On today's Rush Limbaugh show we find Rush whining that the press is blowing the criminal investigation of a public figure out of proportion. He also whines about the government going beyond the bounds of propriety in invading that same public figure's privacy.
Too bad for Rush that the public figure in question is HIM.
And they say that irony is dead.
What follows is a snippet of this morning's show from:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_122303/content/statement.guest.html
With each of these leaks the media did solemn reports on the possible severe penalties, and the investigation continues, and then they would casually whisper "No charges have been filed." Next, we heard that I was being investigated for money laundering, again leaked by anonymous sources, high-government sources, quote, unquote, close to the investigation. Now, ladies and gentlemen, what happened to all that? Hmm? What happened to all those things? What happened to the drug ring investigation? What happened to the drug trafficking investigation? What happened to the money laundering investigation? Have you heard of them since they were leaked? No. I wonder why? Why haven't we heard about these investigations?
Now maybe we can answer the question. Now, these same high-place government sources have gotten permission to see my medical records. Why do they need my medical records? I mean, if they've got a drug ring investigation going and they've leaked all this to the press, and if they've got drug traffic investigation going and they've leaked all this to the press, and they've got a money laundering investigation, why do they need to invade my privacy to see my medical records? The answer is, because they need my medical records to discover, to learn whether I have committed a crime called doctor shopping.
Drug ring, drug trafficking, money laundering. Now they need my medical records, my private medical records to find out if I've committed a crime called doctor shopping? You mean with all these previous leaks, they now have to invade my privacy to learn whether I have broken the law? Why, I thought based on the leaks I've broken the law all these times! How many of you did? How many of you thought, "Gee, whiz, this is really getting bad." Doctor shopping? Doctor shopping. And they need to invade my privacy to even find out about that. These medical records, by the way, will prove legitimate medical conditions requiring treatment. In fact it was...
Well, I don't want to get [into that.] I'm so tempted to just tell you, but I'm just not going to make their job any easier. But the question is this: Why would any of us want such records made public, even if they prove our innocence? It's not up to me to prove my innocence by giving up my right to privacy. I have to give up my right to privacy now in order for the state who is, in effect, just casting a line out there, hoping to net something. They've got to invade my privacy to do this. We still haven't seen Bill Clinton's medical records, have we? Has anybody? We haven't seen Howard Dean's records as governor for 11 years in Vermont.
But we can cast a wide fishing net, we can stand out there after all these leaks, and we can throw a fishing line out there and we can, "Ooh, let's maybe, maybe we'll find something in Limbaugh's medical records." Now, as you all know, I have admitted that I was addicted to prescription painkillers. I have been to five weeks of treatment. After failing twice to get off of these things myself, I sought professional help, did so, and I continue to be in treatment now. Now, I don't know, and this is...I run the risk here. I'm not whining about it. I'm just genuinely curious. How many such people are being pursued by the authorities?
I could give you some names of actors and actresses and sports figures, and not one of them have been pursued in this circumstance. Let me read to you from the New York Times today just to establish this leak business - and there's more than you even know about this. "During Mr. Black's presentation yesterday at the medical records hearing, the most detailed defense of Mr. Limbaugh since the investigation became public in October, the lawyer called the prosecution of his client 'a witch hunt built on leaks tailored to smear my reputation.'