Aside from the Saw-Scaled Vipers, COVID-19, and Donald Trump, the only other evil that I hate with a passion is this brute called Rush Limbaugh.
― Dr. Anthony Obi Ogbo
I have not had this in a long time, but this day, I honestly felt that Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Merlot would perfectly suit the occasion. So immediately after the death of the conservative talk show radio scoundrel, Rush Limbaugh, was announced, I went into a celebration mode.
With glasses of this wild but soft, delicate, herbal, and silky ruddy liquid, and of course, over some jungle-roasted groundnuts, I watched YouTube videos of Limbaugh’s numerous tommyrots―hate speeches and conspiracy tales. I celebrated all day, and I was glad I did. Because, aside from the Saw-Scaled Vipers, COVID-19, and Donald Trump, the only other evil that I hate with a passion is this brute called Rush Limbaugh.
I already know. We should “Never speak ill of the dead” because, at the least, death is supposed to humble us all. I understand that literature. In fact, in my very Christian community and African culture, there is this unwritten law that people should not say bad things about those who have died. This is to honor the solemn period and show respect to the deceased by forgetting and forgiving their bad actions while remembering only their good ones.
Rush Limbaugh died on 17th February 2021, which saw news headlines going gaga with contrasting messages over the value and legacy he lived. He was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and finally gave up at 70. But for 32 years, this dude facilitated fiery rhetoric that infiltrated political discourse across America with schismatic contention. He hated a united America.
He shot at core governmental policies and causes that are relevant to African Americans and other minorities.
He was brutal throughout his career, targeting Blacks and minorities and documenting and destroying them through lies and treacheries. He shot at core governmental policies and causes that are relevant to African Americans and other minorities. He specifically disliked everything Black and targeted with racist attacks every admired and respected people of African descent, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Colin Powell, Barack Obama, and many others.
Of course, the world saw how this man targeted Obama—the first African American President of the United States, whom he referred to as “Halfrican American.” He proceeded with a mischievous campaign that Obama was not Black but a Kenyan Arab. He questioned everything about Obama, including his birth, education, and family tree, and recurrently used “Barack the Magic Negro”―an obsolete Jim Crow-era anti-Black term, as background music. He once suggested that James Earl Ray (the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr.) deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor. He also suggested that the NAACP should have riot rehearsals: get a liquor store and practice robberies.
It is amazing how this numbskull—some empty-headed vandal who dropped out of Southeast Missouri State University after a miserable two-semester attendance—could captivate about 15 million listeners a week who tuned in for his daily three-hour program. I must confess, Limbaugh had a unique subject composition and delivery style that makes his show a perfect hub for the White Supremacists. He would announce his target or policies, initiate the news matter in the most distorted manner, and meticulously trash-talk his conspiracy theories to further woo a clueless flock of listeners who often believed him even when he faked a cough.
Ironically, he died of lung cancer after downplaying the dangers of smoking.
Today, Limbaugh is no more. Ironically, he died of lung cancer after downplaying the dangers of smoking. Then he was a front-runner of Covid-19 denial media bigots. He repeatedly lied about the coronavirus and despicably suggested that the virus was nothing more than a stunt by people opposed to President Donald Trump.
Those who benefited from his idiocy praised him. For instance, his wife, Kathryn Limbaugh, did what any wife of a villain would do. She eulogized him as, “An extraordinary man. A gentle giant. Brilliant, quick-witted, genuinely kind, extremely generous, passionate, courageous, and the hardest-working person I know.”
Former President Donald Trump issued a statement that read in part: “Rush was a patriot, a defender of Liberty, and someone who believed in all of the greatness our country stands for.” Former Vice President Mike Pence, who also benefited from Limbaugh’s nonsense, commemorated him in a series of tweets. He tweeted, “For more than 30 years, no one did more to educate, inform, inspire, and just plain entertain Americans about the issues of the day than Rush Limbaugh.”
While conservatives across the nation mourned Limbaugh, his victims also took to social media to celebrate his demise. In one of over a thousand tweets lampooning him, comedian Paul F. Tompkins tweeted, “If I had to say something positive, I guess I’m glad Rush Limbaugh lived long enough to get cancer and die.” Bishop Talbert W. Swan II, president of a Massachusetts branch of the NAACP, shared his thoughts in a reply to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s tweet eulogizing Limbaugh. According to Bishop Swan II, “Rush Limbaugh was a despicable racist. He was a vile, repugnant white supremacist who denigrated Black people, mocked those dying of AIDS and other diseases, and stoked the flames of bigotry and hatred. Our country has lost one of its most wicked voices. Praise God.”
Judi Ketteler, author of Would I Lie to You? The Amazing Power of Being Honest in a World That Lies wrote, “People who have made a living out of spreading outrageous lies are generally not stupid. They are experts at self-deception.” In the Rolling Stone, Bob Moser wrote, “How the right-wing talk radio icon corrupted the Republican Party, spread hate, racism, and lies, and laid the groundwork for Trumpism.” NPR Houston Public Media, David Folkenflik, “Before right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, before Fox News, there was Limbaugh.”
As I write, the body of Rush Limbaugh lies lifelessly awaiting a process that will finally commit him to Mother Earth. No doubt, he left this earth with his destructive attitude, and racist demeanor.
In society, generally, we would want all departed souls to rest in peace. Some very holy Christians would advocate praying and forgiving their enemies, haters, oppressors, or bullies to pacify the Gospel according to Matthew 5:44, that we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. On the contrary, Isaiah 48:22 declared, “’There is no peace,’ says the Lord, ‘for the wicked.’” Therefore, from the spiritual perspective, all souls don’t rest in peace—not a wicked soul like Limbaugh, who spent his entire lifetime lying, conniving, hating, and destroying other souls.
For a man whom the Devil blessed with just two major Hobbies: Insults and Cigars, and who ironically died of Cancer, going to Hell makes sense.
Also, individuals must not be bullied for their opinions about the dead. They must not be scorned for celebrating the death of their predators. In the dominion of organizational politics, death is what gives the victim solace over the dictators. Thus, victims must not be discouraged from rejoicing over the death of those monsters who make their lives miserable.
Limbaugh has vehemently hurt my people, and for me, it is so long, Dude. It is understandable if he makes it to Hell. For a man whom the Devil blessed with just two major Hobbies: Insults and Cigars, and who ironically died of Cancer, going to Hell makes sense.
♦ Professor Anthony Obi Ogbo, PhD, is on the Editorial Board of the West African Pilot News
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One comment
Don Okolo
March 1, 2021 at 6:28 pm
Fantastico! Brilliant, Tony. You’d be surprised; I bought a freaking cigar…a Cuban wrapped, cylindrical thumby…just to celebrate the fact that God finally had enough of him…him, Rush Limbaugh. Daalu rinne…