Los Angeles County's democratic sheriff says he won't
enforce county's vaccine mandate because he can't afford to lose officers due
to defunding efforts
Leon WolfOctober
09, 2021
Democratic Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva says
that he does not plan to enforce the county's vaccine
requirement for his own deputies because he cannot afford to lose any
additional deputies due to the county's attempts to reduce funding for his
department.
In August, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair
Hilda Solis issued an executive order requiring all county employees to be
vaccinated by October 1st, without allowing for any exceptions, except for
certain narrowly-defined medical and religious reasons.
In his weekly question and answer session with local media
earlier this week, Villanueva explained why he would not be enforcing the order
among his own deputies. While he stated that he himself is vaccinated and that
he is strongly encouraging his deputies to be vaccinated, he noted that the
county budget for 2021-22 cuts his department's budget by about 4 percent,
which forces him to "pick and choose" which mandates from the county
to enforce.
Appearing on Fox News Friday night, Villanueva explained that his
department was already short-staffed by about 1,000 employees when it was hit
with what he called a "politically motivated" hiring freeze in
response to the Black Lives Matter protests last year.
With further cuts to his department coming next year,
Villanueva said that he considered the personnel situation in his department to
be a public safety issue, and that he could not in good conscience allow his
department to lose more officers due to vaccine-hesitancy. Villanueva estimated
that approximately 5-10 percent of his force has indicated that they will
refuse to get the vaccine, and that "hundreds" of them have told him
personally that they would rather lose their jobs than get the vaccine. Villanueva
went on to call the mandate "politicized" as well as "poorly
thought out [and] poorly executed."
"This issue has become so politicized, there are entire
groups of employees that are willing to be fired and laid off rather than get
vaccinated," Villanueva said earlier this week, according to Deadline. "So I don't want to be in a position to lose
5-10% of my workforce overnight."
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has not yet
publicly responded to Villanueva's defiance of their order.
Separately, a group of Los Angeles Police Department
employees sued last month over the city's vaccine mandate,
alleging that the mandate violated their federal statutory and constitutional
rights.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia broke from his own party to torch the $3.5 trillion social welfare and climate change spending bill. Manchin proclaimed that the government spending trillions right now would be "fiscal insanity."
"Every Member of Congress has a solemn duty to vote for what they believe is best for the country and the American people, not their party," Manchin declared in a statement released Wednesday. "Respectfully, as I have said for months, I can't support $3.5 trillion more in spending when we have already spent $5.4 trillion since last March. At some point, all of us, regardless of party must ask the simple question — 'how much is enough?'"
"What I have made clear to the President and Democratic leaders is that spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can't even pay for the essential social programs, like Social Security and Medicare, is the definition of fiscal insanity," Manchin continued.
"Proposing a historic expansion of social programs while ignoring the fact we are not in a recession and that millions of jobs remain open will only feed a dysfunction that could weaken our economic recovery," Manchin said. "This is the shared reality we all now face, and it is this reality that must shape the future decisions that we, as elected leaders, must make."
Manchin proposed that "any expansion of social programs must be targeted to those in need, not expanded beyond what is fiscally possible." He also recommended that the tax code "be reformed to fix the flaws of the 2017 tax bill and ensure everyone pays their fair share but it should not weaken our global competitiveness or the ability of millions of small businesses to compete with the Amazons of the world."
The Democrat suggested, "The amount we spend now must be balanced with what we need and can afford — not designed to reengineer the social and economic fabric of this nation or vengefully tax for the sake of wishful spending."
Manchin sounded the alarm that spending trillions would cause even more inflation that would hurt American families.
The Consumer Price Index climbed 5.3% in August from a year earlier. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned lawmakers this week that inflation will likely continue in the coming months.
"While I am hopeful that common ground can be found that would result in another historic investment in our nation, I cannot — and will not — support trillions in spending or an all or nothing approach that ignores the brutal fiscal reality our nation faces," Manchin said.
