I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
Now wouldn't it be ironic if somehow the Patriot Act was used in an unintended way against Rush?
Nah, that would never happen. The Patriot Act is only for terrorists.
Federal crimes - legal precedent... can't wait to see what they come up with
Rush funds terrorists! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's true, I kid you not. Crush that up in your mortar and pestle and snort it.
Authorities say they became aware two years ago, during an investigation of New York bank US Trust, that Limbaugh had taken between 30 and 40 cash withdrawals from his account in amounts just under $10,000.
Well duh. If they knew it two years ago, and it was illegal per se as evidenced by the bank fine, why didn't they charge him then with something?
Tell me why I can't seem to get this shit-eatin' grin off my face.
I am waiting for him to accuse the Democrats of plotting against him.
When will we be able to post his mug shot?
It does ilustrate how outrageous and illogical money laundering laws are though. Putting aside the fact that he's a pill-popping asshat, I thought money laundering was all about making dirty money (from drugs, prostitution, extortion) clean.
How can taking your own money out of your bank account be money-laundering? Either it's your money or it's not....I guess it's not....
Is the story on Faux News yet?
This story can't be true. As we all know, conservatives avoid "trial" lawyers like the plague. Rush wouldn't go running for help like a linguine-spined liberal. He'll stand and fight these spurious charges alone, like the red-blooded right winger he is.
Throw this criminal in Federal pound-him-in-the-ass prison, now!
How can taking your own money out of your bank account be money-laundering?
The key part is whether he assisted in helping the dealer conceal the illegal nature of the money, I think. I'm not sure how concealing his own withdrawals is indicative of that, though.
Its sort of an underpants gnome kind of leap, to me:
Step 1. Withdraw money
Step 2.
Step 3. Money laundering
TownDrunk - but he can't stand and fight, 'cause he has a cyst, doncha know.
I never got this.. it isn't the drug problem that is why Rush should go to jail
it is the way he obtained drugs
isn't forcing someone in your employment to do something illegal for your a crime.?
providing money for illegal drug transactions a crime?
Wow, looks like Christmas came early this year.
Wow, looks like Chanukah came early this year.
Wow, looks like Kwanza came early this year.
Well Tena, he probably has trouble shi.., I mean, sitting also, you think? I doubt he's just gonna lay down ... what's the guy to do?!??
Shorter Roy Black: My guy's a victim here!
Black is one of those celebrity attorneys, isn't he? He's not going to let Limbaugh go away for this.
Oh, and Happy Ramadan.
As I understand it, there is a crime known as structuring "that prohibits structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements."
Holden, at this rate, this might get you through Easter and July 4th.
Smartone,
"providing money for illegal drug transactions a crime?
"
Perhaps so, but is just the act of taking money out one's account in a certain way a crime, regardless of what you do with it after ? Should it be?
If I go take out 9,900 out of my savings several times over the next month, and put it under my mattress, in the eyes of the law I am a money-launderer. WTF?
Wow, looks like Easter came early this year.
OT:
Josh Marshall is dropping gleeful hints again (www.talkingpointsmemo.com), this time about Astroturfing. Seems to be some major shit going down.
It wouldn't have anything to do with this, would it?
AARP is launching a national grassroots, advertising and information campaign this week to explain the legislation and urge bipartisan support for its passage.
He'll get away with this, too.
The key part is whether he assisted in helping the dealer conceal the illegal nature of the money, I think. I'm not sure how concealing his own withdrawals is indicative of that, though.
The key paragraph is here:
"That in itself is a suspicious activity: They are structuring their transaction to avoid reporting to the government, and the bank is required to file with the federal government something called a suspicious activity report," said Jack Blum, an expert on financial crimes.
If Limbaugh purposefully structured large payments (over $10,000) to a dealer as smaller withdrawals (less than $10,000), then he violated the law. The key here is motive.
As I understand it, there is a crime known as structuring "that prohibits structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements."
You are right. Since cash transactions of $10,000 or more have to be reported, drug dealers and others began making withdrawals in amounts of, say, $9,900. At first, prosecutors tried to prosecute these under a variant of an aiding and abetting theory (kind of complicated, so I won't go into the details). This was pretty tricky, so Congress fixed it by simply making "structuring" a crime. Breaking up transactions so they're below the reporting limit, if done with the intent to evade reporting requirements, is a federal offense. And if done in connection with drug proceeds, IIRC, it carries serious time.
If I go take out 9,900 out of my savings several times over the next month, and put it under my mattress, in the eyes of the law I am a money-launderer. WTF?
IlyaKuryakin
No lawyer here, but my take on it is that such withdrawals raise a suspicion - it's something they watch for, and indicator of an illegal act.
Note that ButtBoil is not being prosecuted for the withdrawals per se. Los Federales are investigating money laundering of illegal proceeds stemming from the sales in which he participated.
Maybe you shouldn't take it out in such fuckin obvious ways then. $9,900? god. how lame.
Taking your own money out of the bank isn't an offense, even if you withdraw $9,999.99. But if you do it with the intent of turning a reportable transaction into a non-reportable transaction, then it is a crime. So if you really want $15,000, and you go to one branch and take out $6,000, then go a few blocks to another branch and take out $9,000, then you're guilty of structuring.
The connection to money laundering, among other things, is that the federal government requires reporting of large movements of cash in order to be able to detect money laundering by finding patterns of suspicious transactions. Structuring hampers the bank regulators' ability to detect these patterns and either make inquiries of the regulated bank or turn it over to the Justice Department for criminal inquiry.
Draeton and Arnold Publius California -
As I recall, when this story first hit the fan the authorities were investigating a couple of pharmacists who were doing wholesale trade in Hillybilly heroin on the black market, and that led them to the housekeeper.
I wondered at the time why they didn't just toss Limbutt's mansion and nail him with simple posession.
Now I'm thinking they might be trying to tie him in to a larger conspiracy.
Tasty, eh?
"Maybe you shouldn't take it out in such fuckin obvious ways then. $9,900? god. how lame."
Oh course you're right. I should just take out $990 over 10 days.....
Damfacrats love to read about big heads being shrunk, especially this particular big head.
Limbaugh is even more of an idiot than I thought. His buddy Bill Bennett could have effortlessly laundered the goods while hitting the slots in Las Vegas. No one would have noticed.
If I go take out 9,900 out of my savings several times over the next month, and put it under my mattress, in the eyes of the law I am a money-launderer. WTF?
No, not if you have a legal reason for taking your money out of the bank. But if you are taking 9,900 increments of money out of the bank to pay installments on illegal drugs, you are in effect money laundering.
The purpose of doing this is to conceal the illegal transaction. If one owes a dealer 30,000 dollars and goes in and withdraws the money in four transactions to avoid being reported, s/he is laundering money for the person from which s/he purchased the drugs. S/He's covering for her/himself, true, but s/he's also allowing the drug dealer to cover through her/his bank account. The effect--her/his bank account is serving as a money laundering vehicle.
Someone needs to check what fatso said when the monica story broke and clinton said he couldn't talk any further about it and he had to go back to the work of the american people...that sound very much like to me "i will tell you when i have the chance to I can't do it right now but when i can i will...right now i have to go into rehab and return to bashing the democrats but when i can i will tell all." (paraphrasing just a bit lol).
Sooooo... what are the chances that Rush will be prosecuted?
Its a good time to call your local station and demand his removal from the airwaves.BTW-Where does he get his cuban cigars?From Fidel?
Oh yeah,
Hell will freeze over before Jeb Bush will allow Limbaugh to be prosecuted for anything in Florida. Same applies to any federal charges.
Keep asking yourself this. If you had been in this situation would you be welcomed back form re-hab as as some sort of hero by your fellow employees who had been told by the boss to pray for you? Would you be spared further anquish by the local authorities? Would the president of the United States come to your aid calling you a "great American"?
Looking back, it does seem that the criminal investigation started with some pharmacist (Beshara ), who led the cops to Wilma Cline, who then spilled on Launderin' Limbaugh.
So I'm thinkin', yeah, they did not go after posession for Rush 'cause they're trying to put together a much larger case.
The investigation into the distribution of prescription painkillers led to the March arrest of suspended pharmacist Louis Beshara. Beshara, 60, faces charges that he sold 2,000 pills of the narcotic painkiller hydrocodone to a confidential informant and was caught with an additional 4,000 hydrocodone pills.
Sources said there are ties that appear to connect the Clines with the Beshara investigation. Beshara's attorney, James Eisenberg, said Beshara has never dealt with Limbaugh and doesn't know the Clines.
[snip]
Almost all drug cases are based on someone getting caught with the drugs, said former prosecutor Marc Shiner. He said there are some instances where a defendant might leave a trail of criminal activity, such as prescription fraud, that could lead to drug charges.
Little Laundered Link: http://tinyurl.com/vlo7
Maybe he'll sell crack in South-Central LA and launder the proceeds as soft money for Tom Delay.
If Rush goes to jail can he get married? And how will it be consumated?
Looks like the authorities are angling for a position of overwhelming advantage against a "celebrity" with lots of political "juice".
...there's a new weapon in the prosecutor's stockpile -- even more deadly than RICO -- whose use is limited only by the prosecutor's imagination. I am referring to the money laundering statutes, principally 18 U.S.C. 1956 and 1957. Extraordinarily high Sentencing Guideline levels apply to all such violations without regard to the underlying criminal conduct giving rise to the money laundering activity. And, the criminal and civil forfeiture provisions in these statutes are the most overbroad and abused of the forfeiture laws.
This should increase the odds on a plea bargin with terms favorable to the authorities.
Also the appearance of the story on ABC News starts a media campaign to undermine Rush's image as a likeable guy or sympathetic figure.
And since I did not emphasize it, let's look at that last paragraph again:
Almost all drug cases are based on someone getting caught with the drugs, said former prosecutor Marc Shiner. He said there are some instances where a defendant might leave a trail of criminal activity, such as prescription fraud, that could lead to drug charges.
Wow, looks like Independence Day came early this year.
Well, from all I've read about his addiction, he's probably going to suffer, whether he's convicted or not.
It wouldn't be unusual for the feds to forgo arrest if they thought, for instance, that Rush (or anyone else) could lead them to a drug syndicate. Rush still might get off easy if he's willing to "cooperate." It's been a while since I had to know the structuring laws well. But the following would be problematic: Drug dealer is owed $20,000 and he wants it in cash, but for the reasons stated above, he only wants under $10,000 -- further, client understands that he has to structure the withdrawals this way in order to avoid the reporting that comes with it. Client and dealer have entered into a conspiracy to structure a transaction for the purpose of avoiding reporting laws. Now step back, whoever it was who wants to withdraw $9000 X 3 and stuff it under the mattress -- Mattress stuffer isn't withdrawing money in order to avoid the reporting laws, and his conduct certainly isn't part of a pattern of drug dealing, that is, a larger scheme of illegal activity.
Well, Eliot Spitzer in NY isn't going to care what Jeb/Ashcroft think about this.
And I'm sure there's hay to be made of the fact that Rush's lawyer successfully defended William Kennedy Smith. Anyone have old transcripts of Rush's rants from the WKS trial era?
"Limbaugh is even more of an idiot than I thought. His buddy Bill Bennett could have effortlessly laundered the goods while hitting the slots in Las Vegas. No one would have noticed."
How do you know he didn't? Maybe Bill Bennet doesn't even gamble, but took one for the team.
Jesus tits!
Look, even if he spent just one installment of $9,900 on drugs, that is a fuck of a lot of drugs.
I mean, if you're blowing $9,900 a pop on drugs, you've got yourself a pretty freaking serious problem.
He should have just smoked reefer. Cheaper in the long run.
Sad, Sad, Sad...
Strange Days indeed...
If I ONLY watched CABLES today, I would be more informed about Mikey Neverland, and Martha Trader, than ole fatso...
Somewhat easy to predict that three or so months from now, fatso will be cleared, Jackson will do time, and Stewart will face a fine and more bad PUB that will further cripple her business...
Pure and simple folks, THAT is the problem-
Strange days indeed,,, most peculiar Mommah, whoa...
Who's had the worse month, people -- Rush Limbaugh or the Boston Red Sox?
Oh yeah, Hell will freeze over before Jeb Bush will allow Limbaugh to be prosecuted for anything in Florida. Same applies to any federal charges.
I am more intrigued about the possibility of prosecution by the Feds in New York. Anyone have any experience/knowledge about them?
Actually, according to Maha Rushie, it must be LIEBERALS who are laundering money, because, as every common sense, red-blooded patriotic American knows, whatever LIEBERALS accuse people of, they are guilty of themselves.
