Rushing to Rehab

Limbaugh has come partially clean, and is off to detox (again).

Comments

[Anonymous]

Has someone kept a list of drug warriors who have had addiction problems? It'd be a useful reference.

[dhex]

"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."

yes, i'm not making excuses. i'm merely anthropomorphizing immobile, non-sentient PILLS!!!!!

[Dave]

Shouldn't all conservatives be calling for him to be thrown in jail? Maybe seize some valuable assets? Maybe the local police would like to use his limo as a new D.A.R.E vehcile.

Or does he drive himself to work? Did he drive under the influence too? Oh no!! All those children put at risk on the road while he rushed to work, high as a kite.

Isn't he contributing to the terrorism too? Don't all drug users?

[C]

Rush says that he was in a lot of pain due to surgery. Maybe he could've benefited a little bit from the medical marijuana.

But whenever anyone calls his show to dare suggest that their might be a good case to not imprison people for taking drugs, he makes some disparaging remark about "the potheads being up in arms."

What a hypocrite.

Am I a bad person for hoping he gets thrown in jail?

[crap-action-jackson]

"I am addicted to prescription pain medication"
The asshole can't even say the word "drugs".

[Anonymous]

put him in jail and throw the keys away -- he is a danger to society -- drug users -- huh -- how did he manage to hold a job down all these years when he was addicted? I thought people couldn't handle drugs...

[Richard]

Dave, compassionate conservatism allows us to treat Limbaugh to a double standard.

I actually don't think he is being treated with a double standard yet. Afterall, there is an ongoing investigation. Even if he was abusing his prescription, our laws punish the seller much more harshly than the user/abuser. Limbaugh has never been convicted of drug-related offenses and as such, he should be treated as any first time arrestee...that is if he is ever prosecuted.

"...contributing to terrorism..."
Purdue Pharma and Abbott Labs may be terrorist fronts, but I seriously doubt that terrorists have the time to comply with FDA and SEC requirements on disclosure...but still a funny comment though irrelevent unless there is a link between the illegally purchased pills (if they were illegally purchased).

dhex...Limbaugh is right when it comes to sports and substance abusers...as the following will atest to...I can't remember any of these guys being convicted for possession.

"After Howe tested positive for cocaine three times in November, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended him for the 1984 season to protect the "image of baseball." Howe wasn't the only player going to the sidelines for substance abuse, as Royals players Willie Wilson, Willie Aikens, and Jerry Martin all failed their own tests, setting off a trend in the 1980s that would see dozens of players enter clinics and absorb suspensions and fines." Courtesy of http://www.baseballlibrary.com

Willie Wilson is the notable exception as in 1983 he did plead guilty to attempt to possess, but he went on to great fanfare by hitting .367 in the 1985 I-70 World Series.

Darryl Strawberry??? How many chances did he get?

[NoStar]

Rush's new motto: TALENT ON LOAN FROM ABBOT LABS,
makers of Oxy-Contin.

Next we'll find out that his weight loss was due to the Jenny Crank Diet.

[dude]

I'm sure the right-wing drug warrior types will insist that he be locked away for 10 or 20 years, right? Right? That'd be best for America and the Children.

[Jesse Walker]

My friend Des forwards a quote from Fred Sanford: "He who liveth by the sword shall be stucketh."

[thoreau]

I saw something about drugs at a house of his in Florida, and I know he works in New York. If this is an interstate crime, then he could go to federal prison.

I'm sure John Walters is on top of this situation.

[Andy]

I wonder if Rush will have to admit to himself, another person, and God that he is helpless against his addiction. I also wonder if there's some correlation between a person being a drug warrier and being unable to control addictions. Maybe if you know that you couldn't control a drug addiction yourself, then you're likely to forbid drugs to everyone, because that's the only way you could possibly abstain. I wonder how many drug warriers would be passed out on the sidewalk if drugs were legal.

[dhex]

sure, he's right...but pills ain't demons. pills actually exist, for starters 🙂

it's another version of the "devil made me do it" dance, something that when it came to economic failings i'm sure rush was all over it (i.e. society made me do it)

it's just fun to see the swaggart syndrome in full effect.

[jm blckbrn]

i think the greatest thing about this that i've read is that the housekeeper/drug connection actually took limbaugh's lawyer's bribe to not disclose, then she hired her own lawyer and went and squealed to the gov't, and then, presumably, to the enquirer, presumably getting paid by them too. (i also wonder if the housekeeper was legal, a la clinton's pre-reno appointees for atty. gen.) jeez, who can you trust these days?

[David Tomlin]

I'm sorry to say, dhex, that you need some work on your reading comprehension. You are attributing to Rush views that he attributed to others, and then expressly disagreed with.

