And nothing of value was lost.
Seriously. It's about fucking time. I never cheered for cancer until Limbaugh got it, and it's the height of irony that he was killed by lung cancer that he got from smoking, after years of telling people that the scientists were making shit up about the harmful effects of tobacco. It would have been better for society if his drug-addled, draft-dodging chickenhawk ass had keeled over 30 years ago. Limbaugh has done more to poison political discourse in America than just about any other private citizen in the past 40 years. He set the standard for the modern right-wing pundit: an unprincipled firebrand propagandist who profits off of keeping the Republican base perpetually outraged and misinformed. He made a career out of spreading conspiracy theories and generally making up whatever bullshit he wanted, prattling on for three hours every weekday.
He knew the best way to keep his audience's ears glued to the radio was to constantly tell them that the Democrats are literal communists that are responsible for everything wrong with America past, present, or future, and that they're intentionally trying to destroy America with whatever he deigns to classify as "socialism." And of course he would never actually debate anyone on even terms on his show, because a slick propagandist knows you never even give the opposition the time or day or otherwise expose your audience to other viewpoints. Simply convince them that "You can only trust me. The other side are lying monsters," and you'll have them eating out of the palm of your hand.
What we've seen in recent years with the Trump cult and all of its associated conspiracy theories is the culmination of decades of lies and fearmongering that started when Limbaugh hit the airwaves. The "New Right" Reaganites that were taking over the party in the 80s needed to build up a propaganda apparatus so they could bullshit their way into people's hearts and minds, and with the abolition of the Fairness Doctrine and subsequent beginning and success of The Rush Limbaugh Show, they got what they wanted. From there it was only a matter of time before we inevitably got Fox News and now also the world of "alternative facts" on the internet. The American Right lives in a bubble where rigid adherence to "conservative" ideology and absolute loyalty to the GOP matters more than truth, justice, and the American Way.
People like Rush Limbaugh make me wish hell is real and that there is a just God, because he and the rest of the right-wing propaganda machine are pure evil. Fuck every single last one of them.