LOL
Rush was smurfing.
What other reason could there be for 40 cash withdrawls of $9,900.00?
He spent quite nearly HALF A MILLION on hillbilly heroine, no wonder he fried his organ of corti.
Sounds to me like the cops want to nail his ass. The question will be how folks feel higher up.
Personally, I want to see him get a fair trial, be convicted and do hard time. Years. But then, I want the same for Ahnold.
I'm a vindictive SOB.
If your brother was facing a squeaker of an election and it would require your state to put him in office, wouldn't you do anything you could to help him? Including letting a drug dealing dope-head go free to self-righteously blah blah to rally the right of right of the Repubs to vote to keep the Mess-sigh-uh in office?
Not a chance. It would just be so over-the-top alarmist of the dems to hallucinate a scenario where an upstanding governor like Jeb would to do anything unethical or improper to get his brother (s)elected president.
I'm sure he will be prosecuted. Right after they catch, fire and charge the Plame leaker.
Jesus tits!
Look, even if he spent just one installment of $9,900 on drugs, that is a fuck of a lot of drugs.
I mean, if you're blowing $9,900 a pop on drugs, you've got yourself a pretty freaking serious problem.
He should have just smoked reefer. Cheaper in the long run.
Thersites
Who says it was all for personal use? Wilma Cline said he bought 4,000 little blues over a three-month period. Does anyone seriously believe he was taking 40 pills a day?
People in serious pain take, what, two a day? Now granted, they don't crush them up and snort/smoke/shoot them like Rush, but there's NO WAY he took all those himself.
Thus the investigation of a wider comspiracy.
What we may have here, dear friends, is not just Rush the Addict, but Rush the Dealer.
And I'm all out of holidays.
I just saw Salaam Pax on Paula Zahn!
limbo's statement here is a lie. for years he demanded that all drug abusers be incarcerated. and he shouted this line almost daily for all the years he was on the air.
oh, and the spinal surgery story is another lie. never happened. that will eventually be revealed.
so, out of rehap but really still in denial.
the nifty thing is that he admits to being and addict for virtually all the years he was on the air. i suppose that is what advocating fascism requires, lots of narcotics. it is a pain advocating the suppression of liberty, no matter how the wingnuts try to make it palatable. heroin and its analogs would seem to have been created so that the rush wingnuts of the world can stomach the anti-liberty world.
throw his fat white ass in prison. fat chance.
I mean, if you're blowing $9,900 a pop on drugs, you've got yourself a pretty freaking serious problem.
$9,900 is at most a couple of weeks of cocaine.
Happy Martin Luther King's Birthday, Holden, the ironiest of ironies, that is.
$9,900 is at most a couple of weeks of cocaine.
Or one really, really good toke.
Doing a bit of Googling to see if anyone else has picked up this story. Nothing yet, but I did find this gem at RushOnline.com:
THE LIE: "REPUBLICANS ARE OUT OF TOUCH WITH AMERICANS."
THE TRUTH: REPUBLICAN'S ARE OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE POT SMOKING, DRUG SNORTING, MONEY LAUNDERING, PORN SELLING, RACKETEERING, EXTORTIONIST, SIDE OF AMERICA
From Mark of Santa Maria Ca.
Actually, according to Maha Rushie, it must be LIEBERALS who are laundering money, because, as every common sense, red-blooded patriotic American knows, whatever LIEBERALS accuse people of, they are guilty of themselves.
LOL.
America's Memory, Either you like to play little games or you are fucking nuts.
Which is it?
PULEEZE tell me, limbausevic got involved with the mob and has to go into witness protection program and OFF THE AIR.
Little OT- Hope you like ...Rain... 'trios and other folks in Northeast New England...
My mood is so low, I really hope I don't drown off my New Hampshire White Mountain home...
Just cannot seem to shake this creepin malaise...
Really appreciate reading postings here, helps... Thanx folks...
Time to go blast out some David Gilmour riffs, that helps too...
Butt not as much as seeing RushsButt frog marched out of his studio...
That would right my ship for months...
