Posted on 10/16/2003 10:48:07 AM PDT by noprob
The entire nation owes radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh a debt of gratitude, Libertarians say, because his ordeal has exposed every drug warrior in America as a rank hypocrite.
"One thing we don't hear from American politicians very often is silence," said Joe Seehusen, Libertarian Party executive director. "By refusing to criticize Rush Limbaugh, every drug warrior has just been exposed as a shameless, despicable hypocrite.
"And that's good news, because the next time they do speak up, there'll be no reason for anyone to listen."
The revelation that Limbaugh had become addicted to painkillers -- drugs he is accused of procuring illegally from his Palm Beach housekeeper -- has caused a media sensation ever since the megastar's shocking, on-air confession last week.
As the Limbaugh saga continues, here's an important question for Americans to ask, Libertarians say: Why are all the drug warriors suddenly so silent?
"Republican and Democratic politicians have written laws that have condemned more than 400,000 Americans to prison for committing the same 'crime' as Rush Limbaugh," Seehusen pointed out. "If this pill-popping pontificator deserves a get-out-of-jail-free card, these drug warriors had better explain why."
Given their longstanding support for the Drug War, it's fair to ask:
Why haven't President George Bush or his tough-on-crime attorney general, John Ashcroft, uttered a word criticizing Limbaugh's law-breaking?
Why aren't drug czar John P. Walters or his predecessor, Barry McCaffrey, lambasting Limbaugh as a menace to society and a threat to "our children?"
Why aren't federal DEA agents storming Limbaugh's $30 million Florida mansion in a frantic search for criminal evidence?
Why haven't federal, state, and local police agencies seized the celebrity's homes and luxury cars under asset-forfeiture laws?
Finally, why aren't bloviating blabbermouths like William Bennett publicly explaining how America would be better off if Limbaugh were prosecuted, locked in a steel cage and forced to abandon his wife, his friends, and his career?
The answer is obvious, Seehusen said: "America's drug warriors are shameless hypocrites who believe in one standard of justice for ordinary Americans and another for themselves, their families and their political allies.
"That alone should completely discredit them."
But there's an even more disturbing possibility, Seehusen said: that the people who are prosecuting the Drug War don't even believe in its central premise -- which is that public safety requires that drug users be jailed.
"The Bushes and Ashcrofts and McCaffreys of the world may believe, correctly, that individuals fighting a drug addiction deserve medical, not criminal treatment," he said. "That would explain why they're not demanding that Limbaugh be jailed.
"But if that's the case, these politicians have spent decades tearing apart American families for their own political gain. And that's an unforgivable crime."
I'm old enough to remember due process.It's one of those obsolete rights we had before the drug war.
Most folks can take or leave Limbaugh. Me, I enjoyed him his first few years when he was nothing more then radio entertainment but I have've hardly listened for years. Still, there is something that most civilized people consider distasteful about piling onto another person's misfortunes in a feeble attempt to promote your own political agenda.
The outright glee that some of the LP'ers seem to be experiencing over Limbaughs problems is very off putting and is probably doing far more damage then good in promoting the dope agenda.
But don't let me slow that fine effort down.
Well, I didn't see you attack that, so I figured it was safe to respond to So9 the same way.
Yet another of the quaint rights we have lost to the drug war.
You can't tell me that someone strung out on speed that's been up for four days straight is as safe as your average stoner.
noprob's original post: If they do something that harms another individual, lock em up, otherwise what harm are they causing society? We can't throw someone in jail because they might hurt someone.
You could comb police records the world over and I bet you couldn't find one violent crime committed while someone was high on pot, while their records are full of people that are drunk committing violent crimes.
Meth falls under this category. You can find numerous examples of people strung out on speed committing the most hideous crimes imaginable. I don't need precogs or pre-crime to tell that speed freaks are going to commit violent crimes, maybe not all of them but enough to make the damn drug illegal and with good cause.
I brought up the alcohol scenario to point out the falseness of the current WOD. If it is for our personal health, then alcohol and tobacco should also be illegal. If it is to protect others from people under the influence of drugs, then alcohol should be illegal as well. I've yet to see a stoner strung out on pot killing people and cooking them and eating them although the argument could be made for them driving under the influence.
I don't want to preach on meth but I've seen its effects up close and personal. Just one example: A grade school friend of mine and his wife started out as recreational users of speed since it gave them energy to do things not to mention giving them twenty five hours out of each day to do them in. They also had three beautiful girls. Within a year, they had separated while they both continued to use. Almost six months later the wife showed up at my friend's sister's house and stated that she could no longer care for the kids so she abandoned them there. I should also mention that she was as thin as an Auschwitz captive and her body was covered with sores. She was also EXTREMELY paranoid mentioning several times that people were after her.
To make a long story short, the sister took care of the kids and won custody. As far as I know the wife hasn't been heard from while her husband cleaned up his act and is in the process of getting his kids back.
Think this is an isolated incident? Not hardly, meth destroys lives and entire families and I have no problems forcing my values on someone by making it illegal.
And they pile on with this drivel (pill-popping pontificator?). Not a smart move.
Because if you're a real drug warrior, a McCaffreyite, then you support giving law enforcement the right to steal private property on suspicion without due process, and to suspend any part of the Constitution that inconveniences a drug investigation. If you fit this definition and don't support treating Rush in the same way as the WOD has treated all those other drug suspects, then I call you a hypocrite.
And yes, I do mean 'suspects', not 'convicts'. It has been rightly pointed out in this thread that Rush has not been convicted, nor even charged, with a drug offense. The beauty of the WOD is that actual charges are not necessary. If the Florida cops want to summarily convert Rush's $300 million into SUV's and military toys for their own amusement, they are free to do so under the drug exception to the Constitution.
Whether one is a Limbaugh fan or not, there is no doubt that he had done a lot for Conservatism in this country...far more then the LP ever has or ever will. That is why even Newt Gingrich publicly praised Limbaugh's significant contribution to making the Contract with America real.
Now Limbaugh has had a personal tragedy and this group desends on him like a pack of jackels on a wounded animal. Do they really believe this is going to advance their crusade to get dope legalized? Apparently they think acting like this will sway uncommited Conservatives to their side.
Good.
That toothpaste is out of the tube. Instead, why don't we learn by it?
That toothpaste was never in the tube. Why don't we learn from that and quit before we lose more ground?
So9
How quickly do you think their going to gain new support when people are listening to them speak then reading the official press releases involving 9/11 and the WOT?
How many people do you think are going to stick around after reading the LP's official press release on Limbaugh today?
"Dear Rush, I resent your politics. If you've read my rants about you and your brethren Talk Radio Lords Of Loud you know I am a flaming liberal whose stomach ties in knots when listening to the El Rushbo Excellence in Broadcasting network. That said.... You go, Rush! I'm with you."
A self proclaimed liberal and does he take this opportunity to attack Limbaugh? Does he take this opportunity to try and score political points or further his own agenda?
It say something when even liberal commentators have more class then you do.
You're mixed up. I'm the Big Brother geek, cuz is the Survivor geek. We're both damned good at running the FR threads of our respective shows, if I say so myself.
JMO, and you can call me any name you like,
Why should I call you names? I like you. You're one of the few drug warriors who is not a total douchebag.
but your life seems extremely vapid.
My life rocks, despite my unhealthy obsession with a select few reality shows.
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