Fox to Couric: "If I didn't take medication I wouldn't be able to speak"

[Human Torch]

Michael J Fox makes a fool out of Limbaugh
By: John Amato on Thursday, October 26th, 2006 at 7:19 PM - PDT



http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/26/michael-j-fox-makes-a-fool-out-of-limbaugh/

Will Rush apologize to MJ Fox after he told Katie Couric that he was on his medication while filming an ad promoting embryonic stem cell research? Watching Fox's condition up close and personal is so sad to see and for Rush to mock him for a political agenda is tragic. Limbaugh will never apologize or honestly regret what he's done because it's part of a long term strategy to once again attack the messenger. Unfortunately for the country– conservatives can say anything they want and never pay a price for their outlandish remarks so Limbaugh will escape unscathed.

Video-WMP QT coming

CBS:

His body visibly wracked by tremors, Fox appears in a political ad touting Missouri Democratic Senate candidate Claire McCaskill's stance in favor of embryonic stem cell research. That prompted Limbaugh to speculate that Fox was "either off his medication or acting."

Fox told Couric, "At this point now, if I didn't take medication I wouldn't be able to speak."

He said he appeared in the ad only to advance his cause, and that "disease is a non-partisan problem that requires a bipartisan solution."

"I don't really care about politics," Fox added. "We want to appeal to voters to elect the people that are going to give us a margin, so we can't be vetoed again."

The irony is that I was too medicated. I was dyskinesic," Fox told Couric. "Because the thing about … being symptomatic is that it's not comfortable. No one wants to be symptomatic; it's like being hit with a hammer."

Jame Hamsher sums it up nicely:

Rush has done his job well. The goalposts are suddenly moved, this is considered a legitimate line of inquiry, it is reasonable to ask if someone suffering from Parkinson's disease is either a fake or a dupe for backing those who want to pursue a cure and a few more votes might be squeezed out of Missouri.

It's quite remarkable to see the incredulity with which the traditional media are greeting Rush Limbaugh's comments about Michael J. Fox, as if nothing like this has ever happened before. They seem completely unable to come to grips either with what is happening, or why it's happening, or the role they are expected to play in this sordid, repetitious little drama…read on

The right constantly attacks science now in the same fashion that they've assaulted the press for so many years and if our media doesn't step up soon—then the same fate awaits them and they'll end up genuflecting to conservatives too.

[Sperk]

1. God Bless you Michael, what a class act you are.

n/t

[Supersedeas]

30. second that and recommend this

[John Gauger]

2. Nothing really needs to be said about Rush

His actions speak for themselves. No denunciations are necessary after a simple recitation of the facts.

[AZBlue]

3. To clarify Michael's point (and show how dumb Rush is):

Parkinson's Disease makes you stiff, not shaky.

The shaking most people think is a symptom of the disease is actually a side-effect of the medication. Without the medication, the muscles stiffen up and wouldn't move at all, let alone shake.

[kestrel91316]

5. And what we see in MJF couldn't be described as "shaking" anyway.

What I see, I call "jerking" or "spasms".

Shaking is trembling, it's a finer tremor.

[valerief]

4. I wonder what that POS Lauer will say tomorrow on the Today Show

about this. Maybe something like, "Gee, we all hope Michael J. Fox gets better, but I don't know about cloning. I don't know if we can go that far."

POS talking turd.

[zulchzulu]

6. Giving Limp Pole ANY exposure is bad...boycott him at all costs

If it was me, I would have said that some crackpot on the radio was making fun of my condition. I would NEVER mention Limp Pole's name at all. I would ask that anyone in a position to comment on the incident publicly to refer to the person (Limp Pole) as some anonymous, insane buffoon that will probably be yanked off the air soon.

Giving Limp Pole NO MENTION will only drive the drug-addled gasbag nuts...hopefully nuts enough that he finally offs himself. Give him no attention.

[az chela]

7. Like I said before we can only hope limpballs gets a deadly disease

[Imagevision]

8. Limbaugh and Corker ads clearly summarize the GOP desperation...

they may lose both the house & the senate and anything is "fair game" you know, like valerie Plame...

[ninkasi]

9. A trip down Memory Lane

Come with me, fellow Dems, down Memory Lane. Remember, when the Senate was questioning Samuel Alito, during his confirmation hearings for sitting on the Supreme Court? Martha, his wife, broke into huge tears, and fled the room, because we hateful Dems were daring to question some of his rulings, which pointed to him being a bigot.

Democratic senators were ripped to shreds by the conservative media, who shrilly demanded to know how we could have been so nasty as to make his delicate spouse flee the room in tears. The same conservative pundits, who were up in arms over confirmation hearings, which would determine the supreme law of our country for many years to come, now are attacking an actor afflicted with Parkinson's disease.