As an accountant, I have to ask: why didn't Rushbo negotiate a bulk discount? Or order from abroad? I have a friend who used to make bulk buys of a banned-in-the-USA by prescription-only allergy medication in a certain foreign country. He didn't need no stinking papers, either.
i suppose that is what advocating fascism requires, lots of narcotics. it is a pain advocating the suppression of liberty, no matter how the wingnuts try to make it palatable. heroin and its analogs would seem to have been created so that the rush wingnuts of the world can stomach the anti-liberty world.
albert champion | Email | 11.18.03 - 8:29 pm
Time to introduce you to the concept of a Sociopath
Callousness/Lack of Empathy
Unable to emphasize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others' feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them. Their skills are used to exploit, abuse and exert power.
No pain. No remorse. No empathy. No problem advocating fascism and contol of others.
"Everybody will see what has really
gone on here." Will the explanation
involve being abducted by little
green men?
I am waiting for him to accuse the Democrats of plotting against him.
From the article:
"Limbaugh's lawyers say he did not do that and that he is being falsely accused by those who want to force him off the air."
Screw "off the air." I believe he's being accused by those who want to force him into jail!
The bank involved in the money laundering charges is US Trust of New York, who agreed to pay a $10 million fine in July of 2001. Either a very canny investigator connected the dots between Wilma Cline's story and the funny money movements two years ago, or this investigation has been going on for some time now.
I picture Limbaugh hanging on to a belt loop as he shuffles behind some nasty piece-of-work in a federal pen, and such thought makes me laugh and laugh and laugh
Happy Martin Luther King's Birthday, Holden, the ironiest of ironies, that is.
Carpbasman | 11.18.03 - 8:35 pm | #
That's a good one. I thought of Labor Day and Memorial Day, but wanted to tie in the gift theme.
Sionce I reside in Texas, perhaps I should add:
Wow, looks like Juneteenth came early this year.
not to add fuel to the inferno but i'm sure there's an i.r.s. angle that would have agent smith of the i.r.s. crawling into every orifice lush rimshot ever thought he owned. and with the i.r.s. you're quilty until proven innocent, sometimes not even then.
capone was taken down by treaury agents, why not lush?
J.T.
Roy Black as Rush Limbaugh's attorney????
Roy Black gained his first national attention as a defense attorney defending William Kennedy Smith of rape charges in 1992.
I'd love to see what comments El Rushbo made during that trial -- particulary during the days that Ted Kennedy was on the stand in his nephews defense.
Irony lives!!
nauseating pile of blubber.
Limbaugh had taken between 30 and 40 cash withdrawals from his account in amounts just under $10,000.
But... but... I made those withdrawals so I could contribute to United Way and all the many fine Republican causes I felt were worthy. Did I mention I have a support your local law officer's decal on my rear windshield?
Looks like Rush picked the wrong week to stop taking OxyContin.
Doesn't Rush know that drug money supports terrorists? The government told me so.
Traitor!Traitor!Traitor!Traitor!
Well, with the new goings-on at Rancho Michael Jackson, how will the news have time to deal with Limbaugh?
It does ilustrate how outrageous and illogical money laundering laws are though. Putting aside the fact that he's a pill-popping asshat, I thought money laundering was all about making dirty money (from drugs, prostitution, extortion) clean.
How can taking your own money out of your bank account be money-laundering? Either it's your money or it's not....I guess it's not....
no, money laundering is essentially moving money to conceal the source, in drug profits ect its making the money clean by concealing the fact that it was drug money, in rush's case he was attempting to conceal the fact that there were funds being drawn from his accounts to be used for the purchase of drugs, he did the same thing a drug lord does, just in reverse
If I go take out 9,900 out of my savings several times over the next month, and put it under my mattress, in the eyes of the law I am a money-launderer. WTF
I'm guessing one difference would be that you would still have the money under the mattress and you could show it to someone who asked to see it. I'm getting the sense that you feel it is your money and you are free to do with it as you please, and I like to think that way too, but I guess in fact we aren't free to do with it as we please. We can't take more than 10,000 of it without filling out papers. We can't carry more than 10,000 of it around without filling out papers. We can't spend any of it on certain plants,like marijuana or mushrooms. We can't buy hang grenades with it. We can't buy a lady, or a man for that matter, with it. It's Uncle Sam's money not ours. Luckily I have so little of it that it doesn't matter much .
