Thursday, November 18, 2004
Poor, Poor Rush
John Cole makes a stirring defence of Rush Limbaugh, embattled as part of the war on drugs
Overweight, draft-evading, dishonest, twice divorced, drug-addict conservative hero Rush "say anything whatsoever to distort science, truth & understanding; polysterene decays faster than paper; oil is being replenished faster than we use it" Limbaugh should not be a victim of the wretched war-on-drugs. That's because there shouldn't be one.
However, it's Conservatives such as him who have designed and led this war to the point where it's a global calamity. An African-American, for example, pulled over and searched, found with cocaine and then thrown into prison for a savagely long period, will not tend to get shown the concern that is being afforded Rush by JC here.
Nevertheless, it's Liberals at the ACLU who are stumping for Rush, just as they do when a different cultural group gets harassed (so much more severely) over their choice.
People like AWOL and Cheney are drink drivers. This gets written down as a youthful indiscretion. They make up for it later.
At the same time, there are 2 million people in US prisons, 60 per cent. of whom on drugs charges, of whom more than 3/4 are black and Hispanic (although it is estimated that most illicit drug-users are white). They don't get the chance to atone—they are torn from their families at taxpayers' expense.
If the treatment of the repulsive Limbaugh gets more people outside these groups to have a visceral understanding of the evil and absurdity of this situation, then that would be the first good thing he's ever done. I have no pity for him.