[Anonymous]

Purdue Pharma and Abbott Labs may be terrorist fronts, but I seriously doubt that terrorists have the time to comply with FDA and SEC requirements on disclosure...but still a funny comment though irrelevent unless there is a link between the illegally purchased pills (if they were illegally purchased).

Just like those TV ads are irrelevant until somebody establishes a link between buying weed and Osama Bin Laden

[Dave]

Richard,

I believe his pills, otherwise known as "hillbilly herion" were purchased illegally. Of course he isn't really contributing to terrorism either way, but the drug warriors have tried to conect all drug users with terrorism, so I think it's fair for those same drug warriors to come out and say Rush helped fund terrorism. Remember the commercial about the kid who helped kill a judge because he purchased marijuana? Same idea.

Also if he really used as much as is rumored he would have to have had a large stash at any given time. If anyone else gets found with such a large stash... it's assumed "intent to distribute." But maybe that's only us regular people.

[mike]

how many times did he mention "addictive"? come on, take it like a man and just admit its your personality, not the drug, that is the problem. (same to Bennett)

[R.C. Dean]

dhex misses the point completely - Limbaugh is saying that all the hoopla for overcoming addiction is BS, and he doesn't want it slathered over him. He is saying that pills and addictions aren't demons, and I read his statement as saying that this is a personal failing that he takes responsibility for.

Its a little early to speculate on criminal charges when we don't have any idea, yet, what the facts might be. My guess is that at this point there are no pills laying around and no evidence of reckless behavior, and so no basis for a criminal action. Sorry, but you won't get to see one of your ideological opponents locked up.

Not that you should want to see your ideological opponents locked up anyway. All told, nice show of compassion, gang. Way to sink to the level of Democratic Underground. Remember, we are supposed to be the good guys. Try to act like it occassionally.

[thoreau]

I think the calls for incarceration were sarcasm (mine were). What could be more ridiculous than locking up Rush Limbaugh for doing something that has hurt only himself?

The calls for incarceration are just a way of saying to conservatives "Come on, you can't be serious about locking people up for drug use, can you?"

[David Tomlin]

As a libertarian, I count the vast majority of the population as ideological opponents. It would be absurd for my to wish all of them in jail.

I do want Rush to go to jail if he has violated drug laws, because seeing drug warriors locked up under the very laws they defend might make some people think twice about the whole idea of prohibition.

[Anonymous]

Wow! Conservatives are human too? Oh, say it isn't so.

[Warren]

Rush seems to be walking a line. If he says he "takes responsibility for his actions" but doesn't actually pay any significant penalty it will be seen as disingenuous. If however, he does a full mia culpa and cries on the air he gets a walk, free and clear.

[Kevin]

Thoreau:

Rush actually does his show from Fla. these days.

[Mark S.]

"I do want Rush to go to jail if he has violated drug laws, because seeing drug warriors locked up under the very laws they defend might make some people think twice about the whole idea of prohibition."

I doubt it will happen that way. Rush could easily come back and say that he has seen just how "terrible" his drug addiction was and could claim that he is now for prohibition more than ever. It all depends on how you spin it.

Personally, I don't think that this is going to hurt Rush all that much. Yes, he'll lose some of the more hard-core righty audience, despite his confession. However, if he plays the "treatment" card right and escapes any prosecution, the average "ditto-head" will be more than likely to forgive him. Conservatives already see themselves as victims of media persecution and will claim--rightly or wrongly--that Rush is the target of a double-standard that treats his drug abuse worse than "liberals" like Robert Downey Jr. or Ozzy Osbourne.

Meanwhile Rush's liberal critics all ready hate him to begin with. Limbaugh could have been caught for jaywalking and they'd be calling for his head.

As a libertarian who thinks the "War On Drugs" is wasteful, immoral, and unconstitutional, I confess that it is sort of fun to watch him twist in the wind.

[Kevin Carson]

I'm pretty sure I saw an opinion piece by Limbaugh four years ago arguing that ending the drug war would be the best way to fight the FARC and Shining Path. It would end black market drug prices as a source of funding.

[s.m. koppelman]

Once again, the National Enquirer has put the "serious" press to shame.

I wonder if his insurance company will make him reimburse to them some of they've paid out for the treatment he recieved while he was going deaf and for the cochlear implant, therapy and followup he's gotten since, now that all signs point to his hearing loss being due to long-term painkiller abuse.

[Mark.]

Yes. That is the most likely outcome of this scandal.

and then monkeys flew out of your butt.