"America is a great nation but great nations throughout history have been weakened by careless spending and bad policies," Manchin concluded. "Now, more than ever, we must work together to avoid these fatal mistakes so that we may fulfill our greatest responsibility as elected leaders and pass on a better America to the next generation."
The defiant statement could spell a potential death blow to the massive spending bill because Manchin's vote could derail the proposal. Republicans oppose the $3.5 trillion spending bill — which could cost between $5 trillion and $5.5 trillion over a decade. Democratic leadership desperately wants to pass the huge spending bill, but would need a simple majority of 51 votes in the Senate to pass it. That would require a "yes" vote from every Senate Democrat, including Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). Both Manchin and Sinema have publicly opposed the hefty price tag of the bill.
Sinema said in July, "I have also made clear that while I will support beginning this process, I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion — and in the coming months, I will work in good faith to develop this legislation with my colleagues and the administration to strengthen Arizona's economy and help Arizona's everyday families get ahead."
President Joe Biden reportedly canceled a planned trip to Chicago on Wednesday to attempt to get all Democrats on board with the spending bill.
"Biden reportedly met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at the White House Wednesday afternoon following a series of meetings Tuesday with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), who oppose both the size of the social spending package and key provisions in it," the Fiscal Times reported.
Meanwhile, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) contended that the reconciliation bill should spend $3.5 trillion "at a minimum."
"If Mr. Manchin is concerned about the deficit — I think we all are, national debt — I'm sure he understands that this bill is not going add one nickel to the deficit because it's all going to be paid for by demanding the wealthy and large corporations starting to pay their fair share of taxes," Sanders said Wednesday, echoing the Democratic talking point that the entire $3.5 trillion in spending will "cost zero dollars" and be paid for by taxing wealthy Americans and big corporations.
See more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/biden-spending-bill-manchin-sinema?utm_source=theblaze-breaking&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20210930Trending-JoeManchin&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Breaking%20News
Four years ago, I wrote about my decision to live as a woman in The New York Times, writing that I had wanted to live “authentically as the woman that I have always been,” and had “effectively traded my white male privilege to become one of America’s most hated minorities.”
Three years ago, I decided that I was neither male nor female, but nonbinary—and made headlines after an Oregon judge agreed to let me identify as a third sex, not male or female.
Now, I want to live again as the man that I am.
I’m one of the lucky ones. Despite participating in medical transgenderism for six years, my body is still intact. Most people who desist from transgender identities after gender changes can’t say the same.
But that’s not to say I got off scot-free. My psyche is eternally scarred, and I’ve got a host of health issues from the grand medical experiment.
Here’s how things began.
After convincing myself that I was a woman during a severe mental health crisis, I visited a licensed nurse practitioner in early 2013 and asked for a hormone prescription. “If you don’t give me the drugs, I’ll buy them off the internet,” I threatened.
Although she’d never met me before, the nurse phoned in a prescription for 2 mg of oral estrogen and 200 mg of Spironolactone that very same day.
The nurse practitioner ignored that I have chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, having previously served in the military for almost 18 years. All of my doctors agree on that. Others believe that I have bipolar disorder and possibly borderline personality disorder.
I should have been stopped, but out-of-control, transgender activism had made the nurse practitioner too scared to say no.
I’d learned how to become a female from online medical documents at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital website.
After I began consuming the cross-sex hormones, I started therapy at a gender clinic in Pittsburgh so that I could get people to sign off on the transgender surgeries I planned to have.
All I needed to do was switch over my hormone operating fuel and get my penis turned into a vagina. Then I’d be the same as any other woman. That’s the fantasy the transgender community sold me. It’s the lie I bought into and believed.
Only one therapist tried to stop me from crawling into this smoking rabbit hole. When she did, I not only fired her, I filed a formal complaint against her. “She’s a gatekeeper,” the trans community said.
Professional stigmatisms against “conversion therapy” had made it impossible for the therapist to question my motives for wanting to change my sex.
