Posted on 10/31/2006 5:27:11 AM PST by Clive
Re: Oct. 28 editorial cartoon, showing Rush Limbaugh shouting into a radio microphone, with a technician saying, "He must be off his meds."
There is no doubt that the U.S. radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh's direct style and his own past medication issues make him an inviting target. And although he was, in all probability, technically inaccurate in accusing Michael J. Fox of "acting" in his recent political TV ad supporting a Democratic senatorial candidate, Mr. Limbaugh may have been very close to the mark.
As a neurologist with a large number of Parkinson's disease patients, my impression of the video is that Mr. Fox displayed the poorly controlled "choreo-athetotic" movements seen when advanced Parkinson's patients take their medication to turn "on" and emerge from their natural state of rigidity and rest tremor. At some point after taking a pill, a patient's voluntary movements are freed up, without much excess involuntary movement.
The issue, then, is one of timing. Indeed, a few days after his political ad came out, Mr. Fox appeared at a Democratic event in Chicago with his movements under control, a situation he called "ironic." Strangely, however, he seemed unable to appear controlled for a pre-taped TV ad a few days earlier, when the appropriate timing should have been easier, given the possibility of multiple "takes." Lest this all sound too cynical, consider that Mr. Fox admitted in his 2002 autobiography to going off his medication to appear more disabled before a 1999 Senate subcommittee appearance.
Democratic party manipulation appears to go much further. In offering Mr. Fox as a spokesman, they have clearly hoped he would cut a sympathetic figure immune from criticism, and the faux outrage at Mr. Limbaugh's comments seems to confirm this. While Mr. Fox deserves sympathy for this medical plight, he must assume full responsibility for his words and actions when he chooses to enter the political arena. By politicizing a medical issue, he is, in effect, saying that anyone who cares about new treatment hope for Parkinson's disease patients must vote for the the Democratic candidate in Missouri -- not coincidentally, a pivotal state in the upcoming election to control the U.S. Senate.
This is not only unfair, but absurd. Everyone, including Republicans, supports the many new treatments emerging for Parkinson's patients that promise far more immediate application than do stem cells. Republicans also support stem cell research when it comes from ethically sound sources, such as adult tissues and umbilical cord blood. Ironically, these forms of stem cells have had greater success to date than the embryonic-source stem cells lionized in the Michael J. Fox TV ad.
Dr. Paul Ranalli, FRCPC, Toronto.
Did you hear what Limbaugh said? Please explain how he "mocked" Fox.
In fact he specifically stated that going off meds to illustrated the nature of the disease was a legitimate thing to do. He also clearly stated that he disagreed with the content of the ad and had full sympathy with the suffering of Parkinson's victims. Listen before you speak.
I've found it always that it helps to read the article, think about it, then post. Your mileage may vary.
IMHO.... You are off base in using the word "Mocking." The ad was a "Mockery."
Emryonic Stem Cells cause TUMORS!!!!
Sorry, it's not enough just to say you have sympathy for someone when you basically accuse them of dramatizing the symptoms of a serious disease like Parkinson's.
Rush is over. We need better spokesmen for our side.
I agree. However, M.J. Fox's decision to film a television commercial in favor of a piece of legislation that he admittedly hadn't read shows equally poor judgment. Even sadder, if our society placed an appropriate amount of value on being an informed citizen, and thinking through issues, people wouldn't be swayed one way or another by what a celebrity said.
I heard most of his shows last week, and I never once heard him mock Fox. Perhaps I missed what you heard.
While I am unhappy about the exaggerated movements Rush made -- he is a conservative ICON.....Rush will always be here, and he is hard to beat for the honest truth. Movements or not he was dead on target about MF.
Nice!!!
Makes sense to me.
RINO
RINO
Good reply!!!!!!!!!
Even Rush's defenders get what he says wrong.
Rush said Fox was either acting OR he deliberately went off his medication. That "or" is important. Without the "or" Rush is basically wrong, but with the "or" Rush is basically right. The only technicality that keeps Rush from being 100% right is that (and this is according to Fox) Fox overmedicated himself rather than undermedicated as Rush said.
I listened to the entire bit as well as a couple of days of follow up and never at any time heard anything that I considered as "mocking". Sorry for the snippy tone of my first post, but Limbaugh as eternally accused of stuff like this by people who do not know what he actually said. Also, if you have not heard, Fox did state in 2002 that he skipped his medication before a congressional hearing in order to illustrate the symptoms of his disease, and Limbaugh stated that he thought that was perfectly acceptable and reasonable.
I'd still like to know if you heard the whole thing or are you reacting to what someone else told you?
"Mr. Fox admitted in his 2002 autobiography to going off his medication to appear more disabled before a 1999 Senate subcommittee appearance".
Period.
The Democrat position on stem cell research makes sense only if it is a calculated effort designed to hurt Republican candidates who are beholden to pro-Life groups. The only function of this position is to advance the pro-Abortion agenda.
All the rest of it, from Christopher Reeves to Parkinson's to Alzheimer's to Michael J. Fox, is cynical political manipulation.
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