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.
What makes you think I haven‘t?
Everybody has pain and problems. The manner in which individuals deal with pain and problems is called character.
I don't criticize the man for being a drug addict; I criticise those people who mindlessly worshiped him.
While the bold faced words are largely suspected, Rush Limbaugh did not make that admission today. He did not deny them either, he said that there is an ongoing investigation. He also alleged that many of the statements made about him in the press have been untrue.
Please. Where do you think he got 5 years worth of highly addictive narcotics? From his doctor? I don't think so, unless the doc is willing to loose his license.
I'm not saying Rush was on the street corner buying or breaking into a drug store after they close, but he wasn't getting this stuff legally. If you believe otherwise, I *really* do have a bridge to sell.
Equal to Rush would be someone like Peter Jennings. What would the press and media be saying about Peter if he was addicted to pain killers and had to do a stint in rehab. The same standard or bar should be used on Rush.
I have a sneaky suspicion though that any such person, be it Rather, Jennings, or even from a lower standard of punditry like Moore, Franken, Dowd, Krugman, etc..., would be treated like a hero.
Men and women both in the limelight that are in music, film and media have been busted with illegal narcotics and simply given a slap on the wrist and a stint (or 2 or 5) in rehab. The standard should be the same.
We don't know the legality or illegality of how Rush got the pills, whether a Doctor over prescribed (often done for the wealthy and powerful) or he bought them illegally. Time will tell and I believe he should be responsible for his actions and held to a moral standard. Problem is, liberals morality is 'subjective' and their bar is very low... but only for liberals... err should I say 'progressives' now?
I have seen people on other threads question this assertion by saying that Rush is an active golfer.
If that is so, his pain can't be too bad.
Yes, but who gets to decide what “fair” means?
The Admin Moderators do – and so far they haven‘t objected to anything I‘ve written here. I posted my legitimate opinion concerning a current public event. I see nothing unfair about that.
Because it was nobodys business but his own and perhaps his wife's. Do you tell everybody everything about you? Hmmmmm? At least when the word got out he didn't resort to the "I didn't have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky, defense did he? You can't see class even when it hits you in the face.
An opinion based on what fact? To develop such an opinion I would guess you would have to listen to his show for weeks because the number of callers that make it on the air isn't very high. And then after the weeks and weeks of listening that created such an opinion, I would then question then what type of superiority complex you have. Not everyone is elequent with speech when placed on the air, but from what I have heard the intelligent outnumber the not so deep thinkers.
Ah, I see I've found a brother space faring brain surgeon! What local are you with? :)
As if a deep thinker is even needed to refute the liberal mantra. I mean, for a movement such as liberalism in America to reach it's mass support, it has to talk down to be understood. Al Gore, the intellectual leader of liberalism? Give me a break. Barbra Streisand? Ed Asner? The whole lot of them isn't equal to William F. Buckley.
It’s no wonder that druggie leftists get the kid-glove treatment while rightie addicts get nothing but a smirk and a chorus of laughter. “See? They‘re all hypocrites!” the liberals cry. “In your face, Mr. See-I-Told-You-So!”
My point in the essay has nothing to do with Mr. Limbaugh or his unfortunate addiction per se. My essay was about mindless worship of celebrities, whatever their politics are. I’m against such worship, and I hope this sad incident serves as a learning experience for those who center their politics on the thoughts of a single man.
My point is that it‘s not wise to be anybody’s “dittohead”.
Opinions are not necessarily based upon facts; an informed opinion may be based upon oberservations as well.
FYI: I was briefly hospitalized due to a serious back injury earlier this year. That’s neither here nor there, of course, but I do have some slight experience with agonizing lumbar pain, and with the effects of prescription pain medications.
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