Rush Limbaugh was the first to have his name calling and demonizing of the other normalized.

[LiberalBrooke]

There were hours and hours every day of his awful language broadcast all over the country. No one, not one major figure on the right ever called him out and said it was unacceptable. Instead he was made a hero. So it just kept going on and on. Trump was the end result of media normalizing abhorrent behavior. Can we go back to politeness as a virtue? Can we reward kindness and compassion?

[elephant hunter]

1. Urrr, umm, uhhh...

...YEAH!

[JHB]

2. He also normalized the absolute subservience of Republican pols to demagogues

It didn't start with Trump and his tweets.

For the last quarter century, and Republican politician who mentioned Rush with anything short of high praise...

"Look, Rush isn't an expert on everything."
"Limbaugh's just a guy on the radio who isn't responsible for actually getting anything done."

...was on his show the next day, two days tops, trying out for the Olympic backpedaling team.

"No, Rush, I said nothing of the sort. The lying liberal media took my words out of context, just like they always do, just like you always say. I think you're a swell guy. We all do.

[doc03]

3. I remember when Limbaugh compared Chelsea Clinton to a dog