The “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (Fifth Edition) says one of the traits of gender dysphoria is believing that you possess the stereotypical feelings of the opposite sex. I felt that about myself, but yet no therapist discussed it with me.
Two weeks hadn’t passed before I found a replacement therapist. The new one quickly affirmed my identity as a woman. I was back on the road to getting vaginoplasty.
There’s abundant online literature informing transgender people that their sex change isn’t real. But when a licensed medical doctor writes you a letter essentially stating that you were born in the wrong body and a government agency or court of law validates that delusion, you become damaged and confused. I certainly did.
Painful Roots
My trauma history resembles a ride down the Highway of Death during the first Gulf War.
As a child, I was sexually abused by a male relative. My parents severely beat me. At this point, I’ve been exposed to so much violence and had so many close calls that I don’t know how to explain why I’m still alive. Nor do I know how to mentally process some of the things I’ve seen and experienced.
Dr. Ray Blanchard has an unpopular theory that explains why someone like me may have been drawn to transgenderism. He claims there are two types of transgender women: homosexuals that are attracted to men, and men who are attracted to the thought or image of themselves as females.
It’s a tough thing to admit, but I belong to the latter group. We are classified as having autogynephilia.
After having watched pornography for years while in the Army and being married to a woman who resisted my demands to become the ideal female, I became that female instead. At least in my head.
While autogynephilia was my motivation to become a woman, gender stereotypes were my means of implementation. I believed wearing a long wig, dresses, heels, and makeup would make me a woman.
Feminists begged to differ on that. They rejected me for conforming to female stereotypes. But as a new member of the transgender community, I beat up on them too. The women who become men don’t fight the transgender community’s wars. The men in dresses do.
Medical Malpractice
The best thing that could have happened would have been for someone to order intensive therapy. That would have protected me from my inclination to cross-dress and my risky sexual transgressions, of which there were many.
Instead, quacks in the medical community hid me in the women’s bathroom with people’s wives and daughters. “Your gender identity is female,” these alleged professionals said.
The medical community is so afraid of the trans community that they’re now afraid to give someone Blanchard’s diagnosis. Trans men are winning in medicine, and they’ve won the battle for language.
Think of the word “transvestite.” They’ve succeeded in making it a vulgar word, even though it just means men dressing like women. People are no longer allowed to tell the truth about men like me. Everyone now has to call us transgender instead.
The diagnostic code in my records at the VA should read Transvestic Disorder (302.3). Instead, the novel theories of Judith Butler and Anne Fausto-Sterling have been used to cover up the truths written about by Blanchard, J. Michael Bailey, and Alice Dreger.
I confess to having been motivated by autogynephilia during all of this. Blanchard was right.
Trauma, hypersexuality owing to childhood sexual abuse, and autogynephilia are all supposed to be red flags for those involved in the medical arts of psychology, psychiatry, and physical medicine—yet nobody except for the one therapist in Pittsburgh ever tried to stop me from changing my sex. They just kept helping me to harm myself.
Escaping to ‘Nonbinary’
Three years into my gender change from male to female, I looked hard into the mirror one day. When I did, the facade of femininity and womanhood crumbled.
Despite having taken or been injected with every hormone and antiandrogen concoction in the VA’s medical arsenal, I didn’t look anything like a female. People on the street agreed. Their harsh stares reflected the reality behind my fraudulent existence as a woman. Biological sex is immutable.
It took three years for that reality to set in with me.
When the fantasy of being a woman came to an end, I asked two of my doctors to allow me to become nonbinary instead of female to bail me out. Both readily agreed.
After pumping me full of hormones—the equivalent of 20 birth control pills per day—they each wrote a sex change letter. The two weren’t just bailing me out. They were getting themselves off the hook for my failed sex change. One worked at the VA. The other worked at Oregon Health & Science University.
To escape the delusion of having become a woman, I did something completely unprecedented in American history. In 2016, I convinced an Oregon judge to declare my sex to be nonbinary—neither male nor female.
