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.
Don't worry about Rush. He can take care of himself.
I liked the way he turned it all into a joke about Bob Dole.
The question that interests me is, who precisely are these "authorities" at the airport who searched his luggage?
Doesn't customs normally have that responsibility? Don't they belong to the federal government? Who put them up to it?
It's the same question people had when Elian Gonzalez was chased into the closet where he was hiding. Who, exactly, was that guy holding the gun on him? I think we have the right to know these details.
A charge to which Limbaugh pleaded NOT GUILTY. (Just adding a little more FACT which WND saw fit to omit).
If the PB DA had anything whatsoever of substance on Rush, he'd filed charges so fast it would've made our heads spin. As it was (and is with the Viagra, I believe) the Palm Beach DA had squat.
My doctor often gives me samples of prescription drugs that he wants me to try out before he prescribes them on a longer basis. So I can plan on being held at the airport and reported to the AP if I have some in my bag???
I don't think you have anything to worry about - samples aren't the issue. IF you have medication that appears to have been prescribed to someone else, that could be a problem.
Yes, that was masterful. Viagra on loan from....Bob!
He reached an agreement with the prosecutor that if he stayed clean for a period of time the case filed would be dropped. That's not a plea, nor probation.
If you tell jokes to the customs people and a lot of people know you, you can get on the AP.
"Doing battle with the idiot prosecutors with half my...uhhhh.....brain! tied behind my back."
I wonder why Rush doesnt get his own prescription of Viagra?
Has he learned nothing from his first run-in from Oxy-Contin abuse?
Nice trick.
Leni
and sharks, don't forget the sharks.
"Did anybody see the Weasley Boy on O'Reilly tonight? I almost blew out the TV, but the gun wasn't loaded."
Tivo taped the O'Reilly show for me, which is an improvement, because it had been taping Jon Stewart which infuriated me.
I know, I know, but it's kinda interesting to see what it does. Anyway, I watched the interview with Tony but was gonna fast forward to the Rush stuff.
Was Wesley worth watching??? Don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question.
So there is a real story out there for someone to find. that is - who set up this conspiracy. Probably money exchanged hands to kick this off.
Throw a battery in the trash - a felony. Pick up the wrong kind of feather on a walk in the woods - a felony. Repair your electric socket, hang a lamp in the wrong place, step on a rare flower, feed a squirrel, get rid of a squirrel, drain a pool of rainwater, use a radar detector in the wrong state, take an antihistamine and drive, use the wrong words to express yourself in earshot of a complainer, they've got you. Pretty soon, I understand, possessing vitamin C in doses greater than 100 mg will be a crime.
It's probably a short-life story, but even the sports shows the DP listens to were talking about it yesterday.
It got huge play, and it is an absolute disgrace the way Rush was treated.
They just did it to embarrass him about the Viagra. I mean that is one of the most prescribed drugs. It's totally taken by tons of guys, although they may not want to admit it.
Well, it WAS O'Reilly, and he talked to this "General" (not the guys who served with him)with the utmost respect (and I suppose that's what he HAD to do) Fox puts these guys on so we can SEE WHO THEY ARE.
I'm NOT a TV personality, OR a politician OR anybody who has to grovel before the likes of WEASLEY Clark. He's a self-serving, greedy, power-hungry CREEP who would rather sell his country down the river than actually have to GROW A SPINE.
Sorry. I'm gonna ignore you.
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