Mrs. Alito was subjected to an afternoon of tears. Michael J. Fox is subjected for the rest of his life to a cruel disease which will take away more and more of his ability to live his life fully, from now on. He upset Limbaugh, and the others, by daring to suggest that stem cell research would be a godsend to him, and other sufferers of diseases like his, and like the damage done to Christopher Reeves, who died as a result of his injuries.

I am constantly amazed by the utter viciousness and brutality of the right wing. Nothing to them is off limits. They will slander, and savage, anybody who has the nerve to question them, or oppose them. I believe that it's no coincidence that after so long of having them in control of Congress, our country now uses torture, has suspended habeas corpus, and rewarded the wealthy, who don't need it, and removed social services for the children, the elderly, and the poor, who do. 

So here we are, in 2006, where an actor who suffers from a disease which robs him from being able to live a normal life, is attacked, and the party who leads the vicious attacks are also the same party which claims to have an exclusive relationship to Jesus Christ, who would never have approved of, or said, such vicious things.

If, after all of the lies, the deaths, the maimed soldiers, the uninsured Americans, the hungry children, and the abandoned elderly, we are unable to regain control of at least one house of Congress, then I will truly believe that the country I love, and was born in, has been overrun with the most barbaric, greedy, and corrupt people I have ever faced in my more than 60 years of life.

[Canuckistanian]

10. Mrs. Alito is now living a life of privilege and influence

Michael J. Fox? Not so much.

He knows his days are numbered.

Who has the better deal?

[ninkasi]

12. Exactly

I have permanent nerve damage in my neck and shoulder, which causes my right hand to have tremors. I can't lift a full can of coke without my hand shaking, and, usually, spilling some. I'm in pain most of the time, but even so, I'm much better off that Michael Fox. I'm sure Rush would have a field day gloating over my shaking hands, and think what glee he could express when my right leg gives way, as it did not too long ago.

I fell flat on my back, and my glasses landed a couple of feet away. It took awhile to get up. I was very sore for about a week, and according to the results of the last tests I had not long ago, the condition is getting worse. Well, even so, I'm very, very much better off than Michael Fox. I'm older, in my 60s, and retired, so dragging myself to work every day is something I don't have to do. I wish I could.

I have never even considered whether stem cell research could lead to treatments to help me. Compared to the Parkinson's sufferers, and so many other people who are far, far worse off than I am, I would be content to know that doctors had developed a treatment to restore the hope of so many who are in much, much more serious conditions.

People who suffer from debilitating diseases such as Parkinson's, would never fake their symptoms, or go off of their meds. I can assure you that the condition that causes their disabilities is very painful, and very serious to them. They simply would not mimic the effects of the disease which alters their lives drastically. It is far too serious, and far too life altering for them.

The right wing in this country has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no bottom to how far they will sink to retain power. They will lie, cheat, steal, and even physically harm anybody who stands in their way. I have tried to imagine a party which relies on bigotry and hatred as their main platforms, but can't even pretend to go there. For our country, for the world, and for the sake of compassion, vote, and vote for Democrats, in less than two weeks.

[Human Torch]

21. Yes...little, tiny, temporary ripples in Mrs. Alito's perfect pond.

[Mad_Dem_X]

23. Well said

They are nasty, barbaric creatures with no empathy and no compassion for their fellow human beings.

[RedEarth]

29. Excellent post.........

and excellent comparison.

[w4rma]

11. Couric went down the whole laundry list of conservative talking points

in an aggressive fashion towards Michael J. Fox. She didn't mention on point from the progressive side of the debate.

[eShirl]

13. she set them up, he batted them out of the park

[tblue37]

24. Her father had Parkinson's.

For once she was on the side of the angels, playing straight man so MJF could get the truth out on every single point.

Playing the video of Rush imitating MJF's spasms was also great. I mean, almost anyone would have to admit that publicly mocking someone suffering from spasmatic symptoms by imitating that person is the sort of thing we would not even tolerate on the grade school playground.

[OzarkDem]

25. This has to be a new low in her career

I'm disappointed, I've always liked her. But she appears to be drinking the kool aid these days. She needs to find new friends if she has any hope of resurrecting her career.

[Vidar]

14. Continuing to cheer Michael J.

[PATRICK]

15. Why are they never fired?

Remember the PC slips that cost big names their jobs? Of course that was to appease markets that do not desert the hate radio slimers. Sexual predations, drug addiction, extreme slurs and insults to individuals and entire groups. Well, oh yes, O'Reilly sued Al Franken for the truth he told in his book about his lies. ONE guy locally who played the bigot card got exiled for a year or so to another state and then got reinstated.