In my psychotic mind, I had restored the mythical third sex to North America. And I became the first legally recognized nonbinary person in the country.
Celebrity Status
The landmark court decision catapulted me to instant fame within the LGBT community. For 10 nonstop days afterward, the media didn’t let me sleep. Reporters hung out in my Facebook feed, journalists clung to my every word, and a Portland television station beamed my wife and I into living rooms in the United Kingdom.
Becoming a woman had gotten me into The New York Times. Convincing a judge that my sex was nonbinary got my photos and story into publications around the world.
Then, before the judge’s ink had even dried on my Oregon sex change court order, a Washington, D.C.-based LGBT legal aid organization contacted me. “We want to help you change your birth certificate,” they offered.
Within months, I scored another historic win after the Department of Vital Records issued me a brand new birth certificate from Washington, D.C., where I was born. A local group called Whitman-Walker Health had gotten my sex designation on my birth certificate switched to “unknown.” It was the first time in D.C. history a birth certificate had been printed with a sex marker other than male or female.
Another transgender legal aid organization jumped on the Jamie Shupe bandwagon, too. Lambda Legal used my nonbinary court order to help convince a Colorado federal judge to order the State Department to issue a passport with an X marker (meaning nonbinary) to a separate plaintiff named Dana Zzyym.
LGBT organizations helping me to screw up my life had become a common theme. During my prior sex change to female, the New York-based Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund had gotten my name legally changed. I didn’t like being named after the uncle who’d molested me. Instead of getting me therapy for that, they got me a new name.
A Pennsylvania judge didn’t question the name change, either. Wanting to help a transgender person, she had not only changed my name, but at my request she also sealed the court order, allowing me to skip out on a ton of debt I owed because of a failed home purchase and begin my new life as a woman. Instead of merging my file, two of the three credit bureaus issued me a brand new line of credit.
Walking Away From Fiction
It wasn’t until I came out against the sterilization and mutilation of gender-confused children and transgender military service members in 2017 that LGBT organizations stopped helping me. Most of the media retreated with them.
Overnight, I went from being a liberal media darling to a conservative pariah.
Both groups quickly began to realize that the transgender community had a runaway on their hands. Their solution was to completely ignore me and what my story had become. They also stopped acknowledging that I was behind the nonbinary option that now exists in 11 states.
The truth is that my sex change to nonbinary was a medical and scientific fraud. Consider the fact that before the historic court hearing occurred, my lawyer informed me that the judge had a transgender child.
Sure enough, the morning of my brief court hearing, the judge didn’t ask me a single question. Nor did this officer of the court demand to see any medical evidence alleging that I was born something magical. Within minutes, the judge just signed off on the court order.
I do not have any disorders of sexual development. All of my sexual confusion was in my head. I should have been treated. Instead, at every step, doctors, judges, and advocacy groups indulged my fiction.
The carnage that came from my court victory is just as precedent-setting as the decision itself. The judge’s order led to millions of taxpayer dollars being spent to put an X marker on driver’s licenses in 11 states so far. You can now become male, female, or nonbinary in all of them.
In my opinion, the judge in my case should have recused herself. In doing so, she would have spared me the ordeal still yet to come. She also would have saved me from having to bear the weight of the big secret behind my win.
I now believe that she wasn’t just validating my transgender identity. She was advancing her child’s transgender identity, too.
A sensible magistrate would have politely told me no and refused to sign such an outlandish legal request. “Gender is just a concept. Biological sex defines all of us,” that person would have said.
In January 2019, unable to advance the fraud for another single day, I reclaimed my male birth sex. The weight of the lie on my conscience was heavier than the value of the fame I’d gained from participating in this elaborate swindle.
Two fake gender identities couldn’t hide the truth of my biological reality. There is no third gender or third sex. Like me, intersex people are either male or female. Their condition is the result of a disorder of sexual development, and they need help and compassion.
