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It’s just another day at the office, prescription drugs, derogatory remarks about women, minorities and “the poor” and of course those darn “liberals!” Isn’t that right, Rush?
Rush Limbaugh, the ‘entertainer’ recently sparked a national outrage that sent his advertisers running for the hills when he called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” after she testified before Congress about contraception. According to several news sources, The Rush Limbaugh Show has lost nearly four dozen advertisers since this attack on Ms. Fluke. This mass advertiser exodus probably baffles Rush as he has been entrenched in controversy since day one.
DJ Jeff Christie
After spending only a few semesters in college he dropped out to pursue a career as a DJ. “Jeff Christie,” his first on-air moniker at two radio stations in the Pittsburgh area, lasted only two years before being fired. He then bounced around to a few more radio stations, until in 1979 when he quit to accept a job as the promotions director for the Kansas City Royals.
In 1984, Rush went back to radio, but this time as a controversial conservative talk show host for KFBK in Sacramento, California. Today, Rush is the #1 radio talk show personality in the world.
Doctor Shopping and Prescription Drug Abuse
Despite his hard-line stance against drug users, in 2003 Rush ironically was investigated for doctor shopping and prescription drug abuse by Florida authorities, paid a $30,000 settlement and agreed to random drug testing. Then in 2006, Rush was questioned at the Palm Beach airport by drug enforcement agents about Viagra in his suitcase since the sex pills prescription was in another man’s name. We wonder if he’d be willing to testify to that! According to his biographer Zev Chafets, who wrote Rush Limbaugh: An Army of One, Rush told Playboy Magazine in 1993 that he had smoked marijuana twice, but he didn’t like it.
Hillary Clinton, Just Another Man Running for Political Office
In the past Rush has equated President Obama with Hitler and referred to Hillary Clinton as just another man running for political office. Before Obama was even inaugurated in January, 2009, Rush told his audience that he hoped President Obama would fail. He criticized a Michael J. Fox TV plea for stem cell research funding for Parkinson’s Disease telling his radio audience that Michael (who has Parkinson’s disease and was visibly shaking in the ad) was: “exaggerating the effects of the disease. He’s moving all around and shaking and it’s purely an act. … This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn’t take his medication or he’s acting.”
Football Announcer for ESPN
Rush had a brief job as a football announcer for ESPN but was forced to resign after accusing the sports media of favoring black quarterbacks and coaches. He sometimes refers to the NAACP as the NAALCP – the “National Association for Advancement of Liberal Colored People. And many women’s organizations have been critical of Limbaugh for comments like….”Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.”
A Big Fat Idiot
Mr. Limbaugh is frequently accused by so-called “liberal” and mainstream organizations for bias, inaccuracies, misrepresentations and distortions in his radio spin. Former comedian and current U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-MN) even wrote a best selling book “Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations.” And yet, Rush’s radio show has been the number one commercial talk show for years with about 600 stations and over 15 million listeners. Some people even say that he is the leading personality in the Republican Party, and frequently dictates GOP policy and candidates.
Talent on Loan from God
One thing Rush has never been accused of is being modest (he tells his listeners that he has “talent on loan from God”) or conservative with his money. He makes about $50 million a year from his radio show, and has spent much of it on high-living and his multi-million dollar homes. He currently resides in a $35 million Palm Beach estate. His neighbors include Donald Trump, Rod Stewart, Ann Coulter and Henry Paulson.’
Rush’s Palm Beach Compound
Rush’s Palm Beach compound consists of his 24,000 square foot living quarters and four guest homes on 2.2 acres with its own Atlantic Ocean beach. The huge West Indies-style main house was designed with multiple roof lines to blend the structures together into an appealing collection of white and blue buildings that compliment his backyard blue ocean shades and white foam waves. He purchased the home in 1998 for $3.9 million.
The environmentalist wackos
The endangered Atlantic sea turtles that are born on his beachfront have been a frequent target of Rush since he moved to Palm Beach. Apparently, he is not happy with the Florida law that requires beach home owners to dim their lights from March through October. The ever omniscient Rush disagrees with turtle experts who believe that the hatching babies become confused by the lights and wander off to the street instead of the ocean. Rush refers to the sea turtle protectors who monitor the turtles’ nests as “environmentalist wackos.” He has threatened to use the newborn babies for turtle soup.
