The Anchoress filled in for me today, and admirably, in two excellent posts; if you haven't read them, then for goodness' sake, start scrolling immediately. On the latest of these, though, I have to take exception with one point, where I think she has inadvertently erred. She had this comment about Rush Limbaugh's commentary on Michael J. Fox:

Like Betsy Newmark, I basically think - from what I've read - that Limbaugh was very foolish in his initial response to the McCaskill ad by Fox. I'm not excusing his bloviating, but I do think I understand why Limbaugh lost it.

Several CQ readers objected to this characterization of Rush's commentary, and I think rightly so. The Anchoress relied on the media's reporting on his commentary, rather than the transcript. Here is what Rush said about Fox:

I must share this. I have gotten a plethora of e-mails from people saying Michael J. Fox has admitted in interviews that he goes off his medication for Parkinson's disease when he appears before Congress or other groups as a means of illustrating the ravages of the disease. So lest there be any misunderstanding, we talked about a half hour ago of the commercial that's running for Claire McCaskill featuring Michael J. Fox on what appears to be when he's off his meds. I have never seen him this way and I stated when I was commenting to you about it that he was either off his medication or acting. He is an actor after all, and started hearing from people, "Oh, no, I've seen him on TV this way, this is how the disease has affected him when he's not on his medications." Then the e-mails started coming in saying he's admitted not to taking them in certain circumstances so as to illustrate how the disease affects people. All of which I understand, and I'm not even critical of that. Parkinson's disease is hideous.

Let me just stress once again in what I said in closing this out, that I think this is exploitative in a way that's unbecoming either Claire McCaskill or Michael J. Fox, because in this commercial for Claire McCaskill he's using his illness in a way to mislead voters that there's a cure for Parkinson's disease if only Claire McCaskill gets elected, if only Jim Talent is defeated. And of course it's all about stem cell research, which is a huge ballot initiative in Missouri anyway. I'm sorry, Missoura. He pronounced it Missoura. There are two ways to pronounce my home state, Missouri and Missoura. And Missoura, in certain sectors is the preferred pronunciation. It is a way to relate to certain Missourans. We never say Missourans, we say Missourians. But it's a way to reach out, "I understand you, I know your state" and so forth. There's a lot of politics in the commercial. But Mr. Fox was allowing his illness to be used as a tactic to trying to secure the election of a Democrat senator who is going to somehow, her election is going to lead to the cure for Parkinson disease via stem cell research because her opponent, Jim Talent, opposes it, which is not true. He may oppose embryonic stem cell research, does not oppose adult stem cell research or even cord blood, I don't believe, research, umbilical cord research.

In fact, today Fox revealed that he had taken too much medication, not withheld it, and Rush apologized for his speculation. He had said that either Fox stopped taking his medication or acted out the symptoms for the commercial, and corrected the record. However, that did not come from idle speculation -- Fox admitted to doing exactly that for his appearance before Congress in his book, Lucky Man (page 247):

I had made a deliberate choice to appear before the subcommittee without medication. It seemed to me that this occasion demanded that my testimony about the effects of the disease, and the urgency we as a community were feeling, be seen as well as heard. For people who had never observed me in this kind of shape, the transformation must have been startling.

I don't even disagree with Fox's choice for his 1999 testimony. I think it probably provided a much-needed context for people unfamiliar with Parkinson's in younger sufferers, and Fox always had been an image of youthfulness. In fact, it was a courageous choice, and I'm sure very effective. However, with that in the open, speculation as to whether he has manipulated his symptoms for political purposes is fair game -- because he has done it in the past. If the First Mate testified to Congress to get them to publicly finance all kidney and pancreas transplants and juggled her medication to demonstrate the worst possible symptoms to make a bigger impression, speculation about her true status in other appearances would not be inappropriate in a political setting.

Rush had this to say to Katie Couric in advance of her interview with Fox today, when she asked him for a statement on the controversy:

I believe Democrats have a long history of using victims of various things as POLITICAL spokespeople because they believe they are untouchable, infallible. They are immune from criticism. But when anyone enters the POLITICAL arena of ideas they forfeit the right to be challenged on their participation and message.

