORE. YOU HAVE TO TAKE SERIOUSLY WHAT HE SAYS."

"LIMBAUGH DIDN'T HAVE TO AND HE DIDN'T. HE KNEW PERFECTLY WELL THAT GORE WASN'T A CLIMATOLOGIST, HE JUST PLAYED ONE ON TV."

This far sweeping montage includes not only Rush's 1994 updated "35 UNDENIABLE TRUTHS OF LIFE"... (Here's a sample of some of my favorites.) #10- "THE 1980's WAS NOT A DECADE OF GREED BUT A DECADE OF PROSPERITY; IT WAS THE LONGEST PERIOD OF PEACETIME GROWTH IN AMERICAN HISTORY." #25- "FOLLOW THE MONEY. WHEN SOMEBODY SAYS, "IT'S NOT THE MONEY," IT'S ALWAYS THE MONEY." #29- LIBERALS MEASURE COMPASSION BY HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE GIVEN WELFARE. CONSERVATIVES MEASURE COMPASSION BY HOW MANY PEOPLE NO LONGER NEED IT."... but also includes an interview (Approved by Rush.) with "Florida based-clinical psychologist, Steven Stumwasser, who specializes in treating addiction" and had Rush as a patient. Whether you love Rush... or hate Rush... this book is well worth your time.

Top reasons I liked and recommend this book:
-It discloses both the good and not good side of Limbaugh in well-written prose.
-This author writes about Rush Limbaugh's life in an objective manner and not as a fan.
-It contains facts about Limbaugh that were previously unknown (some Limbaugh would not like you to know).
-It emphasizes the facts properly and doesn't dwell on the more pedantic portions of his life too long.
-The author uses fantastic sources (including Limbaugh himself) to document events.
-The events in Limbaugh's life are just plain unusual and very interesting.
-Although I am not in agreement with him on some issues, Limbaugh is a fascinating personality.

I have to agree with M. Alexander's review that the book is too lightweight to get a five-star rating. At just over 200 pages, it will be a one-sitting read for a lot of people, two sittings for me.

Having been in the news business myself for 25 years, I can quickly smell who's trying to render an honest report and who's pushing some kind of agenda.

Chafets is a real reporter. And there are not a lot of them left.

Part of this job is recognizing your own biases -- and everybody is biased one way or another. Armed with this knowledge, you try to sift your facts carefully and try to be as fair as you can to everybody, even those you don't agree with.

A lot of the time, that just means quoting people in context. Just because I don't agree with somebody doesn't mean I need to do a hatchet job on them. And I can think of a couple occasions where I had such doubts about a person's integrity that I just held my fire -- at least until the criminal justice system finally confirmed my suspicions and I could finally go ahead and write in confidence.

Chafets' writing fits my standards for ethical journalism. He's no conservative but you can tell on every page that he's trying to make sense of his subject and do as fair and balanced a report as he can.

I finished "An Army of One" just a couple days after Chafets' 1990 "Devil's Night: And Other Tales of Detroit." Although somewhat dated, it's still worth tracking down. You can sense a little liberal bias here and there but overall, Chafets went to Detroit with his eyes, ears, and mind open.

We probably won't see the definitive Limbaugh biography in our lifetimes. Indeed, just the show transcripts could have been mined for maybe 100 pages of additional material. Still, Chafets manages to cover a lot of territory in just over 200 pages, and in a thoroughly fair and engaging manner.

Since Avidreader gave the book one star without reading it; I'm giving it 5 stars since I know it will be great and at least I'm honest about what I'm doing--cancelling out Avidreader's ignorance.

I never paid any attention to Rush Limbaugh until his galvanizing speech to CPAC. Since that time, I have become a dedicated daily listener.

Chafets said he had trouble finding a publisher because he didn't include "idiot" or ""liar" in the title of his proposed Limbaugh biography.

What he has turned out is a very serviceable biography of "El Rushbo" from birth through the present day.

There is no red meat here for left-wingers. In fact, there isn't much meat here for conservatives. This is a diligently apolitical biography. Limbaugh's politics are explained and illustrated, but Chafets is trying to inform, not convert people to conservativism.

Matter of factly, Chafets tells the story of Rush Limbaugh from his birth, through his schooling, the history of his relationship with his father, his desire from a young age to get iinto radio and his progress up the ladder.