The architecture of the Limbaugh estate is well planned with detailed landscaping that provides considerable privacy from his neighbors. There is also a manned guardhouse. The four guest homes are large and luxurious where friends such as Matt Drudge and Ann Coulter frequently visit.
Palm Beach bomb squad
One of the guest homes was recently used by the Palm Beach Bomb Squad to examine a suspicious package that was sent to Rush’s home. However the package turned out to be an Abraham Lincoln plaque that one of his fans sent to him as a possible “business opportunity.” The fan later apologized to
Fleet of expensive cars
Limbaugh has a fleet of expensive cars for himself and his guests, some of which are Maybach 57S (similar to a Rolls Royce, but even nicer) vehicles that cost about $400,000 each. (see photo of his cars parked by the guest house compound).
Presidential suite of the Hotel George V in Paris
There is a long driveway and a beautiful water fountain at the entrance to the home. According to Mr. Chafets, the Limbaugh home interior is classic French. He said that the main home is “an exact replica of the Presidential Suite of the Hotel George V in Paris.” He describes a “massive chandelier” in the dining room, a knight in shining armor and a “life-size oil portrait” of Limbaugh himself. Chafets also writes that, “Cherubs dance on the ceiling, leather-bound collections line the bookshelves, and the wood-paneled walls were once an acre of mahogany.” He said Rush is usually in his two-story library, a “scaled-down version” of the Biltmore Estate library in Asheville, North Carolina.
Tiger Woods’ former coach, Hank Haney
Of course this is Palm Beach, so there is a large swimming pool, lots of palm trees and a huge putting green. Rush was a TV star in 2011 when he was a student of Tiger Woods’ former coach Hank Haney for eight episodes of the Golf Channel’s The Haney Project. According to the Golf Channel, Rush had an 18-20 handicap before the show. Haney says that Rush was an excellent student and even shot an 82 at the Floridian after the professional guidance.
Rush paid about $1 million for Elton John
Do as I say, not as I do, when it comes to family values. Rush married his fourth wife at the famous Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach in 2010. According to media speculation at the time, Rush paid about $1 million for Elton John to perform for 400 people at the elegant reception. Rush denied the million dollar figure. The Breakers is located a little less than four miles from the Rush estate.
Downturn in Palm Beach Home values
The total Limbaugh estate is over 34,000 square feet. Due to the downturn in Palm Beach home values, Rush’s property appraisal was reduced from $48,303,931 in 2009 to $34,951,392 in 2011. He has the Florida resident’s homestead exemption that caps his property tax increases at 3% per year, and the first $50,000 of the home’s value is not subject to tax. Although he paid $482,691 in property taxes in 2011, there is no state income tax in Florida.
Ornate Penthouse near Central Park
Limbaugh began his nationally syndicated radio show in New York City in 1988. He started broadcasting from Florida in the 1990s, but still maintains a staff in New York. He owned an ornate penthouse near Central Park until 2010 that he purchased in 1994 for $5 million. However, in 2009 Rush announced that he was leaving New York because of a proposed temporary tax on New Yorkers making over $500,000 a year. He said he was leaving for good because of the state’s “stupid, punitive, massive tax increases.” He told his radio audience that the New York politicians were “punishing the achievers for the mistakes… on the part of a bunch of corrupt politicians.”
The New York Penthouse with 10 rooms
The New York penthouse with 10 rooms and a 30-foot living room was also designed with an ornate French influence including hand-painted ceiling murals, silk wall coverings, and a gold-leaf ceiling in the study. The listing, which mentioned an over sized tub, started at $13.95 million, and eventually sold for $11.5 million.
So after this latest round of controversy, will Rush still be able to afford the Palm Beach estate and fancy fleet of cars? Is this just another bump in the road? No one knows for sure. Rush has messed up before and yet his most “influential” show currently somehow lives on.
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