He was undeniably talented and wildly influential, but the praises I’ve seen for him (and some of the criticisms) look through a very short-sighted lens.
His greatest influence wasn’t any set of policies or coherent political philosophy he pushed. His greatest influence was in chipping away at a shared, objective reality. Much like Trump, whether or not you like or hate his views is somewhat beside the point. This brand of conservatism made it impossible to have any rational public discourse.
Making our opinion of these types of public figures as dependent upon whether or not you agree with their end result misses more foundational issues. In fact, it buys into the destructive ideology that Rush helped to spread. When reality is subservient to ideology, we can’t actually discuss our shared reality. There’s no real political discussion if there’s no shared reality, Yes, “both sides” do it, but one side has weaponized it to cause far greater harm. The body count isn’t even close.
Rush was the spiritual father to a brand of conservatism that has caused massive death and suffering. That’s not a statement about policy but a statement about values and honesty, which have far more direct impact on our lives than any good or bad policy.