Nothing Else Matters

You’d have to be living under a rock to not have heard about Rush Limbaugh and his cancer diagnosis. To say that I don’t know how I feel about this is putting it gently.

I don’t wish cancer on anyone; back in 2005, I could only sit by as a helpless spectator and watch as Prime’s brother Wavebreaker slowly died of the disease. It was brutal, incredibly painfully, and a fate best reserved for no one. So no, I’m not cheering for this.

But I’m not wishing Rush well, either.

Rush Limbaugh was little more than a professional liar. He flatly admitted that he hd stopped learning since leaving high school and was gleeful in his mission to spread falsehoods and misinformation. He came to my attention back in the 1990s; at that point he was known for his anti-environmental stances on pretty much everything. The hole in the ozone layer? Why should we worry? Global warming? A hoax. Garbage washing up on the beaches? Who really cared?

I didn’t like the man. I never liked the man. I will never like the man. He was a liar. He was more than happy to shill for corporate interests. He slut shamed. He said terrible things about other people but couldn’t tolerate it when someone confronted him about it; that’s why the screeners to his radio show were so strict. They rarely, if ever, let on anyone who didn’t agree with him. He couldn’t handle it if anyone actually spoke up against him. Don’t believe me? The evidence exists on video.

In the ‘90s, almost everyone had a late night talk show. Hell, if Triumph the Insult Comic Dog had been around, he would have had his own, rather than playing second fiddle on Conan. That’s not a joke: Chevy Chase had a talk show. Seriously. Well, CBS gave Pat Sajak a late night show of his own; when Sajak couldn’t make a taping of the show, he asked Limbaugh to fill in for him.

It didn’t go well.

One of the audience members confronted Limbaugh on his shitty behavior. Others cheered her on. Rush Limbaugh looked completely deflated, utterly confused, and borderline frightened. There was a quick cut to a commercial and the next time Limbaugh was on television, he had an audience of handpicked sycophants. He simply couldn’t stand being challenged or being made to answer for his bullying.

He was featured on an episode of A&E’s Biography; when chatting with potential friends or possible girlfriends, he often said that he had no friends. It’s something worth thinking about.

No, I can’t wish the man ill. But I can’t wish him well, either. He deserves neither, just as he didn’t deserve to be even mildly significant. He deserves nothing, no thoughts and prayers, no well or ill wishes, nothing, just as he deserved nothing he got in life.