Mac user Rush Limbaugh is having a heck of a week with dual controversies swirling throughout the web,TV, newspapers, and radio. Back in March, Limbaugh expounded on the addition of Al Gore to Apple’s Board of Directors:
“We use Macs here at the EIB Network. We’re an entire Mac shop, and Algore, who probably wouldn’t know the Internet if he was on the computer, is now a member of the Apple board of directors,” Rush posted on his site. “I have to see if one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. Gosh, I hope not, and I hope he doesn’t have anything to do, other than ceremonial duties, with this outfit. If they start letting him reinvent Apple like he reinvented government, oh boy… I just ordered a couple of new G4 Power Mac towers, and this is the way I get paid back? Geez.” More here.
Today, Rush Limbaugh is in the news. Bigtime. He has now announced his resignation from ESPN’s “NFL Sunday Countdown” after the flap over his opinion of NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb’s play and the media’s treatment of McNabb escalated over the past few days. Read Rush’s explanation here. Read the ESPN story here.
In addtion, the Drudge Report is reporting that The National Enquirer will allege that “Rush Limbaugh in drug ring… Housekeeper wore wire in set-up, supplied pain pills…Enquirer allege’s abuse of tens of thousands of pills…” Rush Limbaugh has posted a statement to his website that reads, “I am unaware of any investigation by any authorities involving me. No governmental representative has contacted me directly or indirectly. If my assistance is required in the future, I will, of course, cooperate fully.” More here.
Rush is a big Mac promoter who has complained several times on his radio show that Apple wouldn’t use him to do Mac ads because Steve Jobs’ political viewpoints don’t mesh with his. Just this past June, Rush wrote, “I recently bought the latest dual-processor G4. I’ve already hooked up audio, video, iChat – which is their version of AOL instant messenger – and it’s incredible. It’s real-time video conferencing on your computer. The long-distance companies are going to have to get in on this. The G5 is an even more advanced machine, yet Apple’s market share remains static! They have so much superior equipment that they should have at least double the share of the market they hold now. Apple is apparently a company that is so constrained by the political views of its corporate leadership and board, which now includes Algore, that it’s accepting lower sales. What a shame.” More here.
The New York Daily News has more on Rush’s ESPN resignation and prescription drug probe here.
What an immensely blown out of proportion crock of shite. More character assassination.
I think ESPN needs to distance itself from Al Sharpton’s opinions, myself.
If the drug thing is true it is sad, because people with chronic pain will do anything to get relief. I however will believe it when more information from reliable sources comes along.
This is the Liberal media foaming at the mouth to get this guy. The McNabb statement was not racist and if the drug problem is true, let’s hope Rush gets help to get well. Rush Limbaugh is not the devil, he’s a talented entertainer and I’ll miss him on ESPN’s show – he was GOOD!
Limbaugh is a hypocrite with radical opinions expressed in vile ways. I quit listening to him years ago. I wondered at what came out of his mouth. Now I know it was because of what was going into his mouth.
I now wonder what President Bush is on. Is he really the Xanax Cowboy?
Apple is lucky today that it is not associated with Rush Limbaugh.
BTW, even Rush would agree that it is not character assassination if there is documented evidence that someone illegally procured 10,000 narcotic pills through a drug ring.
Rush, how can we ever believe if it is you talking, or the drugs?
Well, I’m certainly not going to kick a man when he’s down here, although I’m sure that many liberals out there will have a field day with this. There is no way of knowing at this early stage whether any of these allegations are true, only time will tell. If by chance they are, it is quite unfortunate when anyone has a drug problem and I hope he gets some medical help. And if they are not true, it’s going to make a lot of people look hypocritical and idiotic for jumping on the bandwagon just because they don’t agree with his political views. I certainly hope this isn’t just a character assassination attempt with no basis in facts, but it’s certainly happened before so it wouldn’t be surprising if it ends up that way either.
Until something is proven one way or the other, it would be prudent to reserve judgment on him until the facts come in. Luckily in this country people are still innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Unfortunately, some people out there don’t seem to understand that concept or else they otherwise try to manipulate the judicial system and change the laws in order to suit their own agendas…
The National Enquirer is the source for this story. Not exactly a bastion of journalistic credibility. htey ahve been sued for slander and lies so many times, even they have lost count.
ESPN’s morning show was really dry until Rush came along and now it will return to its lackluster status quo. I think I can find other things to do on Sunday morning now that Rush is gone. I’ll go back to FOX’s morning show.
The drug thing is now in The New York Daily News and elsewhere:
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/122839p-110349c.html
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/1003/02limbaughdrugs.html
Rush shouldn’t have been on ESPN in the first place. He’s a political character assasin, not a sports analyst.
What Rush said on ESPN wasn’t racist, but it was pretty stupid. This whole thing may be blown a bit out of proportion, but if he’d used his head a little this wouldn’t have come to pass.
These are the things that happen when you intentionally try to push buttons. Sometimes you press the wrong ones.
As for this supposed drug story: Sounds like bullshit. The Enquirer is crap. Now if it had come from the Post…
; )
That inner ear problem Rush has is one of the most severely painful conditions one can be afflicted with. Keep that in mind. Obviously, one should go to the doctor, but if the prescriptions aren’t working or the docs have got you hooked, what would you do with a searing pain inside your ears?
Rush was actually great on ESPN – he knows what he’s talking about, very knowledgeable. And unlike the rest of the ESPN anchors, obiously entertaining and talented! Going back to Fox for NFL coverage. A great month with ESPN/Rush! Too bad he’s gone so soon.
A few points:
1) Whether the guy is a raging pill head or not isn’t really material. People get addicted very easily to pain medication, particularly due to the need for ever increasing dosages. However, if Rush is proved to have been a raging pill head purchasing large numbers of controlled substances illegally, I would be interested in knowing what opinions he has expressed concerning others showing similar behavior in the past. If he has opined that they should be viewed with compassion, I’d have no problem with Rush being treated compassionatly. If, on the other hand, he has opined that people abusing and illegally purchasing controlled pain killers should be locked up, then again it would rather ludicrous for him to be treated differently than he has opined that others should be treated.
2) His statement was racist. He stated that the guy was overrated, but then went on to say that he was overrated because of race. Well, I went to college in upstate New York, where Syracuse is the local college football team, and I live in Philadelphia, so I’m quite familiar with McNabb. He isn’t overrated–he’s the real thing. A guy that is producing 3/4ths of the offense for a playoff team isn’t overrated. Moreover, he has spent his entire college and professional careers playing in northern industrial towns where there is a good amount of overt racism and unstated racism. In all that time, McNabb has said diddly squat about race. He’s never tried to appeal to blacks on a race basis, and he’s never complained about his treatment from local fans. When the Eagles drafted him and he was greated with a chorus of boos, he didn’t complain. He’s never taken any opportunity–even when picked for the Pro Bowl–to say “I showed you guys” to the fans. In other words, Rush picked the wrong guy to go after on race basis, which makes the whole thing more offensive than it would be if he had gone after an underperforming athlete that had tried to use race as a justification or marketing tool.
3) Does anyone still think that Apple made a mistake not associating itself with this yutz?
Everybody has their time when the poop hits the fan. His McNabb comment on ESPN and this alleged pain pill debacle are two separate issues. Rush you confused your roles between socio/political commentator and sports fan commentator…thought you were brighter than that. Not disagreeing with comment, just wrong place and the wrong time. Anyone can get addicted to pills, booze or even chocolate, but it is ironic how the Grand Poobah of Conservative thought gets zapped with an accusation of copping pills on the Black Market. I don’t want to waddle in words like hypocrite, but the Conservatives are the biggest crusaders on the “War on Drugs” which has been as effective as peeing against the wind. In my libertarian opinion, our nation’s whole attitude on drugs and issues that emanate from them have to be revamped. So Rush-Bo get thyself to a detox and sort all this out.
from Accuracy In Media:
quote: Last year, the National Enquirer broke the story of Jesse Jackson fathering an illegitimate child with one of his employees and paying her thousands of dollars out of funds donated to one of his tax-exempt “charitable” organizations. The Washington Post picked up the story and even commended the National Enquirer for breaking it.
