Posted on 06/28/2006 6:04:09 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is coming to the defense of his radio competitor Rush Limbaugh, claiming authorities in Palm Beach County, Fla., are "out to get" the conservative talk-show host, and are maliciously targeting him for prosecution.
"He is an American," O'Reilly said of Limbaugh last night on "The O'Reilly Factor," "and I believe powerful people in his home county are trying unjustly to harm him."
On Monday, Limbaugh was held up for more than three hours at Palm Beach International Airport after authorities found a bottle of Viagra pills in his possession prescribed to someone else.
Roy Black, Limbaugh's attorney, issued a statement noting a doctor had prescribed the drug, but it was "labeled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh for privacy purposes."
Though Limbaugh was not arrested, O'Reilly noted it was unusual authorities checked the shaving kits of people flying on private planes, and that the story was leaked to the press almost immediately.
"This is malicious, and this is unnecessary," said O'Reilly. "I only can conclude that in Palm Beach, where Mr. Limbaugh lives, they're out to get this guy."
O'Reilly said he had no vested interest in coming to Limbaugh's defense, having met the fellow broadcaster only "once for about 10 seconds," but he ripped local officials for trying to destroy the most listened to man in the history of radio.
"It was a malicious, cheap, cheap tactic by the Palm Beach authorities, and they ought to be ashamed of themselves," he said. "If I were Limbaugh, I'd move right on out of there. I'd get out of there. ... This is a political persecution. That's what this is."
As WND previously reported, the state attorney's office is reviewing the case after being supplied a report from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
"We believe there may be a second-degree misdemeanor violation, which is possession of certain drugs without a prescription, because the bottle does not have his name on it," sheriff's spokesman Paul Miller told the Associated Press.
On Limbaugh's radio broadcast yesterday, he made light of the whole affair.
"I've been racking my brain. I'm trying to figure out how Bob Dole's luggage got on my airplane," Limbaugh clowned. "I told the doctor, I said, 'Look, I'm worried about the next election, not ... .'"
Former Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas is well-known for his use and endorsement of Viagra, a male sexual-enhancement drug.
In April, Limbaugh and the Florida state attorney, Democrat Barry Krischer, reached a settlement in a long-running prescription-drug investigation of the conservative radio giant, who termed the matter a political witch hunt as well as a "fishing expedition" by prosecutors.
Under the agreement, a single charge of doctor shopping was to be dismissed in 18 months if Limbaugh continues to seek treatment from the doctor he has seen for the past two and a half years for back pain.
Ooooooooooooooooo! Did Rush kiss Chloe? ;)
Limbaugh should move out of that County. And the Administraion should investigate its Customs procedures.
How many New Yorkers live in that County?
Rush ought to say that the treatment works great, his life is great, he feels great, and he would recommend it to anyone who could benefit by it. End of story.
I put my medicine in my thigh pocket(I wear baggy pants) before I go to work everyday. Is that a crime? If the thugs pull me over because I have the wrong paint on my car at a stoplight I'm sure they would write a 'ticket' first and ask questions later.
I liked the way he turned it all into a joke about Bob Dole
Actually, it was homage to Sen. Dole, who paved the way to a good chuckle.
However, Mr. O'Reilly believes that it is Okay for authorities to search the Shaving Kits of those of us who must travel on commercial aircraft.
If that is true it must be some obscure Health and Safety code.
I carry my meds in a pill box and I use the 7 day pill dispensers you buy at the drug store when on vacation. I order my RX's by mail and it is for a 3 month supply and the bottles are very large. I never carry those bottles with me.
Thanks for the ping!
I think we DO agree, mor than "sort of"...go back and see which part you disagree with, and make sure _I_ actually said it...
I swear this guy is the loosest cannon on the airwaves. I don't think O"R even cares what he's saying half the time. He just fires from the lip for the widest effect on the viewing audience.
One thing is certain.....he has absolutely no true basic grounding in conservative, nationalistic or free enterprise principles.
He inveighs against moral equivalency when he indulges in it himself.
He's the type who just for ratings could vehemently argue both sides of an ideological or spiritual question without the slightest twinge of conscience.
He's really beginning to creep me out as my sixth sense sends out negative signals to me about this man.
I don't fall for the conservative crumbs he throws out as the total mark of a politically-upright individual.
IMO, Bonhomme Bill has a very dark and sometimes dangerous contrarian side.
Leni
It's called being a sophist.
Yeah, if this charge doesn't work out, maybe they can get him for jaywalking or spitting on the sidewalk. Rush would deserve hard time for that.
He can broadcast from my auto shop in Mo.
True, but the way it was reported in the media, Viagra is illegal.
We'd love to have him move to TEXAS!!! I know he likes the beach and we have great beaches!! Come on over, Rush, it's a better neighborhood than where you live now!
I'm putting out the welcome mat right now.
He's always welcome in TEXAS!!!
Actor Ed Asner was quoted (after they went after Rush the first time, and got Tom DeLay indicted) as saying, "Hannity is next".
Um, what's the difference between a gang forcing businesses to pay "protection" and a govt forcing businesses to pay even more?
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