Rush Limbaugh in Rehab

[Berzerker]

Vee - It's interesting that oxycontin has the nickname of "hillbilly heroin", so while you're denigrating other people who use drugs (to create this "distinction"), why not refer to Rush as a heroin addict? I'm sure there are a few demeaning names you could use for Rush, like JUNKIE... Btw, how do you know Rush got addicted because of pain? Maybe he just liked how the pills made him feel and kept using them after the pain had diminished. If we are to accept his version as gospel, and he's been living a lie for years now, why not just accept the word of every other drug user? Hey, they're all in pain and therefore have the same excuse as Rush...no "distinction"...

[Theben]

Cruelty? Ned, Limbaugh has advocated imprisoning drug users for years even while he was violating the drug laws. His hypocrisy gets exposed and the left is cruel? He wants people jailed for doing what he has been doing, but now people who agree with him have found a heart for Rush while wanting millions of people thrown in cages for doing the same thing?

Jeez. 1st the Cubs and Red Sox reach the finals, then Che and Bunnygrrl, get married, and now I could swear that Bezerker is almost defending the left?!?

That's it. I'm finding religion. The Second Coming must be right around the corner.

[mindseye]

and now I could swear that Bezerker is almost defending the left?!?

Yeah, this is why I love drug-related threads. It's the only time I can stand on the sidelines waving pom-poms for Berzerker!

Berzerker, next time you're in Shanghai, do stop by for a smoke.

[uh Clem]

Limbaugh, Slots Bennett, Dr Laura...it's the right-wing scolds who've been having all the good times. I dread even contemplating what kind of perversions Ann Coulter is up to. *shudder*

But thank God that Tommy Chong is off the streets.

[Ned]

I just checked Rush's site. He has an "essential stack of stuff" section with articles on various topics. There is no section for drugs. There's no article, in more than 100 on the page, that is related to drugs.

I have been listening to Rush Limbaugh for years. I don't recall a single statement of his on drugs. Although I don't listen to Rush Limbaugh every day, nor do I listen to his entire show when I do, I just do not remember him ever saying that he advocates that first-time drug users be imprisoned. To the extent that press reports indicated he did say this, they attribute a quote from 1995, years before he became addicted.

If Rush is really a hypocrite, it would be because he was arguing for penalties for people abusing drugs at the exact same time he himself was abusing him. As I said, I personally do not recall Rush ever addressing the topic of drug abuse and penalties, at least not in recent years.

I do not doubt that he has talked about medical marijuana use in a sarcastic manner. I think it is sarcasm went to the issue of genuineness of the medical use.

The statement that he constantly argued for jail time for drug abusers is not supported by anything on his site or anything that I can recall personally.

I also submit to you, that even if he had these positions in the past, he will not have them in the future. I believe he will see drug addiction as a true medical problem. People on the left will probably now see a champion on the right for moderation when pursuing drug offenders. This has got to help their cause.

Also, think about this. To the extent that Rush's audience would have advocated jail time for first-time drug abusers, they will no longer do so given that their hero himself as a drug addict.

[Berzerker]

Mindseye -

Berzerker, next time you're in Shanghai, do stop by for a smoke.

I'd have to be abducted before I found myself in Shanghai

Ned -

I just do not remember him ever saying that he advocates that first-time drug users be imprisoned.

Read the thread, it has some quotes. I've heard him comment on drugs and how he feels about those "maggot infested pot smokers".

To the extent that press reports indicated he did say this, they attribute a quote from 1995, years before he became addicted.

According to Oedo (or was it Clem or someone else), the quote about sending more white drug users up the river to balance out blacks and other minorities was from a ~year ago.

If Rush is really a hypocrite, it would be because he was arguing for penalties for people abusing drugs at the exact same time he himself was abusing him.

No, he could have been arguing for those penalties from decades past, not just contemperaneous use. The only way he could avoid the charge of hypocrisy was if he did a 180 when he began using drugs and advocated legalisation or leniency.

I do not doubt that he has talked about medical marijuana use in a sarcastic manner. I think it is sarcasm went to the issue of genuineness of the medical use.

Sarcasm designed to demean people using pot for it's medicinal properties and the movement to legalise medicinal pot. Sorry, I don't believe for one minute Rush cares about the genuineness or efficacy of medicinal pot... He seems to take positions based on where the liberals are, no detectable principles at play.

The statement that he constantly argued for jail time for drug abusers is not supported by anything on his site or anything that I can recall personally.

Your lack of knowledge is not evidence.

I also submit to you, that even if he had these positions in the past, he will not have them in the future. I believe he will see drug addiction as a true medical problem.

Wanna bet? He's been a vocal supporter of the drug war even during his years of drug use.

People on the left will probably now see a champion on the right for moderation when pursuing drug offenders. This has got to help their cause.

That would be true if he isn't an unapologetic hypocrite, don't hold your breath. I used to think Rush had a semblance of honor but this revelation and his expressed desire to help authorities go after his suppliers is calling even that into question. He truly will be a rat if he tries to get others caught...

Also, think about this. To the extent that Rush's audience would have advocated jail time for first-time drug abusers, they will no longer do so given that their hero himself as a drug addict.

That would ascribe consistency to them as well... But he isn't a "first time abuser", he's been using for years. He's a first timer wrt the courts only...

[Ned]

This is the only quote of which I am aware that cites Rush on drug users. It is dated 1995.

""Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. ... And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up," Limbaugh said on his short-lived television show on Oct. 5, 1995."

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20031011/D7U43G0G0.html

I don't buy the hypocrisy argument until someone can get a verify quote from recent times.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Theben
and now I could swear that Bezerker is almost defending the left?!?

Considering the fact that he is a libertarian, why is that considered odd in a drug thread?

[Q Classic]

vee, and other rightists defending rush:

what did you think of clinton's potsmoking?

[Kuciwalker]

Just because someone is a hypocrite doesn't mean he is wrong. Not that I'm saying he is or he isn't; I'm just pointing out that his hypocrisy doesn't affect the logic (or lack thereof; I personally haven't heard them) of his arguments. To say so is an ad hominim fallacy.

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
vee, and other rightists defending rush:

what did you think of clinton's potsmoking?

Personally? Nonissue.

Politically? Fun to bash him with.

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by uh Clem
Limbaugh, Slots Bennett, Dr Laura...it's the right-wing scolds who've been having all the good times. I dread even contemplating what kind of perversions Ann Coulter is up to. *shudder*

But thank God that Tommy Chong is off the streets.

You're so bitter.

[Q Classic]

was it a non-issue? truthfully? or did you enjoy using it as a weapon to destroy his credibility and call him a hypocrite?

[The Mad Monk]

I never used it as a weapon myself, I just chuckled at the battle royales going on over it at the time. I mean, please -- "I never inhaled"?

[The Mad Monk]

You just don't leave yourself open like that.

Say you did it straight up, or leave it lie.