See, I Told You So

Rush Limbaugh, America’s #1 radio talk show host and #1 New York Times bestselling author presents a collection of the political and social observations conservatives have come to love and liberals love to hate. Limbaugh, a consummate entertainer and provocative political commentator, who delighted in being called “The Most Dangerous Man in America,” led the charge to embrace and defend the fundamental values that have shaped the American character—the same values that cause liberals to have conniptions. The Democrats may be in the White House—but even they can't ruin this country in only four years, proclaims Rush. Conservatism’s most outspoken champion and ever the optimist, Rush viewed the “pernicious liberal movement” as a philosophy whose inevitable demise will lead us back to the values that made America great. A must for the politically incorrect, See, I Told You So captures Rush at his best—showing once again why his syndicated radio show reached millions of devoted listeners each week.

By its second day in the stores, Limbaugh's second book had the biggest early sales of a hardcover book in publishing history. That's what the man himself let slip on his radio show, and as he says, he purveys only the truth--a statement that is itself true in terms of both factual accuracy and ideological sincerity. But the truth has little to do with Limbaugh's appeal and success. Those come to him because he is relentlessly upbeat, an indomitable patriot, a booster for capitalism, and a feisty flouter of sanctimonious special pleaders and those most despised of nay-sayers, establishment (the Times, the Post, Time, Newsweek, the networks, etc.) journalists, who'd be much (well. . . a teensy bit, maybe) more acceptable to Limbaugh if they'd only 'fess up to their liberal bias. All of those qualities are here in spades, just as they were in last year's phenomenal best-seller, The Way Things Ought to Be. What's missing is Limbaugh's hilarious, irreverent, and canny use of pop culture--for instance, the New Orleans novelty song, "Ain't Got No Home," introducing updates on homelessness, and a 1960s surfer-rock parody called "The Little First Lady with Meg'lomania," twitting Hillary Clinton--which highlights his radio program and makes it magnetically listenable. To make up for this loss, there's at least chapter 25, "The Politically Correct Liberal Lexicon," but, really, there's no loss to make up, for Limbaugh in his more somber print manifestation is still political and social commentary so lively it cries out to be read and agreed or disagreed with, but always enjoyed. Ray Olson