Rathergate Anniversary - 66 days and counting - Rush Limbaugh anniversary

Click here for previous editions of the Rathergate anniversary countdown.

Today is the 17th anniversary of the first national broadcast of the Rush Limbaugh program.

We recognize the Limbaugh anniversary as we celebrate Rathergate's upcoming anniversary. The blogosphere and Rathergate were made possible partially by the new media revolution of which Rush Limbaugh was the leading pioneer. Rush Limbaugh's program in the late 1980's and early 1990's made it possible for conservatives to communicate with each other. We realized, more strongly than ever before, that we were not alone. Hearing a national host (together with a horde of conservative callers) validate and expand on our own thoughts, gave power to conservatism that it did not previously possess.

As Hugh Hewitt observed recently:

Then Rush strode out and began to speak his mind, and tens of millions of Americans said, "Hey, that's what I think!" And his show exploded. And imitators, including me, followed. AM radio became the staging ground for an assault on MSM, a proof text for the business types who wanted models showing profitability.

"Blog", page 93.

The Rush Limbaugh program was a necessary weigh station on the road to the media revolution that turned hotter than ever on September 8, 2004.