Loved and loathed — the death of talk radio legend Rush Limbaugh

If there was a Mount Rushmore for talk-show radio hosts, there’s little question that the first figure chiseled into that mountain would be Rush Limbaugh. Few connected with audiences like the conservative radio host who died Wednesday at the age of 70 after a battle against lung cancer.

For more than three decades, Limbaugh’s nationally syndicated radio show that aired on more than 650 stations from coast to coast drew millions of devoted listeners and helped set the conservative political agenda in this country. And, yet, that very same show — because of Limbaugh’s bigotry, gaslighting and crass hatefulness — helped to split a nation and lay the groundwork for the political discourse that currently defines our country.