I still can't personally muster much emotion when celebrities die, which is why it felt so strange that when I heard about the death of Rush Limbaugh, I felt something strong come over me.
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Why Rush Limbaugh’s Death Just Hits Differently

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I vividly remember coming home from spring break with my family in 1994 to see the stack of newspapers left on the counter by the person watching our house while we were away. Right there on top was a picture of Kurt Cobain with a headline announcing his death. I felt a strange rush of emotions that left me trying to figure out exactly what I was feeling. In my teenage egocentrism, I found myself confused by why someone so famous would take their own life. I felt sadness that I wouldn’t get to hear new music from my favorite band. I felt loss at missing my opportunity to see Nirvana live. But mostly, I felt guilt about not feeling anything about the loss of life that had occurred.

Growing up in a metropolitan area, I was accustomed to hearing about multiple deaths each night on the news. These were people who never had a glimpse of fame. They were often victims of violent crimes. They were my neighbors. I felt way worse for these people and their families than some distant celebrity. It then turned into a thing for me where I became annoyed when people would mourn the death of the rich and famous with no mention of the thousands of other people that died every day.

Now that I’m older, I have a better appreciation for how others grieve. I realize that they’re mourning more for the loss of contribution than the loss of life. I still can’t personally muster much emotion when celebrities die, which is why it felt so strange that when I heard about the death of Rush Limbaugh, I felt something strong come over me. Even weirder, it was happiness. That’s a difficult emotion to come to terms with when you hear about someone dying, let me tell you.

I absolutely believe that this world is a better place without Rush Limbaugh in it. It’s not just that I disagree with his viewpoints. Vehemently. It’s that he was in such a position of influence, and truly was really good at his job. Unfortunately, his job was being a fucking asshole. You might be mad that I am glad someone is dead. I can understand that. But if you’re mad because you agreed with Rush Limbaugh’s perspectives, then you can go ahead and fuck off as well. He was through and through a hateful person who influenced millions of other people to be hateful as well. He played a gigantic role in the fractured state our country is in. And whether he actually believed his own bullshit or not, he played into it, profited from it, and built his legacy upon it. So fuck him and everything he stood for.

The reason I’m so happy he’s dead and gone is that there is nothing tangible to his legacy. The product was the people he inspired, and people are constantly moving on to newer things. Nobody’s going to be playing deep cuts of Rush Limbaugh’s greatest hits. He’s fucking dust in the wind, man. Sure, there will be other people who try to fill the void of hatred he left behind, but they won’t do it as well. He was truly old school. He had no fear of being censured. No fear of being fired. He was the Howard Stern of political radio; people who loved him and people who hated him, were all listeners the same. Young conservatives can’t get away with that; they’re too concerned with their reputations. So while Nirvana’s hits are still in heavy rotation at any Classic Rock radio station around the country, Rush’s words and ideas will quickly slip into the ether. Good fucking riddance.

Just to prevent people from getting too upset about what I’m saying, here’s a quick reminder of who we’re talking about: