Posted on 10/04/2003 3:56:14 AM PDT by 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.
My only point is that Rush may have lost hearing for the very reason he and his physicians have given - autoimmune disease. Unless, of course, we are to believe that he lied to his docs going into treatment. That makes about as much sense as lying to your shrink.
I wish Rush would invite some of the critical "sportscasters" and some of the congress people onto his show for a eye to eye toe to toe discussion of their "problem".
Guilty or not, Rush is doing the right thing by not trying his case in the media, unlike his accusers.
Oh please. 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.
How can we ever talk about racism without talking about what it means to say something racist?
That was the first post OR REPLY I've had pulled in my nearly three-year tenure at FR. I'm not opusing or whining, just frustrated, because now I'm afraid to even utter the word 'black'. How can we criticize the media for making people live in fear of being branded racists, and then be made to feel that way here? If anyone's interested, I'll email you the original post. I will respect Jim's right to pull it, and his request that I not repost it.
That's what the Left is trying to promote.
I like this idea.
Jeez... I stand in awe of his academic credentials. Bet he knows how to use that clicker reeel good!
I think it's time for a letter campaign to the AJC.
I've posted a lot of stories about and by blacks. I think it is imperative that we talk about who, why and what racism is all about - who it benefits and who it hurts. I say it benefits those who need the black constituency and it hurts the very blacks in that constituency. A dirty little racket if there ever was one.
I just said it will all pass and blow over.
The likelihood is that even if he did buy on the black market for personal use, he would not be prosecuted for any crime.
This all apparently happened during his trial and tribulations with the hearing loss. IMHO, the drugs were not responsible. I use OC (oxi-contin)twice a day for some four or five years now. It does cause a ringing in the ears which is a side effect and does result in some temporary degradation of hearing, but not any damage.
It is possible that he ran out or needed some pain killers to function and got involved in this mess, but I believe the quantities and other claims are bogus as hell.
If Rush had said McNabb was "overhyped," none of this would have happened. But, for a "highly trained broadcast professional" to say what he said, well, he deserved a little heat.
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