I played my part in pushing forward this grand illusion. I’m not the victim here. My wife, daughter, and the American taxpayers are—they are the real victims. (For more from the author of “I Was America’s First ‘Nonbinary’ Person. It Was All a Sham.” please click HERE)
See more at https://joemiller.us/2019/03/i-was-americas-first-nonbinary-person-it-was-all-a-sham/
A video that splices together clips of prominent Democrats and progressives openly calling for political unrest is now trending online as the nation continues to be gripped by violence and riots in the streets.
The video, produced by Caldron Pool, has garnered 2.5 million views since being posted to Twitter on Sunday.
In its original post, the Caldron Pool account asks, "how did you think it would end?" insinuating that progressives' calls for violence have indeed given rise to the violence now playing out in communities across the country such as Portland, Oregon; Kenosha, Wisconsin; and Chicago.
BlazeTV host Elijah Schaffer — who has reported on much of the violence firsthand and has even had a gun pointed in his face as a result — tweeted out the video, calling it "the most important video of 2020."
Fellow BlazeTV host Steven Crowder suggested that the video be immediately turned into an ad for President Donald Trump's re-election campaign.
What are the details?
"I just don't know why there aren't uprisings all over the country," Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) says as the video opens, adding, "Maybe there will be."
The video then cuts to clips from two separate MSNBC newscasts where one contributors says, "People need to start taking to the streets" in opposition to Trump and then progressive Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) says, "There needs to be unrest in the streets."
After that, CNN host Chris Cuomo is shown saying, "Show me where it says that protests are supposed to be polite and peaceful," against a backdrop of news about widespread looting and vandalism in New York City.
Elsewhere in the video, liberal reporters, Hollywood celebrities, and politicians — including Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden — can be heard calling for violence against the president and antagonizing his supporters.
"If we were in high school, I'd take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him," Biden said about Trump in 2018.
Why does it matter?
Many Americans have become increasingly frustrated as protests against racial injustice and police brutality have devolved into violent riots over the last several months, seemingly with little or no opposition from Democratic leaders.
Democratic officials in many cities where violent riots have taken place have often acquiesced to demands to cut police budgets even as lawlessness runs rampant.
In response, President Trump has called out the violence and has made law and order a major theme of his re-election campaign, suggesting that if Democrats have their way, the violence will only continue and increase.
"Make no mistake, if you give power to Joe Biden, the radical left will defund police departments all across America," Trump said in his speech at the Republican National Convention last week. "They will pass federal legislation to reduce law enforcement nationwide. They will make every city look like Democrat-run Portland, Oregon."
Bill Maher blasted Democrats on his show Friday after "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Mirandaapologizedto woke critics who complained that his new movie excluded Afro-Latino actors.
What is the background?
The movie, "In The Heights," is based on a book and Miranda-created Broadway play by the same name. The story follows characters based in Manhattan's famed Washington Heights neighborhood, which has a significant Hispanic and Dominican population.
The movie was criticized this week for not having casted enough Afro-Latino actors. "[T]he problem with 'in the heights' is 1. ppl who havent been to the heights and dunno its majority black latino will think its accurate and 2. latinos will defend it even if they know a real in the heights would be black as hell coz they antiblack and selfhating af," a prominent critic said.
In response, Miranda released a groveling apology in which he acknowledged the accusations of "colorism" and said he is "truly sorry."
I started writing In The Heights because I didn't feel seen. And over the past 20 years all I wanted was for us — ALL of us — to feel seen. I'm seeing the discussion around Afro-Latino representation in our film this weekend, and it is clear that many in our dark-skinned Afro-Latino community don't feel sufficiently represented within it, particularly among the leading roles. I can hear the hurt and frustration over colorism, of feeling unseen in the feedback. I hear that without sufficient dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation, the work feels extractive of the community we wanted so much to represent with pride and joy. In trying to paint a mosaic of this community, we fell short. I'm truly sorry.
