Quote from ARogueTrader:
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Seriously, can you provide any reason why Rush should not be investigated fully, and prosecuted to the full extent of the law if the evidence supports the inquiry?
You can't. Have you seen Rush's attorney slap a lawsuit on the D.A.'s office for false accusations, or any other impropriety? If they had done anything wrong, anything at all, they would be called to task, which tells me they are playing this exactly by the book.
Playing it so strictly by the book is not harassment, it is being tough on crime. What is amusing is watching the selective thinking of some that being tough on one criminal is right, but on Rush it is wrong. Heaven forbid Rush is silenced, how would the dittoheads know how to form an opinion on their own?
In the end, making an example of Rush would go a long way to illustrate many many salient points.
I know this is every liberal's wet dream, to get not only a prominent conservative in an embarrassing situation, but THE big kahuna himself. But there is a bigger issue, namely misuse of the state's most awesome power, the power to send someone to jail.
I've lived in countries where no one in their right mind would dare criticize the government. Suddenly your name goes on a list and bad things start to happen. You can't get needed licenses, the inspectors start showing up at your place of business, your taxes are suddenly a problem, etc.
We saw some of this begin to happen here with Clinton. Every major conservative group in the country mysteriously found themselves subjected to harrassing IRS audits. They cost tens of thousands in legal/accounting fees but also expose confidential details of your organization to government busybodies. Were they done "by the book"? Probably, but the potential for abuse is obvious and enormous.
In Rush's situation there seem to be legitimate reasons to question what the prosecution is doing. First, there is a question of priorities. As I understand it, Rush has asserted that the former housekeeper/drug supplier was blackmailing him, which accounted for his need for large sums of cash. Extortion, blackmail and drug dealing are serious felonies. Drug addiction is generally seen as more of a medical problem, although users can of course be prosecuted. Here however the prosecutor has given immunity to the someone who is clearly guilty of dealing and probably extortion to focus his prosecution on a personal user. That seems odd, to say the least, and raises obvious questions as to his motive.
Next there is the issue of the medical supoenas. Doctor/patient privilege is a bedrock principle. One would hope that liberals who are so concerned about personal privacy would understand this. There are far less intrusive ways to investigate allegations of doctor shopping than wholesale subpoening of someone's medical records. What should have been a last resort was the first option.
Next come the leaks. A professional investigation of a high profile person that involves blackmail, drugs and private medical records should be conducted with the utmost professionalism. Instead, this case has been spread out in the tabloids from day one. Clearly the torrent of leaks is coming from the prosecutor's office. No one else has access to the information.
So we have a dubious prosecution, which uses subpoenas to get highly private medical records, and then smears Rush in the press with leaks. I'd find that troubling if it happened to any citizen. When it seems to be motivated by political payback, I find it chilling. Jeb Bush, time to show some backbone and direct the State's Attorney to look into this.