Rush Limbaugh admitted at the end of his program today that he is addicted to pain medication and is checking himself into rehab for the next 30 days (on my blog I've pulled together some of the coverage).
"You know I have always tried to be honest with you and open about my life. So I need to tell you today that part of what you have heard and read is correct. I am addicted to prescription pain medication."I first started taking prescription painkillers some years ago when my doctor prescribed them to treat post surgical pain following spinal surgery. Unfortunately, the surgery was unsuccessful and I continued to have severe pain in my lower back and also in my neck due to herniated discs. I am still experiencing that pain. Rather than opt for additional surgery for these conditions, I chose to treat the pain with prescribed medication. This medication turned out to be highly addictive.
"Over the past several years I have tried to break my dependence on pain pills and, in fact, twice checked myself into medical facilities in an attempt to do so. I have recently agreed with my physician about the next steps.
"Immediately following this broadcast, I am checking myself into a treatment center for the next 30 days to once and for all break the hold this highly addictive medication has on me. The show will continue during this time, of course, with an array of guest hosts you have come to know and respect.
"I am not making any excuses. You know, over the years athletes and celebrities have emerged from treatment centers to great fanfare and praise for conquering great demons. They are said to be great role models and examples for others. Well, I am no role model. I refuse to let anyone think I am doing something great here, when there are people you never hear about, who face long odds and never resort to such escapes. They are the role models. I am no victim and do not portray myself as such. I take full responsibility for my problem.
"At the present time, the authorities are conducting an investigation, and I have been asked to limit my public comments until this investigation is complete. So I will only say that the stories you have read and heard contain inaccuracies and distortions, which I will clear up when I am free to speak about them.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Natalie Davis
I certainly will pray for the man.
2 - Andy
Natalie, while I disagree on a lot of your views, I must tell you that I admire you for your genuine love for all man-kind. It is a constant challenge to my own faith!
3 - Chris Arabia
That's a nice sentiment, ND, echoed here.
4 - Eric Olsen
Maybe Rush will come out of this a somewhat changed person - certainly there will no longer be any justification ofr the arrogance, which he has always half played for laughs, but only half. Now he will have to argue his positions based upon logic, not simply because he says so.
Obviously he was backed into a corner, but at least he did choose to own up to this.
5 - Bleeargh
I have listened to Rush for over 6 or 7 years and have never heard him say something dispareging about addicts. Strong disdain for drug use and its concequences has nothing to do with disrespecting the individuals who get hooked, conversly it comes from a standpoint of knowing that the process (the drug market and all that goes along)is disgusting. My own brother has grown weed and distributed it, I would have no remorse for him were he to get arrested however i would visit him every week in jail and pray that he learned his lesson. I think Rush surely will be different after this, but I beleave he will conquer this and expect the same of everyone else. I believe he expects the best from society be cause, he expects the best from himself.
But we all fail.
God save him, God save us all.
6 - Natalie Davis
Indeed we all fail. But the statements he has made on the issue are, IMO, inexcusable. Of course, I vehemently disagree with Limbaugh on the legalization issue and with the harsh statements for which he is infamous. I would not want to see him prosecuted for what he has done, but if law enforcement were to follow Rush's past advice, then he would be in jail.
Free Tommy Chong! Safe and speedy recovery, Rush Limbaugh.
7 - Chris Arabia
hard to say. rush ranted in favor of legalization in 98 (according to one report--i forget which)--perhaps the timing itself was suspicious.
he should get whatever the standard punishment is (which i suspect would not involve prison time under these circumstances, based on what little i know at present), although what are the chances of that?
personally, i prefer decriminalization to legalization, but i am a semantical fool...
8 - Bleeargh
I heard the rant in '98 live and remember it. It was with tounge firmly in cheek, as with so much of his program. He was using it to make a point about the anti-tabacco movement, of which so many pro-drug or pro legalization people jumped on the bandwagon when there was billions of dollars to be got from "BIG" tobacco.
9 - Dan
Lets see, Liberals are the compassionate ones, right? The gleeful characterization of Rush as a hypocrite in this instance isn't substanative. I don't think Rush would have been overly critical of someone illegally obtaining drugs to treat intolerable pain in the same way he was critical of someone trafficking in crack cocaine. Personally, I don't necessarily see anything wrong with drugs for pain or fun, but I understand the thinking of those who do. And if you don't see the difference, well... you don't want to.
Also the jab at Bill Bennett is hysterically overblown by the liberal media too. Bill Bennett is not a degenerate gambler. A degenerate gambler is someone who gambles until the money's gone. Bennett still has most of his marbles as well as his character intact. His losses were well within the range he, and many others as well heeled as he, can afford. Most people don't understand the Casino game. Whales like him would get 40% of their losses in comps. Jewelry, cars, fine dining, and all of it reported on his 1040. Also, being Catholic, There was no inconsistency with his convictions. So, no degenerate gambling, no religous hypocrisy, just another hateful liberal lynch job.
Natalie: you're cool. sincerely.
10 - Ellen Dyke
We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. How can we take the plank out of our own eyes while we are so busy taking the speck out of others? Yes, we should pray for Rush, others and ourselves. The good news is we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ. Which is nothing we can do on our own, it is all the work of our Lord and Savior.
11 - BJK
1) Where were all of you "we all fail" apologists when Bill Clinton was getting a blow job?
2) We all may fail, but Rush Limbaugh has made millions by judging the failures of others who are also human--all in the name of personal and political gain;
3) The humble and contrite Rush Limbaugh you heard today was not cleansing his soul, but was going into rehab before the Feds could charge him with a laundry list of drug offenses;
4) Blessed are the merciful for they shall find mercy--Rush Limbaugh was the most merciless, conniving lying bastard who ever walked this earth;
5) May he rot in jail and then rot in Hell--that is, if Hell will even have him!
12 - Phillip Winn
BJK, I think you go too far, but Ellen, I agree with every single thing you said, but consider the hypocrisy of a man who judges others but asks for mercy for himself. God is gracious and will grant him mercy.
The rest of us, well, we're liable to show him the mercy he has shown others in the same situation. You know, the ones he said ought to be prosecuted more severely.
13 - BJK
Philip:
Thank you for making my point!
The same self-righteous, right-wing, Conservative Republicans who blame drug addicts for lacking even a shred of "personal responsibility" are now bowing their heads and "praying for poor, poor Rush Limbaugh."
It's "commendable" and "upstanding" when a millionaire asks for sympathy when he jets away to a posh rehab/spa in Arizona. But a common street addict? "Put him in jail and throw away the key!"
The difference? One can well afford the best D&A treatment money can buy. The other cannot and must rely on us to help him. He must rely on our compassion and our willingness to sacrifice for the greater common good.
Newt Gingrich the serial adulterer, Trent Lott the racist, Rick Santorum the phony patron saint of family values, Henry Hyde, Clarence Thomas, Ollie North and all the other hypocritical assholes who spew their hate and peddle their holier-than-thou politics of personal destruction deserve to reap what they have sown.
14 - debbie
"1) Where were all of you "we all fail" apologists when Bill Clinton was getting a blow job?"
It wasn't so much the blow job as it was the constant lying, the lying under oath, trying to get someone else to lie under oath. It was the deliberate smear tactics that he used against the people that were actually telling the truth, the way that he viciously tried to destroy their lives. (Even tho they were the ones telling the truth and he was the one lying, he was using the power of his office to destroy them) It was the constant thumbing his nose at the law when he held the highest office in the country.
"2) We all may fail, but Rush Limbaugh has made millions by judging the failures of others who are also human--all in the name of personal and political gain;"
His main contention with Clinton was the lengths that he would go to to discredit and destroy the lives of the people that spoke out against him.
"3) The humble and contrite Rush Limbaugh you heard today was not cleansing his soul, but was going into rehab before the Feds could charge him with a laundry list of drug offenses;"
Do you even listen to his show? He is actually a humble person, (I know he jokes about the 1/2 brain tied behind his back, but it is a joke) His being a "man" and admitting it has nothing to do the Feds being able to charge him. The Feds can still charge him with a crime if they decide that they have enough evidence. He could have played "Clinton" and denied it until there was proof positive and then say it was a vast left wing conspirosy, saying that it depended on what the definition of is, is. But he didn't.
I am as anti drug as a person can get. I don't have much use for the person looking to get high, but I have to tell you that I also had a herniated disc in my lower back and had surgery. I went through a 2 to 2 1/2 month period of intense nerve pain that ran down the length of my leg. It was a constant feeling of electrical burning that ran down my right leg. I can remember being so depressed, so worn down by the pain, that I honestly decided that if I had to live the rest of my life in that kind of pain I would rather die. My situation did get better, as the swelling went down I no longer have constant pain. The closest I can describe nerve pain is a toothache or an earache. The pain is intense, and most medications won't touch it. I hope that he is able to overcome this addiction.
"4) Blessed are the merciful for they shall find mercy--Rush Limbaugh was the most merciless, conniving lying bastard who ever walked this earth;"
I've heard his show about 50 times, I've never found him in a lie before but I haven't been a regular listener. I don't see him as the anti-christ that you seem to see him as. I might not agree with everything he says but come on I think you are being just a bit hysterical.....
