Posted on 10/17/2003 7:31:41 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
The nation’s leading radio talk show hosts are striking back at the establishment for kicking Rush Limbaugh when he’s down. The radio star stunned his audience last week when he said he would undergo 30 days of treatment for addiction to painkillers. One host calls the timing of the story itself “suspicious.” Another thinks Rush outed himself in a plea for help. In e-mails to NewsMax.com, as well as in statements on their own programs sent to us, the radio hosts, who see Rush as the icon who pierced the airwaves’ left-wing Iron Curtain, are blowing the whistle on the glee of the establishment media. In an exclusive interview, New York’s legendary talker Bob Grant, who says NewsMax is his “favorite publication,” told us when the story broke, “I was very suspicious because within the same 48-hour period,” Rush had resigned from his sports commentary job “on that phony trumped-up charge against him.” Grant took special offense to a headline linking Limbaugh to a “drug ring.” Implying that taking painkillers is the equivalent of “buying from a Colombian drug ring,” in Grant’s view, is “really low” and borders on “yellow journalism.” Adding to Grant's suspicions: Democrats such as party Chairman Terry McAuliffe, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and presidential wannabe Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. (whom Rush has described as “French-looking”) have suggested Limbaugh should not be on the air. “I’m not saying it was orchestrated,” he said but agreed that these coincidences all coming together smelled like “a set-up.” “The left typically shows more compassion for a mass murderer who lost his latest appeal than they are showing for Rush Limbaugh,” Atlanta’s syndicated host Neal Boortz opined, adding that leftists show compassion only when spending other people’s money. “This is an example of why we don’t trust them [the mainstream media],” Sean Hannity told his radio listeners, citing the Rush-hating media feeding frenzy as another example of their “spoon-fed garbage.” “If you try to draw a moral parallel between a person who became addicted to pain medication as a result of medically prescribed treatment and a person who decided to use crack cocaine for no other reason than to get high, you are beyond intellectually dishonest,” added the afternoon talker, whose ratings are second only to Rush. Colmes 'Very Upset' Not all the support for Rush is coming from the conservative broadcasters. Alan Colmes, a veteran radio host and Hannity’s portside partner on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes,” is “very upset that there has been a piling-on effect here.” Most of his fellow liberals “would want help for someone like this, not use this as an opportunity to knock somebody,” he said. In his e-mail to NewsMax, Colmes added the experience would likely make Rush a better broadcaster. “I wish him good health and a speedy recovery.” “He’s taken the appropriate steps,” agreed G. Gordon Liddy. “He leveled with his listeners and checked himself in. And I think when he comes back out, his listeners will be there.” Judging by the thousands of e-mails Limbaugh has been getting, that is a foregone conclusion. The load has been so heavy that substitute host Tom Sullivan announced on Tuesday’s show that a new e-mail address, dittosrush@rushlimbaugh.com, had been set up so that listeners could send the EIB talkmeister their own individual best wishes. From the West Coast, KABC’s Al Rantel e-mailed NewsMax that “Rush Limbaugh is a great American” who has done much for AM radio and conservatism. “Those who wish to attack Rush for his personal problem do so to try to mitigate everything he has ever said, which shows how empty they are,” he added. Rush himself has said he is no victim. Several of his fellow hosts highlighted that willingness to take responsibility. In fact, at least one popular talker thinks Rush outed himself. On Phil Paleologos’ "American Breakfast" show, syndicated out of New Bedford, Mass., Armstrong Williams, host and syndicated columnist, was asked to respond to NewsMax's request for comment on Rush’s predicament. “You know, it just goes to show the human frailties of us all,” Williams replied, and expressed a belief that Limbaugh may be optimistic as to how long he it would take for him to complete his treatment. “To take a month off, that’s not even the beginning. I mean this guy has an uphill battle to recovery. It’s a devastating blow. I think we should remain loyal to him,” Armstrong added. “I respect the fact that he has taken full responsibility.” Those who think Rush was “forced” into the open by the publicity, as Williams sees it, should consider another scenario. “I would say that he was begging for someone to break his silence and break his agony to tell his story … But not once did he deny it [or] become a victim.” Paleologos, who says he “has been there,” believes that in the larger picture, Rush “will be held accountable, and through this terrible experience that happened to him in public, goodness - goodness will come from it.” Several hosts acknowledged Rush’s role in their own success stories: Liddy, who once lost his voice on his show when Rush saved the day by filling in on the spot; Hannity, who got a national break when Rush asked him to pull vacation relief on his show; Grant, who received public support from Rush in 1996 when Disney Co. decided Grant was too hot to handle. In less than a week, the popular veteran New York host landed on his feet at WOR, where he’s going strong to this day. Radio hosts attacking Limbaugh have included Howard Stern and Don Imus. So many in the industry, however, know firsthand Rush’s generosity and role in bringing AM radio out of the doldrums in which it was mired in the 1980s. The betting is his can-do mentality will help him bounce back. Savage Nation’s Mike Savage went back to the old biblical quote, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
As far as Imus goes, well what do you expect. I read that he felt Rush was a whiner. What a hoot! Imus's whole show is one long litany of his trials and tribulations. He whines about everything from his hang nails to his hemorrhoids. He is no doubt the most self absorbed person on the air. I have felt long before this situation that his animosity toward Rush was based on professional jealously. He will never enjoy the success Rush has because he is petty and mean spirited. Who wants to listen to someone who's whole show is based around me,me,me. As far as Stern goes, well he's just a chronic ass**** enough said.
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