http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/17/arts/17RUSH.htmlBefore I get to the quotes, as many of you know, I have tried to be very fair to Mr. Limbaugh. I think, that like any addict, I have a duty to help him if asked, and no business taking his or any other addicts inventory. Thus, I have expressed hope for his recovery and have largely refused to get into the details. But this is a last straw for me.
Here is the quote. With my responses between paragraphs.
William J. Bennett, a conservative who served as the so-called drug czar during the first Bush administration, said in an interview that Mr. Limbaugh was at the center of "a human drama about a guy who's having huge success, takes a huge step down, and is now trying to get himself in shape."
Ok, so far I can live with this.That Mr. Limbaugh, with his advocacy of stiff punishment for drug offenders, would himself admit to a long-term addiction was evocative of the situation that Mr. Bennett was in earlier this year. One of the nation's pre-eminent moral crusaders, Mr. Bennett acknowledged that he had set a poor example by "too much gambling."
Do you think? This is a man who literally made it his life's work to tell others they were immoral due to behaviors that Bennett didn't like. Yet, he showed a bad example by gambling. Yea, that is one way to put it. Nonetheless, Mr. Bennett sought in the interview to distinguish his own shortcomings from the conduct of Mr. Limbaugh, a close friend who has dined at his home, once with Justice Clarence Thomas. "Not an addiction," Mr. Bennett said of his own actions, as if ticking off a list of talking points, "not a problem, no therapy, gambling too much, stopped it."
Gee, just how many times did I say this about booze? If I had a dollar for each one I would be richer than Bennett. A multi million dollar gambling habit is an addiction and it is foolish to pretend it isn't. Worse than foolish it is denial. Further, Mr. Bennett never distinguished on other behaviors between those who could and those who couldn't handle them. He felt using pot, no matter by whom, was bad due to the fact that poor kids may also use it and they would ruin their lives. By that standard his gambling was more than just a bad example. It was immoral.And yet Mr. Bennett said that Mr. Limbaugh deserved to be judged less severely than former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat and perennial Limbaugh target, who was impeached in 1999 over his deceptions regarding an affair with a White House intern. "He's not president of the United States," Mr. Bennett said of Mr. Limbaugh. "He's not blaming his accusers. He's not lying. He's not lying under oath."
"He was manly," Mr. Bennett added of Mr. Limbaugh. "He was straightforward."
Oh really. Just what was he doing as he advocated tough sentences for drug use while using drugs himself? For that matter, just what was he doing while he patted himself on the back for quitting smoking while he was using the equivalent of heroin? And, just how straightforward is it to admit to something after you have been caught? By that standard Clinton was straightforward too. After all, he didn't make Starr do the DNA test before admitting the affair. And just what is he doing, when even now, it is "I only took the drug for my back" and "the drug had a hold on me"?
I can only hope he is being straightfoward and honest with himself. But with enablers like Mr. Bennett I fear he is fighting a losing battle.