is a big mistake. He has millions of followers who dote on his every word. They call themselves "dittoheads," because when he speaks, they just nod their heads and say, "ditto." They vote. They write letters to the editor. They contribute to political campaigns. They do anything he tells them to.
Fringe isn't fringe anymore. Remember, Katie Couric had this guy on during the evening news for her "Free Speech" segment to promote--get this--more civil discourse. He was an official election commentator on the networks in '04. He is on Armed Forces radio (people who disagree with his views are not). He is very, very powerful.
The time to sit back is past. That's the problem. A LOT of people ignored folks like him for a long time, until he and his ilk became a powerhouse. People have to fight.
It goes beyond stem-cell research. Big pharma, big insurance companies--all the people who often make life
worse for those of us they're supposed to be helping--use people like him to whip up the unwashed to support their programs for stupid reasons.
I know he's a dirtbag, but this is the lowest I've ever seen anybody go.
UPDATE:
There's an article in the
Washington Post with a quote from Limbaugh:
Quote:
Possibly worse than making fun of someone's disability is saying that it's imaginary. That is not to mock someone's body, but to challenge a person's guts, integrity, sanity.
To Rush Limbaugh on Monday, Michael J. Fox looked like a faker. The actor, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, has done a series of political ads supporting candidates who favor stem cell research, including Democrat Ben Cardin, who is running against Republican Michael Steele in a Maryland U.S. Senate race.
"He is exaggerating the effects of the disease," Limbaugh told listeners. "He's moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act....This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting."
|