April 7, 2004

Rush Limbaugh and the ACLU

So Rush Limbaugh -- fighting a legal and poltical battle against Florida prosecutors investigating him for money laundering and doctor shopping in connection with his addiction to painkillers -- argues to an appellate court today that the government's seizure of his medial records violates his 4th Amendment constitutional right to privacy. And liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union are taking his side. (You can watch the hearing on his Web site, too.)

Thank goodness for those card-carrying ACLU pinkos when you need them, huh, Rush? Roy Black, Limbaugh's lawyer, says these are not strange bedfellows because the case is not political. Oh, but it is, it is. We've got the most prominent conservative media pundit relying on those he and his right-wing colleagues have lambasted repeatedly in the past to defend his own rights. It's entirely political; just that politics looks a little different when you are staring at a set of handcuffs and criminal prosecution. As the ACLU itself boasts, it:

has long recognized the need for a viable public health approach for drug control. Criminal prosecutions are the government's primary weapons to stamp out illicit drugs in the “War on Drugs.” However,the so-called “War on Drugs” has led to a dramatic increase in the nation’s prison population, while doing little to curb the drug trade. . . “Limbaugh’s case demonstrates that the ‘War on Drugs’ is not working,” said Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “This case provides a stark example of how the government chooses to prosecute non-violent drug offenses, rather than provide treatment for drug users.”

Yeah, this is not a political case!! Right.

 Posted by glenn

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