I have not met Mr. Fox, do not know him. I have admired his work in film and TV and his appearances on Letterman were howlers. I have nothing personal against him. But I believe his implication that only Democrats want to cure disease(s) is irresponsible (as I believed about John Edwards assuring voters Christopher Reeve would walk if only John Kerry were elected). I think this is ultimately cruel and gives people who suffer these terrible afflictions false hope. ...

He is stumping for Democrats, in the political arena, and is therefore open to analysis and criticism as we all are. His suffering is NOT fair game and I am sorry if people drew that conclusion about my comments, but I believe this happens precisely because NO criticism of victims is ever allowed, at all, which as I say is the Democrat strategy in putting them forward.

Fox wants to get federal funding for human embryonic stem cell (hEsc) research. The Anchoress covered the futility of this research thus far, so I won't belabor that point. It's true that further research might find a way to use hEsc for a stable therapeutic use, but it's also true that private funding has not appeared because of the lack of results from hEsc. Other stem-cell types have produced much more concrete results. I believe that Fox is genuine in his concern and truly sees an opportunity for federal funding if the Democrats control Congress, and he is working towards that end. His motives are honorable, even if I strongly disagree with his point of view -- and my wife suffers from diseases that hEsc advocates claim they will cure with this research, so I'm not exactly a disinterested observer, either.

However, if Fox wants to enter politics, then he had better understand that his rhetoric and actions will come under criticism, especially when he has manipulated his symptoms for political purposes in the past. Rush provides pointed commentary, but his comments about Fox did not cross the line or even approach it. Rather than talk about Fox's supposed victimhood at the hands of Rush Limbaugh, we should be talking about the issue of hEsc research and its lack of any productive and practical therapies -- but that wasn't really the point of Fox's ads anyway.

Note: Two points. First, CQ readers know that Rush has been a gracious friend to me in the past, so I do take some of this personally. Second, as I mentioned in the post, the First Mate has a number of illnesses, chiefly renal failure, rejected transplants, and total blindness, all of which hEsc advocates believe can eventually be cured through this research. The FM will be the first to tell you that she would reject any therapy that came from destroyed embryos; she finds the prospect ghastly. Earlier commenters asked whether a conservative would eschew therapy if it would save their life, and you have the answer from at least one.

UPDATE: Scrappleface has weighed in on the controversy, and his premiere video is climbing the YouTube charts.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference My Two Cents On Rush:

» Michael J. Fox on CBS and the goo of victimhood from Bill's Bites
The Rush Limbaugh referendumMichelle Malkin Brian Maloney has a thorough round-up on the Rush Limbaugh vs. Michael J. Fox battle. As expected, the MSM is going bananas over Limbaugh's pointed commentary. Liberal celebrities stride onto the political st... [Read More]

Tracked on October 26, 2006 11:57 PM

» Michael J. Fox on CBS and the goo of victimhood
(Updated and bumped) from Bill's Bites
The Rush Limbaugh referendumMichelle Malkin Brian Maloney has a thorough round-up on the Rush Limbaugh vs. Michael J. Fox battle. As expected, the MSM is going bananas over Limbaugh's pointed commentary. Liberal celebrities stride onto the political st... [Read More]

Tracked on October 27, 2006 3:30 AM

» Rush: I was wrong from Leaning Straight Up
I used to enjoy the Rush TV show, but don’t find his radio show as enjoyable.  I prefer a local show on KVI 570 called the Commentators (PLUG-> ChaChing! $$ {I wish}). And Rush has been known to go overboard IMHO in the course of his comm... [Read More]

Tracked on October 27, 2006 4:00 AM

» The Fox and The Hounding from Don't Go Into The Light
The left, through their shills in the media, have been enjoying themselves thoroughly over the remarks made by Rush about Michael J. Fox. Here's what they're reporting about the interview had last night with Katie Couric: NEW YORK (AP) --... [Read More]

Tracked on October 27, 2006 10:22 AM

» The Fox and The Hounding from Don't Go Into The Light
The left, through their shills in the media, have been enjoying themselves thoroughly over the remarks made by Rush about Michael J. Fox. Here's what they're reporting about the interview had last night with Katie Couric: NEW YORK (AP) --... [Read More]

Tracked on October 27, 2006 10:24 AM