Pubdate: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 Source: Huntsville Times (AL) Copyright: 2003 The Huntsville Times Contact: http://www.htimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/730 Author: David Prather ROY AND RUSH KEEP OFFERING UP THE RIGHT STUFF Monday was a grand day for certain conservatives in Alabama. Over the weekend, a poll indicated that ousted Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore could whip either Gov. Bob Riley or former Gov. Don Siegelman if a gubernatorial election were held today. But that wasn't the only good news. Rush Limbaugh was right .... back. Moore's popularity rests, in large part, on the publicity of recent weeks and the perception that he somehow stood up for God rather than disobeying a lawful order of the court. That popularity may also have something to do with Siegelman's plan for an educational lottery and Riley's plan for tax-and-accountability reform both going down the tubes. So, too, of course, did Moore's Ten Commandments monument in the state judicial building, but nobody had a chance to vote on that. That's because the federal courts say Moore violated the U.S. Constitution, and in a system of reasonable checks and balances, you don't get to vote on which legal verdicts you have to obey. If Moore were to run for governor, though, Alabama would, in effect, be conducting a plebiscite on the monument. But surely somebody running for governor - even in Alabama - has to have a platform with a few more planks than putting Ten Commandments monuments hither and yon. What else could Moore run on? Well, in terms of consistency, he'd have to run on a promise not to take any federal money for anything. States' rights, goshdurnit. The feds give you money and you have to comply with all these rules and put yourself in position for federal courts to decide issues - well, we've had enough of that, haven't we? That's gonna make it a bit tough on the Huntsville economy, what with every other person being out of a job, but who said standing up for displaying religious monuments in government buildings wasn't going to have its downside? Well, that's in the future. Rush Limbaugh is now. Actually, he was now about 11:03 a.m. on Monday when he returned the air after detoxing at an Arizona clinic. His last previous broadcast was Oct. 10. You may not believe this, but I'm glad he's back. And, listening to the first minutes of his welcome-back program, I'm also glad he hasn't turned into a "linguini-spined liberal." I was a bit confused by his statement that from now on he's going to "put myself first" because I thought his blurring of news and advertising to enhance his following and his pocketbook was already a matter of record. Yes, I find Limbaugh superficially tendentious and a calculated espouser of an oversimplified view of the world that he knows is erroneous. I also think he's still got problems with law on how he got all those opiates. But I'm glad he's back, and predictably on point - after only 10 minutes of self-involvement, he zinged Teddy Kennedy. That's the spirit. And while I support neither Roy's nor Rush's politics, I am serious about being glad that both are free to espouse their causes. (In Moore's case, of course, he's been found guilty of an ethics violation and removed from office and, I hope, will be disbarred. But he has every right to spout his opinions, and it wouldn't be America if he couldn't.) As for Rush, he's the greatest product salesman since Arthur Godfrey. It just happens that he's trying to sell you a bill of political goods as well as retail wares. I have a colleague who says Limbaugh makes every effort to give those of differing opinions the right to be heard on his show. I'm a rare listener, but I've never heard anything but "dittos" (which, my colleague says, has more to do with the fact that the callers love Rush than that they always agree with what he says.) I've also noticed he doesn't have liberal or moderate guests on the show to argue with him. But, then, nothing sounds better to Rush than his own voice. Anyway, I'm glad he's back and I hope he's got the monkey off his back. Limbaugh, too, has a right to be heard as long as he can persuade sponsors to pay him. Just spend the dough you are raking in more wisely this time, my man. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake