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Editor’s
note: On Oct 20, 2000, Rush Limbaugh joined National Review
as master of ceremonies at our 45th anniversary dinner in New York
City. Below are excerpts of his remarks, as published in the December
31, 2000 issue of National Review.
 his
evening is not about me, but I would like to inject a little bit
of me into it, so as to put this all in perspective.
Now, many of
you in this room have worked with Bill Buckley and his staff all
of your lives, been very close to him either on a friendship basis
or professionally. And when you're around uniqueness and greatness,
after a time, no matter what, no matter how appreciative you are,
you take it for granted, and you assume that it's just always been
that way . . . that's just human nature.
Well, I remember
what National Review was to me as recently as 1980. I never
saw a copy of it anywhere, so I thought you had to be special to
be allowed to read it. I never saw it, but I heard people discussing
it — but they were the kind of people that never offered me
a chance to read it. So I wondered, How can I get my hands on it?
since I'm apparently not allowed to subscribe. Well, I got up the
courage to call National Review in New York — I was
working at a radio station in the Kansas City area — and I
wasn't going to give them my name so they can't track me down. I
actually asked the woman who answered the phone if it would be permissible
for me to subscribe. She said, "Of course," and I said,
"You don't need any identification from me, you don't need
a pedigree?" "No, no." So I became a subscriber,
and it literally changed my life.
And it changed
my life in this sense: I've always had, because of my parents and
my family — I've always believed what I believe now. I rebelled
when I was a kid, but not by rejecting the foundational beliefs
of my parents. I rebelled in other ways. I told them college wasn't
necessary and that I could get where I was going without that, but
I never told them that what they believed was wrong. In fact, I
was profoundly affected by what they believed, particularly my father,
and when I got my hands on National Review and was able to
read it every two weeks, it enabled me to learn why I felt what
I felt. It enabled me to learn why I thought what I thought. And
it enabled me to tell others why. Not just to say what I thought,
to express the opinion, but to back it up, to give reasons, reasons
that were persuasive, reasons that helped to convince others. And
I became armed with the information contained therein, and became
confident. And it has never ceased meaning that much to me.
I never in
my life dreamed I would be able to do something like this —
to be asked to come and emcee and be a featured participant in an
anniversary dinner for National Review. Remember, when I
first thought about National Review, I thought I'd be lucky
to be allowed to subscribe. And I have met the principals. I've
gotten to know them extremely well. This has meant more to me than
I am ever able to express. And it's an opportunity that I wish a
lot of people had in their lives…
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