Posted on 11/17/2003 3:49:03 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
merging from a self-imposed exile in which he was treated for an addiction to painkillers, Rush Limbaugh returned to the air today. And listeners who tuned in during the first few minutes of his radio show would have been forgiven if they thought they were hearing an Oprah-style self-help session. "I have to admit that I am powerless over this addiction that I have," Mr. Limbaugh, speaking from a Manhattan studio, told his listeners, just after noon on the East Coast. "I used to think I could beat it with force of will." During a 16-minute opening monologue, Mr. Limbaugh, who has spoken in the past about the need to jail more drug abusers, instead borrowed liberally from the teachings of 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous. Asking and then answering a question about what he had learned during a month inside a treatment center in Arizona, Mr. Limbaugh said, "You can boil it down to one real simple essence: I can't be responsible for anybody's happiness but my own." He added, "I have thought that I had to be this way or that way in order to be liked or appreciated or understood, and in the process I denied myself who I was." Mr. Limbaugh acknowledged that "a lot of people" had branded him a hypocrite for urging tough punishment for some drug users while not being forthcoming about his own addiction, which, he said today, dates to the mid-1990's. He has said that he became addicted to painkillers after spinal surgery in the 1990's. "My behavior doesn't change right or wrong," he said. He acknowledged, however, that for nearly a decade he "avoided the subject of drugs on this program for the precise reason I was keeping a secret." At times, he said, he even pretended that he did not recognize the names of painkillers mentioned by callers. One of the first calls he took today, from a woman identified only as Mary Jo of Montgomery, Ala., was about a friend in trouble. "You have a friend who's an addict?" Mr. Limbaugh asked. The caller responded that she did, and wanted to know "what strengthens someone?" "Are you ready to listen?" Mr. Limbaugh asked. "I want you to know something now. You are not responsible for what your friend does." Though the early segments of his three-hour show were devoted to what Mr. Limbaugh had learned about himself in treatment, he still took time to practice his stock in trade, advancing the message of the right and lambasting the left. He took swipes at familiar liberal targets like Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Hillary Rodham Clinton. And he took pains to assure his listeners that he had not been brainwashed while in treatment, during which, he acknowledged, he rarely read a newspaper and watched little on television other than football. "Many people feel and think that when you go to a rehabilitation center for addictions or other things, that the people in there turn you into a linguini-spined liberal, and that's not true," he said. Rather, he said, he tried to incorporate what he had learned about himself and use it to psychoanalyze his opponents. Among the problems with liberals, Mr. Limbaugh said he had discovered, is that "they don't like themselves." "You ever see liberals smile about anything?" he asked. Mr. Limbaugh said there was only one subject he would not talk about on the air: news reports suggesting that he had acquired drugs like the painkiller OxyContin without a prescription and that the matter was now the subject of an investigation. "This is something I am not able to be as blunt and open about now as I'd like to be," he said. "That day will come, and it will come soon." There was much riding on Mr. Limbaugh's return, which was broadcast over the 600 radio stations that carry his syndicated show. Though in a typical week he draws at least 14.5 million listeners — nearly 20 million by his estimate — industry analysts suggested that he might draw four to five times as many today. His actual ratings, as compiled by Arbitron, will not be known for several weeks.
DATE, please, NYT ... (AND I'll pull the audio if it's in the last 5 years)
The media was also a part of that attack on Ted. Rush was pointing out the double standard at how Ted Kennedy can call minorities "neanderthals" and not be asked to resign; "Good thing he doesn't work at ESPN".
I was glad that Rush saw fit to include such a comparison before the first commercial break when he had the ears of this nation (friend and foe) tuned in.
Every quote I have seen was in 1995.
Nothing wrong with that...
Means nothing, absolutely NOTHING.
"Mandrake, have you ever seen a commie drink a glass of water?"
Hmmmmmmmm.
I don't even like this NYT's columnist's name...Jaques. Maybe I could handle Jacques, but "Jaques"?
I'd bet if I called him "Jack", he'd hit me with a soggy frog legs quiche.
La dee da!
Leni
Know what's interesting, he didn't mention the "so-called some-may-call-it-a-fillibuster on last wedsday" or "Rockerfellers' Meno"..hopefully, he will in the next 2/3 days :/
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