Monday, May 6, 2013

Has Rush Limbaugh Finally Lost His Mojo?



Love him or hate him, Rush Limbaugh has been an icon in Republican talk radio for decades.  As the cheer leader in chief for all things Republican, there is no bigger pimp for big government, endless wars, fascist corporate welfare and military worship than Limbaugh.  Is his incredible star power finally on the descent?

Rush Limbaugh may leave Cumulus
The Rush Limbaugh Program is considering ending its affiliation agreement with Cumulus Media at the end of this year, a move that would bring about one of the biggest shakeups in talk radio history, a source close to the show tells POLITICO.

Should the move take place, 40 Cumulus-owned radio stations would lose the rights to the most popular talk radio program in the country. In addition, the show might be picked up by competing regional radio stations in Washington, New York, Chicago, Dallas and other major markets.

According to the source, Limbaugh is considering the move because Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey has blamed the company's advertising losses on Limbaugh's controversial remarks about Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown law student. In Feb. 2012, Limbaugh referred to Fluke as "a slut" because she had called on congress to mandate insurance coverage of birth control. The subsequent controversy over those remarks resulted in a significant advertising boycott.

The true extent of Limbaugh's effect on Cumulus's advertising revenue is not known. In an August 2012 earnings call, Dickey said Cumulus's top three stations had lost $5.5 million, in part because of the boycott. In a March 2013 earnings call, Dickey said the company's talk radio side had "been challenged... due to some of the issues that happened a year ago." Nevertheless, Limbaugh remains the most highly rated talk radio host in the country.
At the end of the day, Limbaugh is nothing more than a corporate commodity and when a commodity or product fails to deliver profit expectations, the product becomes weak and expendable.  While the left has exclusively attributed Limbaugh's decline in listeners and advertisers to the Sandra Fluke fiasco wherein he called her a slut, there's a whole lot more to the story than Fluke-gate.  Insulting liberals and Democrats is what Limbaugh is paid to do because it's red meat for the Republican base.  It deliberately fires up their hatred and raw emotions to guarantee that they won't focus on real issues.  Limbaugh exists to keep Republicans dumbed down and angry, and he's a critical component of the Republican Get Out the Vote machine.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Limbaugh has a net worth of $350 million and earns $40 million a year.   While such lucrative star power is extremely rare in radio, Limbaugh can't escape demographics and shifts in political preferences that absolutely translate to the free market of political ideology.  The Republican Party is bleeding voters precisely because the young have no use for what is increasingly dubbed the War Party.  Republicans have fought hard to crush civil liberties, expand the national security surveillance state, ratchet up corporate welfare and shower defense contractors and banksters with taxpayer cash and bailouts.

The Democrats do the same thing but what the Dems do outright by invoking party ideology the Republicans do by stealth.  Republicans have quietly funded the implementation of Obamacare.  Republicans created the multi-trillion dollar entitlement known as Medicare Part D or the prescription drug program, a piece of vote buying legislation that was hatched by Karl Rove after the 2000 Bush-Gore election fiasco.

While Limbaugh is far from washed up, his star power is declining simply because the formula of 'insult your political opponents' with a vile and mean spirited invective is no longer working.  America has big problems that need solving and these problems include addressing the agony of the ailing economy, political corruption on steroids and the patronage system of governance.

As the young liberty activists in America reject Limbaugh styled antics as intellectually demeaning to the point of bordering on outright fraud, America is spawning a new generation of political activists who are starved for the truth and solutions.  Of course, the enemies of Limbaugh have taken notice and don't hesitate to let loose with very interesting Limbaugh headlines.

Citing A $100 Million Dollar Loss In 2012, Radio Industry Says Rush Limbaugh Bad For Business.

Is "Deceased" the Average Age of a Typical White Male Rush Limbaugh Listener?

While the Limbaugh formula that once worked is now being challenged on multiple left and right fronts, the driving forces behind the liberty activists are Ron Paul, limited government and the constitution.  However, Rush has consistently bashed Ron Paul and the young liberty activists.  Big mistake.

Slut talk no longer cuts it.  From Rush Limbaugh to Hush Bimbo, the dude is definitely disconnected from reality as he transitions from king to commodity.

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