Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh's show will no longer be running on "The Big Talker," WPHT-AM (1210). CBS announced that Premiere Media, which syndicates Rush's show, is taking it off WPHT's schedule, where he's been since 1999 (before that, he was on WWDB). Replacing him in the 1-3 p.m. slot will be longtime Philly broadcaster Michael Smerconish, whose national talk show has been running taped during afternoon drive time; it'll now run live. "I am thrilled that CBS decided to make this change," Smerconish told us at "SideShow," "and I am anxious to once again welcome live callers from my hometown for the duration of my program.

ON THE ISSUE of Rush Limbaugh, Sandra Fluke and government-funded contraception, here are a few cold, hard facts: Fact: Sandra Fluke is a longstanding left-wing political activist who was recruited by Nancy Pelosi to testify before Congress regarding this issue. Fact: Free contraception is already available, to anyone who wants it, in every state in our union. Fact: Those who say they cannot afford contraception are, in fact, liars, since it costs only about $9 a month at Walgreens.

"For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words. . . . My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. " - from Rush Limbaugh's apology to Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Rio Linda Entertainment in Broadcasting (EIB) Comedy Club! It's now time for tonight's headliner.

RUSH LIMBAUGH is one important reason why strong affirmative-action guidelines need to be in place: Here's a man who blithely dismissed the obvious merit of an African-American quarterback before a national audience. Although he no longer has a TV platform, Limbaugh still addresses a sizeable audience (about 20 million) via radio. If only an eighth of that audience is in corporate management, then it's no wonder that the "glass ceilings" remain impervious to dissolution. Limbaugh's greatest victims, however, are his listeners.

Being attacked by Rush Limbaugh is like being gummed by a newt. The current champion of the ad hominem argument has seen fit to reflect on me because I quoted what I still think is one of the funniest examples of white-backlash thinking I have ever come across. The quote in question was the immortal observation, made by a Limbaugh listener at a coffee group in Weatherford, Texas, in August, "Why, I agree with Rush that racism is dead. I just wonder what the niggers are going to find to complain about now. " This quote caused some Limbaugh "dittohead," as he calls his followers (Do you suppose they are actually flattered by that?

RE GLENN Beck's fit after his show was dumped here: I'm thoroughly convinced of just how much of a horse's behind he truly is. How blowhards like him and Rush Limbaugh have such huge followings shakes my faith in the intelligence of the American people. Jeffrey C. Branch, Philadelphia

IT CAN'T be easy being Donovan McNabb these days. As if it weren't enough that the Eagles quarterback is caught in a very public spat between Terrell Owens and Eagles management, an offer of help comes from perhaps the one name McNabb wants to hear even less than Owens' right now. Rush Limbaugh has offered to help heal the rift between the Eagles stars, explaining that "I could bring these two guys together. I've been there, folks, and I could do this, and I'm serious in my desire to do it," Limbaugh said, presumably with a straight face.

Fortunately, for myself and many others, the popularity of Rush Limbaugh conjures up this question: Are the majority of Americans unfortunately bigoted racist, sexist, homophobic, prudish and puritanical politically-right- of-centers like Limbaugh himself? Well, it depends on how you look at it. Meaning there's an extreme amount of hypocrisy and contradiction involved. In my mind, the answer is no, of course not. (Oh, by the way, I am a heterosexual Caucasian male, part of Limbaugh's "target audience," but Limbaugh will never be able to sway me toward his extreme right side with his divisive and polarizing rhetoric.

I've been doing penance. I've listened to major portions of two Rush Limbaugh radio shows, I've done some heavy browsing of his new book, The Way Things Ought to Be, and now I'm finally ready to say it: Rush, I'm sorry. No, I still haven't become a Rush Limbaugh fan; I'm not that sorry. But at the urgings of some 60 zillion readers (that's an estimate; I stopped counting after 147), I've taken another look at this phenom of the airwaves, and . . . . But first I'd better back up and tell you what brought all this on. I recently wrote a column, the point of which was that you shouldn't refrain from telling the truth as you see it just because somebody you don't care for agrees with it. What brought that on was a young man who was pained to inform me that Limbaugh had agreed with something I'd written.

