Limbaugh mute on drugs, little else

Atlanta Journal Constitution ^ | October 4, 2003 | ROBERT P. KING

[Cincinatus' Wife]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Here's something you probably never expected from Rush Limbaugh: No comment.

The nation's talk radio king, opiner on everything from Bill Clinton's misdeeds to feminazis, repeatedly declined Friday to discuss accusations that he illegally bought prescription drugs.

"I haven't yet gotten to the bottom of what all this is about," Limbaugh said during his three-hour broadcast, which reaches an estimated 20 million listeners. But when he knows more, he promised, "I'm going to come clean, as I always have."

Instead, Limbaugh used his electronic bully pulpit to defend -- and refuse to apologize for -- his controversial comments on ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" about race and football.

"I meant everything I said, thought about it the night before, intended to say it, very proud that I said it, think it's right," said Limbaugh, who resigned Wednesday from the sports network because of the flap over his remarks. "So throw me in jail. So fire me. ... If that's what it takes to stand up for free speech, fine."

That approach seemed just fine with his loyal listeners, who proudly call themselves "ditto-heads" for their frequent agreement with Limbaugh. And at least for now, outraged defiance probably will be good enough to let the Palm Beach resident hold on to his radio empire, media relations experts said Friday.

But they warned that the drug allegations could cause lasting damage if not resolved soon.

Until then, he's trapped in Limbaugh limbo, unable to proclaim his innocence or seek his listeners' forgiveness as long as he is in jeopardy of prosecution.

"The very thing he needs to do is the one thing he can't do," said Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University's Center for the Study of Popular Television, who listened to Friday's broadcast. And that could conflict with Limbaugh's reputation among listeners as a deflator of liberal lies.

"His whole thing has been getting to the truth: 'Forget all this dissembling and parsing of sentences,"' Thompson said. But when Limbaugh resorts to cautious, lawyerly language, he's doing "some of the things he has made a career exposing others for doing."

Del Galloway, incoming president of the Public Relations Society of America, said he's never heard of a celebrity in a position quite like Limbaugh's.

"The attacker is being attacked, and he's in uncharted waters," said Galloway, partner in a Jacksonville advertising and PR firm.

"If it were a mainstream, less controversial figure, I would urge the client to step back, step up and take responsibility for those comments and mend relationships," Galloway said. But for Limbaugh, "his success has been from being in your face. Why would he now back away from it?"

If Friday's show is any guide, Limbaugh can expect plenty of support. He said on the air that he had received 35,000 e-mails, overwhelmingly in his favor, since the ESPN flap erupted Tuesday.

One caller, Kurt from Traverse City, Mich., took the drug issue head-on:

"I support you whether you did anything or you didn't do anything," Kurt told Limbaugh. "People do things wrong in their life. It doesn't make them a bad person."

Other callers seconded Limbaugh's comments on ESPN, in which he accused journalists of excessively praising Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb out of a desire to advance black athletes. One caller said nobody complained about racism in the movie title "White Men Can't Jump."

But some chided Limbaugh for the way he said it.

"Mega free-speech dittos," said his first caller, Jerry in Wilton, Conn. But then he added: "I think you're a knucklehead for bringing up the racial aspect of the press coverage in a forum like the ESPN show, because it's basically a sound-bite forum."

"This was the place to say this," Limbaugh responded. "It's a football show!"

Limbaugh's show is syndicated to about 600 stations, said Keven Bellows, spokeswoman for Premier Radio Networks. In 2001, Limbaugh signed a nine-year, $285 million contract with the network, reportedly the richest deal in talk-radio history.

Other broadcasters have lost their careers because of remarks that were deemed racially insensitive. For instance, CBS football analyst Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder was fired in 1988 after saying blacks were "bred" to be athletes.

And Limbaugh has a throng of loyal, ideologically committed listeners to back him up, Thompson noted.

On the other hand, unlike many celebrities, Limbaugh can't slink away from public view until the controversy goes away. He has 15 hours of live air time to fill every week.

"I have to admit he finessed it pretty good," Thompson said after Friday's show. "He really did not come on today like a whipped dog.

[TASMANIANRED]

http://www.intrepidsoftware.com/fallacy/welcome.php

The above link is a gift to all you guys that have a real intrest in learning something about logic.

The rest of this is for the assistance of the blamebrains out there.
In reading the articles presented by the Enquirer et al there are a multitude of logical errors, Begging the question, amphiboly, composition and inconsistency being just a few.

An example of pulling one of these apart follows:

Given: habituation results from chronic opiate/opiod exposure and the decreased efficiency in the end target cells.

Given: addiction: is dependence on a substance in this case opiods because not having them produces with drawal symptoms. Addiction is associated with drug seeking behavior, escalating doses not for pain relief but for stimulation of the m1 (Mu 1 the receptor resposible for the experience of euphoria) receptors in the brain.

