Where we stand:

There has been a lot of talk in the last 12 hours about Rush Limbaugh's felonious drug use (and his pressuring of an employee to obtain drugs). Scanning the web, we get the impression that conservatives like Sean Hannity are throwing down the gauntlet and demanding that, in this instance, liberals should adhere to their principles and support lenient treatment of Limbaugh. That probably means therapy/rehab instead of prison time. Our response is that we don't believe it's appropriate to extend compassion in this instance - or any other "instance". That's selective and only addresses the conservative-caught-with-his-pants-down du jour. Instance-by-instance leniency is the flip side of laws that are used to harass individuals or groups.

Our position is:

• We believe in equal treatment under the law.
  
  
• We support a change in drug legislation - to reduce or eliminate penalties and, where appropriate, to treat use as a medical problem.

That's it. Conservatives can agree with us or not on those two items, but beyond that we will not engage in a discussion about our liberal principles as they might apply to Limbaugh.

posted by Quiddity at 10/10/2003 07:53:00 PM