It's a nice dream, but is more likely that Rush will go thru rehab and see a decline in his overall influence, followed by a slow fade into obscurity as his corporate masters ease him out, but not suffer any serious consequences otherwise.

Government policy will blunder along status quo, ruining countless lives for another 10-20 years before the issue is revisited by anyone with real influence. Can't see all the DEA or thousands of crappy little towns across America giving up the revenue generated by DARE programs, property seizures and new prisons.

[Rick Barton]

This has got to be a great time to press the case
for legalization. Rush's millions of listeners will be receptive as never before. It's certainly worth a try.

[Rick Barton]

"If prison is good enough for Tommy Chong and a lot of other less famous drug users, it's a good place for Rush too."

We shouldn't be wishing for the Hell of the drug war to be visited on anyone. We should be thinking of ways to use this to end, or at least mitigate, the "war on drugs". This situation ought to be looked at as an opportunity.

[Dave]

I wonder if Rush pawned that Golden EIB microphone for drugs?

[brian]

Rush should go to jail for a long time so that he may truly understand just how badly drug abuse can fuck up his life.

[Brian Hawkins]

Andy--

While I don't fully share your optimism (believe me, I wish I could), I do agree that the sort of broad-based, multipartisan changes in attitudes about the drug war that you described are what have to occur for any significant change in this country's drug policy to happen. As long as it is just a libertarian or green issue, nothing will change.

Whether you like him or hate him (I'm pretty ambivalent myself), Rush Limbaugh is an extremely effective and persuasive communicator. It'd be great to have him in our camp.

But I'm not holding my breath.

[Anonymous]

Rush's case highlights the class warfare aspect of the "War on Drugs" that makes drug prohibition as much an act of demagoguery as liberals' claim that conservatives are on a crusade to see that all elderly people live on the streets and eat dog food. Most who are aware of Rush's addiction, including Rush himself, recognize that Rush's addiction is crime against himself and not the rest of society. Of course, when we look at drugs other than those that we can get in a nice Rx bag and paid in large part by insurance, we are perfectly happy to assume that their relatively poor users are going to undermine every aspect of civilized society in their self-destruction.

Interestingly enough, you could probably establish a very strong link between drug abuse in affluent suburbs and a very serious felony offense, and do a better job than is presently done with linking marijuana to violent crime and terrorism. While it sounds as though Rush did pay in full for his drugs, many wealthy drug users tap their excellent insurance benefits and commit insurance fraud to fund their addictions. Maybe liberals' demand for prescription drug coverage is based on a desire to switch all addicts to drugs that will be subsidized by the rest of us and will not result in raids on people's homes in the middle of the night.

Of course, if that is their goal, then maybe the simpler plan is to repeal drug laws and afford the poor the right to buy marijuana and cocaine safely and without fear as every third middle-aged North Shore resident enjoys his/her Vicodin.

[Anonymous]

Gene Healy thinks it's "perverse" for some of us to hope for Rush's incarceration.

http://www.affbrainwash.com/genehealy/

I wonder why he didn't make a quick post to tell us so himself. I'd guess lack of guts, except I never thought it took much courage (any, really), to risk people getting mad at me on the internet.

Gene links to another article, which credits Rush with speaking up for legalization in 1998.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16923

I find it hard to swallow that this remark isn't sarcastic. The thrust is "drugs should be legal, so liberals will hate them as much as tobacco". There's nothing that looks like a serious argument against prohibition.

I haven't listened to Rush in a long time. Does anyone have a drug war quote from, say, the last year?

[Andy]

Brian Hawkins: "While I don't fully share your optism..."

Really, I don't share my optimism either:) My above contribution was my musings about a better world... call it "Lala Land". One aspect in which Lala Land differs from the real world is that in the real world, if drug legalisation were to make any headway, the drug warriers would make sure that intermediate steps would undermine anti-drug-war ideology.

Like... legalize marijuana for medical purposes while keeping other uses illegal. Marijuana use will shoot up because many people will try to get weed by cheating the "legitimate" avenues and law enforcement will be instructed to follow the letter of the law to arrest as many people as possible, artificially inflating marijuana use stats. Drug warriers will say, "See!, we take a small step towards decriminilisation and BOOM!, massive increases in use!!! What about the children? The law must crack its whip!"

If anyone else would care to shoot down my Lala Land, feel free:)

[Andy]

I quoted Brian Hawkins saying

>"While I don't fully share your optism..."

But I mangled that last word, which he spelled correctly. Sorry about that.

[Dave]

Bill Bennet gets caught gambling. Rush gets caught popping pills. Next, Ashcroft is going to get caught dancing.

[David Tomlin]

"If prison is good enough for Tommy Chong and a lot of other less famous drug users, it's a good place for Rush too."

