Comments on Is Rush Limbaugh a greedy, uncaring, selfish skinflnt?

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And, Xenox, speaking of being an opportunist . . .

Let's invest in tee-shirts showing Rush's mug shot! With big smiles like that, they're sure to be hot sellers.

Aww, darn. . . . someone beat us to it!

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/04/limbaugh-mug-shot-t-shirts-now.html

Well, maybe we can combine it with DeLay's:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1506867/posts

posted by WriterofLight on May 6, 2006 at 5:28 PM | link to this | reply

Okay, let's define "abeyance"

Blogflogger seems a bit puzzled about arrest versus charges held in abeyance.

From http://dictionary.law.com/default2.asp?selected=1420&bold=%7C%7C%7C%7C: "Quite often a judgment approving an out-of-court settlement is held in abeyance and replaced by a dismissal if the terms are fulfilled."

The statements that have been released make it sound like a lawsuit rather than a criminal charge was settled. According to some of the sources I found, "arrest" can be made to fit the situation, but only on a technical basis, rather than the slap-the-cuffs-on-and-haul-him-off image the lamestreamers were trying to foist on us.

posted by WriterofLight on May 6, 2006 at 5:18 PM | link to this | reply

actually he's the ultimate

opportunist

as long as hemakes moneyh being a conservative

posted by Xeno-x on May 2, 2006 at 3:26 PM | link to this | reply

JanesOpinion - Wasn’t arrested? That is the term used when a person is ...

... booked, photographed, and processed.

Newsmax (your single source) might be a tad conservative (i.e., biased), so here’s a variety of exerpts from major newspapers.

Prosecutors accused him of illegally deceiving multiple doctors to receive overlapping prescriptions, a practice known as doctor shopping. After seizing his medical records, authorities said Limbaugh had received up to 2,000 painkillers prescribed by four doctors in six months. NOTE: 2000 pills in 6 months is an average of 10 pills per day. (Miami Herald 5/1)

"Mr. Limbaugh had intended to remain in treatment. Thus, we believe the outcome for him personally will be much as if he had fought the charge and won," said Limbaugh’s attorney Roy Black.

A spokesman for the state's attorney's office, Mike Edmondson, said the agreement dropping the charge is "standard for first-time offenders who admit their addiction." In court documents, investigators connected Limbaugh to 19 prescriptions for the drugs Lorcet, Norco and hydrocodone called in between April and August 2003. The prescriptions were issued by doctors in New York, Florida and California. According to medical records, Limbaugh's doctor in Palm Beach County was unaware of some of the other prescriptions. Limbaugh was using prodigious amounts of the painkillers, according to the documents.[Per court records] In May 2003, a prescription for 50 tablets of Lorcet was filled for Limbaugh at the Zitomer Pharmacy on Madison Avenue in New York. The tablets were to be taken at a rate of two a day, and at that pace the prescription should have lasted 25 days. Three days later, a prescription was filled for Limbaugh at the same pharmacy for another 50 tablets. A third prescription for 96 tablets of Norco was filled about the same time at the Lewis Pharmacy in Palm Beach, according to the court documents. (Washington Post, 4/28)

Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, said his client and prosecutors reached a settlement on a charge of doctor shopping. Under the deal, Limbaugh would eventually see the charge dismissed in 18 months if he continues treatment for drug addiction, Black said. (Seattle Times, 4/28/06)

posted by blogflogger on May 2, 2006 at 7:42 AM | link to this | reply

Actually, blogflogger,

the charges against Rush were so lame they were hardly worth mentioning. A Democrat in the same circumstances minus the famous name would likely never have been charged. See below.

From Newsmax --

All weekend long news broadcasts were filled with reports that talk radio host Rush Limbaugh had been "arrested" on charges of doctor shopping as part of a plea bargain worked out with his lawyer.

But - as even the liberal newsmagazine, Newsweek, admitted - the "arrest" reports were bogus.

"LIMBAUGH ARRESTED was the immediate headline on the wires and on TV," the magazine said in Monday's edition. "But the word 'arrest' was misleading."

"In fact, Limbaugh had pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer had worked out a deal that would cause the single charge to be dropped after 18 months as long as Limbaugh stayed out of trouble and continued to see a doctor who has helped him with an addiction to painkillers."

Still, the rest of the press did its level best to portray Limbaugh's voluntary trip to the Palm Beach County jail for a mugshot as if John Dillinger had just been apprehended.

"RUSH LIMBAUGH ARRESTED ON PRESCRIPTION DRUG CHARGE," blared the CNN headline Friday night.

ABC's "World News Tonight" began its coverage of the Limbaugh case dismissal with Elizabeth Vargas announcing: "Rush Limbaugh, one of the most popular and influential radio talk show hosts in America, was arrested in West Palm Beach today. The charges involve allegations of prescription drug fraud."

The actual mugshot belied the "arrest," reports, showing a beaming Limbaugh clearly delighted over finally winning his case.

Other reporters went out of their way to paint the talk host as a common street drug user, noting a 1995 statement where Limbaugh said he favored jail for illegal drug users.

Newsweek was one of the few to note that the top talker's addiction had nothing to do with recreational drug use - but was instead prompted by intense back pain.

"Limbaugh's drug problems began after he made a medical choice to try to preserve his radio voice . . . . The doctors wanted to go in through the back of his mouth, but Limbaugh was worried about his vocal cords. A different procedure was performed, and Limbaugh's suffering did not go away. He began to take pain pills in ever-larger numbers."

The prosecutor's office leaked claims to the press that Limbaugh took thousands of pills -- suggesting not only a severe addiction but that Rush was manipulating his doctors -- "doctor shopping" -- to abuse his medications.

But Rush's medical records, ones turned over to state prosecutors, showed that the doctor shopping claim was a sham.

In July of 2005, Black detailed Rush's use of prescription drugs as detailed in his medical records:

"The prescription records that are in the search warrant affidavits should be put in perspective. Of the 2,130 pills prescribed, only 1,863 were painkillers, and of those only 1,733 were for hydrocodone. These were to be taken over a period of 217 days, from the date of the first prescription until 30 days from the date of the last prescription. The dose averages out to a little over eight pills a day, which is not excessive and is in fact a lawful dose.

"Ninety-two percent of the pain medication was prescribed by two doctors who were treating Mr. Limbaugh for back pain. They work in the same office from the same medical file, and there could be no doctor shopping between them. One of these doctors also prescribed 117 pills of a drug used to treat high blood pressure or to help wean patients off of painkillers.

"The other two doctors are the California surgeon who implanted the cochlear implant to restore Mr. Limbaugh's hearing and a Florida doctor he was seeing for follow up on the surgery. Of the 180 pills prescribed by the surgeon, 100 were vitamin pills. Of the 110 pills prescribed by the fourth doctor, 50 were non-painkillers prescribed for tinnitus, ringing in the ears.

"The bottom line is that these prescription records might tell a story, but it is not a story of doctor shopping. We continue to believe that Mr. Limbaugh is being pursued by overzealous prosecutors and that he should not be charged with any crime."

In fact, when news of the conservative talker's pain pill addiction first hit the National Enquirer in Oct. 2003, Palm Beach County prosecutor James Martz said going after low-level prescription drug users like Limbaugh was a waste of time.