The War on Drugs isn’t really a war on drugs. It’s a war on people. In fact, it’s a war on poor people, minorities and Democrats. Let’s take a look at what happens when Rush Limbaugh, a rich, white Republican, gets arrested for illegal drugs.
Rush Limbaugh turned himself in to authorities today after a three-year-long investigation into charges that he committed fraud in order to obtain prescription drugs. He was released on $3,000 bond an hour later.
Limbaugh made a deal with prosecutors in which the charges against him will be dropped after 18 months if he stays in rehab and pays the state $30,000 for the cost of the investigation.
Wouldn’t you like to be able to make a deal like that?
Hammer of Truth came up with the money quote, from Rush himself: “What this says to me is that too many whites are getting away with drug use, too many whites are getting away with drug sales, too many whites are getting away with trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we’re not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too.”
Now the shoe is on the other foot, and we come closer to the truth. Either Rush, who claimed he took the pills to alleviate severe back pain, should be sent up the river, too, or we should stop prosecuting and jailing people who are only trying to alleviate their pain and sickness, whether that be through marijuana, painkillers, or whatever.
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Ultimately, the war supporters in Congress prevailed in the vote on the resolution. Still, the vote was significant because it places every member of Congress on the record as supporting or not supporting the unconstitutional, costly, violent occupation of a country that never attacked us. This vote should serve as an important reminder to the American people of where their representatives really stand when it comes to policing the world, empire building, and war.
Gardner Goldsmith explains why claims by politicians that consumers can become "irrational" and why claims by the same politicians that government can help "fix" markets are both false and misleading. He also explains what the terms Praxeology and Epistemology mean, which is key in understanding how to place free markets in their proper place among human history.
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Charles Stricklin
Apr 30, 2006
I’m troubled by his making a deal in the first place. If he’s innocent, then why make a deal anyway? Why not fight the malicious prosecution charge?
I know $30,000 is chump change to Limbaugh, but it seems to me that if you give in on somethng minor like this just to have the charges dismissed, you’re sending a signal to prosecutors that, if you disagree with a celebrity’s politics then you’re free to dig around until you find something to prosecute them on.
I would also point out that he was talking about cocaine and crack use at the time of the comment you pulled, and that he was never (to my knowledge) disfunctional because of his OxyContin abuse. A minor difference, to be sure, but it should be noted.
forstand
Apr 30, 2006
Rush Limbaugh is a hypocrite, pure and simple. He also panders to people by telling them what they want to hear, not what they need to know. He knew that what he was doing was wrong but believed that he was above the law.
I don’t like the man nor his messages. I am not a ditto-head. Right, wrong or indifferent: I think for myself.
Any man continuously on drugs, even OxyContin, does have his judgement impaired. That is why it is called a mood-alterating chemical (by NA and others). He took it to make himself feel good–all the time. I believe if the pills he took daily were accounted for we would find that he was on a constant high, possibly a menance to others if he was to drive, etc. But then he can afford a driver, can’t he? It sounds like he was in a maintenance mode taking just enough to keep a buzz on.
He did the crime so he should do the time. He won’t because he is white and rich with political clout.
Oldgeek
May 01, 2006
Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t see this as a white/black issue. It seems more to me that it’s more of a rich/poor issue. Wealthy people have the money to buy their own justice (as well as the lawmakers themselves) while the rest of us don’t.