Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh’s familiar quip of being “your host for life” has a sobering new meaning as he battles -- and seems to be losing -- his ten-month struggle against lung cancer. I began listening to Rush within days or so of the launching of his national program in August of 1988.  Three decades of listening prompts me to view him from five dimensions: as a pioneering radio guy, a brilliant social commentator, a maligned conservative, a sterling professional, and a major figure in American history. Those of us who spent some time working in radio can appreciate the Limbaugh road to success. After a mediocre to failed broadcasting career, Rush in the mid-80s was enjoying his first major win in Sacramento. A station’s management finally allowed him to do radio the way he knew it should be done and lightning struck.  A major national broadcast executive heard him and brought him out of Sacramento to New York to launch his national...(Read Full Article)