Limbaugh Says Actor Fox Exaggerates Effects of Disease in Ads (WaPo Hit Piece)

The Washington Post ^ | Tuesday, October 24, 2006 | Daniela Deane

[kristinn]

****New Info***
To: Matchett-PI; All
The Washington Post has replaced the original article at the source link and almost completely rewritten their hit piece with a new author:

By David Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 25, 2006; C01
120 posted on 10/24/2006 8:24:16 PM CDT by kristinn
********

Below is an excerpt of the Original article before the Washington Post rewrote it.

Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh today attacked actor Michael J. Fox for inserting his halting voice into the U.S. Senate campaign in Missouri, suggesting Fox was "acting" in a commercial where he's shown shaking while endorsing the importance of stem cell research.

"He is exaggerating the effects of the disease," Limbaugh told listeners today, encouraging them to go online to watch Fox's commercial, which first aired Oct. 21 in St. Louis during a World Series game. "He's moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act."

In the commercial, Fox throws his support behind Democratic Missouri Senate candidate Claire McCaskill, who supports stem cell research, against Republican James M. Talent. Fox also taped similar ads for other Democratic candidates, including Benjamin L. Cardin in his Senate race against Republican Michael S. Steele in Maryland and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D), who is seeking reelection.

SNIP

"What you do in Missouri matters to millions of Americans, Americans like me," Fox said in the television spot, which will continue airing throughout Missouri this week.

"This is the only time I've ever seen Michael J. Fox portray any of the symptoms of the disease he has," Limbaugh said. "He can barely control himself."

Limbaugh said Fox could "control himself enough to stay in the frame of the picture" and to keep "his eyes right on the . . . teleprompter. But his head and shoulders are moving all over the place."

"He is acting like his disease is deteriorating because Jim Talent opposes research that would help him get cured," Limbaugh said, adding that Talent only opposes "fetal stem cell research, but not adult."

"This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox," Limbaugh said. "Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting."

[speekinout]

I wonder when Fox will start pimpin' for Ben Cardin?

Umm, he already did. Didn't you see the anti-Steele ad? (Never mind that Cardin voted against stem cell research in the House).

[unkus]

Good term, too. But I like the old Communist terms of useful idiots and dupes.

[WhiteGuy]

So it's perfectly OK that Fox, as he said in his own book, deliberately went off his meds before testifying to Congress so that he could better dramatize his condition?

Of course.

Does the masking of pain with narcotics diminish the cause of the original pain?

Do the use of prosthetics to replace the body parts lost to disease somehow minimize the severity of the origin of the illness?

I'll answer again, YES, It is absolutely OK that Fox went without his medication to draw attention to a condition that affects so many Americans.

[WhiteGuy]

Michael J Fox's ad is deceptive, dishonest and politically motivated. I think MJF's ad is simply unacceptable.


My comment here has nothing to do with an ad that features Fox.

My comment was specifically directly at limbaugh's characterization of Fox's condition as being "an act"

your opinion of the ad is certainly justifyed from your point of view, however you are missing the intent of my original comment.

[Matchett-PI]

"Fox has my sympathies, but this is exactly what Ann Coulter describes in Godless where the Democrats trot out a victim and use them as a shield to ward off debate on their political beliefs." ~ Kristinn

Exactly:

"For years liberals have relied on a strategy of faking out the American public in order to win elections. Instead of accurately articulating their beliefs and engaging in an honest debate, they scour the nation for the perfect patsy. A hysterical mother who is willing to go on national television and call the President a "furor" and "evil maniac" is akin to seeing the stigmata. Liberals' ecstasy over Cindy Sheehan, Max Cleland, and the widows who made a spectacle of themselves in the midst of the 9/11 Commission epitomizes their secret weapon for winning back America -- a doctrine of infallibility in which victory goes to the most hysterical.

As Coulter writes:

Finally, the Democrats hit on an ingenious strategy: They would choose only messengers whom we're not allowed to reply to. That’s why all Democratic spokesmen these days are sobbing, hysterical women. You can't respond to them because that would be questioning the authenticity of their suffering. Liberals haven't changed the message, just the messenger. All the most prominent liberal spokesmen are people with "absolute moral authority" -- Democrats with a dead husband, a dead child, a wife who works at the CIA, a war record, terminal illness, or as a last resort, being on a first-name basis with Nelson Mandela. Like Oprah during Sweeps Week, liberals have come to rely exclusively on people with sad stories... [snip]

To continue: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1643602/posts

[BradyLS]

Here come the hit pieces on Rush.

I'm sure Rush expects it. He's not running for anything, so, in these last two weeks, let 'em write about HIM all they want!

