Not the end of the world, but I do see him historically as the beginning of the end for the Republican Party. I was in college when I first heard of Rush Limbaugh. Before him, Republicans were these very stuffy folks like William Buckley Jr, who came to our campus and bored many to tears with highly-intellectual and logical arguments that were extremely challenging and generated a great deal of cognitive dissonance for me. Republicans were considered the intellectual party back in those days.<p>Then Limbaugh came along, never referencing anything he said or wrote, constantly contradicting himself and making offensive cracks like calling a 12-year-old Chelsea Clinton the White House dog. My young Republican friends loved him, chanted slogans like &quot;Rush is Right!&quot; and labeled themselves &quot;dittoheads.&quot; Anyone who pointed out Limbaugh&#x27;s contradictory logic or took issue with his offensive statements was dismissed as being &quot;politically correct.&quot;<p>Flash forward 25 years and Limbaugh is now considered tame in comparison to Coulter, Savage, and some of the other voices that have followed in his footsteps. I was sad to hear that William Buckley, who I still admire intellectually even if many of his positions are anathema to me, was largely forgotten and ignored in his final years. Trump&#x27;s nomination would not be possible without Limbaugh laying the groundwork for him two and a half decades ago.<p>Some on the left are gloating about it, but it frightens me. America needs a plurality of voices debating issues and policy logically in order to thrive. We can&#x27;t let it become one party of power on the left and an easily demonized opposition party on the right, but with the Republican party falling apart... that&#x27;s the way it seems to be going.<p>*Edited for grammar.