I'm learning from the feedback, I thank you for raising it, and I'm listening. I'm trying to hold space for both the incredible pride in the movie we made and be accountable for our shortcomings. Thank you for your honest feedback. I promise to do better in my future projects, and I'm dedicated to the learning and evolving we all have to do to make sure we are honoring our diverse and vibrant community. Siempre, LMM.
What did Maher say?
Speaking on HBO's "Real Time," Maher said woke outrage and Miranda's apology are symptomatic of bigger problems among progressives — and it demonstrates why "people hate Democrats."
"Stop the apologizing!" Maher exclaimed. "You're the guy who made the Founding Fathers Black and Hispanic! I don't think you have to apologize to Twitter! For f**k's sake! This is why people hate Democrats— it's cringy!"
Maher added that he doesn't believe Miranda actually wanted to apologize, but said it's time for people to start standing up to woke social media "bullies."
"Do I think he really thinks he needs to apologize? I don't. He just wants to avoid the news cycle. I don't blame him, you know," Maher said. "I understand this, but at some point, people are going to have to stand up to these bullies because that's what it is! It's bullying. It's 'I could make you crawl like a dog and I enjoy it.'"
"I mean, he's a Latino making a Latino movie with a Latino cast— not good enough!" Maher continued. "Nothing is ever good enough for these people! They're like children. We don't raise our children right and it's reflected in the media. No one ever tells their children, 'Shut the f**k up, sit down, listen to your elders, stop b**ching."
See more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/bill-maher-lin-manuel-miranda-woke-mob?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__PM%202021-06-19&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM
Rep.Thomas Massie(R-Ky.) shut down a reporter who demanded to know the congressman's vaccination status during a press conference. Massie also blasting Dr. Anthony Fauci and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for an alleged "coverup" of natural immunity.
While advocating that Americans get the coronavirus vaccine, Massie also touted the effectiveness of natural immunity, adding that the critical voices in U.S. health have downplayed "natural protection" to those who had already been infected with COVID-19.
"One of the biggest scandals during this whole pandemic is the coverup that's been committed by Dr. Fauci and the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] — especially the CDC — about the effectiveness of immunity that's conferred after a natural infection, after you've recovered from [COVID], they've completely ignored that," Massie said during a news conference earlier this week. "They want everybody to get vaccinated, even those who don't need [to be] vaccinated."
Massie said to "follow the science," and cited the Moderna trials that he said showed "no benefit of the vaccine to those who recovered from infection." He then noted that the trials of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine "showed there was no benefit to those who had recovered from infection."
"I'm not saying go out and get the virus instead of getting the vaccine. The vaccine can save lives, it's certain," Massie stated. "But there's no need…to get the vaccine if you've already recovered from COVID. There's no need to expose yourself to that danger."
Massie referred to a five-month study from the Cleveland Clinic on 52,238 employees, which found that "none of the previously infected employees who remained unvaccinated were re-infected over the duration of the study."
The CDC website states: "Getting COVID-19 may offer some natural protection, known as immunity. Current evidence suggests that reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19 is uncommon in the 90 days after initial infection. However, experts don't know for sure how long this protection lasts, and the risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 far outweighs any benefits of natural immunity."
A reporter asked Massie if he had been vaccinated, to which he barked back, "Well, first of all, it's none of your business, but I'm gonna tell you."
"I'm not vaccinated, and until there's some science—by the way I have a master's of science degree from MIT, I'm not a virologist but I can read data," the congressman, who earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said. "Everybody just needs to read. Don't put your head in the sand. Look at the data."
"I'm not gonna get the vaccine until there's data that shows that it will improve upon the immunity that's been conferred to me as a result of a natural infection that I had," Massie explained.
In August 2020, Massie announced that he had recovered from COVID-19 and tested positive for antibodies, which prompted him to donate plasma.
Massie made his comments during a press conference about the House Republican-sponsored Fire Fauci Act, which reduces the salary of Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and calls for an examination of his correspondences and expenditures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci is the highest-paid federal government employee, reportedly raking in $417,608 in 2019.
