If Rush Had A Conscience, He'd Be Ashamed

He doesn't. He won't be. But a whole lot of folks are going to feel a little uneasy when they try to defend why they listen to the dickhead. His uneducated and mean-spirited nonsense has boiled over into the MSM. Good.

Limbaugh mocks Michael J. Fox political ad
Conservative talk show host accuses actor of faking Parkinson's disease

Possibly worse than making fun of someone's disability is saying that it's imaginary. That is not to mock someone's body, but to challenge a person's guts, integrity, sanity.

To Rush Limbaugh on Monday, Michael J. Fox looked like a faker. The actor, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, has done a series of political ads supporting candidates who favor stem cell research, including Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, who is running against Republican Michael Steele for the Senate seat being vacated by Paul Sarbanes.

"He is exaggerating the effects of the disease," Limbaugh told listeners. "He's moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act. . . . This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting."

Limbaugh, whose syndicated radio program has a weekly audience of about 10 million, was reacting to Fox's appearance in another one of the spots, for Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill, running against Republican Sen. James M. Talent.

Later Monday, still on the air, Limbaugh would apologize, but reaction to his statements from Parkinson's experts and Fox's supporters was swift and angry.

"It's a shameless statement," John Rogers said yesterday. Rogers, Fox's political adviser, who also serves on the board of the Parkinson's Action Network, added: "It's insulting. It's appallingly sad, at best."

"Anyone who knows the disease well would regard his movement as classic severe Parkinson's disease," said Elaine Richman, a neuroscientist in Baltimore who co-wrote "Parkinson's Disease and the Family." "Any other interpretation is misinformed."

Then Limbaugh pivoted to a different critique: "Michael J. Fox is allowing his illness to be exploited and in the process is shilling for a Democratic politician."

Limbaugh's shock at Fox's appearance is a measure of the disease's devastation, advocates say. Contrary to the charge that Fox might not take his medicine to enhance his symptoms, the medicine produces some of the uncontrolled body movements.

I just have to show my disgust for Pumpkinhead's assertion that Fox is "allowing his illness to be exploited," mostly because he's "shilling for a Democratic politician." I'd like for Limbaugh to name the person who held the gun to Fox's head.

Remember Mary Fisher's speech at the 1992 GOP Convention? It was a heartfelt message from an HIV victim and AIDS activist, imploring her party to recognize the disease.

Limbaugh's disgusting comments would be the equivalent to someone on our side showing contempt for Fisher because she was being used to exploit her illness to shill for the Republicans. And I'd be the first to rise up against such an attack.

Doubtful we're going to hear a scintilla of uneasiness from the right on Limbaugh's words. Sadly, that's exactly what we expect.

Comments

[oldgringo]

No "RATIONAL" human being can listen to the "sewer-mouth-of-the-boozing-dope-eating-coke-snorting-Old-South-Oxycontin-dropper-shopper-gushin'-Rush" for over three minutes without changing the station......those who "stay tuned" to his garbage do so because the bottom of the sewer is where they habitually feed...End of story...

Even worse than his comments were his movements. As seen on the NBC Nightly News, as he said those words he jerked his arms and legs, imitating Fox. It was as disgusting as anything I've seen. Try to find it, and watch it. It will disgust you too.

[Still Shouting]

Go easy on Rush. He's suffering from a common disease on his side: Grand 'Ol Psychopathology.

He might have been off his meds that day.

[ZENmud - Switzerland]

http://crystelzenmud.blogspot.com/2006/10/dont-enable-addict.html

Don't enable an addict: voting Republican contributes directly to FURTHER CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY!

Pass it on: vote against national Republican candidates in November!

ZENmud

[John, York PA]

I have Parkinson's, and let me assure the Windbag that you don't have to be off your meds to shake and sway. Any sort of stress, or lack of proper sleep, or the act of pushing yourself beyond physical limits, all help ignite the herky jerky's. Plus, the efficacy of the meds is diminished the longer you take them, and Fox has had PD for quite a while. He also has quite a nasty case of the disease. Limbaugh is an idiot, but a dangerous idiot. He has lots of listeners, and one can only hope that this disgusting little charade if his will turn off even his most ardent followers.

[Mary, Harrisburg PA]

Rush is an idiot and should be taken off the air. I don't know how any advertisers can support this show and what he said about this disease. This goes to show you the mentality of our country. Rush needs to be fired for this remark but of course he won't be its only about the ratings.

[loretta, chicago]

if Rush ever had to actually take medication PRESCRIBED BY A DOCTOR TO HIM, it would be proper for him to comment. Instead, he CHOOSES TO TAKE RECREATIONAL drugs obtained outside the system (ILLEGALLY). Hey, Rush, just a thought, if you stop taking the downers, the other um, problem, will work itself out eventually. Then you can go back to those weekend excursions with Mark Foley. DIRTBAG!

