Blue Crab Boulevard

Yuck

This is, quite frankly, disgusting. A report that Rush Limbaugh was detained – briefly as it turns out – at an airport for having Viagra in his luggage is being dogpiled by the left.

(CBS4 News) WEST PALM BEACH Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh was detained at Palm Beach International Airport for the possible possession of illegal prescription drugs Monday evening.

Limbaugh was returning on a flight from the Dominican Republic when customs officials found a Viagra prescription that did not bear his name. Instead, the bottle of pills had the names of two doctors on it according to the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents examined the 55-year-old’s luggage after his private plane landed at the airport from the Dominican Republic. The matter was then turned over to the Sheriff’s Office. Investigators seized the drugs – used to treat erectile dysfunction – from Limbaugh.

….

Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, issued the following statement:

"While going through routine Customs inspection of luggage at Palm Beach International Airport upon his return from an international trip, Rush Limbaugh was detained by customs agents after they noticed a non-narcotic prescription drug, which had been prescribed by Mr. Limbaugh's treating physician but labeled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh. After a brief interview, Mr. Limbaugh was permitted to continue on his journey."

You know what? I didn't see the left dogpiling on Patrick Kennedy like this. The more right people who commented on Kennedy (that I read, anyway) were more upset at his apparent favorable treatment than gloating over his problem. Not so the left. Isn't that interesting? Isn't that revealing?

UPDATE: James Joyner has a good post up on this subject.

UPDATE: The Anchoress at her finest.

Blogosphere, Media | Gaius June 26, 2006

By Tom in Texas, June 27, 2006 @ 2:49 am

Perhaps a link to a gloater would buttress your case. As it is, most commenters I’ve read simply said that it was unbelievably stupid of Limbaugh to violate his probation and that it’s quite possibly illegal for a doctor to write a prescription to themselves rather than their patient (not to mention that doctor shopping is precisely what Limbaugh was prosecuted for the first time). Doesn’t seem like gloating to me.
By Pug, June 27, 2006 @ 7:03 am

He certainly is receiving favorable treatment. Let’s not forget this guy is on probation. What is a guy on probation doing in the Dominican Republic anyway? Probationers are not routinely given permission to leave the country. If he didn’t have the written consent of his probation officer it is a violation of probation.

Possessing prescription drugs without a prescription is a clear violation, even if it is only something to help the old blowhard get it up. Rush Limbaugh flouts the law and receives favorable treatment.
By Gaius, June 27, 2006 @ 7:08 am

You are making assumptions. You do not know the terms of his probation.
By Ed, June 27, 2006 @ 7:57 am

So why was Rush visiting the child prostitution capital of the Western Hemisphere with an unlabeled bottle of viagra? Was he with his wife? Oh that’s right, he’s not married. Since he’s a righteous born-again Christian, I’m sure he has a good explanation. Right?…Hello?…Is that the sound of crickets?
By Gaius, June 27, 2006 @ 7:59 am

Nice completely unsubstantiated smear, Ed.
By Ed, June 27, 2006 @ 8:18 am

Just trying to keep up to your standards, Gaius.
By Gaius, June 27, 2006 @ 8:27 am

Then why come here if you don’t like my blog? Other than a chance to exactly prove the point I made.
By carol l. vassallo, June 27, 2006 @ 9:57 am

Gaius:
Looks like you’re a little sensitive to alternative viewpoints. Then why have a blog?
Clv
By Gaius, June 27, 2006 @ 10:05 am

Not sensitive to other views, annoyed with smears.
By Jimmie, June 27, 2006 @ 11:59 am

Tom, just as a note, Limbaugh wasn’t actually prosecuted for “doctor shopping” insofar as the prosecution barely had enough evidence to get an indictment, much less take it to court. That’s why they spend so long dredging up his medical records, then releasing them to the press. His case never went to court and the plea was basically a graceful way out for them and a way for Limbaugh to end the issue. They’ve both pretty much validated that.

As far as this goes, there’s far too little information to actually pass judgment at all not that it’ll stop the flood of lefty bloggers from doing so anyhow. Frist, Limbaugh wasn’t in possession of Viagra without a prescription. He was in possession of a bottle of Viagra that didn’t have his name on it. That’s a second-degree misdemeanor – minor-league stuff that rarely sees the light of day on the local paper’s police blotter. Second, it would not surprise me to know that, in order to protect the privacy of their patients, doctors do not issue prescriptions in the names of their high-visibility clients, to prevent snoopers from getting that information and blaring it all over the tabloids. Were I a physician, I’d sure as hell do it.

It’s not much of a shock to see folks who would normally scream themselves into a coma of privacy rights gleefully pushing this story to anyone who’ll listen. After all, it’s Rush Limbaugh and, as we all know, he doesn’t deserve the same rights as those who think correctly.
By salmonella5000, June 28, 2006 @ 1:02 am

Some Square in a Shack whined about how he hadn’t seen The Left “dogpiling” on Patrick Kennedy “like this.” Dude, Kennedy didn’t have a million Oxycontin pills falling out of his pajamas while he was trying to buy a million more Oxycontin pills, doesn’t have a radio show that broadcasts his pharmaceutical-induced rants over Armed Forces Radio, and you aren’t as attracted to Kennedy as you are to your jovial little quipster, Rush Limbaugh.

Rule Number one: A drug addict is a self-destructive liar. He’ll lie when it’s in his best interests to tell the truth. Rush Limbaugh is a drug addict. He will do illegal things even when it’s in his best interests to do the legal things.

You are all trying to cover this Viagra thing up by telling yourselves it’s “minor-league, second-degree misdemeanor stuff.” Guys. It’s illegal. You sound just like the mother of the serial killer who’s been caught red-handed, found guilty and sits on Death Row, but good old mom swears up and down what a nice boy her son is and how he wouldn’t hurt a fly!

That’s the truth.

It’s practically guaranteed that a drug addict will relapse at least once. More often than not, they go back to using and eventually die. All of you who make light of Limbaugh’s disease are refusing to see how deeply disturbed Rush Limbaugh must certainly be.
By BubbaB, June 28, 2006 @ 11:26 am

Sigh!! Rush Limbaugh is not and never has been a “born-again Christian.” Just because he is conservative doesn’t mean he is religious. Rush is very pro-religion, but when pressed, he will admit that he has never accepted Christ.

I knew a very conservative atheist who got very upset at how the liberals were trying to remove “under God” from everything. His opinion: If ya don’t believe in God, why make a fuss over Him?

By the way, excellent smear tactics from the hit-and-run trolls. Maybe the NYT should be reading your blog, Gaius!!
By Gaius, June 28, 2006 @ 11:38 am

I’m not sure they aren’t!