In which we collude with the Kremlin without shame or remorse, and other topics

We did another hour on the treadmill yesterday. It was damn near the easiest hour we've ever done. We were gliding. After coming home we could barely walk for a while, but this morning everything feels great. 

William Stroock's collusion with Russia continues: 'The Rush Limbaugh Show had a simple format. He would open with a monologue and spend the top of the hour reading interesting, quirky, and funny news clippings. There would follow more monologue and eventually Rush would take callers. That was the show, that is all he did. Even after the fragmentation of American media in the 2000s, Limbaugh pulled in 10-20 million listeners every day...' Click on to Moscow.

Final thought on Westmoreland. People who failed at their main jobs have gone on to have successful second careers. Herbert Hoover became a think tank ideas man. Jimmy Carter a philanthropist. Reader(s) get the idea. Westmoreland failed at everything he did after the army. He was a shallow, mediocre thinker and this blog is shocked that an organization that's supposed to be a meritocracy allowed Westy to rise to the top. Knowing Maxwell Taylor was enough, we guess. 

We're five pages into H.R. McMasters' Dereliction of Duty and we already hate Robert McNamara, Clark Clifford, McGeorge Bundy, and the rest of the 'best and brightest'.  We're also reading James S. Robbins book about Tet. Excellent so far. Google General Nguyen Ngoc Loan. He did the right thing. An interesting man as well.

Liz Cheney (whom the house GOP failed to defenestrate) stated with great vigor and force that Trump shouldn't speak at C-PAC. That's it. The war profiteer's daughter knows she's finished and is angling for a gig on CNN or something. 

So an old friend from New York messaged us yesterday about Killer Andy C. He said, 'Cuomo's finished, right?' We replied that he's a Democrat so no. Unless something's happened in the last few hours that I don't know about and...Oh my God! We stand by the above statement. Killer Andy C. is a Democrat. At best he won't run in 2022, but we doubt even that. Check the man's party. Is he a Democrat? If yes, then he'll be fine. Cuomo will be fine. Let's see what New York City's paper of record has to say this morning...They've taken the measure of the man, that's for sure.

A woman's* fantasy about being seduced by a powerful man usually involves charm, ambience, tuxedos and cocktail dresses, that sort of thing.** Lindsey Boylan got none of that from the Governor of New York. This is the kind of jackass stuff we used to do with girls when we were an idiot teenager, and even then we knew we were acting like an idiot jackass.  [Used to do? What do you mean were acting like an idiot? Knobhead-Ed]. I guess we're not surprised after all the #Metoo revelations. Cuomo couldn't find a way to stay in a relationship with Sandra Lee, moron.

*Also #NeverTrump Republicans

**We've read 50 Shades of Grey. It's just porn for women

A very February Friday

What a February. More snow here in New Jersey. It snowed, sleeted, iced snowed again and is planning to snow some more. We got about four inches [That's what she said! Sorry, couldn't resist -Ed] and didn't even bother to break out the snow blower, except to clear the driveway entrance. Right now the driveway is a sheet of ice. Very Russian. 

One other thing about Rush that always stuck with me. He used to talk about how much he loved his job. How on Sunday nights he felt a sense of anticipation when most people felt angst. On Monday mornings he'd pop out of bed and couldn't wait to get to work. That's exactly how I how I approached about being a college professor. Thanks, Rush. 

We've moved on to Lewis Sorely's biography of Westmoreland. It is with sadness, scorn and disappointment that we shake our head. Generals came back from the field telling Westy that his attrition search and destroy strategy just isn't working. He didn't listen. Almost everyone else in MACV saw it. Why didn't he? Sorely's bio is great, BTW. Highly recommended. 