"Rush funds terrorists! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's true, I kid you not. Crush that up in your mortar and pestle and snort it."
Somewhere Bill and Hillary are high-fiving each other...
Mr Tomato, your recollection re: Capone is correct.
The I.R.S. seldom brings criminal charges, but when they do, they have a remarkably high conviction rate IIRC.
However, this is Bush's I.R.S. ...
NOTE: Starts off somewhat OT... but ends up meandering back.
ALSO: I started on this when there were still no comments, so sorry if I'm repeating anything that's already been said.
---
This is more about the Limbaugh as Stewart Smiley thread downsite, which was based on this quote
"I can no longer anticipate what I think people want and try to give that to them," he said. "I can no longer try to live my life by making other people happy. I can no longer turn over the power of my feelings to anybody else, which is what I have done a lot of my life. I have thought that I had to be this way or that way in order to be liked or appreciated or understood. In the process I denied myself who I was."
I'll grant it's silly as hell. but it's probably pretty significant, given that the person he's been "turn[ing] over the power of [his] feelings to" is Grover fucking Norquist. Considering as 6 million people pretty much rely on Rush to do their thinking for them, it's probably pretty important if he actually intends to start thinking for himself.
I'll grant that either A. He means it like anyone who's ever said "I only hit you cause I love you," or B. He means it like a smoker saying this is his last cigarette ever (cause honest folks, we really do mean it)... or for that matter, like a heroin addict saying he's quit.
Still, although it goes against nearly all observable evidence, I have a bizzare sense of hope where Limbaugh is concerned. Some of the stuff he's been saying about how he won't give up his "conservative philosophy" makes it sound like he may actually start to use the damn thing, instead of shoving it aside in favor of RNC cheerleading. God knows real conservatives have probably been going into conniptions for the last 3 years.
I mean, what Rush Limbaugh is actually going to start being intellectually honest?
I don't know if that would convince me there was a God, but it would sure convince me there was a something.
Which sort of brings me back to the post at hand.
It seems like it would be kind of a shame for Rush to brought down by this now, of all times. I mean, for god's sake, to think we just got this out of the man:
"Many people feel and think that when you go to a rehabilitation center for addiction or other things that the people turn you into a linguini-spined liberal, and that's not true,"
Yes, the same stupid BS about liberals, but I think the bigger point is, we just had Rush Limbaugh tell his radical right-wing listeners that drug treatment is a good thing?
I'll grant that this has that same old smell of lies...
"There's no basis for these charges. He has not committed any acts of money laundering and he absolutely denies it," lawyer Roy Black told ABCNEWS. "I can assure you — and Rush assures the listeners to his radio station — when we can, we will tell the story, and he will tell it himself. Everybody wi
shouldn't have rushed to type that out tho, I see several people have already cleared up the laundering aspects of it
Everybody will see what has really gone on here."
along with this, from the bottom of the same story:
Limbaugh's lawyers say he did not do that and that he is being falsely accused by those who want to force him off the air.
Except, what doesn't exacly make total sense [baseless conspiracy theory] is that he's being investigated by New York, Florida, and the Feds... or more to the point, governments headed by Pataki and the brothers Bush.
I mean... at the very least, it's odd that nobody's sent a memo down telling the gumshoes to lay off. I mean, I thought you could at least count on these people to be reliably corrupt.
I guess about the oddest thing I noticed was this:
From CNN:Limbaugh... said more would emerge during his shows in the coming weeks.
From ABC:Officials say a decision on whether to prosecute on money-laundering charges will be made in the next few weeks.
[/conspiracy]
Anyway, all that aside, all I'm saying is
1. It's pretty unlikely that Limbaugh's Turned on the Road To Damascus. But hey, anything's possible.
2. If that is the case, I'd hate for NOW to be when they actually bring in the law, because in that case we'll definitely be getting the Crucifixion - as directed by Mel Gibson. And thereafter, 10 million Freepers who will never shut up about 'St. Rush' and his persecution by those wicked, wicked Liberals.
I really need to stop letting comments turn into essays... ESPECIALLY in Haloscan...
Mr Tomato, your recollection re: Capone is correct.
The I.R.S. seldom brings criminal charges, but when they do, they have a remarkably high conviction rate IIRC.
However, this is Bush's I.R.S. ...