Ditto.

"Then we can give the airways back to him . . ."

Hey, there's no reason he can't do his show from the Big House. They can take 90% of his earnings as compensation for all the harm he's done to society.

"Rush should go to jail for a long time so that he may truly understand just how badly drug abuse can fuck up his life."

Megadittoes.

[David Tomlin]

Is there even the tiniest reason to suspect some drug deals took place in a house that Rush owns?
The house should be seized at once. Rush can sue to get it back, with the burden of proof on him to show there were no drug deals there.

That's "justice" for the rest of us.

[Andy]

I'm an optimist. This is what I want to see happen. Rush goes to rehab and undergoes group therapy. He talks with other addicts who have dealt with the criminal justice department's attitude toward drugs. He sees the contradictions in the war on drugs in general, and comes to the conclusion that all drugs should be decriminalized. He recovers from his addiction. He goes on the airwaves and convinces his vast herd of dittoheads that the war on drugs should be ended NOW. Republicans begin to adopt this idea for fear of losing a massive voting bloc. Left-wing liberals are invigorated by this upsurge in anti-anti-drug ideology and stop voting for Democrats in favor of greens who support decriminalization. Democrats become anti-drug-war too for fear of losing left-liberal votes. Soon, benefits from the small step in anti-drug-war legislation are apparent, snowballing into the inevitable Total Decriminalization Legislation.

Yes. That is the most likely outcome of this scandal.

[Mark.]

Another moralizing blowhard bites the dust. Frankly, I surprised he didn't try to figure out some way to blame Clinton.

So now that the facts have come out...
(well sort of, he soft pedalled his 3 year opiate jones as addicted to pain medication Hey pal, I've got news for you-all drug use is pain medication of a sort.)

We should ask ourselves what should we as a society should do with drug users? Turns out, the man himself has some ideas...

Oct. 5, 1995

"Too many whites are getting away with drug use. Too many whites are getting away with drug sales. Too many whites are getting away with trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too."

I really, really would like to see his smug, judgemental ass go through a couple more grueling rehabs, a couple of embarassing public relapses, a 5th grueling rehab and then spend several years in the big house. If prison is good enough for Tommy Chong and a lot of other less famous drug users, it's a good place for Rush too. Then we can give the airwaves back to him and see how his perspective has changed.

Of course, the moment he quits selling easy answers and conservative moral superiority to the dittoheads, they're likely to turn their backs on him.

Since he's a rich white guy real jail is unlikely to happen, so the next best thing I can hope for is for him to become an advocate to change our stupid national drug policy.

By the way, how do you suppose he would have reacted had it been Hilary Clinton or AL Franken that was caught using?

[M. Simon]

Remember it took 40 years in the desert for Moses to free the Jews of the slave mentality.

Drug war superstition will be no different.

Rush or no.

[joe]

'We shouldn't be wishing for the Hell of the drug war to be visited on anyone.' We should be wishing for this particular Hell to be visited on those responsible for actively promoting the Drug War.

'We should be thinking of ways to use this to end, or at least mitigate, the "war on drugs".' Forcing Drug Warriors like Limbaugh to confront the consequences of their actions is an important step in ending, or at least mitigating, the WOD.

'This situation ought to be looked at as an opportunity.' Indeed it should. See above.

[Anonymous]

"Forcing Drug Warriors like Limbaugh to confront the consequences of their actions is an important step in ending, or at least mitigating, the WOD."

Ditto.

[Anonymous]

http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=99&contentid=960&page=2

or (alternate link to same site)

http://tinyurl/qodv

Several Rush quotes supporting drug prohibition, from 1993 to 1995. I still haven't found anything later than 1995. Rush may have stopped talking about the issue, without repudiating his previous views. Pending contrary evidence, I think it is fair to consider him a drug warrior.

[David Tomlin]

Check out the satire.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0310/S00051.htm

The last two posts were mine. I just realized my info was lost.

[SteveInClearwater]

Friendly suggestion to those members who recognize the chance for significant change in the public dialouge that Limbaugh's story creates:

Write some letters to the editor of your local newspaper(s) and express exactly what you're inspired to say here on Hit and Run.

Getting printed is easy if you follow a couple of simple guidelines (see below). Usually, an LTE must be in response to a story or Opinion item from the target newspaper, so competition for getting printed is increased.

However in this story, you have an excellent chance to get printed not only now, but in coming months as the story's various chapters unfold.

For a complete list of all newspaper Contact links for LTE, see our homepage. Scroll to bottom of page and use MEDIA LINKS.

Follow the suggested tips below and you're POV on this topic will be seen by the most educated and civic minded readers of each paper's circulation area.

