Rush Limbaugh Statement on Prescription Pain Medication Stories

PRNewswire (Yahoo) ^ | Friday October 10, 2:55 pm ET | Rush Limbaugh

[ThePythonicCow]

Press Release

Source: Premiere Radio

Rush Limbaugh Statement on Prescription Pain Medication Stories
Friday October 10, 2:55 pm ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Rush Limbaugh today issued the following statement on his radio program:

"You know I have always tried to be honest with you and open about my life. So I need to tell you today that part of what you have heard and read is correct. I am addicted to prescription pain medication.

"I first started taking prescription painkillers some years ago when my doctor prescribed them to treat post surgical pain following spinal surgery. Unfortunately, the surgery was unsuccessful and I continued to have severe pain in my lower back and also in my neck due to herniated discs. I am still experiencing that pain. Rather than opt for additional surgery for these conditions, I chose to treat the pain with prescribed medication. This medication turned out to be highly addictive.

"Over the past several years I have tried to break my dependence on pain pills and, in fact, twice checked myself into medical facilities in an attempt to do so. I have recently agreed with my physician about the next steps.

"Immediately following this broadcast, I am checking myself into a treatment center for the next 30 days to once and for all break the hold this highly addictive medication has on me. The show will continue during this time, of course, with an array of guest hosts you have come to know and respect.

"I am not making any excuses. You know, over the years athletes and celebrities have emerged from treatment centers to great fanfare and praise for conquering great demons. They are said to be great role models and examples for others. Well, I am no role model. I refuse to let anyone think I am doing something great here, when there are people you never hear about, who face long odds and never resort to such escapes. They are the role models. I am no victim and do not portray myself as such. I take full responsibility for my problem.

"At the present time, the authorities are conducting an investigation, and I have been asked to limit my public comments until this investigation is complete. So I will only say that the stories you have read and heard contain inaccuracies and distortions, which I will clear up when I am free to speak about them.

"I deeply appreciate all your support over this last tumultuous week. It has sustained me. I ask now for your prayers. I look forward to resuming our excursion into broadcast excellence together."

For audio/video clip(s) of Rush Limbaugh's on-air statement, please go to

www.rushlimbaugh.com and/or www.premieretalk.com.

---

Source: Premiere Radio

[sinkspur]

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Yes, it does, Huck.

It certainly does.

[jetson]

What an idiot. And he lectures the liberals.

You dolt...You probrably have never had real pain!

[Recovering_Democrat]

Oh, garbage. I listened to the guy from 1992 on, and only got to where I couldn't stand him about 2 years ago. He used to savage Marion Barry, and if some liberal would try to start programs for junkies, would go into that pompous whining voice of his while mocking problems.

Yeah, I listened to the same program. And as far as Marion Barry is concerned, he was right in my opinion. Marion Barry was dealing with an illegal substance, crack, and he was not a productive member of society.

No way am I making excuses for Rush: he didn't make them for himself today, if you had listened. The tone of his voice and the content of his words were one of completely accepting responsibility.

You know, the type of thinking you're exhibiting is the same as the hypocritic liberals who label Dick Cheney a "chickenhawk"--if he didn't serve in the military, how dare he promote the use of the military! Well, I just don't buy that.

In fact, I think Rush, if he gets through this struggle, will be just as anti-drug as he was before the painkiller addiction.

He was on top of the radio world 9-10 years before this addiction, and he stayed productive and on top of it for 5 years during the addiction.

What did Marion Barry ever accomplish? Here is your answer:

There is a difference between producers and looters. Rush is not a looter.

[gdani]

You do realize that those laws only apply to the little people.

I have unfortunately learned that lesson over & over -- even before the Clintons.......

[politicalwit]

I personally hold no sympathy for Rush. This person knew that he has a substance abuse problem yet did nothing to eliminate the problem. In fact it appears he went outside the legal medical community to "seek relief". It's time for Rush to step down and realize that he can no longer be the individual to set the "gold standard" for conservatism. It will take a long time for the movement to rehab itself of the tranished image this selfish individual has thrush upon us.

Tell us Rush...was it hit the golf ball and pop a pill? No more weak excuses from weak drug abusers please.

[Trailerpark Badass]

The backpedalling and equivocating here is just about more than I can take.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Then stop for a moment.

