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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (12067)	10/13/2003 9:44:36 AM
From: Tom Clarke	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793640

Rush to Judgment Lucianne Goldberg Only hours after the news broke, Katie Couric thought Rush Limbaugh's drug problem was funny. So funny as a matter of fact, that she made up a story about sitting next to him on the plane and asking for an aspirin - you get the rest. She told it with a baby-girl hair flip. It wasn't funny. During the Democrat debate last week, John Kerry thought Rush's pain was funny and took a shot. That wasn't funny either. For hard-pressed liberals, merchandising Rush Limbaugh's admitted pill addiction will be an interesting test of individual sensitivity and a telling reality check and we'd better brace ourselves. Response from the left will probably follow the line of Newsweek's cover story today; he's a shy, loner, schlub and hypocrite -- heavy on the hypocrite. They describe him as a solemn couch potato with few friends, an aversion to nightlife and a kid who stayed in his room with water balloons on Halloween, then dropped them on the departing trick-or-treaters (frankly, my kind of guy). They write with self-rightous glee at his misfortune that he is an "actor" filled with self-righteous glee at the misfortunes of others. This merry-go-round is just cranking up and we will hear much more of the same and worse about him in the days to come. This is their irresistible right and inevitable. To counter it, pundits on the right will revisit the drowned girl at Chappaquidick, other known addicts, the drunks, embezzlers, and jailbirds - the whole panoply of losers on the left. We've all been there before. There is no way to stop the ranting and high-fiving. They will do it until they get bored with themselves and move on. Now that Rush has admitted his problem it is all fair but it is a dangerous game and the more thoughtful among them may want to rethink their commentary. How truly funny is drug addiction and who among them has not had their hearts broken by it? How taxing is it to whip up jokes about rehab? How amusing is it to know that a public figure has begged a servant, a friend, a colleague even a stranger for a hit or fix because they fear they would go mad without it. Are there truly any yucks in knowing that someone had stockpiled thousands of pills just in case....just in case....there isn't a painless instrument around with which to kill themselves if they run out? When the early jokes give way to the righteous rants will they be delivered by those who haven't a clue about the terror that is drug addiction? As much as I can't stand them, I do not wish this for those who will feast upon Rush Limbaugh's pain: The call in the middle of the night that a beloved child has been arrested for DWI or picked up in a crack house or hung themselves. The realization that a wife or husband or loved one whose personality has changed has been stealing stuff, maxing out a credit card has been sneaking pills from somewhere and is hopelessly addicted. I do not wish them the expense and agony of waiting for someone they love to maybe make it through rehab and maybe not. I do, however, wish they could look into their souls and ask if they have the strength to survive what Rush Limbaugh will go through to get his life back. But, politics ain't beanbag and they are going to have at this situation - first with the jokes, then with the indignation and I-told-you-sos. They can't help themselves and frankly, we couldn't either if Al Franken got picked up in a motel with an underage boy or an overage goat. That's the way this game is played. It will never change so their behavior is not the point. People, decent people, have hearts. They are loyal to their friends and steadfast in time of trouble. Our commitment should be standing by Rush Limbaugh. He has given us hope and help and a way of seeing the world. Remember when being a conservative was a very lonely business? Remember when we huddled in Rush Rooms and were almost afraid to listen to him on the radio with passengers in the car. Think what the Clinton years would have been like without Rush. None of that is diminished by his current problems. We are 20 million strong. We can do anything we set our minds to and have the track record to prove it. The operative word here is 'strong' and a healthy, productive Rush Limbaugh, who knows how grateful we are, is the goal. Perhaps he can do it without us but I, for one, don't want him to. lucianne.com