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June 06, 2004 (Sunday)
Rush is kind of amusing, I suppose,
a real chracter (as in "outrageous").
Lately, for the few minutes
I tune him in, I've heard him complain
(or brag) that he does "show prep"
for the country's newspeople.
In other words, according to Rush,
the savvy, but clueless newspeople
in America, listen to him
to get ideas to build news stories.
Kind of interesting, Rush's newfound
interest in Intellectual Property Theft is.
It's been kind of interesting
to watch Rush grow up intellectually
over the past decade or two.
Oh, sure, he's pretty backward
on science, but he's way ahead
of most of us on politics.
Now, hopefully, we'll be able
to watch him grow in understanding
of the law as it pertains
to the business he's in.
You know, stuff like free speech,
fair use, professional courtesy,
and intellectual property theft.
Rush and I are really
on the same page here.
I mean, he says, "show prep".
I say, "wrote the script for".
poh TAY toe poh TAH toe
Now, surely Rush knows of my claim
that I wrote the script for his
radio program when I established
a student organization at Sac State
in 1982, two years before he came
to Sacramento. I called it
"The Men's Liberation Organization",
and wrote a series of satirical
newsletters, which could fairly
be called "show prep" for the
Rush Limbaugh radio program.
I laid out the subject matter,
the theme, the tone, the emphasis
on satire, ridicule, and mockery.
(As Diane Ravitch says about her
latest book, "The Language Police",
"You have to ridicule them
to get them to change.")
I satirized liberal extremists,
feminist extremists, ecological
extremists, free speech fascists
on the campuses, language control,
the "reverse" racism of liberals
against white men. I quoted
William F. Buckley, Gore Vidal,
Norman Mailer, and Dr. King.
I was overtly pro-Republican
at the Presidential level (pro-Reagan)
Though I didn't coin the "nazi"
suffix (feminazi, econazi, etc),
I did refer to my self as "The Hun",
mocking liberal extremist rhetoric.
"The Hun, raping and pillaging
the natural resource..." It was
quite elegant satire, really.
Well, even the most casual listener
knows that Rush refers to himself
as "The Hun", who is "sitting in
the Attila The Hun Chair." Gosh,
he liked my metaphor so much,
used it and even embellished it.
Way to go, Rush, my protege !
No, he surely knows of my claim.
I've emailed him about it several
times. And it was the centerpiece
of my opening page on my website
when I "ran for governor" in the
recent recall campaign. And I
very frequently mention this claim
in my Weblog articles. And I do
have a readership. Primarily,
I have advertised my website
to media and political people.
My readership was similar when
I published my newsletters :
education and political people
(and probably media people, as well).
Now, I know that Rush did not have
his show planned before he came
to Sacramento. I spent a whole
week's salary to attend one of those
expensive dinners several years ago
where Rush reminisced about when
he first arrived in Sacramento in 1984.
He talked about what a small town
it was, like most state capitols.
He talked humorously about the vapid
radio programming in Sacramento
with silly programs by people
with silly names (Mary Jane Popp).
"There was a vacuum", he said.
So, he said he decided to
take on politics and
social and cultural issues.
Looks like he must have read
my newsletters, too, and used them
as "show prep."
As I've been saying,
I wrote the script
for the Rush Limbaugh program.
There's no doubt that my newsletters
were in circulation. They flew out
Congresswoman Bella Abzug to
Sac State from New York to rebut
my remarks. Ann Rudin, mayor of
Sacramento, was harassing me
about my newsletters in 1989,
7 years after I published them.
When I took courses at Sac City
College, across town from Sac State,
2 years after publishing,
Richard Haro, the Math and Science
Department Dean, had to have
a meeting with his instructors
to tell them to stop harassing me.
When I was in Alaska and went to
the Univ of Alaska for help,
a female math instructor said,
"I know who you are."
And another Univ of Alaska instructor,
whose course I was taking to renew
my teaching credentials, told me
that I should never be allowed
to teach, that no teacher who had
ever used the n-word should ever
be allowed to teach (I had used it
twice in my newsletters: the first
time I was quoting a female Sac State
instructor, the second time I was
using it in an ironic sense that was
actually supportive of African Americans.
I think it followed an extensive
quote from Dr. King. Or maybe it
preceded it.
So, now Rush is routinely whining
that other media people use his
program for "show prep".
What I think is that it may be
a clever ruse on Rush's part.
After all, after complaining a lot
about others using his show
for "show prep", he could say
about me, "well, they do it to me,
and I don't get any compensation
or recognition from them."
I don't think it'll work, Rush.
The more you scratch the itch,
the worst it gets. Of course,
there's a fine line, and there is
such a thing as fair use,
but your're on weak ground, Rush.
The analogy is much closer to
singing a song that
someone else wrote,
or making a movie
based on a screenplay that
someone else wrote.
We have to be compensated
and recognized, Rush.
It's the law.
I copyrighted my newsletters.
And then there are those other
quaint notions such as
"professional courtesy",
"being collegial".
And how about the ole
"doing what's right" ?
Yeah, Rush says everybody should
just stop complaining and
work harder.
Rush, some of the hardest working
people are the poorest.
Look at the Mexican immigrants.
No, Rush. What you really mean is,
"Get Lucky, like I did,
and don't share it."
Or, "Steal stuff from other people,
and don't pay them."
(kind of redundant, that one).
You know, Rush, on the face of it,
if someone poor came up to me
and told me they wrote the script
for the Rush Limbaugh program
or they wrote the story
that J.K. Rowling expanded on
to make the "Harry Potter" books,
I'd say, "nice try. gotta go."
But when that person doesn't give up,
but keeps insisting
because what he says is TRUE, Rush,
that's a different story.
The liberals in public education
(is there anything else ?)
trashed my education career
for writing your script, Rush.
You got lucky, Rush.
Your career field isn't controlled
by liberal zealots.
We're fighting the same enemy, Rush.
It's like two guys in battle.
I'm walking ahead of you
and take a bullet for you.
Then you find Osama sitting in a hole
and collect a billion.
Whatever analogy you want to use, Rush,
just do the right thing.
You know, Sacramento's a small town,
Rush. Jed Scully (no relation),
professor of Intellectual Property
at McGeorge Law School told me that
he's friends with all those people
at Sac State who I reported on
in my newsletters. So he's being
"collegial" and all, but you know
there's good lawyers out there
who will take my case when they
look into it.
No, Rush, I don't expect I'll
win the lottery. And I'm
in no shape for picking crops.
I've paid my dues.
Do what's right, Rush.
Posted by dscully at 07:77 PM Top of Page
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David Scully
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davidscully
@hotmail.com
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