After the war, well, we shake our head again. The man failed at just about everything. Westmoreland insisted the US didn't lose the war. He ran for office and lost. He sued CBS and settled rather then take the case to a jury.  Westmoreland tried to be an elder statesmen type but nobody wanted him. As they say Westmoreland faded. He was forgotten. We had no idea he lived till 2005. Very few showed up to his funeral at West Point. Our dad was still at NBC News then, and when he asked if anyone wanted to go up there and cover the story, nobody even knew who he was. 'Oh, right....the Vietnam guy.'

Next week we'll tackle the Great Salvation of 1976's Korean War chapter. Since we broke the original MS into two books we get to explore ideas in greater detail. We'll be expanding this chapter. With the general officer corps decimated, the Western White House is going to tap Westmoreland to command the relief task force. We had slated Haig for this job. But Rockefeller and the DoD (now in Gillette, Wyoming) will decide they need him representing America's interests in Europe. And so begins Westmoreland's redemptive story arc. Some of you people didn't want us to turn this into a trilogy. Never forget that we are very good at what we do.

Below, your Friday Flag:

Banned by Facebook

We shall not see his like again

Awww dang it, Rush. The inevitable has happened. Mark Steyn eulogizes the man. Ben Shapiro talks about Rush's importance to conservatives and conservative media. Clay Travis talks about Rush and getting it right on radio; hard to do. Dan McLoughlin writes about Rush and the 1990's right. Rush was, as a former president would say, yuuuge. 

A friend broke the news. It was inevitable of course. I got a bit emotional. Rush meant a lot to me.

Rush Limbaugh changed my life. I first got into him in 1992 during my freshman year at Wesley College. My new friend across the hall liked to listen to him while we played Madden '93. This was the first real challenge to our assumptions. Later Rush kept me company on long drives from Wesley College (later Washington DC) up to the University of Delaware to see a certain girl whom I'm looking at right now.

In the 1990's I learned from Rush talking about himself, especially his failures. Rush failed a lot, at college, in his professional life, with market investments. And listening to Rush talk about his failures, we realized that we could get through our own failures, and boy did we fail a lot in the 90's. A lot of times we thought of Rush and kept going.

Another day we'll post more about Rush, and he'll probably be the subject of our Monday Inforos article. But not today.

Thanks for everything, Rush.

Rush

By now you've all heard the news about Rush Limbaugh. We say without hesitation that he is one of the ten most important influences on our life. As a prof we taught the way he broadcast, with verve and enthusiasm. Like Rush we loved Mondays. 

We first heard of Rush during a 60 Minutes story broadcast in the spring of 1992. That autumn our new best friend in college* was a ditto-head and used to have Rush on the radio while we played Madden. A whole new world opened to us.

Rush is a man of many struggles, personal, financial and health. He's always been an inspiration to us.

*Still buddies.

Vive le Rush!

Yesterday was Rush Limbaugh's 30th anniversary.

We haven't listened to him much in recent years as our radio interest shifted to sports-talk. But we've logged in thousands of hours of Rush time and in the 90's we were a Ditto-head.

We first heard of Rush in 1992 when 60 Minutes (commie bastards) did a profile on him. The piece was an eye opener for us, as it featured several feminazis (spell check recognizes the word, thanks Rush!) saying he shouldn't be on the air. Hadn't these people ever heard of free speech?* That fall one of our new friends in college was a fan, and would have Rush on the radio while we played Madden 93.

If you listen to a man enough you get to know him. Over the years Rush's humanity came across the air and we learned a lot about him. He'd talk about his second wife Marta and her kids, he once aired an interview with his 100 year old grandfather**, he described his early financial troubles, his love of football, his hearing loss, his weight issues, etc, etc.***

For three hours everyday Rush is having a great time. His attitude is infectious. We felt very much the same during our six years as an adjunct professor.

Something else we learned about Rush, this is a man who loves and respects radio. We used to spend dozens of hours a week in the car commuting or driving from DC to Delaware to visit our girlfriend. Rush made those hours a lot easier.

*Surely you jest.

**We relate

***Yesterday President Trump called in, Rush was downright giddy.