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Is Rush Limbaugh a government target?


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We all know the rancor that Limbaugh throws at the government. This, I'm pretty sure, has made him a target with a big red circle on his forehead.

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- Rush Limbaugh could see a deal with prosecutors in a long-running prescription fraud case collapse after authorities found a bottle of Viagra in his bag at Palm Beach International Airport. The prescription was not in his name.

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Limbaugh's doctor had prescribed the Viagra, but it was "labeled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh for privacy purposes," Roy Black, Limbaugh's attorney, said in a statement.

I hope Rush Limbaugh kicks their butts for this. How humiliating. All this over viagra and now the whole world knows. So much for medical privacy.

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quote:


Originally posted by Prez:

Well, the whole world knows ole' Bill got a hummer from a fat intern in the White House! This is bringing balance to the force, or something.

Actually, I find it disgraceful.


There can be no balance until the emperor is out of the way.

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Hold on there guys... Rush reached a plea bargain that contained stipulations that he continue drug treatment and remain free of any other drug related legal problems. How would we know if he violated that agreement if they didn't check up on him?

Don't you think finding a prescription in his posession but not in his name is cause for at least a little review?

If he didn't break any laws (and I don't think he did) then it'll all blow over. He's still on probation and just as any other criminal in his situation would be subject to verification and review, so too is he.

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quote:


Originally posted by Grizzle:

Hold on there guys... Rush reached a plea bargain that contained stipulations that he continue drug treatment and remain free of any other drug related legal problems. How would we know if he violated that agreement if they didn't check up on him?

Don't you think finding a prescription in his posession but not in his name is cause for at least a little review?

If he didn't break any laws (and I don't think he did) then it'll all blow over. He's still on probation and just as any other criminal in his situation would be subject to verification and review, so too is he.


Medical records are legally consider "private". In other words, the only way anyone should know anything about this is if it becomes a criminal case.

Also, Rush is NOT ON PROBATION, and he did NOT PLEA BARGAIN. A plea bargain is when you plead either "guilty" or "no contest" in exchange for a sentencing recommendation. Limbaugh entered a plea of "not guilty" and the charges will be dropped if he completes the program he is in. That is NOT probation and he is, therefore, NOT a criminal ... therefore his medical records should still remain private.

http://legalsoapbox.freeadvice.com/n18960_...guilty_plea.htm

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It's pretty clear the case against him was legally viable, otherwise it would have been dismissed or thrown out of court. Instead he avoids a conviction by entering into a legally binding agreement which, in addition to his treatment and periodic drug tests, clearly stipulates he must remain free from any violation of the law for a period of 18 months. You are correct that the legal definition of probation relies upon a conviction, so let's just call it his "better be good or face the charges" time.

Rush is a target only in the sense that he's a public figure. It's not as if they invaded his medicine cabinet at home, he was going through customs. I've been through customs and I've been detained and if I was famous it would have been on the news along with any other embarrassing facts of the situation. He might have been able to buy his way out of a conviction, but no one has enough money to buy off public scrutiny.

Maybe the customs agents did single him out, maybe they didn't. He's Rush Limbaugh, recognizable, famous, has drug related legal problems and he was returning from the Dominican Republic. Bad combination. If I were him, I would have left the pills back at the hotel (of course we must consider the possibility he was in a confused state due to the lack of blood flow to his brain.) Turns out he was in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong bottle of pills in his possession. He should be thankful he wasn't doing anything illegal otherwise he'd be in a heap right now.

I don't care that he was carrying Viagra, do you?

As to his medical records... he's free to use the legal system to sue whomever broke the story. Until then he'll have to suffer the same fate those in the public arena always do. Having their dirty laundry aired for all to see. It's a shame really, all of this never would have happened if he hadn't allegedly engaged in illegal activity. (Note: I use the term allegedly for your benefit and to be PC because his lawyers clearly wouldn't have accepted the agreement if they thought he had a snowballs chance)

Being a Republican, I thought Rush was a responsible man who took responsibility for his own actions. Maybe now is a good time to start.

Sorry Rush, you've got no one to blame but yourself.

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Well, to be fair, Rush Limbaugh absolutely did take responsibility for his addiction to painkillers in a public statement. He said he was in no way a victim, and admitted his character flaw.

Personally, having watched my grandmother live with constant pain, I can understand how easy it would be to become addicted to painkillers, so I'm not ready to lynch the guy like most people are. The media clearly is getting its revenge for the constant (and totally justified) lambasting it receives from him. Once again, this is NOT the job of the media. You want to go toe to toe with Limbaugh? You don't do it in a journalistic forum. THAT IS NOT WHAT NEWS MEDIA IS FOR. Go on "Meet the Press" with him, and debate everything you want, call him names, whatever. Get your own radio talk show, and name it the "Bash Rush Radio Hour".

The media has a critical obligation to grow the hell up. Limbaugh is not now, nor has he ever been, a member of the news media, so he is not bound by the ethic that journalists are supposed to follow (though hardly ever do any more). Limbaugh is really more entertainment than anything.

I don't really listen to Rush anymore, but the way he and Dr. Laura Schlessinger have become targets of the supposed News Media is disgraceful.

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Prez,

You are right. I find sensationalistic journalism very distasteful and I certainly don't support it, I'm just trying to tell it like it is. Maybe Rush gets a little bit more attention because of who he is, but I don't see this treatment as anything different from the way the media treats other celebrities.

He's in the public eye and this sort of stuff just goes with the territory.

Look at it this way, how many celebrities have given up their public life because the heat was too much to bear? I can't recall any and I can only assume that the benefits of being in the public eye ($$$) outweigh the downside of having one's private life paraded before the masses.

If I were Rush, I'd be upset too, but hey I'd certainly be willing to put up with it for that kind of dough.

Busy day, gotta run.

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Grizzle:

quote:

He's in the public eye and this sort of stuff just goes with the territory.


Absolutely. One of the things that irks me to no end about clebrities is how they whine when they have no private life. This is something different though. This is on par with the humiliation laid upon Justice Clarence Thomas with that Anita Hill garbage. Justice Thomas is a just, honorable, decent man, who, because he was a conservative, had the most intimate details of his private life laid out for the world to see. The media made it their personal mission to destroy that man based on the word of a jaded jealous co-worker who lacked any credibility. I despise the politics of personal destruction, regardless of who the target is.

For what it's worth, I don't like personal attacks against Democrats and or liberals any better. (Ted Kenndey deserves every bit he gets though, and more... ) We can disagree all you want, but argue on PRINCIPLE, not on whose uglier, fatter, or dumber. This is a big reason why you and I get along so well. I know we agree completely on this point. You can respect someone you don't always agree with, as I try to do.

quote:

Busy day, gotta run.

Don't work so hard. It's bad for you!

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I don't see any other celebrities having their private medical records looked into. Most celebrities, when they're dirt is aired in public, it occurs after they themselves do something illegal PUBLICALLY. Frankly, Rush did something illegal PRIVATELY, and subsequently much of his PRIVATE information was made public for no cause other than sensationalism.

As for celebrities receiving the same treatment, ummm, wrong. Remember Brett Favre? He wasn't brought up on charges. He made the information public HIMSELF, and, funny enough, the media layed off of him pretty quickly (which is the right thing to do).

I can't find ANYTHING that happened to another celebrity that quite resembles what's happened to Rush.

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quote:


Originally posted by LostInSpace:

quote:

Originally posted by aramike:

I can't find ANYTHING that happened to another celebrity that quite resembles what's happened to Rush.


That's because he's attacked the media too. It's called payback.


And proves Rush's point was factual all along: the "objective" media isn't really so objective after all.
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