Oh, these tips are not new, but simply offered to help anyone not versed in active LTE writing.

Peace,

Steve in Clearwater
~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) The shorter the better. Most papers will cite a Word Count maximum, but generally 200 words or less is best.

2) Be factual. You don't always have to cite your source info for stats etc, but it's important to be accurate.

3) Avoid undue sarcasm, ad hominems, and personal blasts. Your POV has merit without these.

4) If you write to more than one paper in your area, change the basic message to keep each unique if the papers' readership overlaps.

Finally, if you get letter(s) printed, please consider forwarding news of such to me and I'll see to it that it is added to our online archive of drug policy related news and opinion items going back for the past seven years. (Over 118,000 clippings with over 14,000 LTEs supporting various aspects of reform).

While you're there use the MEDIA LINKS listing for REASON and you can see the many items we already have archived.

http://www.mapinc.org
[e-mail]

[Rick Barton]

Joe,
"Forcing Drug Warriors like Limbaugh to confront the consequences of their actions is an important step in ending, or at least mitigating, the WOD."

Ok, your saying that it is JUSTIFIED to hope for Rush to lose his liberty to the WOD since you say that would hasten the diminishment of the WOD and since he has used his freedom of speech to advocate the WOD.

I don't know if your premise of "an important step" is correct, but wow; what a fascinating ethical qestion! Damn; I'm not sure, and Iv'e gotta crash. We should submit this for inclusion in an ethics text book. Hmmm. Oh well, in the mean time, can we at least agree that the important thing is the diminishment of the WOD? Tired, really gotta crash. Yeah right, like I'll be able to sleep now.

[David Tomlin]

I've thought about the ethical question. If I were, improbably, on Rush's jury, I would nullify as I would for any other consensual "crime". What I wish for, and what I would act to bring about, are different things.

[Jeff Clothier]

It seems that feet of clay are muddying the waters of Republican right-wing moralism. So many of our top-tier power brokers, politicians and pontificators have succumbed to gambling, lying, dodgy business deals, drug addiction and sexual scandal of late, one wonders if there was ever any sincerity in all that puffery about the "culture war," or whether it was simply all about power and priviledge. One wonders why so many believed for so long. Are we that easily led?

Rush says he's no hero, no role model. Was he ever? His hypocracy stems not from his addiction to pain medication itself, which is a tragedy many fall victim to, but from the years of character assassination,cruel lampooning, scarlet letter branding, fear and hate-mongering with which he built his career while basking in the accolades of his millions of hapless dittoheads - all the while harboring this secret vice.

Perhaps we should take caution from this. Before we fall at the feet of culture warriors, it might be well to see exactly what those feet are made of. "For all have sinned, and fall short of the grace of God."

[Joe2]

Rush is one of those evil rich people who take a limo to work - so no DUI.

Someone raised the question of recent drug use quotes. I only listen a few minutes per day (on the way to McDonalds, etc. at lunch break - beats NPR) and now that I think of it, he hasn't gone on and on about Mary Jane use, including making fun of users, for a long time. Maybe that only happens on slow news days/weeks. Most of Rush's show is talking about the crazy things happening on the left. There's been a lot to talk about these past few years (Bush has driven the left right to the edge of the proverbial cliff - insanity one step away). Maybe that explains the lack of moral grandstanding (busy with other stuff), or maybe he recognizes the hypocrisy and does a little self-censoring. Maybe not...

[John Q]

[Anonymous]

I have been active in conservative/libertarian politics since 1963. I was also part of the libertarian caucus of YAF that split off and started the current libertarian movement. One thing we had a lot in common; we smoked pot and did psychedelics. Congrerssman Dana Rohrabacher even drank the bong water. The main reason the establishment GOP doesn 't like legalization is that it leads to libertarianism. Check out A Generation Divided by Recca Klatch

[Anonymous]

I have been active in conservative/libertarian politics since 1963. I was also part of the libertarian caucus of YAF that split off and started the current libertarian movement. One thing we had a lot in common; we smoked pot and did psychedelics. Congrerssman Dana Rohrabacher even drank the bong water. The main reason the establishment GOP doesn 't like legalization is that it leads to libertarianism. Check out A Generation Divided by Recca Klatch

[don meinshausen]

I have been active in conservative/libertarian politics since 1963. I was also part of the libertarian caucus of YAF that split off and started the current libertarian movement. One thing we had a lot in common; we smoked pot and did psychedelics. Congrerssman Dana Rohrabacher even drank the bong water. The main reason the establishment GOP doesn 't like legalization is that it leads to libertarianism. Check out A Generation Divided by Recca Klatch

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