Dan Frisa
Monday, Oct. 13, 2003

Rush Limbaugh has unalterably transformed politics in America, having given voice to the views of millions of Americans who had previously been left largely on their own in the face of a monolithic, never-ending onslaught from the Left in concert with their media megaphones.

Before him, 15 years ago, there was no “mainstream” media; it was simply “the media” – unfettered and undisputed in both broadcasting and print. There was no countervailing outlet for news and analysis: Whatever the media elites deemed to be news was reported as such, in the manner – and with the spin – they chose.

Also recall that there was no Internet and no competition to CNN on cable, and there was certainly no talk radio as we know it today.

Rush single-handedly transformed talk radio into a modern, powerful phenomenon and has spawned countless conservative followers in every market in America. (As we’ve seen time and again, the Left has failed miserably in the medium – which is why Junior Gore and Al Frankenslime are attempting to get enough money together to literally buy the time for some wacko leftist programming: The marketplace simply won’t sustain such content. Just ask Mario Cuomo about his floperoo and those of his many comrades on the talker trash heap.)

What an amazing accomplishment that a local radio host based in California had the temerity to believe in himself enough that he could build a national network based on his own unique formula: Rush alone on the air for three hours in the middle of the day, with no guests, commenting on the news of the day from a commonsense conservative perspective, in an entertaining, fun-filled format.

And thus was born the EIB – the Excellence In Broadcasting network, with the able assistance of the media-savvy Roger Ailes. Today the EIB counts some 20 million loyal listeners on 600 stations, coast-to-coast and border-to-border.

But it didn’t come easy. As Rush has related over the years, he was fired from numerous radio jobs, both talk and disc jockey gigs, and he had a stint in public relations with the Kansas City Royals baseball team. Yet he ultimately didn’t give up and didn’t lose hope that his indelible childhood dream to be a success in radio would someday be fulfilled.

(Rush recently recounted the story of his having used a toy radio kit as a young boy in Cape Girardeau, Mo., to “broadcast” shows in and around his home through the family radio, with his mother listening as his faithful audience.)

Without the Rush Limbaugh radio program broadcasting as a beacon of truth, my colleagues and I would never have been able to wrest control of the Congress from the Democrats, after 40 long years, in the revolution of 1994. What a thrill it was to meet him at a special dinner held at the Camden Yards stadium during our orientation prior to taking office; we made Rush an honorary member of the Republican freshman class of the 104th Congress, welcoming him as a “Majority Maker.”

Over the years there have been so very many wonderful experiences commonly shared by the audience with Rush: the famous Dan’s bake sale; great song parodies; coining numerous now-popular phrases such as “stack of stuff” and “femi-nazis” and “environmentalist wackos,” among countless others.

There have been two best-selling books, “The Way Things Ought to Be” and “See, I Told You So,” and the wildly popular Rush Limbaugh TV Show, with highlights still archived on Rush 24/7, and even Rush Rooms: restaurants that aired the program for their patrons.

Now, of course, there is the Limbaugh Letter, a great monthly magazine, as well as the Rush Limbaugh Web site – providing resources, commentary and, always, entertainment.

Every loyal member of Rush’s audience can relate to feeling let down when eagerly tuning in on a given day and unexpectedly hearing the voice of a substitute host. No matter the talent of the guest, it is never the same without El Rushbo behind the golden EIB microphone broadcasting from the Attila the Hun chair, because it is his unique and special talent alone that is so compelling.

For the first time, all 20 million listeners will have to adapt to Rush’s absence for an extended period while he embarks on a challenging and important effort to cleanse and improve himself in a way he’s never had to before.

What an appropriate time to pause and reflect on how much he’s given as well as to push and stretch and think harder and even more incisively independent of him – something that would certainly gratify Rush. After all, as he’s often said, the audience is not a bunch of mind-numbed robots programmed by him each day, but rather is a group of like-minded individuals whose views he merely validates, something his detractors will never fully appreciate.

In the early years of the EIB, Rush embarked on what he called “Rush to Excellence” tours – live forums where Rush would address audiences in person in various cities across the fruited plain.

Now he is in the midst of a personal “Rush to Excellence” of a different sort, to overcome an addictive dependence on prescription pain medication. As he so bravely shared on Friday, “I am no victim and do not portray myself as such. I take full responsibility for my problem.”

He concluded by stating, “I deeply appreciate all your support over this last tumultuous week. It has sustained me. I ask now for your prayers. I look forward to resuming our excursion into broadcast excellence together.”

So do his millions of loyal listeners, who will no doubt pray for Rush’s complete recovery.

God bless, Rush, and Godspeed.

Dan Frisa represented New York in the United States Congress and served four terms in the New York State Assembly. E-mail: danfrisa@newsmax.com

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