Being a successful entertainer is serving the country?
It can be. The value of service is in the eye of the beholder. Turning the monopoly of the liberal media and creating a true alternative to their slanted bias could indeed be seen as a service. Playing the role of a foil to liberal politicians and giving millions of Americans a chance to see things in a different light could also be seen as a service. One has to only listen to the callers on his show to see that the information he puts out, entertaining as it is, has indeed been a positive influence on the lives of many. I would call that a service.
You don't have to agree with what he says about everything. But before Rush, there was really no one out there at all who had the ability and reach to show as many people as him a totally different side of politics. Before Rush talk radio was essentially nothing. You had the big newspapers and their slant, the nightly news shows and their slant, and that's about it. Rush opened up politics to millions who until then has basically the New York Times as their source for any political information. Rush started the "Alternative Media". And as one who has become interested in politics soley because of my exposure to the Alternative Media, I do indeed say Rush has done a great service. I don't doubt I would be another apathetic college kid with an Obama sticker on my car if not for hearing Rush when I was a young teen.
Take it a step further and ask yourself why Freedom of the Press is such an important Right. Could it be because those who provide crucial information to the masses are very valuable to freedom and an open political process? Some people (used to) view journalism as a service to the country. True journalists who sought to expose government, to antagonize government, to question anything that came out of the mouth of a government functionary. Shedding a light on the inner workings of a bureaucracy was a high calling for a journalist. Why should calling that service be restricted to Walter Cronkite or the journalists of half a century ago? Entertaining or not, Rush exposes things that would not otherwise be exposed. He tells truths that would otherwise be kept dark. One simply needs to see how much he is attacked and ridiculed by the Left to know that he is striking them in their heart. The best cure for a lie is the truth.
Rush makes a lot of money by running his mouth on the radio and selling advertising space. Ok. So what? Does that automatically disqualify the fact that what he says is valuable to a lot of people. Does making money and telling a few jokes mean what you're doing can't be a service?
