The Case of Rush Limbaugh.

You can hardly blame the left side of the blogosphere for lambasting Limbaugh on his drug charge. If Al Franken had been arrested or charged we would be making fun of him too. But the whole episode brings up something I have been meaning to address. Even the news was quick to point out hypocrisy regarding Rush because he had bashed drug abusers on his show. While those who criticize Rush refuse to point out the difference in street drugs to get high and prescription drugs to relieve severe pain (and there is the difference of night and day) we are still dealing with addiction.

Having dealt with a brother who was an alcoholic and for 20 yrs and couldn't get a grip on his addiction until he finally gave it to God, I understand a bit about how addiction grabs you and won't let go. Limbaugh was clearly addicted to a highly addictive drug for his pain. To his credit, he tried to seek help twice. But I think he thought he could control it on his own. Sometimes we think we are stronger than our demons when we are not.

Rush is part pundit and part entertainer. He rose to fame for two simple reasons. He was giving a voice to a conservative point of view that was not being reported on and he was doing it in a fun way.

Movie stars and musicians who are arrested or checked into rehab certaintly don't receive the wrath of the msm or the leftwing. So this isn't about the addiction. It's about the politics of the person. For some reason, because Rush is conservative, he is held to a completely different standard by the msm and the left. It's like they expect conservatives to be perfect if they are going espouse a more moral society.

A couple of weeks ago I was on rightalk radio talking to Ace and Jeff (From Protein Wisdom) and Jeff rendered me speechless for a few seconds (a very difficult thing to do, and it doesn't surprise me that he would be the one to do it).We were talking about McCain running for President and Jeff asked, "Doesn't it bother you that he has been divorced?"

It surprised me. Just because one is a religious conservative doesn't mean we expect our leaders to have lived perfect lives. We would have no leaders then, because no one is perfect. We have all sinned. To me, it isn't about past mistakes, it's about how a person moves forward, how they coped or dealt with the problems they had.

There is a world of difference for example, in how McCain handled his divorce, and Giuliani handled his. All you have to do is ask the ex-wives to find that out.

Rush has never had a great personal life. I have no idea what his demons are. I don't even know exactly what to think about his prescription drug addiction. I wish him well and hope that he stays recovered, but he is, in the end, just a radio talk show host. Heck, my very favorite talk show host is Glenn Beck , who is a recovering drug addict, alcoholic, and divorced. His past is the worst. He talks about it all the time. But he turned his life around. He gave it to God. His life has been full of blessings ever since. He is a wonderful role model in my opinion. And if you think he is some holy roller, then you haven't listened to him. He is hilarious and irreverent. I love him.

Being a conservative isn't about being perfect. Far from it. It's about being better. Being better than you were the day before and hoping to be even better tommorrow. It's about striving for the good. We may not get there, but the effort itself gives us much to be proud of.

Update: NewsMax has quite a different story than what the MSM is reporting.