Who Is This Man?

While reading this week’s Democratic Underground’s Top 10, this particular story aroused a bit of ire:

"Wheelchair-confined Richard Paey committed almost exactly the same violations of Florida prescription drug laws that radio personality Rush Limbaugh did, with a different result: Limbaugh's sentence, in May, was addiction treatment, and Paey's, in 2004, was 25 years in prison. Both illegally possessed large quantities of painkillers for personal use, which Paey defiantly argued was (and will be) necessary to relieve nearly constant pain from unsuccessful spinal surgeries after an auto accident, but which Limbaugh admitted was simply the result of addiction. (In fact, if Limbaugh complies with his plea bargain, his conviction will be erased.) Paey's sentence now rests with a state Court of Appeal. [Tampa Tribune, 2-8-06]"

According to Florida’s legal system, attempting to ease the physical pain from an auto-accident and spinal surgery using pain-killers merits a 25-year jail sentence, but easing the emotional pain from being a rich republican conservative blowhard radio asshole is understandable and excusable with just a slap-on-the-wrist. I guess the Florida legal system agrees with Rush Limbaugh’s opinions regarding the illegal drug use, except when the person caught using drug’s illegally is a rich republican conservative blowhard radio asshole:

"We have alcoholics and drug addicts in our society, don't we? And what do we say about them? 'Well, they can't help it. Why, it's genetic. Why, they have a disease. Why, put one thimbleful of scotch in front of them and they can die.' We totally exempt them from any control over their lives, do we not? Some athlete will spend two years snorting lines of coke. 'He can't help it. You know, it's -- it's just -- it's not -- it's -- it's genetic. These people -- they're predisposed to having this addictive syndrome. They -- they can't help.' Yeah, like that line of cocaine just happened to march into the hotel, go up to the athlete's room and put itself right there in front of him on his blotter."

"And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs,
using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good
because we know what happens to people in societies and
neighborhoods which become consumed by them. And so if
people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought
to be accused and they ought to be convicted and
they ought to be sent up."

"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."

- Rush Limbaugh

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By the way, check out this most excellent post from Media Matters regarding the soulless, heartless hypocritical plagiarist Ann Coulter.