As a 20-year-old kid back in the summer of 1990 I happened to be sitting in a parking lot of a strip mall eating a couple of slices of Little Ceasar’s pizza when I turned the radio from the F.M. side over to the A.M. to try and catch some of a Detroit Tigers game. An unfamiliar voice came through the speakers. Someone saying the letters E—I—B with a song by Clarence Frogman Henry playing in the background and I simply froze. Who in the hell was doing this? Why are they talking over a song?

The answer was Rush Limbaugh and after 15 minutes I was hooked.

Rush Limbaugh has been a political force in the American scene since 1988. He is universally loved and hated which is quite a feat. The reason for this is really simple if you think about it.

He has been effective at what he does and has made a difference in how Americans not only see information but in how that info is delivered. Limbaugh has lived by one simple rule that you must ENTERTAIN and EDUCATE. The order of those is not an accident. You can be as smart as William F. Buckley and get yourself a PBS show that hardly anyone watches or you can entertain with the same info and reach millions.

That is what Rush has done successfully for over 30 years.

El Rushbo took the dying medium of A.M. radio and injected it with new life and helped save the lesser desired frequency from total irrelevancy. In doing so Rush inspired numerous copy cats both conservative and otherwise and helped create and save hundreds of thousands of jobs in that realm. His positive impact on the American media landscape can not be downplayed logically by anyone as much as they would like to do so.

That the President last night moved quickly to invite Limbaugh and his wife to the State of the Union after the announcement on Monday that Rush has been diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer was an absolutely incredible honor. That Trump once again blew up the rule book and had the First Lady give him the Presidential Medal of Freedom right there LIVE was one of the greatest moments ever in the history of these speeches. This was also another example of why people love and hate this President, he doesn’t always follow the script that everyone else has.

President Trump honored a most unique American in a uniquely American way last night and it is something that this nation will always remember. Rush Limbaugh is 100% deserving of this recognition for his contribution to promoting American Exceptionalism through the medium of talk radio and encouraging others to do the same.

Whatever the future holds for Rush I know I will be praying for him, his family and the country that he loves and has served in a way that no one had ever imagined before he came along. As someone who has a radio show on a station on the A.M. dial, I can never say enough about the debt we all owe him. There are just no words to explain what he has meant to us.

I will also always be thankful for that warm summer day back in 1990 and tripping across a legend in the making while looking for America’s pastime on the radio. Luckily I found someone that made me laugh and taught myself and millions of others how to fight the good fight and have a blast doing it.

The only phrase which is so incredibly inadequate at this time yet the only one that fits is…

Thank you.

Kyrie Eleison on this journey Rush. Please know you are in the prayers of so many in the nation that you love.

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