Digby: Limbaugh on underage "sex tour"

In a comment on my last post about nasty liberal rhetoric, Jon Henke of Q&O points out that the well-known blogger Digby has suggested that Rush Limbaugh solicited underage prostitutes during his recent trip to the Dominican Republic:

I know that a good establishment liberal would refrain from even discussing the fact that Rush Limbaugh likes to go to one of the underage sex capitals of the world with a bottle of Viagra in one hand and God knows what in the other...

Rush should be urged to share his story with America. Here's [sic] he is, an impotent, thrice divorced, ex-drug addict, conservative, parolee who went on a sex tour in the Caribbean and found himself rudely embarrassed for carrying recreational prescription drugs in his doctor's name. Who can't relate to that?

This kind of rhetoric borders on libel. Returning from the Dominican Republic with Viagra in his luggage does not prove Limbaugh was "on a sex tour," nor that he was soliciting underage sex -- a serious accusation that should not be tossed around lightly.

Update 6/29 10:19 AM: Henke has a post about this on Q&O.

Comments

[SomeCallMeTim]

What about David Brooks's shot at Kos--same sort of argument by assumption? Or Zengerle's? Broader publication. Intention a direct negative impact on Kos's ability to work. Why should liberals (or even Dems) be particularly concerned about meeting standards which are not applied to Republicans?

[Seth]

Integrity.

Tim, by that rationale why don't we cut off the heads of prisoners detained in Iraq or Afghanistan?

[JR]

Seth,

Sadly, there seem to be a great many who really wonder why we don't.

[SomeCallMeTim]

Seth:

I think of death as different in kind from aspersions on one's character. I think that's a widely held understanding. So it's a bit apples and oranges for me. You, obviously, see the two categories of harms as more similar than I do; that may be an unbridgeable gap.

[Brendan Nyhan]

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I don't agree with the general philosophy of "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." It's not only that I think liberals should be above such tactics (that's naieve) but that they don't work. Sinking to the level of conservative commentators is not going to win any ideological battles.

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