Think about how you yourself would wish to be judged. He has admitted that he has a problem, to the entire world!

And then think... should he be given a chance to redeem himself?

Because in my book, I don't know that I could stand up to the same harsh scrutiny. I am not perfect, and I would think the fact that he has painfully admitted this to the entire world shows just how vulnerable he is at the moment.

His addiction does not make any of his beliefs less valid, today, does it?

[conservativeammom]

Yes I do, and also in my calf muscles, sometimes it is more that I can stand. Warm moist heat helps to relax those muscles. I have noticed that when the seasons change I have more problems with the fibromyalgia. In the summer months I notice that it becomes worse and I experience more pain and spasms. I have these spasm quite frequently, it drives me nuts.

[sinkspur]

I for one, will never look at Rush in the same way I once did.

Nor will I. He's BETTER, to me.

Human beings do things like this.

FR is judgment central, but we should be very careful when denigrating other people for some human failing.

[pgyanke]

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Oooooo, you might be in a little trouble then...

[gdani]

His addiction does not make any of his beliefs less valid, today, does it?

Yes -- it makes his support for the War on Drugs less valid.

[Catspaw]

He needs treatment and will get it. He will return to his program.

I hope no one puts pressure on him to return in exactly 30 days. Rehab is difficult enough and he's going to have to confront his demons and conquer them. He won't be treated any different than any other patient in rehab. (He may not even be able to smoke, unless it's outside.)

He may even relapse.

The focus shouldn't be on whether Rush can return to his program, but whether he can get clean and stay clean.

[SJackson]

In fact, I think Rush, if he gets through this struggle, will be just as anti-drug as he was before the painkiller addiction.

I wish him the best, but if it turns out he obtained his medication illegally, and he still supports criminal charges for possession for personal use, or confiscation of property, he's a hypocrite.

[Huck]

Oooooo, you might be in a little trouble then...

What did I do?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I guess I don't see him in this light. I have never seen him or Bill Bennett for that matter as the Gods of Morality or Right and Wrong. I have always seen them as highly successful people who echo some of my beliefs... but not all. Rush is an entertainer, isn't he... or is it that you see him as a teacher?

[MrConfettiMan]

Ever hear of Robert Downey, Jr? I thought it was three strikes and your out in CA. No, four. No, wait five... *snicker*

[ThePythonicCow]

You do realize that those laws only apply to the little people.

I hope Rush uses all legal means at his disposal to defend his legal case, while acknowledging that it is the duty of our police and justice systems to prosecute crimes.

He would not, I hope, deprive the lowest scum crack dealer of legal defense, and I'm sure he won't deprive himself of such.

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

This is the kind of thing that shows who is a real conservative, and who is an opportunist who "pretends" conservatism because it happens to agree with some of his own opinions.

The difference between the left and the right is pretty simple. For thousands of years, politics had been about replacing the "bad" rulers with the "good" rulers. The basic philosophy of the left has always been that a just society must be a product of the "right" men, and that the failure of a society to be just is an indictment of the people involved, and not the ideas or system on which it rests (just ask any leftist why communist Russia failed).

Then came the Anglo-Irish (and Scottish) philosophers, the fathers of the right, who explained that a government or an idea succeeds or fails, not because of the people that expouse it, but because of the system that it establishes. This is the crux of the argument for a government of laws, not men.

Even today, leftists will argue that the problem is the wrong people (ie. not them) are in charge; that the messenger is the messsage. This is why their ideas are inferior. And this is why the right is superior; because they recognize that the system determines the outcome (hence our Founding Fathers' attempts to make a government of checks and balances, instead of a government that depended upon "good" men to work well). This is why I feel no need to discard any of Limbaugh's books, because my purchase of them was not based on his character or his "nobility." It was based on the fact that the ideas he expressed in his books (and on his radio show) were the truth. While certainly disappointed, I never invested anything in his "purity," as it is only his ideas that matter to me. If Adolf Hitler declared that the Earth was round, would that make it flat? No, it would still be round, regardless of the character of the person declaring so.

Your last post (and many others you have made in the past) simply reinforces the increasingly obvious fact that, regardless of what you say about yourself or what ideas you claim to hold, you think like a leftist...

[pgyanke]

illegaly aquired perscription drugs are illegal drugs.

True. Now, do you have a single, credible source that these were acquired illegally?