Pubdate: Fri, 17 Oct 2003
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2003 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/limbaugh  Rush Limbaugh
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

RUSH AND DRUGS

A conservative is a liberal who has been mugged. A civil libertarian is a 
conservative who has been indicted. And someone who considers drug abuse a 
disease is a lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key guy with an addiction.

Rush Limbaugh recently announced his entry into rehab. The shout-show host 
admitted his addiction to painkillers, reportedly including OxyContin. 
Certain conservative commentators responded to the news by urging compassion.

Conservatives traditionally have seen drug abuse and addiction as character 
flaws. A gentle approach may be more appropriate, but compassionate does 
not describe the snickering that usually occurs when an individual on the 
other side of the ideological divide succumbs to demons. The jokes about 
Kitty Dukakis - or, locally, about Chuck Richardson - were not intended to 
promote recovery.

The reaction to news such as this almost always reflects partisanship. 
Liberals are more forgiving of liberals; conservatives are more forgiving 
of their own. Limbaugh deserves the same treatment from his fans that he 
would receive if he were a Hollywood hotshot or a child of the inner city.

Jesse Jackson seriously, and perhaps fatally, sullied his reputation with 
his bastard child. Drug abuse will damage Limbaugh, too. While professional 
conservatives talk about forgiveness and love, much of Rush's rank-and-file 
audience likely feels betrayed.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom