Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh died today of lung cancer at the age of 70.
Like many, Limbaugh's cruelty as entertainment left me cold whether his targets were Donovan McNabb, Michael J. Fox, Sandra Fluke or Pete Buttigieg. Just over a week after former President Trump bestowed him with the Presidential Medal Freedom at last year's State of the Union, Limbaugh said Americans wouldn't elect Buttigieg for "kissing his husband." Yet his cruelty found an audience and it made him a fortune.
In the process, Limbaugh played no small part in turning conservatism into a caricature and effectively handed off the baton to Donald Trump. Needless to say, he was not my cup of tea.
Nevertheless, I take no pleasure in celebrating his death nor do I see the point. Those who see fit to do so only demonstrate that they are no better than he is. Case in point is one Dr. Dave Lustig, a Florida based psychologist who tweeted:
Rush Limbaugh has died. There’s no reason to feel guilty if you believe that the entire world is a slightly better place than it was this morning.
I don't believe Rush Limbaugh's death makes the world a better place in the slightest. It won't help stop COVID-19 or help people without no power in Texas. Limbaugh might be dead, but the cruelty lives on be it in former President Trump, Alex Jones, the 1/6 rioters, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib or Jeremy Corbyn.
The world only becomes a better place if we are prepared to live from day to day treating others with kindness and respect in both word and deed.
This will not happen if our energies are spent wishing for the demise of Henry Kissinger and Prince Philip.
It isn't to say that Limbaugh's legacy isn't subject to critique. One can reasonably argue that his legacy made America worse as Alex Shephard did today in The New Republic.
But there is no reason to derive pleasure in Limbaugh's death. As the old saying goes, "If you have nothing nice to say about someone, it is better not to say anything at all."
R.I.P.
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