I missed this story when I was off in Iraq entertaining the troops with the USO tour early this week:

November 25, 2003 -- A sneak-attack caller yesterday launched Rush Limbaugh into a defense against charges he was a hypocrite for demanding tough sentences for drug users while he himself was taking black-market pain killers.

"It's not hypocritical because my behavior doesn't determine the value of right and wrong - nobody's does," Limbaugh told listeners.

The caller "Mike from Miami" had made an innocent comment about a congressional vote and then suddenly blurted, "How do you equate hypocrisy and addiction, pillhead?"

I'll post the audio here as soon as I find a copy.

[email protected] (hint, hint)

Reading the varying accounts of the episode it's funny how NewsMax covers it- saying that "radio megastar Rush Limbaugh" could have hit the dump button as he most certainly usually does when he's losing an argument. Not hitting the button shouldn't be applauded, hell, Howard Stern is called a "hook-nosed Jew bastard" and various other names by callers nearly every day- he never hits the button unless there's something the FCC would fine him for.

His response which took place after a commercial break (he had time to think about it!!!) was totally incoherent. I for one hope this call didn't cause a relapse. I guess we'll know if he starts dropping weight again.

The comparisons between Bush's campaign stop in Baghdad and Hitler's little jaunt to Paris are coming fast and furious... It seems like we are making all the same mistakes that others in history made.

Another example:

When the British captured Baghdad in 1917, defeating the Ottomans, Gen. Stanley Maude made a declaration to the Iraqis:

"People of Baghdad, remember for 26 generations you have suffered under strange tyrants who have ever endeavoured to set one Arab house against another in order that they might profit by your dissensions. This policy is abhorrent to Great Britain and her Allies for there can be neither peace nor prosperity where there is enmity or misgovernment. Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators."

Sound familiar?

Our president needs a history lesson quick, before he kills again.

The cowed media labels the trip "heroic" and "courageous," but of course the 130,000 people he left behind in Iraq are the true heros. If Bush uses this footage in a campaign ad it will hurt him, badly. Using soldiers as extras for a campaign ad would be unforgivable. Not to mention the cost of the trip should come out of campaign funds...

Er... turkey, chicken... same difference...

WASHINGTON - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch said Tuesday he had put one of his staffers on administrative leave for improperly obtaining data from the secure computer networks of two Democratic senators.

Hatch, R-Utah, said preliminary interviews suggested that a former Republican member of the committee staff may have also been involved in penetrating the Democratic computers.

"I was shocked to learn that this may have occurred," Hatch said in a statement. "I am mortified that this improper, unethical and simply unacceptable breach of confidential files may have occurred on my watch."

Yeah, keep those eyes peeled there, Orrin...