They are sued often, but lose rarely, because the stories are well guarded. This one uses prosecutors as a source — not something you can simply invent.
Just when I didn’t think it was possible to find a more obscure Mac topic, MDN manages to create their own.
Because MDN’s beloved bigot allowed his personality to seep through on ESPN, thus making national news (who cares?), MDN now gets it source from the ENQUIRER (who cares?) about this “celebrity” that could be using drugs (who cares?) based on the word of a housekeeper (who cares?), and the ONLY connection is that this person is a Mac user as stated in an old article. WHO CARES?!!
Perhaps the housekeeper is a corporate mole for Microsoft and trying to smear Rush’s reputation (could it really get any worse?) as a Mac user and by association make the claim that all Mac users are bigoted drug users. Yea, that’s it!!
I wouldn’t let Rush towel dry my donkey! (figure it out)
I feel dirty just reading this garbage!!
For some REAL daily RELEVANT news… http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/10/02/attack.trends.ap/index.html (I’m not sure if this is good or bad news). It is based on this… http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html#threat_list (avg 3 per day!). And obviously not based on this… http://www.securemac.com/ . Actually, if you look close, there are only 3 in the past 5 months; about 1 every 2 months.
Rush, if you’re hooked, get well! We need you between noon and 3. Who cares about ESPN?!
from above: However, if Rush is proved to have been a raging pill head purchasing large numbers of controlled substances illegally, I would be interested in knowing what opinions he has expressed concerning others showing similar behavior in the past.
There is a sidebar in the Enquirer story containing quotes from Rush such as these:
By legalizing drugs, all you’re going to do is define further deviancy downward. We have a duty to pass on values to our descendants. Values that will maintain the standards of behavior and ensure the survivability of the American way of life.
And drugs are no different. You end up destroying more than yourself. (Playboy interview, Dec 1993)
and
Ted Kennedy, whose liver is said to be shaped like a Chivas Regal bottle… (Rush Limbaugh show, Sep 23, 2003)
I don’t agree with your opinion. I suggest you resign your posting position on MDN. The point, if you could read between the lines, is Apple didn’t use Rush to promo Macs and maybe now that was a good idea. Probably, though, it was a bad idea, since Rush would’ve sold millions of Macs.
Post above should be addressed to Aryugaetu, not have “Aryugaetu” as the name, since it was from me!
grant,
Playboy, 1993? Or about a decade before debilitating inner era pain, right? Funny how crippling pain just drive you to get some relief.
Aryugaetu: obviously a rival Mac site publisher who wasn’t smart enough to think this up and whose site is way less popular than MDN, becasue MDN is timely, smart, and often funny. So, Aryugaetu whines here at MDN! ROTFLMFAO!
Aryugaetu,
This story is related to Macintosh, gives history and makes us wonder if Apple was right or wrong to ignore Limbaugh’s offer to help sell Macs. You come off as an ass with a stick up your ass. Take a pill, why don’t you?
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Just had a horrible image bouncing in my head:
Styx playing in the background:
DOMO ARRIGATO MR. ARYUGAETU DOMO DOMO
The purchase of 11,900 pills over a four month period would indicate a truly crippling level of inner ear pain. That period does coincide with the successful cochlear implant surgery. Unusual, however, that a doctor would not recognize the condition, or that the purchases would continue past the post-operative recovery period.
One of the side effects of these chemicals is also weight loss.
<<3) Does anyone still think that Apple made a mistake not associating itself with this yutz?>>
Oh I see, but it’s OK to put Al Gore on Apple’s board even though he sold out the country to the Chinese while he was Vice President? I guess it is since he’s a liberal afterall…