OPEN LETTER TO RUSH LIMBAUGH

LEAVITT on LIMBAUGH: 10/03/03 Back in 1992, after losing my nightclub business, I was down and out. Around this time, I had one of my drunken political "debates" with my friend Matt "Hoops" Reilly, at Clarke's bar. I, being a Liberal Democrat then, was defending "slick Wiily" Clinton as "our" version of "tricky Dick" Nixon, and correctly predicted that he would not only be elected, but would get away with "whitewater", the "bimbo eruptions", and anything else that the Republicans could throw at him. Then Matt asked me if I had ever listened to Rush Limbaugh. "What, that racist, bigoted homophobe?" -or words to that effect, was my reply. "How can you say that if you never listened to him?" was the comeback, after I admitted that I hadn't. Well, it took me a few months, but I found his radio show on WABC 77 (NYC). I listened to him, this brash Conservative, with an open mind. I was astounded with his obviously tounge-in-cheek "arrogance", and his extreme "political incorrectness"(at least to a Liberal). Rush first weaned me off of the daytime soap operas, then inspired me to beat my crack addiction. The critical change came when I thought about how down and out I was. After blowing all of my inheritance money, I never turned to the government for assistance after things went bad; I was fortunate enough to have friends who helped me through that difficult period. This is exactly Rush's message, that we should not depend on government to turn our fortunes around. In fact, the NY State government (a TRULY LIBERAL ESTABLISHMENT, even with a "Republican" Governor) sucked the life out of the one business I did own. It was like a slow-motion epiphany. I started seeing events, both in my life and in the world at large, in a larger historical context. The more I listened to Rush, the more he made sense to me. I can't say I agree with everything Rush says, but I love the way he frames an issue. I have been listening to him since '92 or '93, and the only "preaching" I remember was for self-reliance and the 3 F's (FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND FAITH), as opposed to reliance on government! The logical extention of this is to defeat the Democrats, and this is how I became a Republican, thanks to Rush Limbaugh. Now that Rush is at the center of the media spotlight for his drug use, I think that my story is especially poignant. I've kept act together for over six years, and I bet Rush will be able to beat his addiction as well, with the help of those same 3 F's. I, for one, haven't lost faith in him. He loses no credibility with me for having human flaws. He was one of many factors that helped me get my life back together. I hope that I can be a factor in helping him get his life back on track, too. As a member of Rush 24/7, I'm sending my story to Rush on his "double secret" email, and hopefully he'll read it eventually, and take inspiration as I did from him. GOOD LUCK, RUSH! -FROM CHRIS LEAVITT