Given: people that are addicted can take staggering amts of pills. (Mentioned by one poster sighting an addiction researcher is 100 tabs of oxycontin daily.)

Given:antimicrobials, diuretics, nsaids, salicylates, aminoglycosides, antineoplastics, heavy metals can cause hearing loss.

Given: People who are addicted and require 100 tabs of narcotic a day are obsessed with the behavior of acquiring more drugs, experiencing and sustaining the euphoria along with avoiding the pain of withdrawal..


Statement: Rush has hearing loss and some drugs cause hearing loss therefore Rush has taken oxycontin or hydrocodone.
error: Opiate drugs do not cause hearing loss.

Statement: Rush had surgery, Rush took pain meds after surgery therfore Rush is addicted to pain meds.
Error:The vast majority of people that have surgery and take pain meds do not become addicted. Addiction to narcotics when used for pain management is the exception.

Statement: Rush displayed compulsive drug acquiring behavior in sleeping on his tablets, buying multi year supplies of the drug therefor he must be an addict.
error in internal contradiction: Rush is compulsive about preparing for his show, copious reading and preperation and in preparint thoughtful, concise coherent responses to the news and to callers. The clear thought of his daily performance to 20m listeners weekly is inconsistent with the lack of clear thought, the obsession of being laid back and euphoric demonstrated by addicts.

Statement: Ms Cline told the Enquirer Rush bought in excess of 44k pills therefore she told the police the same thing.
Error. Assumption. Ms. Cline could have told the police she was employed by Rush and everything told to the Enquirer is completely made up. There is no information on what she told the police other than the police saying Rush is not the target of the investigation.

Enough of the logic lession , you get my drift anyway and I'm not trying to write a book.

I do have one other observation, The street value of oxycontin is $1 per miligram. There are regional variances. The minimum mg per tablet is 10 mg but it goes up to 180mg in a tablet. Assuming his purchase of a minimum of 44k tabs street value would be 440k. Why aren't the police intrested in him. This is a major drug ring. Also wouldn't it be just like Rush to get one hell of a deal on illicit narcotics by buying bulk. The only money amts I have seen that implicate Rush is 2 transfers of 100K each. 50% off sale with his dealer...

[Pelham]

Any intelligent lawyer is going to advise his client to remain silent. You may not like it, but it's the only prudent course. It doesn't tell us one thing about the probability of his guilt.

Celebrities are constantly accused by the tabloids of doing all sorts of things. But tabloids can't do anything to you. They can't fine you. They can't jail you. You can respond to them or ignore them as you please. You don't need a lawyer to defend yourself against tabloid journalists, but you might want a lawyer to go on the offensive against them. There's absolutely no reason to remain silent in the face of their charges, and you can deny them as loudly as you wish.

On the other hand, if you suspected that you might be the target of a criminal investigation, you might want to say as little as possible.

[Walkin Man]

Funny, I listened to Rush on Friday and heard a scared man that fears someone has him on tape ordering massive quantities of Hillbilly Heroin.

I think the reason Rush refuses to talk about it is if he denies it all, then a tape of him doing the deed is released on the Internet, all of his credibility is shot.

[Pelham]

The puffiness in JFK's face was caused by cortisone. His medical use of that drug was public knowledge. His recreational drug use was another matter.

[GeorgiaYankee]

How on earth could anyone expect Limbaugh to discuss the drug allegations , when anything he says on air could come back and bite him on the *** in a court of law? He has to remain silent for now! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

CNN already did that. They used a quote of his from 2 yrs ago talking about all the drugs the Drs had him on, trying to stop the autoimmune inner ear disease that destroyed his hearing.

[des]

The Left hates Justice Thomas more than they hate Rush.

[Devil_Anse]

I don't recall that his illnesses, such as Addison's Disease, were public knowledge in 1961-63. Are you saying, OTOH, that he and his physician had announced to the world that he used cortisone (not saying that that is used for Addison's disease, presume it was used for injuries Kennedy'd had), back in the years he was president, or before? The drug my father mentioned I can't remember exactly; don't think it was cortisone. All I know is, my father was an expert on many drugs and illnesses and I trust his judgment.

[Pelham]

I had to take cortisone in those years for kidney disease, and I recall being aware that JFK had to use the same drug. I'm sure it's that coincidence which impressed such an obscure fact on my memory, although I don't remember where I heard it. I think he was said to be using it for a back injury he sustained in the PT109 incident.

[Former Proud Canadian]

His first name is Jeff and he was involved with an internet based talk radio effort that didn't make it. Now he is back with Rush.

[Former Proud Canadian]

James Golden, I think.