Rush Is Right

June 26, 2006 8:32 PM

NewsFilter: Limbaugh arrested for possible drug possession.And a few more links so I don't get accused of a single-link post. Oh wait, it's not on that Drudge link.
posted by afx114 (105 comments total)

That's nothing, this morning I...
posted by furtive at 8:37 PM on June 26, 2006

You're missing a "batshitinsane" tag.
posted by Mr. Six at 8:37 PM on June 26, 2006

and isn't he on probation? or the plea deal or whatever it was? and what was he doing in the Dominican Republic anyway?
posted by amberglow at 8:37 PM on June 26, 2006

Actually, there is a item about this on the Drudge homepage.

"Rush Limbaugh's Attorney Roy Black Responds to Media Inquiries About Airport Questioning...

Customs officials found a prescription bottle..."
posted by bshort at 8:38 PM on June 26, 2006

You should have mentioned that it's for alleged possession of boner pills:

1. It's funny because Rush Limbaugh's demeanor makes it obvious that he is sexually impotent

2. Everyone is hoping that it's for something stronger and you're letting them down.
posted by Mayor Curley at 8:39 PM on June 26, 2006

Yes it is on the Drudge page. And it links to this Yahoo post. Which says:

While going through routine Customs inspection of luggage at Palm Beach International Airport upon his return from an international trip, Rush Limbaugh was detained by customs agents after they noticed a non-narcotic prescription drug, which had been prescribed by Mr. Limbaugh's treating physician but labeled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh for privacy purposes. After a brief interview, Mr. Limbaugh was permitted to continue on his journey.

So he wasn't arrested. And he may be charged. Other than that, your post is accurate.
posted by loquax at 8:39 PM on June 26, 2006

batshitinsane-ified.

Didn't he just get divorced too? What's a Christian conservative doing having sex outta wedlock?
posted by afx114 at 8:41 PM on June 26, 2006

Up until now there was never any reason for me to imagine Rush Limbaugh with a boner.

My beautiful innocence is gone.
posted by brain cloud at 8:41 PM on June 26, 2006 [1 favorite]

viagra. Thanks for the let down.
posted by puke & cry at 8:42 PM on June 26, 2006 [1 favorite]

Everyone is hoping that it's for something stronger and you're letting them down.

That's what she said!



to Rush, that is.
posted by papakwanz at 8:43 PM on June 26, 2006

Everyone is hoping that it's for something stronger and you're letting them down.

We should hand out some of Rush's pills. Things will perk up soon enough.

Seriously, I can't understand how an ultraconservative blowhard can still have a radio audience after being convicted for doing hard drugs, something that ultraconservatives usually frown upon. And now he's smuggling in drugs for his doctor.

I guess it's one of those cognitive dissonance things.
posted by Mr. Six at 8:44 PM on June 26, 2006

MSNBC: ...Under the terms of the deal with prosecutors called a pretrial diversion, to be filed Monday, Limbaugh will be cleared of the charge if he stays clean for 18 months and doesn’t violate any laws, Black said.

...
posted by amberglow at 8:45 PM on June 26, 2006

And isn't it illegal to have prescription drugs labeled for someone else? And isn't it illegal for doctors to do that for their patients?
posted by amberglow at 8:46 PM on June 26, 2006

Well, I must quote from another Rush thread (after I googled, that's what turned up the quote :) yay, MeFi!!!)

Taken from Bill Hicks: Speaking of Satan, I was watching Rush Limbaugh recently -- Doesn't Rush Limbaugh remind you of one of those gay guys who likes to lay around in a tub while other men pee on him? Can't you just picture his fat, corpulent body lying in a tub while Reagan, Quayle, and Bush stand all around peeing on him. 'Ooh, I can't get hard. Ronnie, pee in my mouth'.

How ever appropriate here.
posted by symbioid at 8:48 PM on June 26, 2006

And isn't it illegal to have prescription drugs labeled for someone else? And isn't it illegal for doctors to do that for their patients?

Usually that's a federal offense; a felony. But, hey, Rush gets yet another free pass.
posted by Mr. Six at 8:49 PM on June 26, 2006

brain cloud: "Up until now there was never any reason for me to imagine Rush Limbaugh with a boner.

My beautiful innocence is gone."

That was the reason i posted the previous link, because I was already forced into imagining it by Mr. Hicks.
posted by symbioid at 8:50 PM on June 26, 2006

For the Dixie Chicks, it would probably be illegal, amberglow - but Limbaugh is obviously a special snowflake
posted by madamjujujive at 8:50 PM on June 26, 2006

And isn't it illegal to have prescription drugs labeled for someone else? And isn't it illegal for doctors to do that for their patients?

He's smelled blood! Swim, swim for your lives!!!
posted by Krrrlson at 9:05 PM on June 26, 2006

So he smuggled in some Viagra without a prescription--big deal. I'm sure there are (tens of?) thousands of guys doing the same thing. It's a safe drug, nothing like the Oxycontin or whatever painkiller he was busted on before.

The only thing that makes this noteworthy is the hypocrisy of the whole thing. Limbaugh consistently excoriates liberal hippie drug users (not a quote my my personal paraphrase), but sees nothing wrong in doing illegal--albeit in this case pretty minor, but it's hipocracy nonetheless. To me this hipocracy on myridad issues is so common amongst the right that it's almost redundant to bring it up.
posted by zardoz at 9:06 PM on June 26, 2006

This prescription was in the "doctor's" name for "privacy" reasons - ROFL. I think he has the same doctor as Elvis.
posted by caddis at 9:06 PM on June 26, 2006

he'll get a free pass for this comment as well (12th paragraph), though he'd rip anybody else who would say something like that, accident or not...
posted by troybob at 9:11 PM on June 26, 2006

HuffPo has a very, uh, evocative photo for this story.
posted by Guy Smiley at 9:11 PM on June 26, 2006

Rush gets another free pass... (since there was no obvious cost to his livelihood). This guy's covered with more teflon than Bush.
posted by Mr. Six at 9:14 PM on June 26, 2006

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, Guy Smiley.

And sometimes it's a visual metaphor for an erect penis, which I think is the case here.
posted by brundlefly at 9:24 PM on June 26, 2006

Rush Limbaugh is a scat-muncher. He munches scat.
posted by scarabic at 9:29 PM on June 26, 2006

Is it just me, or does Bill Hicks seem more and more like the great prophet of our moment the deeper we get into our contemporary morass?

Remember, in the Bill Hicks routine, they next bring in Barbara Bush, and ...
posted by davideads at 9:33 PM on June 26, 2006

Man, I hope this isn't the Fitzmas that wasn't, and he actually is now forced to do his doctor shopping trial and time.
posted by rollbiz at 9:33 PM on June 26, 2006

Let's see. Three-time divorced man, recently separated from girlfriend and CNN anchor Daryn Kagan goes to Dominican Republic with bottle of Viagra. What could that be all about?
posted by JackFlash at 10:00 PM on June 26, 2006

krrlson, loquax, don't worry -- the bad cops and activist judges won't deprive you of your favorite radio show. who knows, maybe Mr Limbaugh will even give you some of that leftover Viagra.
posted by matteo at 10:01 PM on June 26, 2006

scarabic writes "Rush Limbaugh is a scat-muncher. He munches scat."

*gasps*
*fans self*

Well, I never!
posted by brundlefly at 10:03 PM on June 26, 2006

What was Rush doing in the Dominican Republic with Viagra?
posted by 2sheets at 10:04 PM on June 26, 2006

trying to get an erection.
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 10:09 PM on June 26, 2006

I guess now we know why they call him "Rush".
posted by spock at 10:09 PM on June 26, 2006

gross
posted by thirteenkiller at 10:14 PM on June 26, 2006

"a rush of blood to the head" is my favorite coldplay disc
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 10:15 PM on June 26, 2006

So...er...the implication is that Rush jetted off to the Dominican Republic to allegedly engage in the sex trade there?

Wow, that would be a bigger story than the prescription label issue.
posted by darkstar at 10:40 PM on June 26, 2006

the bad cops and activist judges won't deprive you of your favorite radio show

So was he arrested or not? Because the poster says he was, but every story about says he wasn't, and went about his business. If he wasn't arrested, then the post is pretty inaccurate. And if he isn't going to be charged, then there's no reason to even post this. And that's all I care about. I suppose it gives everyone a chance to drag out their best Rush jokes. Which confuses me, as I don't see what Geddy Lee has to do with any of this.
posted by loquax at 10:50 PM on June 26, 2006

About the epidemic of child prostitution in the Dominican Republic:

"In some nightclubs one can find brochures with pictures of naked children and phone numbers for taxi drivers that will take them to child prostitutes," said Maria Josefina Paulino of MAIS.

The commercial sexual exploitation of children is reported to be a problem in urban areas [of the Dominican Republic], as well as in tourist locations throughout the country including Boca Chica, Puerto Plata and Sosua. According to a study published by UNICEF and the National Planning Office in 1999, 75 percent of minors involved in prostitution were working in brothels, discos, restaurants, and hotels. There are reports that women and children are trafficked to, from, and within the Dominican Republic, particularly for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. There are also reports that poor children are trafficked internally to work as domestics. Haitian children are reportedly trafficked to the Dominican Republic[1329] to work as prostitutes, shoe shiners, street vendors, in agriculture, and to beg in the streets.

In the Dominican Republic, there is a considerable population of minors for whom the streets have become home, who have faced a hostile world from an early age. Most "street children" beg as a means of subsistence; one-third turn to robbery and other means to get by, such as selling drugs; and approximately one-fifth engage in prostitution

In the section on sex tourism, the report refers to allegations that over 30,000 children in the Dominican Republic work as prostitutes to escape poverty. Most of these children no longer live with their parents because they have either been thrown out or prefer to work on the streets to earn a living for themselves or their families. Minors who engage in this trade are common in Santo Domingo and other tourist zones such as Boca Chica and Puerto Plata.

[T]he Dominican Republic has not ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography or the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

Over the course of the meeting, Committee members commented that child prostitution was a double concern because of the involvement of children in prostitution and the increase in cases of HIV/AIDS; while tourism was encouraged as a source of income to the Dominican Republic, child prostitution was increasing parallel to it, the Experts said.

Trafficking and sexual exploitation of children also was a problem, particularly in popular tourist destinations. Poor adolescent girls and boys sometimes were enticed into performing sexual acts by the promise of food or clothing.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:51 PM on June 26, 2006 [1 favorite]

why go to a foreign territory for sex when the Republicans have ensured that you can buy American.
posted by pruner at 10:58 PM on June 26, 2006

but, blazecock, what do you REALLY think he was guilty of?

seriously, folks, it's a well known medical fact that a man only gets so many thousand "shots" a lifetime ... you could look it up on google or wikipedia, i'm sure it's there ... rush used up his so many thousand "shots" wanking on the radio

he NEEDS that viagra to PERFORM!!

one day, it could happen to you, even though you're a liberal ... no, especially because you're a liberal, because we all know they have less "shots"

see your doctor now ... he can tell you how many you have left and get you a bottle, just in case you're close
posted by pyramid termite at 11:00 PM on June 26, 2006

but, blazecock, what do you REALLY think he was guilty of?

I'm not sure I really want to know, frankly. Let's hope it was just the drug charge.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:07 PM on June 26, 2006

I loathe the guy and would love to see him do some real time.

But boner pills? I have a feeling there might be more to this. If it's just boner pills, let the brother get some, k? He obviously has to pay for it.
posted by bardic at 11:20 PM on June 26, 2006

Viagra?! Wow... I think Neiwert is going to need to add an appendix just to explore the ramifcations of this.
posted by homunculus at 11:46 PM on June 26, 2006

If the worst thing someone does in their life is pop some pills they don't have prescriptions for, then I don't see what the fuss is.

How many folks here have used someone else's pills for a flu or a backache or toothache?
posted by b_thinky at 11:47 PM on June 26, 2006

or a boner.
posted by Hat Maui at 12:26 AM on June 27, 2006

If the worst thing someone does in their life is pop some pills they don't have prescriptions for, then I don't see what the fuss is.

Because it is against the law to import prescription drugs into the United States without a prescription, b_thinky.

Crackhead Rush knows that, or he should have know that and, in any case, ignorance of the law is not a defense.

He broke the law and should be punished according to the law. No fuss.
posted by three blind mice at 12:28 AM on June 27, 2006

"There's nothing good about drug use. We know it. It destroys individuals. It destroys families. Drug use destroys societies. Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods, which become consumed by them. 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."
posted by Tenuki at 12:32 AM on June 27, 2006

What was Rush doing in the Dominican Republic with Viagra?

Looking for a dominicanatrix?

By the way, unless you're married and plan to have kids, isn't Viagra a purely recreational drug?
posted by pracowity at 12:42 AM on June 27, 2006

I strongly support any excuse to deride Rush Limbaugh.
posted by wsg at 12:57 AM on June 27, 2006

b_thinky: "If the worst thing someone does in their life is pop some pills they don't have prescriptions for, then I don't see what the fuss is.

How many folks here have used someone else's pills for a flu or a backache or toothache?"


I think the point is that this is the same man that said the following:

"There's nothing good about drug use. We know it. It destroys individuals. It destroys families. Drug use destroys societies. Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods which become consumed by them. 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.

"What this says to me is that 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."
-- Rush Limbaugh show, Oct. 5, 1995

It's called hypocrisy.
posted by PontifexPrimus at 1:08 AM on June 27, 2006

Because it is against the law to import prescription drugs into the United States without a prescription, b_thinky.

Importing? That's a pretty technical term. It sounds like he took it with him then brought it back. If he bought it in the Dominican Republic, I doubt it would be in a prescription bottle. So I guess he imported it the same way you import the clothes on your back when you return from an overseas trip.

Crackhead Rush knows that, or he should have know that and, in any case, ignorance of the law is not a defense.

Crackhead? Are you serious? Someone is a crackhead because they use Viagra? You've gotta be kidding. I thought crackheads were people who use crack.
posted by b_thinky at 1:14 AM on June 27, 2006

It's called hypocrisy.
posted by PontifexPrimus at 1:08 AM PST on June 27 [+fave] [!]

First, there is a huge difference in using street drugs like cocaine and heroin just to get high, an becoming addicted/over-reliant on medicine that was prescribed to you by a doctor for pain.

Second, have you said or done anything in the past ELEVEN years that would make you a hypocrite? Seems kinda lame to keep bringing up a quote from over a decade ago, doesn't it? I mean, if he's been saying the same thing all throughout his case it'd be one thing (even though he's clearly describing recreational/street drug users, not prescription pill poppers). Is there anything more recent?
posted by b_thinky at 1:22 AM on June 27, 2006

To the Rush apologists:
Yeah it's only Viagra, but the man is on DRUG PROBATION, so doesn't that make the "bringing in foreign drugs made out to someone else" thing a liiiiiiitle more serious than just "he's trying to get a boner" ?????? How is this not a violation of his probation?

I mean come on, if this was some random dude named Esteban Corleone and he was on drug probation, he'd be incarcerated by now.
posted by afx114 at 1:27 AM on June 27, 2006

becoming addicted/over-reliant on medicine that was prescribed to you by a doctor for pain

Lame. So, so lame. Shame on you.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:44 AM on June 27, 2006

You all should know that a lot of legit print and broadcast journalists look at Metafilter every day for tips and trends on stories that they are working on.

When posting a comment please try to frame your statements on Rush Limbaugh's sad plight so that these lurking journalists can quickly and easily help compose (
i.e. plagiarize, but only in the best sense) today's Rush news in such a way that Mr. Limbaugh's ugly ass finally gets deep fat batter fried in dirty crank case oil in Hell.

Rush doing drugs and paying to molest children with his flaccid little weenie is a wonderful message to Americans. Take sides on the issue now. Personally, I am against drugs that don't get you a buzz and I have always been against molesting children. I am, I guess, a liberal about this stuff.

This is one of the few times when our nattering really counts.
posted by zaelic at 1:58 AM on June 27, 2006

My theory is that this junky went on a Viagra vacation to plug little boys and/or girls, since there's plenty of discreet sex to be had in the US — albeit with consenting adults — while the sex industry in the DR appears to cater to entirely different tastes. I hope to God I'm wrong, but not for Rush's sake.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:11 AM on June 27, 2006

Whatever you do, don't do a google image search for "dominican republic hookers"
posted by Paris Hilton at 3:00 AM on June 27, 2006

b_thinky, regardless, it looks like he violated his probation. Felons do stupid things all the time, little crimes that violate their probation and land them back in jail. Often the crimes are amazingly minor and trivial, things that get law-abiding citizens a slap on the wrist.

Limbaugh isn't a law abiding citizen, he is on probation. He did, at the very least, a stupid minor crime which proves he didn't deserve probation.
posted by substrate at 3:51 AM on June 27, 2006

Importing? That's a pretty technical term. It sounds like he took it with him then brought it back

Title 13, Chapter 1, Subchapter II, § 951 of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act defines:

(1) The term 'import' means, with respect to any article, any bringing in or introduction of such article into any area (whether or not such bringing in or introduction constitutes an importation within the meaning of the tariff laws of the United States).

The fact that he MIGHT have left the U.S. with the DRUGS, doesn't mean that he gets a pass to bring them back. He might even be guilty of smuggling illegal drugs INTO the Dominican Republic. A few years in a Dominican jail might well cure him of his problem with impotence.
posted by three blind mice at 4:35 AM on June 27, 2006

Crackhead Rush knows that

If the subject of this story weren't Limbaugh, I think most of your responses would change completely. What would your response be if this happened to someone you were related to, or supported? Talk about hypocrisy.
posted by null terminated at 4:39 AM on June 27, 2006

Whatever you do, don't do a google image search for "dominican republic hookers"

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST WHEN WILL I LEARN?
posted by EarBucket at 5:09 AM on June 27, 2006

null terminated: If it were someone I was related to or supported who was a public figure with millions of listeners and who had spoken out loudly against the things of which he was accused, you can bet your sweet ass I'd still think they were hypocritical jerks.

I don't want Limbaugh shut down because he's conservative OR liberal OR a Venusian; I want him shut down because he's a giant hypocritical jerk. I'd like Randi Rhodes off the air too, as she is also a blazing idiot, but she hasn't (to my knowledge) been arrested multiple times for posession or use of illicit drugs AFTER going on about their evils for years.
posted by Hamadryad at 5:14 AM on June 27, 2006

b_thinky: "First, there is a huge difference in using street drugs like cocaine and heroin just to get high, an becoming addicted/over-reliant on medicine that was prescribed to you by a doctor for pain.

That's a distinction you're making. I'd like to see a quote from Rush Limbaugh showing that he agrees with that.

Second, have you said or done anything in the past ELEVEN years that would make you a hypocrite? Seems kinda lame to keep bringing up a quote from over a decade ago, doesn't it?

I would not know why this is in any way relevant to the discussion but, no, I don't hold with the "don't practice what you preach". I have quite a few controversial opinions, but I'm not afraid to voice them in a reasoned discussion and to stand by them as long as they're not sufficiently disproved.

I mean, if he's been saying the same thing all throughout his case it'd be one thing (even though he's clearly describing recreational/street drug users, not prescription pill poppers). Is there anything more recent?"

I have, frankly, no idea; I'm not an American and don't listen to his shows. I found several quotes similar to the one i mentioned on the internet, and spent half an hour looking for something that would show he had changed or tempered his stance; this does not appear to be the case. I'll gladly consider any additional information you can provide in his defence.
posted by PontifexPrimus at 5:40 AM on June 27, 2006

We're becoming too tolerant, folks.

Uhm I guess Limbaugh may be right and to prove it we could hang the motherfucker. Dead , but right !
posted by elpapacito at 5:50 AM on June 27, 2006

Yawn. This whole thread belongs on DemocraticUnderground.
posted by tadellin at 5:57 AM on June 27, 2006

You all should know that a lot of legit print and broadcast journalists look at Metafilter every day for tips and trends on stories that they are working on.

this country is screwed, then
posted by pyramid termite at 6:04 AM on June 27, 2006

I just love it when another prominent individual moves the United States one step closer to being the ultimate global joke (although I fear we're already there!).

Thanks, Rush... you flaming idiot. Next time take your head out of your ass and stick the Viagria up there... you might not get caught.
posted by HuronBob at 6:35 AM on June 27, 2006

b_thinky writes "Importing? That's a pretty technical term. It sounds like he took it with him then brought it back. If he bought it in the Dominican Republic, I doubt it would be in a prescription bottle. So I guess he imported it the same way you import the clothes on your back when you return from an overseas trip. "

Yep. This is why you are encouraged to declare anything that customs might think you bought while out of the country before you leave. Every time I travel to the states I fill out the customs form declaring my ownership of my camera equipment because much of it has US model numbers.

Did you know that in the US you need a permit to temporarily export some computer programs? And they expect you to check in with customs when you return to verify you have returned the program to the US.
posted by Mitheral at 6:47 AM on June 27, 2006

This is why I never go into adult book stores. Because the moment I enter the store, it's going to get robbed and the security videotape is going to play over and over again showing me on the local news.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:14 AM on June 27, 2006

Sure this was a weenie transgression, but the man makes his living cruelly publicizing and ridiculing the weenie transgressions of others. Karma is a bitch.
posted by caddis at 7:24 AM on June 27, 2006

caddis... please note that the term "weenie transgression" is wonderfully accurate...and the term has, evidently, never been used on the internet in the past. I would copyright that little gem if I were you.

personally I've always used the term to refer to the shoplifting of hotdogs..but this is so much better...
posted by HuronBob at 7:37 AM on June 27, 2006

Heh, and to join the chorus. The news is not that some guy was detained for posession. The news is that a guy who made lots of money banging the "zero tolerance for drug use" drum seems to have a habit of taking advantage of the same loopholes that he claimed were undermining American culture.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 8:22 AM on June 27, 2006

Heh: "teeny weenie transgression".
posted by LordSludge at 8:23 AM on June 27, 2006

I want to hear more from these apologists - I haven't laughed this hard in a while.

WHAT'S THAT? YOU SAY THE SUN WAS IN HIS EYES?
posted by trondant at 8:33 AM on June 27, 2006

Perhaps this is all a plan to get us to listen to Rush.. I WILL tune the idiot in today just to hear the excuses...
posted by HuronBob at 8:36 AM on June 27, 2006

Yawn. This whole thread belongs on DemocraticUnderground.
posted by tadellin

You may yawn when it's a rock star or super model because in the scheme of things, who really cares? But someone who consistently talks about the importance of following laws and the evils of drug use? That's poetic justice.

Also--who ever heard of a prescription "labeled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh for privacy purposes." Would a doctor break the law like that? If this is true, shouldn't the doctor be charged?
posted by leftcoastbob at 8:48 AM on June 27, 2006

Well you libruls are being FAR too live-and-let live. You're debating the legalities and the technicalities of prescription this and probation that.

Think like a prudish rightwinger for a second:

Rush Limbaugh, an unmarried man, took a bottle of Viagra with him on a junket to the Dominican Republic. It means he was planning on having sex while he was there, probably with strangers, possibly in the sex trade.

That the Viagra was unprescribed and that he is on probation for prescription drug violations is a Rule of Law issue, but is eclipsed by the shameful, shameful lack of family values he's exhibited is the less socially damaging part of what he's done.

Remember the Clinton impeachment? The big issue in the House was the Rule of Law (at least in theory). But everyone knows it was the adultery that drove the outrage on the right.

Remember Bennett? His gambling was legal, but the fact that he had a gambling addiction pretty much undermined his moral authority to preach to the world about moral issues.

For however much they hoot and holler about the Rule of Law, many religious rightwingers are willing to turn a blind eye to legal infractions if it's convenient. The Rule of Law, is, after all, an abstraction. But if it involved moral issues, and especially sex, you can bet they're going to be feeling the issue much more deeply. They can't pretend to dismiss that kind of thing, because it's part of what they base their ideology upon.

You don't need to preach to the choir about Limbaugh's legal hypocrisy. Focus on the legal aspect, and you'll only convince the folks that already don't like the guy. But if you emphasize the sex angle of what Limbaugh has done, you actually speak to moralist, right-wing folks where they live and undermine Limbaugh's cachet among them.

Boil it down to the following: "I can't see how you can listen to a pervert that allegedly takes sex junkets to foreign countries. And probably breaks his probation to do it! Where are your family values?"

There's your talking point. My two cents as a lifelong Republican (until recently).
posted by darkstar at 8:50 AM on June 27, 2006 [1 favorite]

What would your response be if this happened to someone you were related to, or supported? Talk about hypocrisy.

You forgot the part about BEING ON PROBATION. If this was someone I was related to, and they pulled this shit while on probation, I'd shake my head in disbelief and say, "good luck in jail."
posted by afx114 at 8:51 AM on June 27, 2006

Rush says he went to the DR to get cigars....

heh...
posted by HuronBob at 9:15 AM on June 27, 2006

darkstar wins.

And btw, many of you don't really understand what hypocrisy means. Castigating a person who has made, literally, millions of dollars with a radio persona that's in no small part built on an appeal to tough, law-and-order, zero-tolerance drug policy for being both an addict and (apparently) someone who flaunts the laws of this country with regards to drugs, prescription or otherwise? That's a hypocrite. End of story.

