I've always considered Rush Limbaugh to be a complete and utter a**hole, so why his latest comments about Michael J. Fox have enraged me beyond my usual level of antipathy for all things Limbaugh, I don't know. As a Scottish neighbor of mine used to say, "What can you expect from a pig but a snort?"
Short story long, Limbaugh accused Fox of being "off his meds or acting" in a commercial he filmed for a Missouri Senate candidate calling for increased stem cell research. Why? Because the symptoms of his Parkinson's Disease were so pronounced as to be shocking for those who have never known someone with Parkinsons. Oh--and obviously because a guy with a wife, three kids and a long career behind him--must be acting or malingering if he's questioning Our President, right?
I'm not a groupie of Fox's by any standard; I can't name all his films or girlfriends from the 80's, or his kids' ages and birthdates (although I do cop to an outsize crush circa 1987 on Alex P. Keaton). But I can say that he has been an inspiring model for a young person dealing with a disease that traditionally affects those who are older. More importantly, he has been an inspiring model for a young person dealing with a disease that traditionally affects those who are older, by his grace under pressure and his constant dignity in the face of that disease. It's no secret that I feel an affinity for him in this regard, for all the obvious reasons. His quote about Parkinsons: "One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered" has been my mantra through every piece of medical crap I've handled in the past three years. It has been the one thing I've heard myself repeat in my head at times when I was despondently looking around me and thinking, "I'm too f'ing young to be dealing with this sh*t. Someone tell me how I can buy an f'ing break around here." His words reminded me that I always have my dignity, no matter what, as long as I don't surrender it either to idiotic medical staff, well-meaning friends and family, or to the consequences of the disease itself.
So to have MJF so verbally abused by "Mr. Meds" himself is just completely beyond the pale. I therefore stand by my earlier and ongoing opinion: Rush Limbaugh is a complete and utter a**hole. Made worse by this latest piece of evidence that he is a complete and utter a**hole with no decency.
CrooksandLiars
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