Pubdate: Fri, 21 Nov 2003
Source: Daily Lobo (U of NM, Edu, NM)
Copyright: 2003 Daily Lobo
Contact:  http://www.mapinc.org/media/766
Website: http://www.dailylobo.com/
Author: Joe Shaw, The News Record (U. Cincinnati)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Rush+Limbaugh

RUSH LIMBAUGH HYPOCRITICAL ABOUT DRUG USE, REHAB CENTERS

Rush Limbaugh is back. Watch out. The conservative media tyrant and
Republican blowhard took a leave of absence from his radio show five
weeks ago to go into rehab and rid himself forever of the evil
clutches of his addiction to prescription painkillers.

Mind you, he did not admit to his abuse until after rumors swam
through the media. He kept his dirty little secret while going on the
air, day in and day out, to rail against those who broke the law and
used drugs, claiming they "deserved to be there."

Shortly after returning to work, Rush claimed that his five-week,
intensive rehab session at a facility in Arizona was "a wonderful
process ... as important as the first grade and maybe the second
grade." Since when did drug rehab become a wonderful process? If the
movie "Trainspotting" taught us anything it is that rehab is about as
far from wonderful as you can get.

On his show, Rush constantly blames drug users and sellers for the
problems that face America today. On his show in 1995, he said that
the answer to this problem was "to go out and find the ones who are
getting away with (drug use), convict them and send them up the river,
too."

Limbaugh admitted to using drugs illegally, yet there he stands,
thanking his fans for their kind thoughts and prayers. Why isn't he
standing before a judge, admitting that he, like the millions he
denounced, deserves to be sent up the river? Doesn't this seem a
little bit hypocritical? Limbaugh doesn't seem to think so. In a
response to such claims, he says, "My behavior doesn't change right
and wrong. And just because I may have been doing something that
appeared to be contradictory to what I was suggesting others do
doesn't mean that what I was suggesting others do is wrong ... There's
no hypocrisy in this."

Now he expects us to sit idly by while he parades himself as a
national hero for overcoming his drug addiction. He expects us to feel
sorry for him, to have compassion for him the way he has never had
compassion for the millions of others who continue to struggle with
their addictions. But this is not unexpected. Limbaugh has been an
idiot for quite a long time and he'll continue to be an idiot for
years to come.

I'm glad that he has apparently kicked the habit, and I sincerely hope
he stays away from it forever. But it will be a huge surprise if he
does. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake