Posted on 10/23/2003 2:09:35 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The right wing operates its own code -- a kind of moral Talibanism where the punishment for sin is death (as in the death penalty) or if the crime is noncriminal, ridicule, ouster or impeachment. The right applies the code to politicians, ordinary citizens and celebrities with equal dispassion. And no one gets away unjudged -- except, of course, for the right-wingers themselves.
The loophole in the code applies when conservatives -- or more accurately, Republicans (I'm not sure ''conservative'' means anything anymore) -- break one of the moral laws. Then, of course, the rules are amended to create what you might call ``exceptions.''
Here's how it works:
Rule: If a small-time drug user gets caught with a couple of joints or a few rocks of crack cocaine and is sentenced to a long prison term under New York's Draconian, Rockefeller-era drug laws, that's justice to the Rush Limbaughs of the world. In fact, Rush would have such a person thrown under the jail and then deported, as he has said many times.
Exception: If Limbaugh himself gets caught copping thousands of mother's-little-helpers in a Denny's parking lot,this self-admitted three-time loser gets 30 days in club rehab and a free pass from the press and the public, who are supposed to be seized with Christian understanding. This exception would not apply to Al Franken. Nor would it apply to one of those black folk Rush has admonished to ''take the bone out of their nose'' before calling his show.
Rule: Gambling is a sin, and the myriad debaucheries of the entertainment industry, including wild and woolly Las Vegas, are to be frowned upon.
Exception: If Bill Bennett bets the college money at the Tropicana, he gets a free pass (and probably a couple of free nights in the boom-boom suite). He remains the official morality czar of Fox News, where he is free to comment on the ''death of outrage'' --including the complex universal logic by which Bill Clinton is to blame for Arnold Schwarzenegger's sins.
Rule: The media is unhelpful to the war effort.
Exception: Geraldo was just trying to help those nice soldiers find their unit's form letter-writing tent.
Rule: The media is biased.
Exception: Fox News has to be biased -- in a fair and balanced way, of course -- because as the company's executives recently said in response to criticism from that evil Christiane Amanpour, the alternative to being foot soldiers for the Bush administration is to be foot soldiers for bin Laden.
Rule: Celebrities should stay out of politics.
Exception: Unless the celebrity is Gopher, Frasier, Sonny, Bruce, that annoying comedian from Saturday Night Live who flopped as an NFL commentator or Schwarzenegger.
It's called the Ronald Reagan exception.
If the Governator were a Democrat, he would have been tarred as a moral relativist, Hollywood elitist, family values-killing lout who had no right to speak about politics, let alone stand for public office. But because he is a Republican, he's free to feel away on whatever suits his fancy, unfettered by the pooh-poohing of so-called conservatives (with the refreshing exception of George Will).
So which is it? Is it right or wrong to take illegal drugs? Right or wrong to disrespect women? Right or wrong to gamble, to cheat on your wife, to drive drunk (the sin a certain commander in chief got a pass on during the 2000 election), or for that matter, to lie . . . ?
That, of course, depends on your political party.
Theres a tiny bit of truth in that pile of garbage, just enough to score some points.
If the money pored into drug enforcement was diverted into rehab and anti-drug promotion programs, I wonder if there would be more use.
Are the root causes of recreational addiction always that much different than the root causes of medical addiction? Theres an old saying that an untempted virgin cant boast of her chastity. In Rushs upbringing and social circles, do you think that he was ever that tempted by drugs? If not, then he cant boast of his moral superiority over those that were.
All fell to a common weakness, expressed in different type and circumstances. The most promising among us who promote drug laws have no clear claim to moral superiority, just as incarceration has no clear claim to greater effectiveness than rehab and anti-drug promotion programs.
"......2) Call him on-air when he returns to host the show. I'm sure she'll get bumped to the top of the call list. And I'm equally sure that she lacks the guts and intellectual honesty to put words into his mouth in that forum. "
Isn't it telling how they feel so "brave" when Rush isn't on the air to challenge their assumptions? Here's another coward.
Rush, Recall And Reunion***That's the nasty beat Limbaugh dances to. He harvests all the heartless thoughts of a nation. He liberated intolerance in Middle America and put a fine point on it for the rich. He made it OK to kick the underdog.
Limbaugh was the overdog.
Now, his network will try to keep the Limbaugh franchise alive during his rehab. (What is Limbaugh, after all, but a franchise?) To hold the audience on Monday, it featured guest Ann Coulter's deadly and yet commercial mix of blond intolerance. ***
Legalizing drugs has no bearing on Limbaughs situation, other then it would have made it cheaper and easier to continue his addiction. His situation is that a powerful and narcotic pain medication was prescribed. Perhaps more careful monitoring and aftercare is needed in his type of situation, but that is more a medical, not a legal matter.
Recreational drug use is in no way related to the situation he finds himself in, other then both users obtain their drugs from people willing to sell death for a profit. Pushers aren't a medical problem, they will remain a legal problem.
I know there is a lot of effort out there by some elements to attempt to use Limbaugh's situation to somehow bloister their efforts to legalize drugs. Drug legalization wouldn't have prevented Limbaugh's problem, it would only create many more like him.
I seriously doubt that Limbaugh himself would be in favor of that.
Yes, they feel just fine sending their children to private schools while denying vouchers to parents trying to get their children out of rotten schools.
Rape is not a family value!
Better put some ice on that!
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