Posted on 11/10/2003 8:58:59 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
As Rush Limbaugh fans – known as dittoheads – eagerly await the return of Rush to the airwaves, word is that he is recovering nicely and should be back soon. On Friday, Rush’s brother David said that Rush is succeeding in shaking off his addiction to prescription painkillers and is eager to return to his post as the nation's No. 1 talk host. "Rush is going to be back soon, he's going to hit the ground running and he's going to have a renewed passion," David Limbaugh told EIB (Excellence in Broadcasting) substitute host Walter Williams. "I'm excited about it, he's excited about it, and the days are short, he's coming back," he added. The younger Limbaugh reported that Rush is "really making significant strides and is continuing to learn a great deal and truly believes he is profiting immeasurably" from his treatment experience. "While his mind is still focused on the treatment, he's also given a lot of thought to his return, and he's very excited." Limbaugh described his talk-star sibling as "anxious to renew his dialogue with the EIB family," saying that Rush wants to "tell the audience ... firsthand about how he feels about all this." According to Media Post's "Media Daily News," Limbaugh is set to return to the airwaves on Nov. 17, four days before he's scheduled to make his first public appearance since entering rehab. But New York Post radio columnist John Mainelli tells NewsMax that the Nov. 17 date is unconfirmed. On Nov. 5, Inside Radio, an industry newsletter, quoted Mark Mays, president of Clear Channel, the media giant that owns Rush’s show, as saying, "Rush will be out of his rehab in the next 7-10 days. We're expecting him to have a full recovery." The company also noted solid support for Rush. Clear Channel radio chief John Hogan also was quoted by Inside Radio,: "We have maintained 100 percent of our affiliate base and we have maintained our advertiser base as well." The item also said "a new survey by the independent polling firm of Burke Inc. finds support for Rush among his listeners is holding. Ninety percent said his drug problem has not diminished their feelings about him."
I hope there is a way to remove the physical pain that he still has; maybe there is a medicine that is non-narcotic, some sort of inflammation reducer of some kind, that will help him. Maybe a certain kind of exercise will help. That is the first step. If he really is in excruciating back pain, his active life will be murder for him. Even surgery might be an answer; things change so quickly in the world of medicine. There may be new options now.
But I do realize that the addiction may have started with the pain but then ended as a pure addiction to either the feelings the pills gave him or simply to not have the bad feelings that came when he stopped. At the end, it may have been that at the smallest provocation (before a dinner with friends, or just feeling a little under the weather, etc.) he just reached for that bottle of blues. That will be the tough part -- real life, straight up, as it were.
But Rush, if you are reading this, please realize that you can handle real life, aches and all. You will be able to do it, as hard as it may seem at first. Take your joys from the little things and go with it. Dance with your cat a la my 24/7 screensaver (which my little son calls "Rush throwing up a cat" because it looks like the cat is coming out of your mouth); begin a habit of long ocean swims (or are there sharks?); find comfort in a safe food or drink, like hot tea. You can do this.
And welcome back.
I'm all for Rush getting better, of course. It's just that these reports smack of "tell them exactly what his loving fans want to hear". I hope Rush takes care of his problem, on the timetable it requires. I hope he doesn't feel pressured to come back on for any reason, even if he is a valuable voice for truth and conservatism.
Rush, if you can read this, just please put yourself first right now! We'll hold down the fort here, with love, while you're taking care of number one.
Correct. In my NA meetings, I now refer to sobriety as a cup or a mug. If your mug is broken, it cannot hold anything. No matter what you pour into it, it is wasted.
It is better to have a slightly-filled mug with no breaks in it, than it is to have a broken mug that is continuously filled.
Your life cannot contain anything of value if your sobriety is broken. Rush needs to understand this and NUMBER ONE PRIORITY is he needs a sponser.
And he really needs to work the program. All 12 steps. /
Killing someone is not the moral equivalent of perscription drug addition, except to a mind incapable of making true moral distinctions.
Rush's audience still supports him because they are able to think critically about these matters, unlike those with less informed opinions about these subjects.
Of course they would. You think ClearChannel is some paragon of ethics and virtue?
Get a CLUE, Rush did murder somebody: Larry King, in the Ratings, with a Golden Microphone!
What have they done to fix the back?
Yeah, kinda like my sex addiction... Nobody was more pleased than Rosie when I successfully beat the habit.
What? Your point being? You, IMHO, are not a Rush supporter, and this moral "what if" fantasy play is obsurd.
I believe you're in a hand basket. Is it deserved?
Shalom
You are correct in your statement that killing someone is not the moral equivalent of a prescription drug addiction. However, once Rush began to take pills that were not actually prescribed by his doctor but were obtained from people who were not licenced pharmacists the drugs he was taking ceased to be prescription drugs.
Hopefully, Rush has beaten or will beat his addiction but during his treatment there is no difference between someone that is addicted to drugs that are sometimes prescribed by a doctor and someone that is addicted to illicit drugs.
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