See more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/thomas-massie-covid-immunity-cdc-fauci?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__PM%202021-06-19&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM
On August 1, 1988, Missouri-born radio commentatorRush Limbaughlaunched "The Rush Limbaugh Show" on a handful of radio affiliates. On February 2, 2021 – unbeknownst at the time to his now-650 affiliates and millions of listeners – Limbaugh took to the airwavesfor the last time.
The beloved, yet at times controversial, radio titan died February 17 at age 70 after a battle with lung cancer.
On Friday, "The Rush Limbaugh Show" – which began when Ronald Reagan was president, Checkpoint Charlie divided democracy from autocracy, and the Soviet Union still existed – will end in the only form it has known since.
Last month, many Westwood One radio affiliates that carried Limbaugh's show – which is syndicated by competitor Premiere Networks – launched the "Dan Bongino Show" in the program's noon ET timeslot, helmed by the eponymous Fox News contributor and retired USSS agent. Bongino's show can also be heard each day on Fox Nation.
"There’s no replacing Rush, OK? None. It’s never ever gonna happen," Bongino told "Fox & Friends" recently, "But… I really hope to do some honor to his legacy."
One of the two hosts tapped to fill Limbaugh's timeslot on Premiere is Buck Sexton. The former CIA counterterrorism officer and conservative commentator told Fox News that he is one of the millions of average Americans who was encouraged and influenced by the late radio titan.
"I was inspired by Rush, and so was Clay [Travis]," Sexton told Fox News of his soon-to-be co-host. "One of the biggest breaks in my career was guest-hosting for Rush seven years ago.
Sexton said he could personally attest to the connection the late Limbaugh had with his millions of "Dittoheads": After just one day of guest-hosting, Sexton received numerous encouraging emails and Twitter responses from listeners who made a real connection with him.
At the same time, he remarked that talk radio is an ever more important medium, given the increasing censorship from Big Tech.
"We’re at a point where just given the ability of Big Tech to censor ideas that can be contrarian, controversial or even just a little too close to the edge for what the establishment wants; the ability for people to reach people through radio without an algorithmic filter is something Clay and I are really excited about."
Fox News' own Sean Hannity is also one of the countless media professionals who have credited Limbaugh with breathing new life into talk radio as a medium, and opening the door for hosts like himself to grow and thrive in that field.
Hannity said Thursday that Limbaugh is "the greatest of all time" and echoed Bongino in declaring there is no true replacement for the late radio titan: "The only thing we can do is collectively up our games to try to fill the void. He’s been the leading voice of conservatism in the modern era. He fought like hell to stay on the air with his audience," Hannity told FoxNews.com.
"His bucket list was to be with the people he loved most: His millions and millions of fans and supporters. Including me."
Fox News colleague and fellow radio host Laura Ingraham offered a similar reflection on Limbaugh's legacy, as both she and Hannity were also personally close with the late broadcaster.
"Rush was a friend and mentor, and irrepressibly cheerful through life’s triumphs and tribulations. The airwaves aren’t, and will never be the same without his insightful, strong, hilarious voice," Ingraham told FoxNews.com ahead of the EIB's final broadcast.
"At a time when so many are pessimistic about America’s future, he was defiantly positive and hopeful. My Lord, do I miss him."
In a statement on FoxSportsRadio, Travis also reflected on Limbaugh's impact on the country, and echoed Sexton's eagerness to begin a new chapter of what the EIB founder started nearly 33 years ago:
"While no one will ever replace Rush Limbaugh, Buck and I are excited to continue advancing the causes he held dear, most importantly American exceptionalism, a fervent embrace of capitalism, and a belief in a robust marketplace of ideas," said Travis.
As Travis and Sexton prepare to take the reins of the EIB Network's slot, the show's "guide" hosts – who helmed the program in the time following his passing – expressed their gratitude to the late icon and his staff for letting them be a part of America’s most popular talk radio program, while at the same time helping them grow as professionals in doing so.
