Bennett on Limbaugh

[dsc]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/17/arts/17RUSH.html

Before 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.

[Dr Fate]

1. Hard facts about HARD DRUGS that Bennet left out:

http://www.oxycontinaddiction.info/

http://www.oxycontinaddiction.info/injecting-oc.htm

The most widely used diversion technique at the street level is doctor shopping. Individuals who may or may not have a legitimate ailment requiring a doctors prescription for OxyContin visit numerous doctors, sometimes in several states, to acquire large amounts of OxyContin which they abuse or sell to others.

Individuals who abuse OxyContin by injecting the crushed tablets quickly become addicted. Injecting OxyContin requires a preparation regimen similar to that of heroin. This allows the abuser to receive the full effect of the pure Oxycodone almost immediately. This creates an effect similar to illicit opioid narcotics, such has heroin. Such a regimen requires the removal of the tablet coating by either sucking on it or scraping it with the teeth or a razor blade, followed by melting the remainder on a spoon, adding water, and then injecting the solution. Dissolving and injecting the contents of OxyContin can slow down or stop breathing and lead to death. Injecting OxyContin can also kill the tissue around the injection site and trigger heart and lung problems.


Signs of OxyContin addiction may include withdrawal symptoms when the OxyContin is discontinued, requests for OxyContin at frequent intervals around the clock, personality changes

Continued increases in the diversion and abuse of OxyContin are likely. Reliable strength, potential prescription cost coverage, and significant profit potential make OxyContin attractive to both illicit distributors and abusers.

OxyContin addiction is serious and is very difficult to overcome through out-patient or home treatment.

[Dr Fate]

2. hard facts about Chronic Gambling:

It is difficult for some people to understand problem gambling, but pathological gamblers do not have the choice to gamble, they are addicted. When pathological gamblers gamble, they are in a chemical psychoactive high. The moment the gambling is over, they slip into a chemical psychoactive low, an irritable depression they cannot tolerate. In time, their pleasure hormones become used up, and problem gamblers must gamble to feel normal. Pathological gamblers are not gambling for the money, they are gambling to feel normal. This is difficult for some individuals to understand because gambling, like drinking, seems like a decision of will. But pathological gambling is a brain disease that is chemically and genetically driven, just as addictive as crack cocaine in certain individuals.

Pathological Gambling is an addiction in the sense that the person can't stop, is done to the exclusion of friends, and feels obligatory. Those that are addicted to gambling continue despite knowing that they cannot afford it, and that they will lose overall.

http://www.robertperkinson.com/gambling-treatment.htm

[Ksec]

3. Did Clinton come clean in the end

like a man or didnt he? He lied at first but he eventually confessed his 'sins' Thats all Bennett needs to forgive Rush But its not enough for Clinton..pulease hypocrite

[Dr Fate]

4. Bill Bennet: "It's better to be a hypocrite..."

"...than to have no standards at all..."

He said this after over half the impeachment managers got busted for doing the same thing Clinton did...

[Catch22Dem]

5. I started out wanting to be supportive

Because drug addiction is a terrible thing. However, I've since found an evil streak. Now, I just want Rush to rot away in some roach infested shit hole. Personally, I think choking to death on his own vomit is too good for him. After all Jimi Hendrix was a much better cat, and that's how he had to go out. Fuck Rush.

Maybe, I'll wake up in a nicer mood. My feelings today are based on the shit he said on his show today. Of course, why should I have expected otherwise.

[Dr Fate]

6. He said people who oppose Bush are "communists" and "traitors"

I assume he was including veterans like my dad in that remark.

NOW I know where he gets that nonsense- it's drug induced...

Of course he was VERY STONED when he said it, so I guess that makes it okay!!!!

[JackSwift]

7. These guys no know nothing about morality at all

Everybody who ever went to Sunday school knows that gambling, abusing drugs, lying, hypocrisy and gluttony (me, Rush and Bennett) are sins.

As sinners, even ones who have God's grace as a result of repentence and asking forgiveness for it, are no better than anyone else, forgiven or not.

Bill Bennett thinks he and his pals are better than Bill Clinton? Me? Average working Josephine? I think not.

Bill, get over yourself. You are a fat, proud, piggy, gambling sinner who hasn't sufficient insight to see that you are a fat, proud, piggy, gambling, hypocritical sinner.