Posted on 10/10/2003 4:42:38 PM PDT by B-Chan
Popular radio show host Rush Limbaugh revealed today that he is addicted to illegally-obtained prescription painkillers and is entering a rehabilitation program for substance abusers.
His supporters have “rushed” to defend their idol, running around clucking about how this is really all no big deal. Well, I’m sorry to say, it is a big deal, and the legions of Rush Limbaugh devotees are just going to have to deal with the pain. It’s always devastating to find out your idol has feet of clay. “Say it ain’t so, Joe!”
I, however, am not among the breast-beaters and sackcloth-wearers who are crying in the streets over their toppled god. Frankly, I never understood what was so great about the Rush Limbaugh program. The man was a self-admitted entertainer, not a real political thinker; his brand of rubber-chicken, Chamber-Of-Commerce conservatism has as much to do with historic and traditional conservative thought as Coors Light has to do with real beer - they contain the same basic ingedients, true, but one is watered down for easy-drinkin’ smoothness, with no bitter intellectual aftertaste.
(Speaking of Coors Light, why was it that so many of the good ol’ boys that called in to Mr. Limbaugh’s show with their “cawmints” seemed to be drywall contractors cellphoning from their pickup trucks while driving home to Lewisville? Limbaugh’s listeners were good people, mind you, but not the deepest thinkers in the world.
Not that there‘s anything wrong with that. My point is that Mr. Limbaugh’s show was meant as mass entertainment, not serious politics.)
I guess one reason I never got hooked on Rush (to make a bad pun) was that his fan base kind of freaked me out. Cults-of-personality just make me feel weird. The frenzied worship many of Limbaugh’s fans showed towards him in public was positively embarrassing at times: behavior on the level of the kids who wear Star Trek uniforms to school or spend hours writing elegies in Elvish for fallen Glorfindel of Rivendell. In sci-fi terms, Rush Limbaugh was the Gene Roddenberry of American conservatism, with his own brand of Trekkies; it must be a bummer to realize that the Great Bird of the Galaxy is just another Hollywood sleazebag like everyone else in showbiz
The problem is that people have a natural tendency to make their heroes into larger-than-life supermen, and in so doing they set themselves up for inevitable disappointment. Limbaugh is not the political genius his followers see him to be — he is a showman. I agreed with a good bit of what Mr. Limbaugh had to say on the few occasions when I tuned in to his show over the years, but it was obvious to me from the beginning that most of it was pure schtick, complete with sound effects, zingers, and catchphrases. (The latter were the most cringeworthy; I always found talk of “el Rushbo”, the ”Maharushi”, and the “Golden Microphone” to be intensely stupid, and his constant talk of “excellence” conjured up images of the kind of profound Mission Statements one sees plastered on the walls of companies run by sleazy go-getters. “SlimeCorp — Maximizing Excellence!” Give me a break!)
Anyone who took Limbaugh seriously has got to be hurting right now; finding out that anti-drug Rush is a closet pill-popper has gotta be like finding out that Art Bell doesn’t really believe in the Chupacabra. I feel for his fans — but I hope they’ve learned the lesson in all this: all men are flawed; never get too excited about any one man.
My prayers go out to Mr. Limbaugh’s loved ones. May God grant him a speedy recovery, and may those who looked upon him as more than human finally get the message.
POST OF THE YEAR!!!
This is the truth that dare not speak it's name.
You nailed it, by God.
Let the Freeple bleat.
Your call.
What are the odds this sanctimonious blabbermouth would be living under a nest of branches and dirt without the people who actually make the world we live in. I'm willing to bet money this MF couldn't build a doghouse in three tries.
Ah, so it wasn't an isolated incident. It happened to me, too.
Rush didn't lie, he didn't commit adultery, he didn't commit perjury, he didn't rape, he didn't grope, he didn't cheat. He wasn't even hypocritical -- because his point has always been that people can't help themselves around certain drugs and thus usage of such drugs has to be restricted.
Rush was taking painkillers because he is in enormous physical pain from botched back surgery. This is somewhat different than using drugs for recreational purposes. May the writer of this piece never have to lay awake at night for years on end, unable to sleep because of the constant agony. But maybe a few months of such torment would cause him to be less inclined to belittle the behavior of those who have endured such physical trial.
That kind of shallow thinking trips my trigger.
NOT!!! He is one of the ALL TIME GREAT Political thinkers who has influenced this entire country!! He knows that.....we ALL know that , like it or not! I am not condoning getting hooked on prescription drugs, but that doesn't make his political knowledge WRONG.
.
POST OF THE YEAR!!!
This is the truth that dare not speak its name.
Why, thank you, Don-O.
BRAVO!
'm a Rush lovin' Theep Dinker!!!
So... why don'tcha trash me too???
Because I don‘t waste time trashing anybody.
Suggestion: Don't click on 'em. Some of us have had a busy week of actual work. I like this thread to get caught up.
Dear Mr. Gunslingr3:
Please review the Forum Rules regarding ad hominem posts.
Sincerely,
B-Chan
Uhhh, do you have any specifics or are you just doing some au priori arm waving in order to crow a bit?
Of course, you have a right to your own opinions, but they are only your opinions.
Sorry i was excited happy now ? Ive been listening to Rush for 13 years these people make me sick they are scum!
So i wonder who changed the original thread from what it was to what it is now? HMMMMMMMMMM
By the way: a sincere apology is generally considered the best followup to one’s own ill-considered ad hominem attack.
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