I've backed Rush Limbaugh on a lot of things. I've argued against people who made a big deal of his painkiller addiction. And I maintain he was right when he said the media is biased in favor of black NFL quarterbacks.
But he was wrong in going after Michael J. Fox's campaign ad, at least the way he did. In the TV spot, the actor attacks a politician opposed to embryonic stem cell research.
Fox moves awkwardly as a result of his Parkinson's, and Limbaugh accused the actor of either playing up the symptoms or failing to take his medicine on purpose.
Now, it's true that Fox is using visible signs of his illness to make an emotional instead of intellectual case. No one disputes that Parkinson's is bad; they dispute whether one should toy with what is arguably human life (I've argued embryos are not) for a shot at curing it.
Fox's stated case, that embryonic stem cell research is the "most promising" kind, is questionable as well. To date, stem cells harvested from adults have yielded more advancements than those taken by destroying embryos. Though embryonic stem cell research has great potential (embryonic cells can become more types of cells than adult ones can), it has not contributed to a single therapy now in use.
Back to Rush: The New Republic blog has a post here saying the comments about medication were wrong. Parkinsons sufferers don't move like that because of the disease but because of the medication. If they don't take the meds they "don't move at all." If anything Limbaugh should have accused Fox of taking too much medication. And he should note that insulting Parkinson's symptoms is not a good way to win converts.
Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.
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