I have heard Rush Limbaugh innumerable times express opinions that raised both my ire and my blood pressure. I repeatedly have heard him laugh at subjects that caused me extreme angst. I recall when he found it amusing that men beat their wives more frequently during the Super Bowl and the World Series. I remember the time he took great pains to crumple his paper more loudly than usual and then point out that he was throwing it into the trash can instead of the recycling bin, just to spite the "environmental whackos" who, he said, had no right to tell him what to do.

Today, though, I found it particularly distasteful when he reacted with uncontrollable hilarity at a story about modern-day slavery in the United States. It seemed he could not contain his laughter as he read the description of migrants who were kidnapped and pressed into unpaid service as prostitutes, farm workers and maids, as though implying that the newspaper from which he read was guilty of some sort of "liberal bias," bent on discrediting wealthy agricultural firms’ exploitation of workers and rich residents capitalizing on free house-hold servants.

This story came on the heels of another story he found amusing, about an adult who showed up at a day care center in a diaper and pink tights, who defecated himself after being refused a job application. Apparently Rush found the two stories somehow equivalent in their amusement potential.

I wish ill to no one. I had hoped that when Rush faced his demon of addiction, he would realize the torment people who lack the benefit of his level of wealth must feel when they are forced to battle their own demons. But, alas, he has grown neither in wisdom nor understanding, softened his rhetoric, nor reigned in his hatefulness. I feel the only hope for Rush – and many others so totally enamored of their own wealth and the self-importance of their ideology – would be to suffer the misfortunes that can so serendipitously strike any of us at any time, resulting in the same life-struggles, with minimal finances and no health insurance, that millions of Americans face every day. Maybe then, like Ebenezer Scrooge, he would come to the realization that "mankind (is his) business."

I feel a whole new level of disgust for Rush. I hope that those of you who continue to label yourselves "Ditto Heads" realize, besides the connotation of mindlessness the label implies, that this loudmouth is not worthy of continued allegiance – unless, of course, you also happen to find the humor in such events.

Elliot M. Namay, Jr.

February, 2004