Column
Rush Limbaugh Made Donald Trump Possible
I know because I used to be a target of Limbaugh’s mix of lies, bombast, insults, and bluster
I realize that awarding Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom ranks about 700th on the list of horrible things Donald Trump has done both before and during his time in office. But for some reason, that little news item of February 4 ruined my day more than the average Trump abomination. Tied with the Congressional Gold Medal as the highest honor that can be bestowed on a U.S. civilian, the Medal of Freedom has been awarded to people like Helen Keller, Jackie Robinson, Cesar Chavez, Elie Wiesel, Thurgood Marshall, and Mother Teresa (who, by many accounts, was no saint despite literally being granted sainthood, but that’s another story). The White House’s own wording describes the prize as being designated for “individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
Naturally, one thinks of Limbaugh. If not the inventor of that “significant public endeavor” known as fake news, he was certainly one of its modern pioneers. Limbaugh has called climate change “nothing but a bunch of computer models,” announced…
