How Can You Listen to Rush Limbaugh?

The last few days I've listened to parts of the Rush Limbaugh Show on my local talk radio station. I've been driving and wanting to hear talk radio - Most often, I listen to NPR. When I'm out driving later in the day I listen to John Tesh sometimes.

I quite like Tesh, but I have to say that Limbaugh confuses me. I know he's quite popular. And I realize his politics aren't mine. Nor is he polite. Disagree with me or not, I hope I'm always polite to you. So I'm not asking about those things.

It seems to me that listening to Rush Limbaugh is a skill one must acquire probably through a fair amount of practice. Here are some of the obstacles I've faced the past few days. First, it seems sometimes that he's either speaking with someone who can't be heard - perhaps a production person who doesn't have a microphone? Perhaps an imaginary friend? He'll pause, say some non sequitur like "yeah, I was just about to say that" then move on. Is there a person in the studio whose microphone isn't plugged in?

Then, is there a real person named "Snerdly"? Mr. Limbaugh references both Snerdly and Mrs. Snerdly from time to time. Again, it usually sounds like a non sequitur to me. "The Obama tax plan is terrible for the nation. (Pause) That's right. (Pause) Snerdly doubted me, but then he was golfing at the time. Mrs. Snerdly said no to the lobster and we had desert..." The name sounds slightly absurd, so I have doubts there is such a person. Even if there is, why would I or anyone else care what they thought on a given issue? No doubt the Snerdlys are wonderful people, but I don't know what their area of expertise is.

Is it just me or does Rush Limbaugh's segues into advertisements a little too subtle? A couple of times I thought he was talking about actual cyber attacks when in fact he was trying to convince me to back up my data using a company he's representing.

And, while I'm on a tear, he does seem to spend an awful lot of time talking about himself, no? The predictions he's made that have come to pass (Should I assume there were no predictions that failed?) the attacks that have been made upon him, how often imitated he is, things of that nature. And he does sometimes seem to make mountains out of molehills. Recently, he played a snippet from one of the president's speech where he said something like "It used to be that if you worked hard you could buy a home..." Mr. Limbaugh seemed to see in this tiny bit that the president thought Americans should never wish for more than a home. I couldn't see it. Perhaps Snerdly could?