Like I said, I think boner pills should probably be decriminalized, like most drugs. But if he's on probation, it's between him, the judge, and whatever foul god he and his listeners worship (my bet is Mammon, but Baal is a close second).
posted by bardic at 9:19 AM on June 27, 2006

Meanwhile, Richard Paey is still in prison. That's some system of justice.
posted by homunculus at 9:53 AM on June 27, 2006

The story made yahoo.
posted by bardic at 9:56 AM on June 27, 2006

Why does he have a pirate earring in that yahoo photo?

posted by afx114 at 9:57 AM on June 27, 2006

bardic: Like I said, I think boner pills should probably be decriminalized, like most drugs.

I was not aware that they are criminalized.

You can posesses, and buy boner pills, if you have the proper regulatory paperwork to show that you obtained those pills from a medical doctor as treatment for a bona fide medical condition, and obtained those pills through a licensed pharmacist.

Now in most cases, putting your prescription medication into another container isn't going to cause problems. On the other hand, if you have a criminal history involving fraud in order to satisfy a prescription drug habit, you really should know better.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 10:00 AM on June 27, 2006

First, there is a huge difference in using street drugs like cocaine and heroin just to get high, an becoming addicted/over-reliant on medicine that was prescribed to you by a doctor for pain.

Really? Care to show how in law this is the case?
posted by rough ashlar at 10:02 AM on June 27, 2006

and FDL chimes in.
posted by bardic at 10:03 AM on June 27, 2006

Developing...

Interesting that these "hilarious jokes" are linkless. And the "I got them at the Clinton Library" thing—what the fuck is that supposed to mean?

Clinton = evil horny penis-user, so when I'm an evil horny penis-user, I go to him for pills? Huh? How is that supposed to zing Bill Clinton?
posted by interrobang at 10:24 AM on June 27, 2006

interrobang, IOKIYAR. Cf. also: invading other countries, having close and/or illegal ties with lobbyists, lying.
posted by bardic at 10:37 AM on June 27, 2006

for these guys, it all comes back to Clinton...

"I did something stupid and, most likely, illegal and it's all Clinton's fault..!"
posted by WhipSmart at 10:39 AM on June 27, 2006

To be quite honest, I do feel sorry for the guy. He has a drug addiction and is a bloviating gasbag. It's very sad.

If you will permit me to speak in the vernacular that most of Rush's adherents would understand well, I am reminded of my Scriptures which, while offering many exhortations to show grace to one another, also offer some pointed advice to Rush coming from the mouth of Jesus:

1. "Judge not, lest ye be judged."

2. "He that lives by the sword shall die by it."

It looks like Rush, having lived by the double-edged sword of his own sharp tongue as a judge of his fellow man, is learning the truth of those verses now.

I'll pray for him to repent of his carnality and ask forgiveness from those he's spoken so proudly against. However, I'm reminded of another couple of passages of the Bible:

Proverbs 26:11 (On Fools)

As a dog returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his folly.

II Peter 2:18-22 (On False Teachers)

"For they mouth empty, boastful words...it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."

posted by darkstar at 10:46 AM on June 27, 2006

To be quite honest, I do feel sorry for the guy. He has a drug addiction and is a bloviating gasbag. It's very sad.

I'm thinking... "The Rush Story", with Philip Seymour Hoffman, the story of his meteoric rise, hollow victory, and bitter post-Fascist American retirement, when he realizes WHAT HE HATH WROUGHT.

Featuring: no less than 15 glasses of booze smashed in nihilistic dramatics, and NO original soundtrack, as the entire soundtrack had its mic cut and shouted over by a now(?) senile subject.
posted by sonofsamiam at 10:53 AM on June 27, 2006

darkstar writes "Remember the Clinton impeachment? The big issue in the House was the Rule of Law (at least in theory). But everyone knows it was the adultery that drove the outrage on the right."

I always thought it was Clinton was was getting plo chops on the job and they weren't.
posted by Mitheral at 10:59 AM on June 27, 2006

First thought: Oh my God! Someone would have sex with Rush Limbaugh!?

