Rush Limbaugh's America

Although he's given up his "caller abortions" (disconnecting callers with the sound of a vacuum cleaner) and toned down his anti-gay jokes, the mouth that roared--Rush Limbaugh--is still a potent thorn in the liberal left's side. This Frontline examination of the man and his career doesn't really reveal anything that a half-dozen profiles in national magazines haven't already covered (the early sputtering career in radio, two failed marriages, the boasting bluster that purportedly hides a deep sense of insecurity, and so on). What the program does do effectively--though one wishes more time had been spent on the subject--is explore how far Limbaugh's political influence stretches. Although he was unable to save the lackluster Bush campaign in 1992, he certainly helped to put the Republicans in the driver's seat in 1994. Had the profile concentrated more on the phenomenon of "dittoheads" who pay verbal tribute to Limbaugh's suzerainty, and spent less time diddling around with People magazine-level psychologizing, this might have been an excellent rather than a merely good program. Recommended. (R. Pitman)