[Chris, Wanaque, NJ]

People shouldn't be too tough on Rush for the jerking around on his seat. It's been a long, hard fight dealing with the cyst on his ass. Never really could get comfortable sitting on that, could he?

[Dana B Toronto]

I would cheerfully love to kick all the shit out of that fucking moron LimBLAH, I'd punch that shit bag so hard his ancestors would rock, Git him Michael....

[N. Hines, Dallas, Tx]

Why isn't that SOB in jail, instead of running his mouth off on his own national sydicated radio show?

Oh yea, I forgot. Zero tollerance is just to enforce on teenage pot smokers and others whom The Whitehouse deems to be "Against Them".

[vaughn1111]

Michael Fox didn't choose PD. He became a innocent victim of that disease. Rush and Republicans choose to be what they are, and that was described quite well in the previous posts, on the streets, and in the hearts of any thinking compassionate person.

[Chuck38, G.G. Ca.]

Limbaugh reflects the intelligence of a toad, which is an insult to all toads.

[wcfar, Murphy, NC]

Rush...didn't anyone ever teach you about bad taste? You demonstrated your hard heart on this one. It does appear that an apology is in order so just fuckin' apologize and shut your noise hole. Have a blessed day!

[Roger]

Well, Rush more than anyone should know what it is like to be off his meds. Of course his were taken to keep him high as a kite and kill what little concious he had left in his soul. MJF of course has to take his meds because of a horrible disease that takes his body away from him but leaves him with his mind and his soul. So I guess who would you believe, the man who speaks out for those whose voices are much smaller than his, or he who parrots the hatred of a political party that has no compassion for those it disagrees with, or who they get no political or financial gain from.

Is that a head on Rush Bimbo or did his neck throw up.

[matthew,detroit]

I,uh,uh,I,uh,uh,uh,I,just don't know how to respond to this malignancy that masquerades as a human.Maybe we can get the Docs at the DMC to donate a couple of gallons of some type of cancer chemotherapy drug,inject into the malignancies ass and maybe it will shrink and possibly go away.If it works then we can move on to the rest of these cancerous talk show hosts{O,lilly,Carlson,Beck,Coulter,etc.}.

[tom]

I can't think of a better candidate for a for a severe medical condition than Fatboy. I know that''s awful, but...

Limbaugh ug is unchristian. Power hungry, materialistic and ego bloated. Render unto Ceasar those things Ceasars and unto God those things God's. He likes Ceasar's better.

[roooth]

Chris, that's no cyst on Rush's ass - that's his brain!

If I were Michael J. Fox, I'd be reliveved by what Limpbaugh said.

When Fox wakes up tomorrow he might still have Parkinson's, but when Rush wakes up every day for the rest of his life, he'll still be Rush.

Which is the greater affliction?

[Zee]

Is there a reason why drug addict and DEALER Rush Limpblob is not in jail yet?

Anyone know who sponsors his show?

Boycott this jerk's advertisers and let them know that you will never buy their products or services as long as they support the sanctimonious, mean-spirited, 90-pill-a-day eating a**hole.

Without sponsors the show can't go on.

[Madame_Karnak]

While I am not sure who Rush's sponsors are, I'd bet on a couple of the pharmeceutical companies that Rush has single-handedly supported the last 10 years or so. I think that this situation is much like the one described by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson wrote that if forced to choose between a government without a free press and a free press without a government, he would choose the latter. If I had to choose between a shaky brain and an unshaky body and a shaky body with a clear mind, I would choose the latter.

Rush exemplifies the simple-minded invidiousness of the Rebubbakins. Look at the wealth that people like he and Ann Coulter have amassed and they are still nasty ungrateful and so insecure that they have to pick on those that they perceive as vulnerable. That doesn't say much for them does it?

[detchubby]

watch out the spin will now begin. Fox is from canada(socialist ya know). hollywood liberal. probably illegal alien.

[Curt - Myrtle Creek, Oregon]

We now know who the terrorists are. We have had a tough time deciding who to go to war with, but if we are paying attention, you can see it is this group of right-wing, phony Christians (not the real religious ones) who are in charge of the country at the present time and who use the media scum like Rush Limbaugh to carry their war messages. (Their war is with the American people). We should bring our troops home from Iraq and go after the REAL terrorists, put them in jail, and restore decency to our American system.

[Charlie]

The sad truth is that neither Rush nor his base cares about these issues. If they had an ounce of decent respect for the opinions of mankind or even for mankind at all this would not be an issue. And to think that we (yes, we the people) voted this bunch in twice in the past six years!