“... there is a huge difference in using street drugs like cocaine and heroin just to get high, an becoming addicted/over-reliant on medicine that was prescribed to you by a doctor for pain.” - posted by b_thinky

Yes, one is socially favored by the dominant ethnicity.
( Don't smoke crack. It's a ghetto drug)

“Second, have you said or done anything in the past ELEVEN years that would make you a hypocrite?” - posted by b_thinky

Since you ask: nope.
*talks it = walks it*

If (if) Rush went to DR to have sex with children, the justice department should (metaphor) take his perverted fucking head off. That’s not the knee jerk “OMG! Pedophile!” reaction - child prostitution and child slavery is truly the word bible thumpers cast about far too easily: abomination.
(+ what darkstar sed)
I can’t imagine what that would do to someone’s soul (even if you don’t buy into that concept - consider it a metaphor for the aggregate human values and conscience of a person). If he is doing that he’s far more evil than I thought he was. And that’s saying something.
posted by Smedleyman at 11:23 AM on June 27, 2006

I just wanted to point out that this is how the FreeRepublic crowd is reacting:

"That is daaaamn true! I`m 44 and was about 50 lbs heavier than I am now last year (from sitting on my arse all day driving) and the one eyed wonder worm was acting how shall we say...very tired. It was freaking me out! I thought I had prostrate problems.. Then I started getting my act together last year, excercising and cutting out the 20 zillion big macs everyday, and now it is like night and day. Ten HUT! Ten hut even when there is no inspection! "Not now wormy! I`m wearing shorts!" Plus when you don`t have a gut the size of Ted Kennedys, it make Wormy look biggerrrrr!"
posted by jon_kill at 11:56 AM on June 27, 2006

You gotta feel for that guy's wife or whoever has to put up with that kind of talk.
posted by Mid at 12:02 PM on June 27, 2006

Smedleyman is right. The FBI should be all over Rush' hard drives tonight.
posted by zaelic at 12:05 PM on June 27, 2006

Take that, Ted Kennedy!
posted by sonofsamiam at 12:08 PM on June 27, 2006

I didn't think that the idea of a FreeRepublic penis could get any more disgusting, but the name "Wormy" somehow does it.
posted by brundlefly at 12:12 PM on June 27, 2006

Rush says he went to the DR to get cigars....

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Of course, if that statement is true then it's axiomatic that a cigar is sometimes a big flaming penis.
posted by the_bone at 1:39 PM on June 27, 2006

And I have to wonder: since when do you need a prolonged, pill-induced hard-on to buy cigars? :)
posted by darkstar at 2:02 PM on June 27, 2006

Talk Left has some updates. Check out the caller who punked Limbaugh on increasing surveillance on the Dominican Republic sex tourists.
posted by darkstar at 2:12 PM on June 27, 2006

In other news: Congress Votes on Medical Marijuana Tomorrow
posted by homunculus at 8:24 PM on June 27, 2006

Palm Beach Post: ...Voting in the wrong precinct and having somebody else's prescription are, technically speaking, criminal acts.
But going after Limbaugh and Coulter is such a chore, such a thankless task of trying to get people who ought to know better simply to behave like grown-ups and take responsibility for their actions.
Instead, Coulter has hired former federal prosecutor Marcos Jimenez, a lawyer from the Miami firm that helped George W. Bush in the 2000 Presidential Recount, to clean up her voting irregularity; and Limbaugh has gone back to veteran criminal defense attorney Roy Black, to mop up his prescription troubles.
I know it's not easy being Coulter or Limbaugh. Painting people such as combat veteran John Murtha and 9/11 widows as traitors is tough work.
But it would be awfully adult of Coulter and Limbaugh to exhibit a little more compassion to the local prosecutor's office. Just a little personal responsibility is all it would take. Is that too much to ask?
posted by amberglow at 9:02 AM on June 28, 2006

Bill O'Reilly says: "It looks like Palm Beach authorities are out to ruin Limbaugh. Authorities don't usually check the shaving kits of people flying on private planes. This story was leaked to the press almost immediately, and that is flat-out wrong. This is a political persecution and it is malicious."

Because there’s nothing suspicious about the luggage of an admitted drug addict flying in from a Caribbean island on a private plane.
posted by Tenuki at 4:00 PM on June 28, 2006

I wonder what O"Reilly would have had to say if this had happened to a rock star or one of the Kennedy boys? What a predictable tool.

If this had been some other conservative he might even have a point, say Denny Hastert. The story gets its legs from Rush's extreme hypocrisy. Think Jimmy Swaggert and his prostitute.
posted by caddis at 5:55 PM on June 28, 2006