Posted on 01/12/2004 4:29:11 AM PST by tornado100
Several months have elapsed and I thought it might be interesting to re-examine the plight of radio megastar Rush Limbaugh. In my previous article on Limbaugh's troubles entitled "Limbaugh's Secret Life", I was initially criticized for accepting The National Enquirer's contention that he was addicted to prescription narcotics. Heck, I was also skewered for surmising that the conservative icon was likely to be subject to arrest, pursuant to his drug activities. In hindsight, I think my points were well taken. My article came out about five days before Limbaugh publicly acknowledged his addiction and need for rehabilitation. And now criminal charges against Rush might be unavoidable, if the Palm Beach prosecutor has his way. I have no crystal ball, just plenty of life experience. In fact, I'll be quite happy if I'm wrong about this situation. However, there's no need to fret -- even if Limbaugh takes some type of plea, he's looking at court supervision rather than jail time.
Now for some pertinent background information --The National Enquirer vets its front page exposés of celebrities with a phalanx of attorneys, certainly more thoroughly than anything that you would read on the front page of The New York Times. That's a sad commentary on our modern culture, isn't it? Common sense dictates that the tabloid was not going to place itself at the mercy of Limbaugh and a libel suit. The National Enquirer couldn't afford to be wrong. That said, I rightly judged that the essence of the story - Limbaugh's significant addiction to painkillers - had to be accurate otherwise the publication would not have gone to print with it. But what about those that categorically reject anything published in The National Enquirer, claiming that it's all pure drivel rife with abundant sensationalism? I'll readily concede there's a lot of innuendo and spinning that's intended for pure titillation purposes in The National Enquirer - But the lead stories (such as the Limbaugh piece) often contain significant morsels of truth, which is directly attributable to decent investigative reporting by journalists such as David Wright and oversight by attorneys. To some degree, The National Enquirer and its sister paper, The Star, get a bum rap. Many "junk paper" aficionados point out that the supermarket tabloids sell millions of copies each week precisely because they deliver genuine tidbits to their readership.
Since Limbaugh's return from residential treatment, he's verbally eviscerated the tabloid for relying on the statements of a couple who had "blackmailed" him. His anger toward the tabloid is totally understandable. However, it's important to note that although The National Enquirer didn't get everything right in their article on Limbaugh, it certainly got much of the story right - at least the key elements. As an aside, Limbaugh violated a fundamental precept in life that you should never, ever permit yourself to be blackmailed. And it demonstrates Limbaugh's depths of despair in his attempts to manage a dire, no-win situation. Ultimately, it was really Limbaugh's responsibility to have gone directly to law enforcement authorities if he was being blackmailed, but he chose not to do so. Clearly, he wanted to avoid scrutiny of his own drug involvement.
Despite Limbaugh's shortcomings, his fans have remained profoundly loyal. Rush's audience numbers are peaking at an all-time high due to his incisive political analysis that's the best around.
(Excerpt) Read more at gopusa.com ...
WAY off base buddy - you're lying through your teeth, around your teeth and out your ears to boot ...
RUSH has admitted to NOT talking on that subject b/c of his addiction!
He already is prevailing. I think the Inquirer reported weeks ago that Rush was to be arrested "within days." Pu-leeze!
I am too. If I was his sponsor.... hoooo boy.... we'd be talking for an hour a day and he'd be going to at least 2 meetings a day until he started to get that first step.
He has not yet admitted he is powerless over his addiction. He still thinks his life can be manageable with drugs.
It's obvious to me.
... just another un-based smear from - who are you again?
Do I assume correctly that aspirin or Tylenol is not on that list?
Keep in mind that Fox News pays that usefull idiot a lot of money. Usefull perhaps, but maybe not an idiot.
You assume correctly. Non-mood-altering pain meds are just peachy.
Touche - been there a few times in my life - pain ain't fun ...
Maybe you don't understand that physical addiction is not the problem. Its the mental dependance that is the problem. Everybody can get physically addicted to painkillers, a good detox program and they will never have another problem. Others can get addicted to gambling, no physical addiction at all, yet they can never seem able to quit.
Give 'm a call Friday - open line Friday that is ...
There was a famous jockey named Chris Antley who came down quick, he was addicted to cocaine and other drugs.
He was a phenomenon on a horse though- broke record after record in horse racing, he won 2 Kentucky Derby's and many other races, he made lots of money, he was even successful in the stock market-at least before the dot com bust.Story about him
But his career in racing was punctuated by repeated absences due to his addiction, and battling his weight. He was in and out of "treatment centers", but he was a "natural" on horseback. In 1999 he made another comeback to racing.
He won the Kentucky Derby on a horse named Charismatic- a long-shot at 33-1. He went on to win the Preakness (2nd leg of the Triple Crown) too. He talked about how great it was to be "clean". In the the Belmont Stakes Charismatic broke down in the last part of the race and still finished 3rd . Chris jumped off of him, and picked up his leg so that he wouldn't injure it further by putting weight on it. This saved the horses life.( I don't know if anyone follows racing here, but you might remember this- It was covered widely in the press.) Chris fell in love with, and married, a reporter for ABC who was covering the Triple Crown bid.
But he just couldn't stay away from his past demons. He became estranged from his wife, he was using again. They found him dead in his house in December of 2000. They said it was an overdose that killed him. His wife was 8 months pregnant at the time. He had everything and lost it all, including his own life. His child will never know him. Chris was 34 when he died.
The Twelve Step programs are the only ones that work. They have a much higher percentage of success than "treatment centers". You're on the right path-stay with it.
I think it's great that you have enough courage to post what you're going through on the forum. You might influence someone else to make the decision to get help, because of your honesty.
Sir, I daresay I understand quite a bit more about this topic than you. I have spent -- conservative estimate now -- 300 hours in the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous, another 200 working the steps and spending them with my sponsor. I can tell you that you are wildly incorrect when you assert that:
1) Rush's addiction is no problem -- you are seriously off-base. Not only is it a problem, it is a life threatening one. He probably lost his hearing from it. He's certainly damaged his career for it. He's admitted to being an addict, and he's admitted he likes the 'fun' aspect of narcotics.
2) Your implied assertion that he can take pain medication is as absurd as claiming that an alcoholic can take a few drinks every now and again to get to sleep.
Tell me you don't believe this stuff. Tell me you are just trolling for reaction from me.
PLEASE tell me this.
Indeed. Amazing strides have been and are being made in this area. Thank G-d there will be, in the next few years, TRUE pain blocking methods that do not rely at all on opiates!! The miracle will come.
What's worse is that he's blaming others for his troubles.
If that's not junkie behavior, I don't know what is.
He doesn't "own" what happened, at least not in his public persona.
Bad, very bad.
Sadly, megadittos.
:o(
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