Walking out to my shed to work on a project, I thought, what if I turn on the radio and Rush is not there. It was unsettling. Please forgive me folks. My intention is not to be morbid, but that day will inevitably come; prayerfully many years from now.

In the black church I grew up in, at funerals, someone always sang, “Give Me My Flowers.”

“Give me my flowers while I yet live so that I can see the beauty that they bring. Speak kind words to me while I can hear them so that I can hear the beauty that they bring.”

Folks, I just want to give Rush some flowers, to take a moment to thank him for the extremely positive impact he has had on my life and America. I still remember where I was the first time I heard him in the 80s. Who is this loudmouth guy? Where is my regular talk radio host Tom Marr? Shortly after that, I became hooked.

The major thing Rush did for me was to define the enemy; liberals and Liberalism. This knowledge opened my eyes to no longer be fooled by liberals’ compassionate-sounding rhetoric. Rush educated me to their snooty racist superiority and failed policies, which have devastated lives, particularly blacks’, for decades. While I instinctively knew it, Rush articulated why Conservatism is the best and most direct path for everyone seeking to achieve his or her American Dream.

Remember Dan’s Bake Sale? In essence, it was the first modern-day Tea Party rally. Dan Kay called Rush’s show. His wife said they could not afford the $29.95 annual fee for Rush’s newsletter. Rush was tempted to gift Dan a subscription, but decided it would stifle Dan’s drive to “be the best he could be” and make him a “dependent ward of the EIB radio network.”

Poking fun at the Democrats’ encouraging elementary students to have bake sales to help Clinton pay down the national debt, Rush suggested a bake sale for Dan. Rush’s idea inspired his millions of listeners, making Dan’s Bake Sale an instant international phenomenon. May 22, 1993 upwards to sixty thousand Rush listeners from all over the U.S. and the world gathered in Fort Collins, Colorado to buy a cookie from Dan. The event was a powerful positive illustration of Conservatism.

On a personal note, inspired by Rush and led by God, I became the tea party activist I am today. Back in the early 90s, for 15 years I was a graphic designer at a Baltimore TV station recently promoted to department supervisor. Every day I listened to Rush while working.

Companies were downsizing, and people were laid off. Rush encouraged them to shift their thinking and view the lay off as an opportunity to pursue their dreams. Well, I bought it. I was not laid off, but did not want to put in another 15 years to retirement.

I always wanted a career as a singer/songwriter which I pursued on weekends and vacations. Fired up by Rush’s optimism, upon getting the green light from my wife Mary, I gave the TV station my two week notice and began pursuing my dream full time.

It was an insane thing to do. I was in my late 40s. Rather than taking you through my entire wilderness experience, we became homeless for six months. During that time, God dealt with and matured me in many ways. As a P.K. (preacher’s kid) I grew up hearing people in church say, “Trust God.” For me, it was a Christian cliche. Several times in my wilderness experience when all appeared lost, God came through. Thus, I learned to trust God.

Trying to survive, I was grateful to get a job as a helper on a construction site. During my lunch break, I heard on the radio that a local radio station was hosting a support rally for our troops. I called the producer and asked if I could sing my original song, “Celebrate America”. Remarkably, never having heard of me, the producer said, “Yes.”

Folks, performing at that rally led to being asked to perform at major rallies hosted by Glenn Beck, G. Gordon Liddy and Gathering of Eagles which led to being invited to tour the country on the Tea Party Express. I have been on over a dozen national bus tours with Tea Party Express and other groups which led to my current position as Chairman of the Conservative Campaign Committee.

Rush often referenced the American Thinker website. As a writer, my style in the world of politics is somewhat unique. So when AT publisher Thomas Lifson e-mailed that they were publishing my article, Mary and I were ecstatic. That was many articles and a book ago (Confessions of a Black Conservative).

Over the years, the Democrats and Liberals won unfair evil victories. Millions of conservatives could hardly wait for Rush to come on the air to bring us back from the edge with his infectious optimism, faith and inspiration. Thus, the thought of Rush not being there was a little unsettling.

