About this 'compassion' thing

[BigBigBigBear]

The barrel of effluent Rush supporters are tossing over the wall is that liberals are somehow being dishonest about 'compassion' when it comes to Lamebaugh's problem.

1) He put himself in this position, not us.

2) Most of us advocate treatment over prison not because it's more compassionate, but because it's more effective. I don't pretend to have compassion for people I don't know, but I do believe that prisons should be for the threats to our society, not victimless drug users. On that basis, putting Lamebaugh in stir is a waste of taxpayer money every bit as much as the 19-old street kid.

3) The issue isn't how we treat him, since he's done everything he can to earn our enmity over the years, but how the system treats him. The system should force him to pay for his own rehab/detox, since he can afford it. I have REAL compassion for those who cannot afford the relative cush Limbaugh's millions will buy him.

4) I AM glad that he faces the moral ambiguity regarding drug addiction - coping with ambiguity has never been a long suit of ol' Rushbo's.

5) Does Sean Hannity think its okay for Limbaugh to turn his non-using maid into a drug pusher? Where's his compassion for her?

Am I being too easy on him?

[XanaDUer]

1. Nope, you're not.

Rush believes in personal responsibility. Now he can live up to his beliefs.

[CBHagman]

2. They wouldn't be talking about "compassion" if...

...this were one of the Kennedys or perhaps a liberal Hollywood star. Can you imaging the chortling, Schadenfreude and just plain knuckle-dragging among freepers if this were Bill Moyers, Barbra Streisand or one of Jimmy Carter's kids? I don't need to elaborate.

[Sandpiper]

3. Perhaps they should all look at their bibles

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Did Rush have mercy, or compassion for anyone he disagreed with?

[XanaDUer]

4. Didn't he make fun of people with AIDS?

n/t.

[Homer12]

5. Freepers and Dittoheads are addicted to hate, they need help.

Sean Hannity is the Father of all greedy hate-filled neo-conservative oppurtunists out there.

His only compassion is for himself and his profit margin. (hey, kind of like rush).

[Selwynn]

6. They're pretty much dead on

Its pretty hypocritical on the left side to preach one kind of values out of one side of our mouth unless of course its somebody we don’t like. It's pretty embarrassing to go to conservatives who are being "mean" towards the foul up of some of our heroes, like Clinton for instance, and lambast them as heartless compassionless, merciless bastards - only to turn around and do the same thing when it is one of their guys.

The issue is not about whether Rush deserves anything. The issue is centered around the word "mercy" which is better than the word "compassion" in this instance, because it has a more strict meaning. Mercy does not deny or excuse the guilt of the person in question, but it shows forbearance anyway. Frankly that is the attitude that we should have, and we would look so, so, so much better if it were true.

If we'd get over ourselves and stop acting like a bunch of fucking children for two seconds, we could see that by not giving conservatives any story, by showing Limbaugh nothing but an "even-handedness" in our statements and remarks, we give them NO STORY. And in fact we only make them even more furious, because now all of our rhetoric about how we are in fact better than they are is being proven true WHEN IT COUNTS. Instead, each time some idiot democrat comes out with his hateful spewage, and says things like "I hope Limbaugh gets twenty years of gang rape in prison" or "I hope he dies and rots in hell, wish I could kill him myself" - both comments that were made on these forums -- all it does is prove in the minds of everyone else that we have nothing but rhetorical bullshit to say when it comes to all our big talk about "compassion" and "understanding."

Justice is acknowledging that Rush totally fucked up, pointing out, civilly, Rush's double standards, desiring that he be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and having a healthy since of solemness about the horror of drug addiction, that we should not wish on anyone. We should truly hope for Rush's recovery from addiction, and hope just as intensely that he never be able to pick up the hate microphone again. And expressing our feelings in that way, rather than with mindless ranting hatred, would not only make is look great, it would avoid us being total hypocrites in every sense of the term.

Sel

[Bandit]

7. Who cares what a Freeper thinks about us?

Where is their compassion for Tommy Chong? They could not figure out the difference if you hit them in the head with it. They have no logical thought process so what you are saying is only applicable to other Progressives. And I dare say they can look at the world in more than black and white. We may have compassion but it isn't mandatory.

[IrateCitizen]

8. That's an entirely correct way of looking at that, IMHO...

So, I'd advise you to put on your asbestos underwear, Sel, because I am certain you are about to be FLAMED.

Sadly, I have found on these boards that hatred is not the sole domain of the right -- there are plenty on the left who embrace it as well. But, of course, our hatred is so much more justified than theirs -- because we are correct, after all, and they are just wrong. :eyes:

I admit that it is hard, DAMNED HARD, to maintain a sense of "mercy" toward Rush Limbaugh for what he has gone through. And there have been numerous occasions in which I have felt that he should be getting his "just desserts" out of this. But I try not to give into it, no matter how hard it might be.

[BigBigBigBear]

9. I won't flame him

since he just said more or less what I said.

Is it uncompassionate to get some gratification out of Limbaugh meeting the 'war on drugs' up close and personal?

I disagree about the difference between mercy and compassion, however. Mercy is the sole domain of the agent who determines punishment. That's not me. I couldn't show him 'mercy' even if I were so inclined.

Compassion is whether or not I feel sorry for him.

I feel sorry that he has to encounter the pain of detox and rehab. I don't feel sorry if he has to pay a price for his personal misconduct, and I'll be vocal if he has to pay any less a price than his maid.