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The unfortunate poor, uneducated, ghetto drug addicts get 25 years in “real jail”. People in real, chronic, severe pain that are tormented for life are in their own “society imposed jail” with no way to escape. And Rush Limbaugh gets to become a celebrity for getting caught, and turning his high powered Public Relations lawyers loose with the proper spin on Rush’s pitiful dilemma.  

CNN and many TV news reports have fallen far short on high quality reports by only reporting on Rush Limbaugh's side of his addiction problem.    

According to other sources Rush allegedly coerced and threatened his housekeeper to illegally obtain more than 4500 Oxycontin in 47 days. The implication from her is that he was in no apparent pain and was just a pill popper who liked the feeling (the rush) and didn’t mind risking being addicted.    

 Allegedly, he had his housekeeper hide the pills under his mattress so his wife wouldn’t find them. Twice he went to a rehab place in New York to detoxify himself. Never was their any mention of physical pain due to his previous surgery by his housekeeper or in his previous statements of the past five years. His physical body language on TV (his jittery, quick, and jerky physical motion) showed a man in no apparent pain. And if he was in such pain, one would have to wonder how he could excel in such a high stress, physically and mentally demanding job, and be at the top of his form.    

In Rush’s pitiful statement, he failed to mention if he was currently in pain; if the OxyContin was effective in relieving his pain; and surprisingly he failed to mention what in the world he was going to do when he went to rehab and the OxyContin wore off. What is his plan when the severe, tormenting pain returns.    

Is Rush in pain now, was he in pain ever, how much pain was he in, and how long did the pain last? Most importantly “ is Rush going to continue to be a pain”? I would think, Yes ! Rush will be back in 30 days and continue to be one hell of a pain.    

He has a hell of a lot of explaining to do. But naturally, since an investigation is underway he won’t be able to go into any details. Something tells me that drug addicts and drug dealing will no longer be on his conservative Republican agenda as one of the evils we must eradicate. Hell, the War on Drugs just caught a big one, Rush Limbaugh. Oh no, that was Pablo Escobar. Or was it Clinton (who didn’t inhale anyway). Or was it Bush who didn’t inhale. No it was Bush who snorted and then he exhaled. Clinton didn’t inhale, but he still must be holding his breath, because he never, ever admitted he finally exhaled.    

Rush will probably claim he didn’t swallow the OxyContin; he just let it dissolve in his mouth, under his tongue, which doesn’t really count. Also, someone said they didn’t have sex with Monica, only oral, which doesn’t count. George Bush allegedly got caught with cocaine but he said he could pass a FBI test if the test only asked questions about drug use going back no more than 10 years. We certainly have all kinds of people in important positions, espousing important positions on important issues, who don’t want important things in their own lives, “to count”.    

As a conservative, diehard Republican Rush never had the slightest bit of sympathy for people who were addicted to street drugs, illegally obtained, through illegal channels. His contempt, disdain, and scorn for such “low-life” people was his badge of conservative, Republican self-righteousness. Poor Rush got himself in a pickle and now he is using pain as his excuse, and asking for pity, understanding and sympathy; something he rarely gives other less fortunate people.    

 He initially started to demand OxyContin from his housekeeper when her husband had had surgery and she had a few extra Oxy she could get for him.    

 Rush apparently then had a lawyer pay his housekeeper off with $80,000 in "back pay" and $100,000 to destroy computer emails of the transactions. Rush Limbaugh is a hypocrite.  He has done serious, irreparable, disheartening harm to the hundreds of thousands of people who suffer severe, chronic, relentless, horrific pain from injuries and diseases. These are the people who will suffer because doctors will become even more paranoid and reluctant to prescribe OxyContin, Percocet and other effective pain medications for patients that desperately need it for pain, and for sheer survival to have more than a 0% quality of life.    