Ken Matthews, a frequent "Rush Limbaugh Show" substitute host – who along with KTTH's Todd Herman and others has been a "guide" for the Limbaugh audience as of late, told Fox News in an interview this week that he feels both honored and blessed to have been a part of the EIB.
Matthews has for several years been a weekday afternoon host on WHP-580 – Limbaugh’s affiliate in Harrisburg, Pa. His program follows the late "El Rushbo" at 3 PM ET.
He told Fox News he has a bittersweet feeling about being the "guide" host of the final two airings on Thursday and Friday.
"Limbaugh pretty much created the whole genre as it is," Matthews said, recalling his own first time hearing the booming voice of the Cape Girardeau, Mo., native.
WHP-580 Harrisburg host Ken Matthews joins syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh in his Palm Beach studio in this undated photo. Courtesy: Ken Matthews. (Ken Matthews)
In 1988, Matthews was working in radio in Portland, Maine, and found himself thinking what a lot of other Americans who came across Limbaugh at the time were when they stumbled upon the program.
"Who is this guy? He says what’s on his mind."
Matthews praised Limbaugh for inspiring other talent such as Hannity, "Blaze" founder Glenn Beck, as well as himself.
Before coming to Pennsylvania's capital city, Matthews helmed the former "B-Morning Crew" AM-drive program on Top-40 station 104.1 WAEB-FM in Allentown for 15 years beginning in the 1990s.
Matthews remarked to Fox News that the B-104 gig allowed him to have time for his other radio passion: being a loyal Rush listener.
"That’s one of the coolest things I did when I did mornings [at B-104] – I’d get off the air at 9 or 10 [AM] get my work done, and by the time Noon came around, Rush" was on, said Matthews. "I never thought I’d be guest host."
Departing B-104 in 2006, Matthews later had the opportunity to sub-host Sexton’s syndicated radio show in 2017.
One year later, he was tapped to guest host for Limbaugh for the first time:
"It was a strange time to have stepped into the Rush Limbaugh slot because of what has happened," Matthews said, referring in part to the late host’s eventual cancer diagnosis.
He recalled the summer of 2017 when Limbaugh was the happy and healthy radio titan that millions came to love.
By the third year of Matthews' guest hosting, Limbaugh hadn’t lost his positive attitude or his affinity for his show and its audience, but his health was beginning to decline.
"He’s a fighter because he fought until he couldn’t speak anymore," Matthews told Fox News.
Matthews spoke glowingly about Limbaugh’s staff and his other fellow sub-hosts like Seattle's Herman and Charlotte's Brett Winterble.
He also named author and frequent Fox News guest Mark Steyn as a prominent example, calling him and others "heavy-hitter intellectuals" who were a "joy" to work with.
"I think it made me a better broadcaster because the EIB team is the best—I worked with Bo Snerdley [a.k.a. producer James Golden] for 3 years. He knows radio — he knows content."
As for Sexton and Travis, Matthews remarked the pair have "big shoes to fill."
"They’re both bright people – this was an honor and a blessing -- and the experience was just incredible because Rush surrounded himself with very talented patriots."
With a dour outlook on the current U.S. political scene under the Biden administration, Matthews recalled how Limbaugh always encouraged his listeners to think positive and never give up on their country.
"Rush gave people hope that as bad as things looked, the foundation of the country was strong enough to overcome it," he said.
"That is the challenge of the day right now because we are in a very precarious situation as a nation and [Limbaugh] was a guy who even politicians tuned into."
"Our beloved Rush has returned his talent to God," an emotional Snerdley told host Hannity shortly after the host's passing – riffing on the talker's favorite self-description as having "talent on loan from God."
"Rush Limbaugh was one of the finest human beings that you would ever want to meet."
See more at https://www.foxnews.com/media/rush-limbaugh-show-ends-sexton-travis-bongino-new-hosts