[Matchett-PI]

"Pathetic, rush has reached an all-time low, even for him." ~ WhiteGuy

Pathetic, the clueless have reached an all time low even for them.

Michael J. Fox Is Not Infallible; He's Just the Latest Victim Used by the Democrats

Democrats have long used infallible spokesmen to peddle their dishonest attacks, but we're not going to accept it anymore...

"All stem cell research is legal today in Missouri. Jim Talent does not seek to criminalize it, as Michael J. Fox asserts in his television commercial. The truth is that Amendment 2 would put human cloning in the Missouri Constitution. Michael J. Fox is participating in this disinformation campaign." More Quotes

Michael J. Fox: October Surprise The Fox flap follows Foley. What's gonna hit next?

Ben Cardin Voted Against Stem Cell Research Truth never stopped a Democrat...

Was Fox Duped? He may have been tricked...

Yesterday's Story: Democrats Exploit Michael J. Fox's Illness

Click here to read the hot links above and listen to the audio of today's show. Get it first hand" instead of filtered by the half-wits you appear to esteem: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/

[hellinahandcart]

It's getting close to the election, surely the republican october surprise will come and this will be history

Don't hold your breath. I've had my "Surprise!" graphic all ready to go since September 2004, and haven't gotten a good reason to use it YET.

[WhiteGuy]

Get it first hand" instead of filtered by the half-wits you appear to esteem:


I heard limbaugh's comments first hand.

He made an accusation that Fox's all-to-serious medical condition was just an act.

What an asinine remark to make, don't you think?

It is impossible to justify such an ignorant statement.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Pathetic, rush has reached an all-time low, even for him.

Get real.

[WhiteGuy]

Get real.


Please clarify what is meant by this comment.

What is unreal about my post?

[steveo]

The only other times that happens to me is when he talks about that mouse in the trash can.

Well that story is true. I remember him telling it on kfbk *many* years ago. The story hasn't changed in over 20 years.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" I saw Michael J. Fox on NBC Nightly News tonight (10-24-06); ..
He was pretty darn steady...nothing at all like his TV ad appearance."

I saw the same NBC hit piece on Rush.
Andrea Mitchell's interview with Fox illustrated Rush's point perfectly-Fox was barely shaking.
But, Mitchell was too biased to acknowledge that point.
Freeper kcvl found this validation of what many of us, including Rush , have theorized -

" Last March Fox underwent a thalamotomy -- brain surgery aimed at managing the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Since then, the worst of his tremors have been eliminated and he takes the drug Sinemet to control the milder tremors, he said "

There is no longer any doubt that Fox went off his meds to make the ads.
Disgusting and reprehensible don't begin to cover it.

Did McCaskill and Cardin force Fox to stop his medication for their craven political ads ?

[submarinerswife]

Maybe he's a member of the Film Actors Guild.

And the acronym for that would be........??

[TAdams8591]

I thought exactly the same thing as Rush when I saw that commercial. It must be the evil conservative mind, lol!

Michael J. Fox has been on TV more than once the past year, and he wasn't moving like that. He wasn't even moving like that when he was asked about the commercial on this evening's news. In fact it's the first time, the progress of his disease has EVER looked that bad.

[veronica]

Thank God for Rush. He tells like it is - even when the truth isn't pretty. If you step into the political arena you WILL be scrutinized. Goes with the territory.

[bray]

How PC can you get?? You Stalinists are all the same, no discussion of anything especially "victims". As someone who likes MJ Fox, I am completely disgusted by this act.

Pray for W and Our Troops

[merry10]

I heard the same as you. And here in DC where Im working this week, the lead story at 11 pm will be "Limbaugh on Fox". So yes, Rush apologized. However, I don't think he should have said this. He should have known better. It is like his Donovan McNabb comment.

[peggybac]

From Rush today:
"Now, in terms of Michael J. Fox, I did some research today, and I found his book that was published. It's "Lucky Man," 2002, but he admits in the book that before Senate subcommittee on appropriations I think in 1999, September of 1999, he did not take his medication for the purposes of having the ravages and the horrors of Parkinson's disease illustrated, which was what he has done in the commercials that are running for Claire McCaskill and Jim Talent. So when you insert yourself into the political arena this way, to expect insulation and absolution and to expect yourself not to have what you say criticized in the manner in which you're trying to sway opinion is a little bit I think above the fray. I mean, to think that you're immune from any sort of criticism, it's worked in the past for Democrats, but it doesn't work here."

I heard it too and it's worth repeating.

[kristinn]

The Washington Post has replaced the original article at the source link and almost completely rewritten their hit piece with a new author:

By David Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 25, 2006; C01