A Conservative Pundit Is Being Mercilessly Dragged For Fondly Recalling How ‘Funny’ Rush Limbaugh Was

On Wednesday Rush Limbaugh — radio show host and one of the architects of today’s fractured Republican Party — passed away at the age of 70. He was a contentious figure, to put it lightly, beloved by the right, loathed by the left. Neither side held back, with social media filled with equal parts praise and condemnation. Indeed, when an editor at the National Review tried to make the case for him as a hilarious entertainer, he was quickly piled on with people begging to differ.

“Liberals who didn’t listen to Rush, and just read the Media Matters accounts, never understood how *funny* he was,” wrote the conservative publication’s Rich Lowery. “What set him off from his many imitators was how wildly entertaining he was, and the absolutely unbreakable bond he formed with his listeners.”

The “funny” part — in asterisks! — rankled many. Limbaugh regularly insulted every minority under the sun. No one was off limits, which is what made him stand out from the pack and what amassed him a massive clutch of fans.

When the conservative pundit tried to sell him as some comedic genius, people were quick to point out the many targets of his angry humor.

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Some singled out Michael J. Fox, whom Limbaugh once mockingly accused of exacerbating his Parkinson’s, on camera.

And there was Sandra Fluke, the lawyer who, in 2012, became a conservative bête noire after she stood up for reproductive rights. Limbaugh took it further than most, calling her a “slut” and a “prostitute.”

There was his habit in the ‘80s of having “AIDS Updates,” in which he gleefully listed all the gay people who had recently died of AIDS-related complications, followed by a Dionne Warwick song.

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Or his hatred of homosexuals in general.

And his hatred of the homeless.

Some took a more broad approach to his general bigotry.

And some pointed out the end purpose of his humor: to appeal to the worst traits in people, and get them to vote against their best interests.

Limbaugh spat venom on a vast array of people, as the following thread attests.

Then again, maybe Rush Limbaugh was funny, just not in the way he intended.