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Guest
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OT Rush's side of the story
I Did Not "Make Fun" of Michael J. Fox
October 25, 2006
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Annapolis, Maryland, this is Patty. Nice to have you on the
program, Patty. Welcome.
CALLER: Hey, Rush. Listen, Democrat from Maryland giving you a holler.
I really hate to beat a dead horse, but you said a little earlier on
the program about Michael J. Fox and what you really had an issue was
with what he's saying, you know, in the advertisement for these
different senators, whatever. And I guess my issue is, if that is in
fact true, then say it. You have the right to say how you feel about
what he said.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: But you don't have to make fun of the guy. I mean, I think
everybody in America saw the webcast of you sitting in your seat and
kicking around and --
RUSH: Wait, wait, wait! Hold it a minute. Make fun of him? Who says I
made fun of him?
CALLER: I'm saying you made fun him. I could see it on the webcast.
RUSH: Did you watch the webcam when the show was going on, or where
did you see that?
CALLER: No, and I told your producer: I didn't hear your show. I'm a
pretty regular listener but the last two days I've been busy, haven't
had a chance to get to the radio. I actually heard about it from my
mother who is a severe liberal Democrat (who) called and she was very
upset about it and she knows I listen to you.
RUSH: Well, tell me where you saw this.
CALLER: I saw it on the Today Show this morning.
RUSH: You saw it on the Today Show.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: All right. Let me tell you what was happening.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: Because they've --
CALLER: I'm a big fan of telling both sides. That's why I like to
listen to you.
RUSH: Here it is from the very beginning. I go to the Drudge Report,
and I see the link that there's this controversial ad by Michael J.
Fox running. So I figure it's a political season, no big deal, and I
watch it, and I listen to it, and I am stunned because I've never seen
Michael J. Fox that way. I've seen him on Boston Legal; I've seen him
in interviews. I have never seen him in the full force of the ravages
of his disease. So I have a radio show here, and I am trying to
describe for the audience watching on my Dittocam what I am seeing --
and I hope you heard the words. His face and his body never leave the
frame, and as I'm describing this (I'm even doing it now, and as I'm
describing this) I'm starting to move around like he does, but never
once was I making fun of him. I was trying to illustrate for my
audience watching on the Dittocam what I had seen.
CALLER: Okay, well, you know, that's fair. Like I say, as a Democrat I
like to listen to your program so I can get both sides of the story.
I'm an intelligent person. I'm a moderate Democrat. I think both ways,
and so I like to hear both sides of the story, and it's kind of why I
wanted to call and say it really looked like you were trying to make
fun of him.
RUSH: Well, that's what media can do when they take words and pictures
out of context. I didn't see the Today Show report, but it wouldn't
surprise me if the commentary that accompanied that little Dittocam
clip helped create the impression that that's what I was doing because
they've also reported that I was accusing him of "faking," which I
didn't do. I accused him of "acting, or being off his medication," and
the reason I raised the speculation of being off his medication is
because in his own book, he has written in chapter eight that before
Senate committees he goes off the medication so that people can see
the ravages of the disease, which I said I can understand.
CALLER: Yes, that's true, but he hasn't done that since -- the last
time he spoke in front of the Senate that I'm aware of was 1999. Now,
as an RN, I can tell you that the progression of that disease,
especially in one as young as he is --
RUSH: I understand.
CALLER: -- I mean is fairly severe.
RUSH: But one of my favorite TV shows is Boston Legal and he's been in
it within the last year or two appearing entirely normal. So I'm just
using what I have seen with my own eyes and what I know. I understand
the degenerative nature of the disease, but the idea that I was making
fun of him, that is a media concoction and creation because they have
an agenda with this, which is understandable. I mean, I'm their
favorite guy wearing a black hat. I'm glad you called so I could set
it straight because anybody who watched this did not see a smile on my
face while I was mimicking this, just trying to illustrate for people
watching what I had seen in the ad that shocked me -- and it is
shocking. It's horrible to watch.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: Would you agree?
CALLER: Yes, I would agree. It is difficult to watch for people that
don't understand what it is that Parkinson's does to a person. I mean,
it's very difficult to watch, and what makes it even more difficult to
watch is to understand that he can't control that. He's not acting. I
mean, there's nothing that he can do that can stop those movements
from happening --
RUSH: Well, now, wait a second.
CALLER: -- and to go on the drug makes people very sick. We've all
seen Mohammed Ali, and we've all seen --
RUSH: Wait. Wait. Wait.
CALLER: -- what these drugs can do to people.
RUSH: Wait a second, now. I'm just going to be human with you here.
"There's no way to control it," yet he finds a way. He can appear on
Boston Legal. Now, I understand that they have to do a bunch of
different takes and it's hard to do, but I've never seen him that way.
I have seen him far more recently than 1999. When you say "you" can't
control it, or he can't?
CALLER: It's controlled by the drugs that he's taking, the doses and
the day. I mean we all know everybody with or without a disease,
everybody has good days and bad days, and when patients have those
kind of degenerative diseases, it's worse.
RUSH: I understand that. But the bottom line remains all of this is a
very sad use of this to politicize all this, and to go out and claim
that there's one political party that doesn't want to find a cure here
and the only other political party around, the Democrats, do want to
find a cure is just dangerous and it's cruel. It gives false hope and
all that, and that's what I spent the vast majority of my time talking
about, including trying to educate people about the issues on the
ballot in the state of Missouri, and in Maryland, and in Wisconsin.
You know, they took that little video clip and they took maybe a
seven- or eight-second audio clip out of three hours of things I said,
and it's no wonder that you would conclude what you did.
CALLER: Well, I agree with you there -- and like I said, I'm generally
a pretty regular listener to you, and I can kind of see where people
get the wrong impression. However, sometimes you do put yourself out
there, and, you know, saying or insinuating that he was acting, I
don't know. I think that's kind of --
RUSH: I said, "He's either.." You know, words mean things.
CALLER: True.
RUSH: "Either acting or off the meds," and I had a reason for
speculating on both.
CALLER: Sure, because he said before that he was off the meds, that
he's gone off the meds.
RUSH: And he's an actor, plus you couple the fact the fact that I've
seen him on television in recent months and years with no such
symptoms. I'm human.
CALLER: Sure.
RUSH: That's why (I don't know if they told you this) I said, "If
somebody can prove to me that I'm wrong about it, I will bigly, hugely
apologize."
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: I don't know if they mentioned that. Did they mention that on
the Today Show?
CALLER: That was actually in the Washington Post this morning that I
read.
RUSH: Huh. Well, somebody got it. All right. Well, look, Patty, I'm
glad you called. I'm happy for the chance to straighten you out (or
try, anyway) and you do sound intelligent. I appreciate that.
CALLER: Well, thank you, Rush. Thank you for taking my call.
RUSH: You bet
--
Scott in Florida
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