Jim Quinn
Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003
Ed Asner is out there bloviatiing about how "we got Limbaugh, and Hannity's next" and how he wants to play the life of the "misunderstood" Joe Stalin. OK, so Uncle Joe did starve 100,000 people to death, but he was a good dancer.
One wonders if we have a Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy going on or just the ravings of a delusional old Commie who longs for a return to the days when we could all sit around at the Free Store in Berkley listening to Paul Robeson sing the Soviet International. Time to bring back the black list.
Since all you lefties out there are having such a gosh darn good time reveling in the "misfortune" of Rush Limbaugh, it pains me to tinkle in your punch bowl, but I will none the less. From Newsweek to Michael Moore, the underlying criticism of Limbaugh is that he is a hypocrite. But that charge is intellectually dishonest and here's why.
From the moment a recreational drug user puts the first straw to his nose, the first joint to his lips or the first needle in his arm he KNOWS that what he is doing is illegal.
For whatever reason, he has made a moral choice that his "normal" state is insufficient and needs to be augmented – so much so that he is willing to assume the risk of arrest and/or incarceration. And his resulting addiction should come as no surprise. He knowingly operates outside the law from the get-go. This is vastly different from Limbaugh's scenario.
In Rush's case the drugs were legal and prescribed for the management of pain. He had no reason to question his doctor about the propriety of their use. There was no need for him to wrestle with any moral question in the beginning. By the time morality became an issue, the drugs had pinned him to the mat.
Still, he managed twice at least to try to break the hold. What happened to Limbaugh could happen to your grandmother. It HAS happened to grandmothers – and grandfathers and aunts and uncles.
Limbaugh took a dim view of recreational drug use. He preached against the importers and the dealers and the users. Because of this he is now gleefully proclaimed to be a hypocrite by his perennial detractors and by some fans acting like jilted lovers.
So, let me ask you a question: How do you think Rush's view of the importation, distribution and use of recreational drugs differs from the view held by your grandmother? You know, the one who broke her hip and got strung out on her pain meds. I'd dare say not very much. So, is your grandmother a hypocrite too? Well, is she?
If the truth be known, more than a few of those who are pointing fingers at Rush are indulging in the forbidden themselves. They love it when they can point their fingers and say, "See, he does it too." But he really doesn't, and deep down inside you people know it.
So do an extra line for me. Maybe it will help you cope with the uncomfortable truth that your charge of "hypocrite" just doesn't pass the Granny Test.
Jim Quinn hosts the morning drive-time program "Quinn in the Morning with Radio Rose" at Pittsburgh's WRRK-FM.
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