Regarding John Balentine’s column titled “Be Like Rush, a Happy Warrior” (Lakes Region Weekly, Feb. 26), I can only find agreement with Mr. Balentine’s statement that the late talk radio host Rush Limbaugh “never shrank from criticism or from speaking his exact mind.”

Reading this column made me feel that Mr. Balentine and I exist in parallel but very different universes. Limbaugh excelled at creating that feeling and fostering it. No, “liberals, socialists, progressives and moderates” don’t find the loss of Rush “devastating” as Mr. Balentine supposes. The radio show host didn’t foster “good faith debate.” He brooked no disagreement at all. I experienced him as a hate-monger who helped create the “us vs. them” political climate we have now, much to his personal enrichment.

Ann Melious
Naples