"5) May he rot in jail and then rot in Hell--that is, if Hell will even have him!"
Oh, this must be the part that proves you to be a "compassionate democrat"... NOT! What a joke!
15 - Brian Flemming
Salon:
16 - Ralph Del Rio
For those who listen to Rush know that he's a great linguist and tow's the party line with glee. He is a big cynic and articulates the anti-democrat with perfection. First, he needs to come out of this in one piece and then he needs to get back to work and keep busy so he can beat it. Like him or not I think Rush had alot of guts to take responsibility for his actions in the public eye. I think we're seeing a trend in that which is refreshing. God Bless him and his family.
17 - mike
I say let's be sympathetic to Rush, AFTER every petty drug offender rotting in jail because of Republican drug policies is freed or allowed to seek rehab.
18 - Chris Arabia
the "war on drugs" is a bipartisan disaster. you keep giving the dems a pass and you decrease the chances that some common sense might prevail.
19 - BJK
Debbie, my apologies for speaking badly about Saint Rush of Holy Hypocrisy. I forgot about all of his saintly acts of mercy and compassion for minimum-wage workers and his devotion to the Truth According to the Gospel of Greed!
You people bend over backwards to shed a tear for this lying, drug addict felon because you've bought into his message of hate hook, line, and sinker. Boo hoo! Poor Rush! The PAIN made him do it! What will we do now that Saint Rush of Holy Hipocrisy is going to jail? Who will tell us what to think? Who will protect us and make us feel self-righteous and smug?
Boo hoo hoo! It's ALL Clinton's fault!!
20 - Phillip Winn
I do hope that Rush sees the light and realized that the misbegotten "war on drugs" must end. I have little hope that the idea will spread to politicians, though. While it would be right to end the war, it wouldn't be politically expedient, and so Dems and Reps alike will go on and on and on about the children and people will go on and on and on rotting in jail for stupid charges.
Sigh.
If Rush doesn't come out against the drug war after all of this, he's cooked. If he does, he might still be cooked. Hypocrisy is a dangerous thing. Ask Newt Gingrich.
21 - Eric Olsen
The drug war must end.
Rush is a hypocrite, there is no way around it.
He can redeem himself, but only by drastically changing his approach, which may render him much less popular with his crowd, which responds to the black and white certainty and grandiose hubris. It's a difficult situation for him, but one of his own making.
On a personal level I wish him well and hope he can overcome his addiction - addiction is insidious and ugly and no one can assume themselves to be impervious - but I hope he also takes the honorable route and redefines his persona to reflect this experience.
22 - JR
Debbie: "His being a 'man' and admitting it has nothing to do the Feds being able to charge him."
Now there is an astonishingly naive statement.
23 - Mac Diva
Wow! How credulous can people be? Limbaugh cottoned to the need to confess:
1) After he was on the receiving end of evidence he can't refute;
2) After apparent years of addiction, and
3) After losing his hearing to likely abuse of those drugs.
What he is engaged in now is damage control, not bravery. Wake up, Ralph and Deb!
24 - Taloran
In a meanspirited way, it would be fun to be a fly on the wall of the prison block when Rush is introduced to a bunch of weightlifters who are incarcerated partially because of his blind, unwavering, pig-headed rhetoric and espousal of party propaganda.
I think it would be very fitting for him to suffer the full force of prosecution of the drug laws for which he has vehemently argued. Maximum penalties for an unwavering, black-and-white-no-grey guy. He has no sympathy for others in similar situations, let him do the time having done the crime.
In a less meanspirited way, I wish anyone who has suffered addiction both understanding and a timely recovery.
25 - DP
Eric: I agree the drug war should end. But that's about all I agree with from comment #21. Only hate blinded liberals (BJK) would equate an addiction born of physical pain with the kind of parasitic, selfish, destructive drug behaviour Rush goes on about. I'm Sorry that you, who I respect, can't see that. Take a look at Brians' post #15. Do you see anything in those comments about dealing with physical pain?
Rush won't have to redeem himself. I hope Rush does change his perspective a little. If anything, this incident has provided strong evidence for the case to decriminalize. Here's a guy who's been hooked for five years and functioned just fine. I wouldn't call his addiction insidious or ugly at all.
Also I think you might have short-changed his "crowd" a little. Most seem to be open minded people who realize they're only getting half the story from the biased liberal media. I think they'll be forgiving.
One more thing: If I ever hear any arguments for decriminalization they're almost invariably from conservatives, or libertarians. Liberals do talk about softening punishment, which is good, but I think they need to keep drugs illegal so they can blame the irresponsible behaviour of their people on them.