Rush Limbaugh's show will no longer be running on "The Big Talker," WPHT-AM (1210). CBS announced that Premiere Media, which syndicates Rush's show, is taking it off WPHT's schedule, where he's been since 1999 (before that, he was on WWDB). Replacing him in the 1-3 p.m. slot will be longtime Philly broadcaster Michael Smerconish, whose national talk show has been running taped during afternoon drive time; it'll now run live. "I am thrilled that CBS decided to make this change," Smerconish told us at "SideShow," "and I am anxious to once again welcome live callers from my hometown for the duration of my program.

R USH LIMBAUGH, the dominant force in conservative talk radio in America for more than two decades, is leaving his longtime Philadelphia perch on 50,000-watt AM station WPHT, apparently for an unknown rival. The dramatic move shakes up the Philly radio market - and arguably the local political scene as well. It's not clear how much the move was influenced by the national uproar over Limbaugh's calling a Georgetown law student "a slut," which has caused at least 67 advertisers to jump ship.

Though the advertising boycott of Rush Limbaugh is significant for its size and scope, it will ultimately prove ineffectual in dislodging him from his commanding perch above the talk-radio world. That kind of movement would require a different type of acquiescence, namely on the part of program directors, not advertisers. And though there is a strong case to be made for such a course correction, there are no guarantees those who determine content will stray from their current business model.

ON THE ISSUE of Rush Limbaugh, Sandra Fluke and government-funded contraception, here are a few cold, hard facts: Fact: Sandra Fluke is a longstanding left-wing political activist who was recruited by Nancy Pelosi to testify before Congress regarding this issue. Fact: Free contraception is already available, to anyone who wants it, in every state in our union. Fact: Those who say they cannot afford contraception are, in fact, liars, since it costs only about $9 a month at Walgreens.

Tracie McMillan is discovering the upside of being ridiculed by Rush Limbaugh. As a first-time author writing about food policy, McMillan, 35, was relieved to get a publisher and a small advance. A Feb. 20 favorable review in the New York Times, on the eve of publication, was nice icing. Fortune and fame would have been unreasonable expectations. "Most books don't make money. They're calling cards to parlay into fellowships or speaking engagements," says the pragmatic McMillan, who was born and bred in Michigan before moving to Brooklyn to become a freelance journalist.

Disruptive flight attendant subdued CHICAGO - An American Airlines flight attendant disrupted a flight Friday as it was about to take off from Dallas Fort/Worth en route to Chicago, saying over the intercom that the plane was going to crash, alluding to 9/11, and ranting about the airline's bankruptcy reorganization, passengers said. Passengers ended up restraining the flight attendant in the cabin until airport police arrived. Two flight attendants were injured and were taken to a hospital.

Fans of the Philadelphia Orchestra may not have been aware that ads for its classical performances were airing on Rush Limbaugh 's radio show. But no longer. The orchestra joined more than three dozen other advertisers this week responding to the crescendo of criticism following Limbaugh's on-air insults of Georgetown law student and birth-control advocate Sandra Fluke . The orchestra announced by Twitter Tuesday that the musical institution had "taken steps to ensure that our ads no longer run on the Rush Limbaugh show.

"For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words. . . . My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. " - from Rush Limbaugh's apology to Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Rio Linda Entertainment in Broadcasting (EIB) Comedy Club! It's now time for tonight's headliner.

Liberal political talk show host Bill Maher has jumped to the defense of conservative radio jock Rush Limbaugh. Maher, a comedian and host of HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher," defended Limbaugh through Twitter. And, he scolded liberals for not accepting Limbaugh's apology for disparaging a Georgetown law student on his radio show. Limbaugh called the student, Sandra Fluke, a "slut" and a "prostitute," after she had testified at a congressional hearing last month in support of the Obama administration's new contraception rule mandating insurance coverage for birth control.

Limbaugh actually says he's sorry On Saturday, the Earth tilted slightly off its axis. Rush Limbaugh admitted that he made a mistake in the choice of words he used to excoriate Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law student who testified before Congress about contraception ("Limbaugh apologizes for insulting student," Sunday). Limbaugh did not admit that he was wrong to criticize the young woman. He did not admit this mistake on air during his radio program. Rather, he admitted in a written statement on a Saturday afternoon that he chose the wrong words.