Over the last 21 years, there has been only one North Star for us on the political right and that has been Rush Limbaugh. Just the number of mentions that he gets in the liberal media – angry mentions, you might notice – show that he indeed is the most effective spokesman for our cause. Because liberals are full of anger about everything, and when someone calls them out, they just lose it.

Rush has been pushing their buttons with incisive commentary and the liberal nemesis – the unvarnished truth – since August 1, 1988. I first heard about Rush from a cassette tape a friend sent me in 1994 and since then, I have been a regular listener, daily for at least one-half hour for the last ten years.

What I see, however, is the Republican party and many so-called “conservative” publications marginalizing Rush, even avoiding mention of his name as if he represents some outside-the-beltway brand of untamed conservatism. Which is pretty much on the mark. Rush represents Everyman Conservatism standing for what he has deemed “the smallest minority” – the individual American and the individualist American, the people on whom and for whom our nation was founded.

And to see our nation surpass the world and become its leader is vindication of the power of that Limbaughian idealism – the Iowa welder and the Texas rancher and the Maryland insurance agent woven into a network that is infinitely stronger than any one of its parts, and with a natural resilience that makes it unbreakable.

It is not a left-wing idealism built on dreamy government programs described in Harvard term papers, but the idealism of man’s highest aspirations to pursue “life, liberty and… happiness” on his own. It is idealism writ small – self-employed idealism, on-your-own idealism, leave-me-alone idealism, me-and-my-tools idealism – that true prosperity and freedom are built on. In other word, the converse of big-government romanticism, the Real Deal not the New Deal.

For many on our side, however, this is a foreign concept. Because they think of themselves as above the fray, ensconced as they are in their positions of power. The elite centrists in the Republican party – the Colin Powells and John McCains – seem to think that true conservatism is beneath them, that people really need the government at their backs, i.e., need John McCain and Colin Powell at their backs, holding their hand to survive the rough seas of life. And that is a frightening thought.

They think that the radical socialism of the Democrats should not be dismissed, and that “limited government” is just a slogan. We all owe Rush a debt of gratitude for holding down our end of the seesaw and preventing the nation from tipping into the abyss as Colin McPowell skitters across the fulcrum enough times to threaten our very existence as a  nation free from the scourge of socialism.

Because that is exactly what Limbaugh is doing. He is a true heavy – despite his recent weight loss – and without him, America would be a much different place. There are a hundred ‘without Rush’ scenarios. For instance, “without Rush, Al Gore certainly would have won the 2000 election.” Because 537 votes in Florida is not much. And this is why we must join him with all of our might.

After a Bush presidency that tried to appease the left with a new Medicare entitlement and generous spending, the media elites of the Democrat party have shown not one ounce of gratitude to Bush, and it is to Rush’s credit that he has understood that all along. According to Rush, you cannot accommodate these liberals, but they must be defeated.

Amen.

But the left has managed to frighten America about Rush by taking his comments out of context, and consistently making use of the leftist strategy of isolating their target and marking it for destruction. Only problem is, it is Obama’s own policies that are making Limbaugh more and more popular every day in the summer of 2009. Call it the Barack Paradox.

Rush has tons of money and could retire tomorrow. This is always a fear of his dedicated listeners. When Rush announced that he was deaf, millions panicked. But Rush knows well that despite claims of his marginal status by some who despise him, that he is essential to the nation’s fight for liberty. Rush knows exactly what he is doing and exactly how crucial he is to keeping America away from the hot fires of socialist hell. He influences millions who are not even conservative. Because millions of non-conservatives understand his message even if they are listening in a closet.

What other public figure has been as influential over the last 21 years. Bill Clinton? Up, down and out. GW Bush? So-so. Papa Bush. No. Gore. Forget it. Obama? He will be gone soon. Hillary? No comment. Newt? Naaah. McCain? They were right. He IS too old. And boring.

No, Rush has indeed been the most consistently powerful and consistently consistent voice of the American right, center and left, hands down. He is the most influential single political figure in America today and has Rushified the nation without our even knowing it. We would not even dare to imagine what America would look like without him.

If you never have listened to Limbaugh, give him a chance. He is the most brilliant political commentator of our time. He speaks “our” language and not the erudite, mellifluous King’s English of William Buckley or the Cupcake Conservatism of William Kristol. Rush is the guy next door who happens to know everything. And he is doing something that nobody said could be done in a virtuoso stream-of-consciousness manner. Three hours a day about politics? Fughetabout it. That will never work, they assured  him.

And unlike a TV sitcom that ends up stale after a few years, Rush today is as vibrant as ever. How he does it is simply inexplicable. He has outlasted a dozen politicians and commentators with higher marks and a fresh approach every day that requires a genuine mastery of the common tongue and inside-out knowledge of events. He rarely prints a correction and they are always minor.

But common he is not. Rush is uncommonly funny, brilliant, unflappable, hard-nosed and certain, and even humble in his own persona despite his ongoing claims of faux superiority over the rest of us. Because we know who Rush really is. He is a genuine conservative who represents millions more Americans than Obama represents libs.

And that means that he does not need for us to fear him or feel inferior to him. Liberals operate on a rigid, top-down hierarchy while true conservatism has its power bubbling up from the people, encouraged by figures like Rush or Reagan, but not directed. And that is the way that Rush has tapped into the true idealism of our Founders, by reinforcing what we already know in our hearts to be true.

There are stories about Nixon and Reagan and the Bushes treating the White House staff with kindness, and the Kennedys and Clintons being aloof and rude. This is the difference that we face. The liberals always act as if they are on our side but we know that they are not. When the rubber meets the road, only conservatives like Rush truly are with the people.

Does Rush get in our face with controversial comments, like that he wants Obama to fail? Sure. But if you actually listen to him, you realize that he is talking about the policies that Obama is pursuing. That is the part that the media leave out. But that is part of being on the right. Lefties will do everything in their power to isolate and destroy you through distortion. So you just soldier on and let them try.

Rush, however, is indestructible because he is a conservative and we conservatives are strong where it counts – on the inside, with frames of steel. If you are a Republican and have not yet appreciated what Rush has done to prevent our nation from careening into the ditch, you should think again.

Thank you Rush for your service to our cause.

Please visit my website at www.nikitas3.com for more. You can print out for free my book, Right Is Right, which explains why only conservatism can maintain our freedom and prosperity.