Praise God, Rush is still on the air. I would like to end my flowers for Rush with one of my favorite Rush parodies. Please enjoy, “Thank the Lord Rush Limbaugh’s On” performed by the Rush Hawkins Singers.

Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American
Chairman, Conservative Campaign Committee

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In opposition to black Republican Michael Steele’s campaign to run for U.S. Senate, a liberal blogger published a doctored photo of Steele in black face and big red lips made to look like a minstrel. The caption read, “Simple Sambo wants to move to the big house”. Not one Democrat denounced these racist portrayals of black conservatives.

And yet, a sign seen at a tea party depicting Obama as a witch doctor is considered by the Left to be beyond the pale and obviously racist. Why is the Left, given their track record of bias, granted final authority to determine the intent of the sign? Why do we conservatives so quickly and easily allow ourselves to be put on the defensive?

The rules set by the Left are extremely clear. Racist images of black conservatives and negative images of Bush are fair game. Even a play about murdering President Bush was called “harmless art”. Meanwhile, all unflattering images of Obama are racist, and constitute dangerous, potentially violent hate speech.

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd called Congressman Joe Wilson a racist for saying, “You lie” to president Obama. Using her psychic powers, Dowd said Wilson was really saying in his mind, “You lie, BOY!” And yet, liberal commentator Julianne Malveaux, saying she hopes black conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife “feeds him a lot of fatty foods so he will die early from heart disease like many black men”, was not considered racist. I am a black conservative singer, songwriter, entertainer and columnist. Liberals have posted comments all over YouTube and C-SPAN freely using and calling me the “N” word. Because they are libs and I am an uppity, off the liberal plantation, run-away black, all tactics to restore me to my owners are acceptable.

Here is another example of the Left setting the rules. “Take Back America!” is now on their list of racist terms we protesters are not allowed to use. Again using their psychic powers, the Left claims the protesters are really saying, “Because the president is black, lets take America back”! This is totally absurd. “Take Back America” refers to the hijacking of our freedoms, liberty and culture by an out of control administration.

I was asked to perform at a tea party event. The organizer informed me, “I want to get away from calling the rally a “Tea Party” because the liberal media have made the term negative”. I said, “Does this mean you do not want me to sing my “American Tea Party Anthem”? Then, why am I here?” Politeness to my host prevented me from saying, “News flash, pal! The media is going to trash us regardless of what we call our rallies. It’s what they do. They are not on our side. Should we keep changing what we call the rallies in hope of finding a name which will cause the media to give us fair coverage”? A million people showed up in Washington DC for the September 12th Taxpayers Rally. The media reported 70,000.

I was interviewed on CNN. During the pre-interview by the young black producer over the phone, he asked me, “Is there any part of Obama’s health care plan you like”? I replied, “No”. He was stunned. With great shock and disbelief in his voice, the producer repeated my reply with a loud “NO?”. Then he abruptly said, “I’ll call you back”.

News1News posted my CNN interview on YouTube with the following caption, “African American Right Wing (Obama Hating) Singing Tea Bagger, Lloyd Marcus”. Folks, I am a Christian and hate no one. But, this is what the media does to those who disagree. All who oppose Obama’s agenda are either racist, redneck or stupid.

Folks, the stakes are far too high to allow the Left to continue setting the rules of engagement. The far Left and Obama administration have a vision for America different than our Constitution. As patriots, it is our duty to just say, NO!

My black 82 year old dad told me he has seen the reports on TV how a lot of people at the rallies want Obama dead. I said, “I bet you saw that on CNN”. Dad said, “Yes”. It infuriates me that CNN is selling the lie that the Tea Party Movement is all about racism and hatred for a black president. While my dad never said anything out loud, I thought, “What must he think of me? Why is his first born siding with these evil white folks against a fine fellow black man?” I replied, “Dad, try watching Fox”.

Lloyd Marcus, Black Un-hyphenated American!
American Thinker Columnist
Support Lloyd Marcus & View TWENTY TEN, Take Back America – over a million views!

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