I remember when Al Sharpton was asked a serious question about teenagers having babies out of wedlock with no father figure. He spent a few seconds on it saying it was a problem and moved to something else. Stop paying them and we will stop being morons.If i had to bet, i would say "no". Rush was brilliant. Rush knew what fallacies were, and he knew how to construct them. He was quite skilled at it. I would say that, every time Rush made up a false statement or constructed a fallacy to fool his audience, he knew precisely what he was doing. I think he enjoyed this as much as or more than the money. It was like a game to him.Always wondered if he really believed in the BS he put out on the air.
As a result we have millions of people who are now actually quite adept at constructing fallacies without even realizing that they are doing it. They were inundated by so much of this specious tactic that they do it without understanding and could not stop doing it, if they tried.
Some are even famous, now. Like Hannity. Hannity is a moron. Hannity could not name and describe fully any known fallacy, if his life depended on it. Yet that is his currency in trade. Fascinating, really.