In the end the corporations keep on the criminals and disgraces and polarizing lies that hurt advertisers in order to further their political agenda. There are no government standards for the worst of hate crimes or ethical lapses but if someone outside grabs a mike and shouts one of the Chosen Words a hefty fine can bring down any innocent broadcaster. Hypocrisy, hype and the all too cynical circling of wagons around professional unaccountability that is so epidemic among most groups that supposedly police their their own ethics.

Why do these guys still hold their jobs? These are not isolated blips or private gaffes, but a revealed parrot jungle of RW talking points deliberately playing the system like jail house lawyers(but not in jail therefore doubly advantaged). Why do advertisers not pull out en masse? Is hate and division good for business? Why do locals submit to the national tripe of Clear Channel anyway? These should be the some of the natural questions every time someone feigns shock at the latest propaganda ploy of the tool mouths.

[bigdarryl]

16. Where was LIMBRAIN when Micheal J Fox did a ad for Specter

He hasn't said nothing about it. this fat motherfucker wanted everybody to fell sorry for him when he was going through his drug problems and an attack on Fox is an attack on EVERYBODY with this disease

[PATRICK]

17. A great question

because it exposes Rush as a political hack tool, simply and unexceptionally.

[Disturbed]

18. "Why do these guys still hold their jobs? "

You know why.

[johnnydrama]

19. remember this one

Talk Show Host Fired For Calling Condi Rice "Coon"

And remember, this was an OBVIOUS mistake, and OBVIOUSLY he mispoke.

And this guy was heaping praise on her at the time, saying how she loves football, and since she was African American would be a big coup for the NFL. And he said coon instead of coup. An obvious total slip of the tongue.

FIRED in 5 seconds.

And people like Limbauh, and Coulter get away with bloody murder on the air, making fun of Parkinson's victims, saying Supreme Court Justices should be murdered, and everybody in authority looks the other way, every time.

[blondeatlast]

26. This is the question that must be asked every time. Olbermann has

taken pains to point that fact out to people; not so much the rest of the lazy-ass, complicit media.

The truth is, I have grudgingly admired Arlen Spector for bucking the party line and supporting SCR. I don't give a damn what Spector's or MJFox's or my motives are for wanting to see SCR expanded.

It simply has enormous potential to spare pain, suffering, and lives.

I could benefit strongly from SCR, but probably won't in my lifetime. But if it saves one child born this morning from what I've been through, which has been painful and a struggle, it's worth it.

[onehandle]

20. Couric has Limbaugh's back.

Likely actually on her back.

"The portion of the interview they broadcast was quite decent. But you can see the whole interview here --- and listen to Katie Couric push him over and over again on the burning question of whether he manipulated his medication and ask him whether he should have re-scheduled the shoot when his symptoms were manifested as they were. And she does it while she's sitting directly across from him watching him shake like crazy. Her questions imply that it was in poor taste or manipulative as if he can magically conjure a film crew to catch him in on of the fleeting moments where he doesn't appear too symptomatic. The press seems to truly believe that it is reasonable to be suspicious of him showing symptoms of a disease that has him so severely in its clutches that if he doesn't take his medication his face becomes a frozen mask and he cannot even talk."

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_digbysblog_archive.html#116192287353869843

[SCDem]

22. Luckily Fox can afford his drugs

That's another thing not mentioned. What about the others that have Parkinsons but don't have the money that Fox has. Is the media going to belittle them because they are not taking their meds as to make everyone else feel uncomfortable.

This is all just ridiculous.

[Vinca]

27. Excellent point.

If you have this disease and can't afford drugs, you're essentially frozen in time. I'm sure there are people in that situation given the current cost of health care.

[blondeatlast]

28. Sen. Talent should repudiate Rush for his hate speech; tell him now!

Here's a thread regarding this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2907851&mesg_id=2907851

You can click on the link in my signature line to read more as well. StemPAC is THE organization supporting SCR politically--good people motivated by the enormous healing potential of SCR.

http://www.stempac.org

Edit: typo.

[gizmonic]

31. Diane Rehm said that "Limbaugh should get down on bended knees

and beg for his (MJ Fox's) forgiveness" on this morning's news round-up. She also noted that she was with MJF at a recent function and under no circumstances was he faking or acting.

edited for spelling

[niallmac]

32. Just saw the Couric Fox interview. What a rare individual

this Mr. Fox is. I am so impressed, so moved.
This is the face of courage. I should be so courageous.
He is highly intelligent, clear witted and honest.
I am encouraged today about my species.