[ODDITHER]

Rush can earn my respect and admiration again if he publicly takes his lumps. I imagine that Libertarians have no problem, forgiving Rush because they don't feel that the state has any business regulating addictive drugs.

As a conservative, I am very conflicted as to how I defend Rush's actions. I am very supportive of his sobriety efforts, but I realize that part of coming clean is facing up to everything. including legal problems.

Rush got into trouble with drugs because he is human but also because he is rich. Unfortunately, he will have to face the music the same way.No one can do it for him.

I can pray for him, I can continue to listen to him, I can stick up for him when people try to demonize him but I can't make exuses for him. I can't defend his his willingness to feed that addiction by buying pills on the black market and paying black mail money to his dealers.

If anyone has suffered from an addiction, there is a 99$ chance that they have broken the law. The road back is going to be an uphill battle. Making amends is part of that battle.

It is just a fact of life, that liberals wait like buzzards, circling the bodies of conservatives, waiting for signs of weakeness to attack. If conservatives who espouse personal responsibilites, rule of law, moral values - go against those beliefs in their personal lives,they will have their bones picked clean.

[Ditter]

I haven't been silent. I have told Rush I love him on every Rush thread. Hey Rush, I LOVE YOU!

[quadrant]

I agree that Rush is being hammered unfairly by the liberal press, but that is to be expected. The liberal press is going to clobber any conservative who make himself (or herself) vulnerable in any way whatsoever.

There is little that can be done about Rush's situation.
As much as I respect the man (and I do) and as grateful as I am to him for his contributions to the conservative cause (and I am) I know that Rush is going to have to extricate himself from this affair.

Any move made by conservatives to help Rush will but lead to charges of hypocrisy by the liberal press, and the supoort will be explained away until its effect is meaningless.
That is, the liberal press will say that conservatives hammer liberals for transgressions but are willing to look the other way when a conservative finds himself in difficulty.

Worse, attempts by conservatives to help will do will be ineffective. This affair, from what I've read of it, is not the kind of thing where public support can be effect the outcome.

I can send him a message of support and I do. I can pray for him and I will. I can continue to listen and I will.

[Maigrey]

I guess the writer doesn't hang out here. The Limbaugh issue has been running for weeks.

[randita]

The comparison between Rush and Clinton does not hold up. Clinton was elected President. He swore to uphold the Constitution and he failed. He should have been held accountable and fired.

Rush is accountable to no one except himself. It's entirely his responsbility to make money for the stations that carry him. If he fails to do that, he is kaput. His future is entirely in his own hands.

I was proud of Rush for initially owning up to his problem and will reserve judgement until this thing plays out. It will not sit well for Rush to play the "victim" even if that is the correct legal strategy. Nor will it play well if he blames others for the situation he's in.

If he handles the whole scene with humility and grace, he will emerge scarred, but not beaten. If he allows anger to overcome good sense, he will degenerate into a yapping, effete lap dog.

[B Knotts]

I've been against the war on drugs from day one. I should change now that a prominent conservative is in trouble? Not gonna do it. This prosecution is politically motivated; that's why it looks that way.

[thinking]

He that is without sin; cast the first stone!

[eeriegeno]

If the doctor/patient privacy privilege is to be broken in the courts unsealing of Mr Limbaugh's medical records, then so too must the court break the reporter/leaker privacy privilege to reveal exactly where all of the Limbaugh related news is coming from! Might as well go after the priest/confessor privilege while we are at it.

What about Mr Clinton's medical records? Will those records be revealed to prove what the brother said about his vacuum nose?

[Print]

Here's my mixed bag of feelings about Rush:

- he helped Conservatives a lot, and I admire him for that;

- he (allegedly) broke the law, undermined his own words by his own actions, and I am losing my respect for him;

- he is fighting to stay out of jail, and I understand that;

- from now on he has to adjust his rethoric to fit his circumstances, and I don't like it.

[HighWheeler]

Hey Michael, why do you NEVER respond to the FR posters to whom you troll for thoughts?

You use FR to promote your own personal columns, then refuse to answer questions and comments. It's rude if nothing else, especially since this is a DISCUSSION FORUM, not a blog, mmmmmkay?

You lob out a provocative title on a subject that has been covered nine ways to Sunday on FR, why don't you read those threads instead of starting a new one here?

Maybe you can mention some actual thoughts of your own on the subject today as you fill in for Glen Beck, instead of using the ones that FReepers post here. Let's see if you can come up with anything original.

And the "silence is deafening" oxymoronic tag is not very original, is it?

[MissAmericanPie]

Maybe you should check the archives, I don't watch or listen to Rush, but I remember a mini-war going on between him and a few freepers on this site about his lack of focus or mention on some issues they felt was important and should not have been ignored by him.

Rush even mentioned this site disparagingly on his program a few times from what I have read. He needs to face up to his problem and make arrangements with the law on his punishment. He has made his public comment, he is not a political leader able to wield great harm on the public, so you suggest we kick a man while he is down?

There is not much wrong with Rush's world view as far as conservatism goes. He's a human like the rest of us, a man who took a stumble, he failed his responsibility. What has happened is a disappointment so what now? Other than saying it's disappointing we can't tear into his world view because most conservatives have the same world view.

His character at it's worst is still light years ahead of his enemies. Do you not agree? Is Rush selling out our sovereignty, burdening us with an unpayable national debt?
No? Then what should we make of those that are that do not have the excuse, I was drunk?

[uncbob]

I'm sorry, I can't seem to hear you. It must be that deafening silence again.

Don't know about your hearing but you must be BLIND when it comes to this site as they have been NUMEROUS posters here myself included that did criticize Rush for the very things you state

[LS]

I think, now, the evidence is suggesting Rush acquired drugs illegally. As the man says, you can't be blackmailed unless you've done something wrong, and I don't know that addiction alone was "wrong" enough for him to be blackmailed over.

That said, anyone who can't see a world of difference between a President of the U.S., who has taken an oath to uphold the laws of the nation---then broke them---and a RADIO commentator, is just living in another dimension.

[VRWC_minion]

you are correct. Rush is still in denial and so are some of his supporters.

[NeoCaveman]

A Message To Conservatives: "Your Silence About Rush Limbaugh Is Deafening."

Sorry. I will try to be more vocal in my support of Rush Limbaugh

[ampat]

Silence silence, what silence. He's been all over the news and talk shows. From liberal to conservative media. Silence? BS.

[longtermmemmory]

This is a BS article. Is this an attempt to "same as" legacy repair for clinton from bizarro land?

Rush admitted his adiction and sought treatment. Clinton was a lawyer and a public official and had a history of misconduct that caught up with him.

Rush's adiction is itself not an illegal status nor is he an elected official.

[BraveMan]

Dear Michael Graham,

When the liberals pillorize the housekeeper as they did Linda Tripp, I'll get back to you.

Cordially,

BraveMan

[bmwcyle]

I will wait for the facts to come out. I am in not "Rush" to hang him.

[varon]

A Message To Conservatives: "Your Silence About Rush Limbaugh Is Deafening."

I'm a conservative and I will speak up:

Rush, what were you thinking?