# Why do so many people admire a drug addict and listen to his opinions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 3, 2004, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-admire-a-drug-addict-and-listen-to-his-opinions/267287 "2004-10-03T05:03:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-admire-a-drug-addict-and-listen-to-his-opinions/267287/21 "2004-10-04T01:08:28Z")
> [@pervert](#): > > Gosh, I really do miss those environmentalist wacko updates. The sound of those musical chain saws was hilarious. šŸ˜ƒ That would be _The Lumberjack_ by **Jackyl**. As for the OP, Iā€™ll be watching for a Michael Moore or Al Franken GD thread soon. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-admire-a-drug-addict-and-listen-to-his-opinions/267287/22 "2004-10-04T01:35:30Z")
I am not a devoted listener, but recently I have been up late sewing some clothes (got a sewing agenda ;)) and I listened to a late-night repeat of Limbaugh. Heā€™s entertaining. Heā€™s very partisan, has elements of ā€œtongue in cheekā€ bullshit, and basically, heā€™s entertaining. I donā€™t take all that he says as gospel. I understand that heā€™s partisan, and to an extent, full of shit (as all partisan talk show hosts are). Some of what he says is _probably_ something I will agree with, but not all. Mostly, he helps the time pass as you are sewing a pair of pants in the middle of the night. šŸ˜‰ As far as the drug thing goes: I am **very** (VERY VERY VERY) anti-drug, but my gosh, if someone is ā€œrecovering,ā€ (and they really _are_ recovering) then I say, cut them a break. We all screw up and do stupid or morally wrong things. The issue is whether or not we clean up our act and try to make up for the wrongdoing, or not. As far as I can see, Limbaugh has cleaned up his act. Even though I loathe drugs, I sure as hell am not going to keep beating up an _ex_-drug addict over drugs after theyā€™ve cleaned up their act. I donā€™t want people beating _me_ up over wrong things that I no longer do, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-admire-a-drug-addict-and-listen-to-his-opinions/267287/23 "2004-10-04T02:06:32Z")
I remember listening to the show when that gay governor came out of the closet and resigned. Limbaugh was **very** sympathetic to the guy. He said the the guy was basically living a lie his whole life. He was married and had children, and he presented himself as this straight man when in fact he was gay. Limbaugh said he also knew what it was like to live a lie, as he had been all through his drug addiction. He said that this manā€™s facing the truth, admitting it publically and trying to put his life back together was all that you could expect from anybody and was worthy of admiration. (FTR: He made no judgements about him being gay or not, merely talked about the self-destructive act of pretending you are something you are not, and act Limbaugh identified and sympathized with) Is he sometimes a pompous ass? Yeah. He does have his moments, though. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-admire-a-drug-addict-and-listen-to-his-opinions/267287/24 "2004-10-04T02:25:19Z")
Didnā€™t voters re-elect Marion Barry, too? Maybe people are very forgiving. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-people-admire-a-drug-addict-and-listen-to-his-opinions/267287.md?page=1)