Not as harsh as him bleeding to death from the anus after a prison rape. That's another way he could beat his addiction.
I don't wish Rush goes to prison; I hope some of his right wing brethren see this as an example that wharehousing people for their addictions is both "big government" and counterproductive. Rush needs rehab, but so do the less fortunate that just get sent up the river by the people that think "Rush is Right". With regard to the defense that he is not a hypocrite: C'mon. You really got to work to let him off that hook. Same goes for Bill Bennet who, with a 2 pack a day cig habit and a gambling addiction has the huevos to write "The Book of Virtues". Irony, I guess.
Liberals prefer to celebrate sin and immorality?! LOL! Come on, you don't really believe that do you? You sound like you're reading from the Limbaugh-Bennett-Falwell playbook. It's statements like this from right-wing moralists which makes people gleeful when their own moral failings are exposed. The problem with these guys is that they think talking a good game on morality is sufficient for them to be able to look down there noses at liberals. Many people think that actions speak louder than words however. No one expects Bennett to be a perfect human being (and indeed no one would make such a fuss about his gambling if he wasn't a self-appointed moral arbiter). But the strident manner in which he condemned supposedly immoral liberals gave people the impression that his own personal life was without tarnish. And when we found out it wasn't, all of us "immoral" liberals took the opportunity to point out his hypocisy. Morality is certainly not a dirty word but one should tend to his own personal morality before browbeating others. And using morality as a political football the way some of these right-wingers do is especially distasteful.
Wishing someone gets cancer and dies, that's real nice. As much as I hate Bill Clinton, I could never find myself hoping he got sick and died.
Let's think about the right wing's thought leaders: Rush Limbaugh - drug addict and not-so-latent racist Bill Bennett - self appointed minister of virtue has a gambling addiction Arnold Schwartzenegger - gang banger, ass grabber and hash eater Anne Coulter - suggested assassinating Clinton. Jesse Helms - threatened Clinton if he came to North Carolina Pat Robertson - suggests nuking the state department Jim Bakker - Jessica Hahn, mmmm The Bush twins - caught smoking J's with Ashton Kutcher Impeach Clinton cause he lied. Praise Bush, and he lies to protect us (Niger uranium, WMD, 45 minutes, no doubt, we know where the weapons are, EPA on NY air quality post 9-11, just about everything on his tax cuts...) Let's face it. The right wing has lost the cultural war. The metal plates in your head are starting to show.
Ben, Are you sure you're not taking this point too far? First, there's the issue of whether gambling harms society. Second, your three-part test leaves Bennett open to a lot that is inconsistent with his general "Book of Virtues" so long as he hasn't specifically crusaded against a particular behavior. So, if Bennett goes to Vegas every weekend, smokes, gets drunk, gambles thousands of dollars, goes to nude reviews or strip shows, then heads back to his room and orders tons of Spectravision pornos -- he still fits your three part test, so his behavior is not subject to second-guessing? Lastly, I think you'd agree with me that there is plenty of legal behavior that is not necessarily moral. Not providing health care, or feeding children fatty foods to cite two of your previous examples. So, part three of your test seems too flimsy of an excuse to let Bennett have a pass on his behavior.
The cultural war is over. Right wing social conservatives (Limbaugh, Bennett), centrist uni-crats (Clinton, Schwartzenegger) and left wingers (Kennedy, Jackson) all have their failings with regard to the litmus test on the cultural agenda. John Galt has a good point, just because something is legal does not make it ethical. Addications to alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, messaging boards at BigSoccer, etc are not illegal, but a certain amount of deception is required to sustain those addictions. Many people, and now it is obvious that most people, from all political persuasions are now very comfortable rationalizing the behaviors of their leadership with regards to their ethical failings. Party affiliations seem to be more important than moral and ethical strength. As a counterpoint to this discussion, here are some ethical folks from all persuasions. You might not like their opinions, but they tend to speak truthfully. Right wingers - John McCain - Bill McClintock - Mitt Romney - Orin Hatch Centrists - Alan Greenspan - George Pataki - Zoe Lofgren Left wingers - Mike Honda - Barbara Boxer - Maxine Waters
I hope they send Rush to one of those prisons that are just filled with black people. That would be karmic justice. Then again, he'd probably hook up with the aryan brotherhood to avoid being shanked. "Rush Limbaugh is a lame professional Swine and he makes a good living at it. He is like a hired Geek in some traveling backwoods carnival -- the freaks who bite the heads off Chickens -- but Limbaugh is a modernized Geek who thinks he can bite the heads off of people." -- HST, 2003 GringoTex - thumbs up