A lot of what Chafets reports seems mundane because it is mundane. Much to his credit, Chafets does not try to create drama in an undramatic life - and Rush Limbaugh's life has been largely undramatic. He was a normal kid who grew up in a normal household. His parents were loving, though his father might have been viewed by some as demanding - not mean, just a dad who wanted to teach his son how to perform at his best.

Rush moved up the ladder of his chosen career as a disk jockey, getting fired from jobs as is the norm for DJs. He went through three marriages, which again is not unusual in our day and age and none of his wives have claimed to have been abused. Not much there.

In 1988, Rush was the unwitting beneficiary of the outlawing of the Fairness Doctrine by the Reagan administration, a development which permitted political programming without it having to be balanced by opposing views. Rush took to the air as an unabashed conservative - and wrote a new chapter in American political history.

Chafets obviously likes his subject. Limbaugh cooperated with Chafets, spent a lot of time with him and corresponded extensively.

Chafets describes Rush's 20-some years in radio in sparse detail, which I think is a disappointment. But he does cover the major highlights, both good and bad. His discussion(s) of Rush as the de facto leader of the conservative movement or the Republican Party are interesting.

Overall, this is an objective biography of Rush Limbaugh, an ordinary guy who with a combination of wit, sarcasm, creativity, business acumen and a strong strain of political commonsense has built an audience of 20-some million listeners and confounded his many political enemies, all the while amassing millions of dollars.

Chafets has done an admirable job of telling us who Rush Limbaugh is. No hysterics, no histrionics, just calm, objective and honest reporting. Good book.

Jerry

I just finished the book, and I thought it was very good. I particularly enjoyed reading about Rush when he's not on the radio...in private times. I wish there had been more of that. But it was enjoyable reliving Rush's past triumphs (and not so much the let-downs).

I thought the author's treatment of Rush was fair; but of course that will cause the knee-jerk liberals to claim bias. Just hearing the conservative side of an argument is considered bias by liberals.

Reading some of the other reviews, the negative ones, I see the same old tired accusations; Rush is a racist, bigot, etc. Any one who listens to Rush knows that is not true, and I think they just sound like narrow minded bigots themselves. I think a lot of conservatives are a little tired of being called names. But that's okay; the liberals will have their heads handed to them in November with the help of El Rushbo...and I can't wait.

If you're a liberal who might be curious, this is the book for you. I consider this book to be an honest portrayal of Rush. And it's entertaining.

I highly recommend the book!

This book is NOT a "puff-piece" for Rush. I believe it to be an imminently fair assessment of the man and his works. From Rush's humble beginnings in Cape Gerarado, Missouri, this man worked and studied AM Radio until he made himself into a power-house of conservative thought.

This is a review of the earlier review of this book by the highly liberal and absurdly biased John K Wilson, rather than a review of the book itself. Although I thought that the book was great (I did read it), I wanted to take a moment to comment on the freakishly lengthy, phony hatchet-job that Wilson did. I'm sitting here wondering if he was paid to write his review.

As an intractable sycophant for Barack Obama (Wilson's written two adoring books on his savior) and the left, Wilson's childish non-review is nothing more than a naive slam by someone with a pre-determined agenda. Wilson's also written a highly "forced" review, since he struggled to hunt up any issue--most trivial--that he could find to expand into something that he claims is important

Wilson criticizes Chafets' relationship with Rush (Obama's two autobiographies were ghost written by admirers--what a surprise!), mentions the tired old story of Rush's ancient drug use, invents nonsense implying that Chafets is a racist, criticizes a lack of endnotes and sources (does anyone care?), pretends to be surprised that "Chafets is a relentless defender of Rush," makes a confused and accusatory argument that alleges that "Chafets projects his own moderate conservative views onto Limbaugh," claims that "Chafets simply failed to ask any important questions..." (vague, damning opinion), falsely claims that "the book is also piled high with filler," makes a nonsense argument that "there's not one word in the book about Limbaugh's inept misunderstandings about the Constitution" by citing a trivial mistake (a common liberal device), whines about typos, and complains that the book is poorly researched and offers a single error as evidence.

Wilson goes on and on, picking at anything that he can find and inventing the rest. Then at the bottom of his review, he notes that he's the author of a new book, "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Rush Limbaugh's Assault on Reason."

Yes, Wilson is certainly biased, and his agenda is obvious.

Wilson's absurd opus magnum has so many false and misleading statements that it's a disgrace. I recommend that you ignore his review.