Mr. Limbaugh should be ashamed of himself for using his status as a rich, powerful, influential, radio talk show star to explain away the fact that he is no different than your ordinary, everyday ghetto drug addicts, who are at a loss as to how to defend their selves when they get caught. There are hundreds of thousands of "poor under- represented addicts who are serving 25 year draconian jail sentences for doing what Rush did, "get caught".    

Rush gets to apologize on TV, and rush off to a rich man's drug spa for 30 days of rehab recommended by "his doctor". And people, like my wife who suffer from real chronic, severe, relentless, horrific, tormenting pain can't afford to buy pain meds, and can't afford or find a doctor who even cares or has the courage to treat patients with medication that will relieve their pain. More than 30,000 people (not terminal cancer patients) silently end their lives each year because they can't find accessible, affordable relief from pain from the medical system in America due to State, Federal, and Medical Agencies that have the righteous duty to safeguard ourselves from ourselves, even if we have to jump off a bridge to end a life of constant, severe physical pain.    

Millions are addicted to alcohol and hundreds of thousands die from alcohol related diseases each year (including over 20,000 in drunken car accidents). Tobacco related illness kills over 450,000 from cancer, emphysema, stroke and heart disease. And yet I can jump in my car and drive down to the corner plaza and buy a gallon of whiskey and a carton of cigarettes without a prescription. And yet I can’t get a single OxyContin pill for my wife without spending $250 for a doctors appointment that may take two weeks to get. Then my wife and I are made to feel like we are some kind of criminals with sinister intentions planning shake the foundations of democracy and the stability of the government.    

Even Neurosurgeons and Orthopedic Surgeons; physicians who specialize in surgeries involving a great deal of chronic, severe pain are timid, paranoid, and refuse to treat the pain created by one’s injury or condition or the pain from extremely extensive surgery.    

Thank you, Rush Limbaugh, for your contribution to the empathy and understanding of chronic pain sufferers and for even a semblance of understanding for “drug addicts” like yourself. By illegally purchasing 4500 Oxycontin in a 47 day period from your housekeeper you have advanced the cause for the sick, the suffering, and the addicted.    

 Rush, do you think that OxyContin should be banned now that you have had your “rush” from it, and since you better lay off now and lay low? Rush, do you think all those low-life people in prison serving 25 years for getting a “rush” from marijuana (in Texas) or from cocaine (in New York) should be transferred to a nice rehab spa? Where is that place you are checking into? Can it hold 300,000 drug addicts like you? Or is it a bit more exclusive? And are you going there for 25 years?  

  The unfortunate poor, uneducated, ghetto drug addicts get 25 years in “real jail”. People in real, chronic, severe pain that are tormented for life are in their own “society imposed jail” with no way to escape. And Rush Limbaugh gets to become a celebrity for getting caught, and turning his high powered Public Relations lawyers loose with the proper spin on Rush’s pitiful dilemma. I feel sorry for him. His sentence should be five years of full time community service fighting for the repeal of the Rockefeller draconian drug laws and for legislation demanding rights for people in real pain to be given access to doctors who will address their problems with affordable medication and treatment.  

James Boyne dboyne@aol.com  James Boyne is a freelance satirical writer, computer trainer, and financial planner who has an MBA and a degree in Certified Financial Planning. He is happily married, downsized, and uninsured. He has also written “Living Sickly, Dying Quickly” as well as “36 Reasons to Vote for Bush and Republicans in 2004” for www.opednews.com. He presently stays home as a full time caregiver for his wife who is in chronic, tormenting, severe physical pain from a spinal injury. James himself has had three spine operations, the third one being a spinal fusion which fused 5 vertebrae together, 15 years ago, when the success rate was almost nil. When in pain he takes a glass of ice water and bites on a rubber hose. He would like to hire Rush’s housekeeper. This article is copyright by James Boyne, originally published in OpEdNews.com  but permission is granted for reprint in print, email, blog, or web media if this entire credit paragraph is attached