Posted on 10/13/2003 1:42:22 AM PDT by ambrose
This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows.
Monday, October 13, 2003
Liberals love Limbaugh's pain Posted: October 13, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Barbara Simpson
Liberals lost one and won one last week, leaving them crying and laughing.
They lost California to Arnold Schwarzenegger - a landslide in the recall election. That's the loss and the reason for anger, tears and political concern.
On the other hand, conservative talk host Rush Limbaugh told his listeners, as he signed-off on Friday, that he's addicted to prescription pain drugs.
That's a win for liberals. You can hear the laughing and gloating across the country and it's heard with a vengeance on liberal talk shows. As if professional jealousy isn't enough to engender the mountains of hate, they just love tearing conservatives apart when they find out they're human.
The media are acting like kids on a sugar binge. While liberal (read that Democrat) media hate that Arnold won the recall election, they secretly love it because, in their heart of hearts, they're celebrity whores and love the Hollywood glitterati. Arnold Schwarzenegger is nothing if not that, even though he's now governor.
But the Limbaugh situation is entirely different. This is personal and human, but it's being treated with ruthless cruelty by liberals, who not only hate what Limbaugh stands for but hate his very success. They detest that one individual, simply by doing a good job of articulating the conservative point of view, has been able to touch millions across the country. It galls them even more that he's No. 1 in ratings and got rich in the process. Oooh.
They smelled blood two weeks ago when racial sensitivity hit the fan with his observation on ESPN, a job he had for the main purpose of making observations about sports. He stepped in a politically correct pile by saying something evident. To avoid more controversy, he resigned.
Almost at the moment that story hit the headlines, another broke in Florida: His former housekeeper alleged she had provided Rush with painkillers without prescriptions. Limbaugh said he'd say nothing until he knew more about what was transpiring. Newspapers said an official investigation was ongoing.
Rush was torn apart for saying nothing, yet under the circumstances, it was exactly the correct thing to do. He said nothing until Friday when he took about four minutes of his program to tell listeners that he's addicted to prescription painkillers. He told of unsuccessful back-surgery several years ago, which left him with chronic pain and, now, two herniated discs. This is big-time pain.
Rather than risk further surgery - which can leave the patient worse or even paralyzed - he chose to take medicine prescribed by his physician. Along the way, he became addicted and said that he twice entered medical facilities to break the habit - to no avail.
His decision now is to take a month off to enter a 30-day treatment program to try to break the habit. He asked for listener support and their prayers.
So what does he get from the liberal media? Attacks. There's no sympathy for his medical ordeals. He's equated with street junkies and his addiction compared to guy in the alley mainlining heroin.
Yes, chemically, street drugs and prescription drugs are similar and yes, the effect of opiates on the body may be the same, but liberals just miss the point. Lots of points. Deliberately.
They won't cut him any slack because he's spoken out against use of illegal drugs. Sorry guys, there is no comparison. The people using illegal drugs do it for the high ? becoming a junkie is a built-in risk.
But liberals take it further: They want him thrown in jail. And, ON TOP OF THAT, it serves him right because he was outspoken about illegal drug use!
People in pain use prescriptions drugs to enable them to live as normally as possible. There's no high involved, just relief. They want the pain gone and the doctor can help.
Of course, there's an addiction risk. For heaven's sake, you can become addicted to over-the-counter cough medicine! That isn't the issue. For pain relief, the trick is balancing that with the point of addiction. Sometimes it doesn't work. But to excoriate Rush because he slipped over that line is monumentally cruel.
But liberals choose to be cruel, even if they sacrifice their own humanity. The same people who have compassion for the dregs of humanity on the street and for animals and insects cannot find an ounce of compassion for Rush.
And we know why. He committed the greatest sin: He's a conservative.
Barbara Simpson, "The Babe in the Bunker" as she's known to her KSFO 560 radio talk-show audience in San Francisco, has a 20-year radio, television and newspaper career in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. |
As far as I can tell Rush's message has always been one of personal responsibility, and now he is walking the walk. Makes for a good role model to me. He never, ever, suggested that addiction to pain killing drugs is a vitue that ought to be supported by the tax payers. That, too, makes for a good role model as far as conservatism goes.
It is precisely because of his status as a role model that Rush went to great lengths to keep his addiction away from public view, because no role model for conservatism would be consistent while publicly depending upon drugs.
Even in this case, Rush's addiction stems from medicinal, not recreational, use. This is a valid distinction. Conservatives ought to undertand there are a good many people of all stripes who suffer from addiction, and for each one there are probably six bureaucrats itching to start a new program for addicts of all kinds.
In short, the case for making this man a whipping boy is weak indeed.
If Rush just decided now that he had a serious problem, then why did had he enterd clinics twice already to break the habit. So obviousely he realized long ago that he had a problem and was trying to break it
Laud him as a paragon of virtue if you please, but he's a hypocrite. The pills he's been gobbling ARE an "illegal drug" if you don't have a scrip, just like any other illegal drug.
How do you know he had gotten the pills illegally, just because the Enquirer says so? Rush said on Friday that much of what we heard and read about the story had inaccuracies and distortions. I believe Rush.
If allegations be true then Rush knowingly and willingly violated the law in order to support his habit. If this a valid distinction, too?
It's not really Rush Limbaugh that they hate.
They hate his fans, who have evolved into a coherent political force loosely centered around Rush's radio persona.
It's the fact that Rush has been instrumental in their exposure and defeat that they hate.
The article calls Rush a "schlub", a loner, a couch potato, and hopelessly self-absorbed. The main article ends with the line "Limbaughs long-running act as a paragon of virtue is over."
Also linked in the story is Jonathan Alter's cocky opinion piece titled "Rush, to Judgment" with the tag line, "Its been a bad year for bully-boy conservatives. Time for them to taste their own bitter medicine."
Speaking of bitter.
Thats exactly right. He went outside the law and got caught. I think one of the main things he has to worry about now is whether he's lost any credibility with his audience; ignoring of course what the leftist media has to say.
Yes. Distinctions in the law are necessary and commonplace. Mitigating circumstances are considered in all categories of crimes to determine the seriousness of the offense.
Here, taking medication for excrutiating back pain and taking the same drug for recreational purposes are distinguishable. If Rush procured the medication without a prescription (a point alleged, but not yet established), then that would be a crime, but it is still distinquishable from the crime committed by one who commits the same crime for purely recreational purposes. His pain may not be a justification under the law, but it would be a mitigating circumstance, and therefore distinguishable.
Even under the argument that both individuals commit the crime because they are addicted, the reason they became addicted still remains a mitigating factor -- not an excuse or justification, but a mitigation, and therefore a valid distinction.
The Liberals are nothing but hypocrites
And with 20 million listeners .. Rush may be down .. but he is not out
I agree. I think the route taken to addiction does matter. Taking pills for pain relief can get you accidentally addicted. This is different than the person who started taking them for recreational purposes. Though they both end up addicted, the latter was completely avoidable.
Limbaugh has been merciless over the years towards illegal drug users. So too, some of his defenders here. One must infer that either Rush and his 'bots are liberals, or some hypocritical members of his RINO personality cult.
Either way, it's especially hypocritical for hypocrites to whine and mewl about other hypocrites.
Go sob over a DU.
I don't see how this would prevent him from becoming addicted. Can't you get addicted to morphine in this form as well?
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