Posted on 10/23/2003 7:57:03 PM PDT by Bob J
"Rush Limbaugh and the Party of Compassion"
By Tim Phares
Liberals are revealing their true colors yet again in the happy dance they are doing over Rush Limbaugh’s admission that he is addicted to prescription painkillers and his trip to rehab. With a few notable exceptions, such as liberal commentator and radio talk show host Alan Colmes of Fox News’s “Hannity and Colmes,” the self-proclaimed Party of Compassion is gleeful over the problem that Limbaugh is experiencing.
Liberal mean-spiritedness has shown up in many ways of late, including the scuttling of Miguel Estrada, demands to impeach President Bush for his military policy, their fervent scandal-mongering in the Joseph Wilson affair, and many other egregious examples. But because Rush Limbaugh is such a prominent and enduring spokesman for conservatism, they seem to be taking special glee in Rush’s troubles.
Senator John Kerry, one of the Party of Compassion’s Presidential wannabes, made an insensitive joke about Limbaugh’s problem in the recent Presidential debate. “There are two ways you can have lower prescription drug prices,” Kerry said. “One is to hire Rush Limbaugh’s maid. The other is to elect me President.” Fellow radio personality Don Imus, a former cocaine addict and alcoholic, warm-heartedly called Limbaugh “a fat, pill-popping loser and an undisciplined slob.” The ever-so-tolerant left-wing comedian Al Franken, who previously wrote a book attacking Limbaugh, called him “a dishonest demagogue.” CNN anchor Aaron Brown boasted of “the permanent smirk that seems to be attached to my face” due to Limbaugh’s problems. Such displays of liberal compassion bring tears to my eyes.
And it is not just liberal commentators and political leaders who are throwing parties over Limbaugh’s situation. Their followers are being even more cruel.
At the liberal website Democratic Underground, one poster wrote that he hopes Limbaugh’s rehab is “extremely painful and unsuccessful.” Others have written similarly tolerant messages.
If conservatives were to say these things about a prominent liberal, liberals would be rightly outraged and they would be screaming as loudly as they can that conservatives have once again been proven to be hard-hearted people with no compassion for others. Well, I would advise them to look in the mirror.
Let’s suppose that something like this happened to Bill or Hillary Clinton, for example. No one has been more disgusted with the policies and the conduct of the Clintons over the years than I have. But they are still fellow children of God who deserve our prayers and our compassion, even as we work overtime to defeat them in the political arena. There are certain things that decent people don’t want to see happen even to their worst enemies. So why the celebrations in liberal America?
Rush Limbaugh has said he is not a hero and he is not a victim. He has taken personal responsibility for his problem, as he rightly should, even though it stems from a prescription for medication prescribed for post-surgical pain. Why can’t the self-proclaimed Party of Compassion find any compassion in their hearts for a fellow human being in his time of suffering? Are they so blinded by ideology and power that they cannot see what they are doing?
Perhaps these liberals need to find a rehab facility where they can regain their compassion, as Rush Limbaugh is regaining his freedom from dependency.
© 2003 Tim Phares tbpsmd@smart.net
As if I needed a reminder why I never watch CNN.
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