Roy Black appeared frequently as a talking head during the Monica Lewinsky saga. He was an effective defender of Bill Clinton and was highly critical of the whole sham impeachment. Limbaugh chose wisely when he hired Roy Black.
If they're not going to press charges on the whole abuse of controlled substances issue, why even bother looking into this?
America's Memory, Either you like to play little games or you are fucking nuts. Which is it?
Neither. I was mocking Limbaugh, much like many, many people do here every day.
Thanks for asking though, my fan.
OT - Been listening to Rush over lunch the last couple a days just to hear how he handles it. So today he's talking about how this question of 2 million plus jobs lost is a canard. They weren't really lost, they just moved, were replaced by new jobs. And I think, what the hell's he talking about? Looked it up on bureau of labor stats and found, of course, he was just out-and-out wrong. Loss of jobs was net--gross of jobs lost minus gross of jobs created. Maybe he's already getting high again.
Looked it up on bureau of labor stats and found, of course, he was just out-and-out wrong.
He covered that yesterday, too. The Dittoverse just accepts it without question, no matter how false.
It SOUNDS good, and that's what matters. To them.
hey cone on liberals, if you want to decriminilize drugs and their use then youse gots to let the fat bastard off, ain't that the truth. Of course if those rascally republicans refuse to liberalize those drug laws, well then old rush ( he was'nt named that for nothin')will just have do his time. too bad, the heart weeps.
the bottom line for me is
if I had done what Rush had done
i would be would be in jail
period
"Welcome to Sing Sing, El Rushbo. Meet your cellmate Bowser. Unfortunately, Bowser hasn't had the company of a woman for quite some time now and is a little upset. Also, please meet the gentlemen of the Zulu Nation. They haven't taken kindly to your thoughts on treatment of blacks in the country. The Latin Kings and La Eme don't like you too much either. Oh, the men of the Aryan Nation are a little upset with you as well because you've been such a firm supporter of Bush, Sharon and Zionism. Have a nice day, Rush."
At least he'll go to prison for a respectable republican crime - money laundering, maybe some racketeering, extortion, fraud and embezzelment thrown in for flavor.
Why bother? Does Al Capone and tax evasion ring a bell?
Anyway, these are clearly structured transactions, and clearly illegal.
Say, there's probably something in that Patriot Act they could get him on too.
Where the hell is John Ashcroft when you need him?
Oh, what's that? He's out busting someone for possessing bong parts?
Oh. Ok. Never mind.
Old Hat, I doubt Aryan Nation would be big supporters of Sharon and Zionism. Otherwise, yeah.
"The men of the Aryan Nation *are a little upset with you* as well *because* you've been such a firm supporter of Bush, Sharon and Zionism."
The massive boil on Rush's ass notwithstanding, I'm sure Bowser will find it quite virginal and ample enough to suit his carnal needs.
La, la, la la-la-la
La, la la, la la
La, la, la la-la-la
La, la la, la la
explained
As someone very familiar with AA and NA, it looks like Rush L. (to preserve his anonymity) is obviously still in a state of denial about his addiction. Part of the 12 steps is owning up to all of your "defects of character" and making direct amends to all of those you've harmed. It looks like he may have committed serious crimes in his procurement of his drug of choice. His dodges (such as essentially saying "it's not his fault") are symptomatic of his still thinking that he doesn't have a problem. Sadly, this is all too common in recovery. I hope he can get clean and sober but he's going to have to do some serious soul-searching and fess up to the problems and guilt of crimes he alone has brought upon himself.
Everybody will see what has really gone on here.
Oh, can we can we can we? Please, Santa?
A.
$9,900 is at most a couple of weeks of cocaine.
Well, shows you what I know. But how much oxycontin is it?
I still submit he should've stuck to reefer. But noooo... then he would have been doing drugs.
For all those who are speculating about Jeb! and Pataki covering up for (or not prosecuting) Limbo -- it's not in their hands. In FL, it would be in Palm Beach County, where prosecution is up to the State's Attorney for the County, who is a Democrat named Barry Krischer. While the State Attorney General is a Republican, I don't believe he has the authority to make a County SA not prosecute, and the Governor certainly does not. I imagine a successful prosecution of Rush Limbaugh would make Krischer's career as a Democratic hero.
If the actions, the evidence, and the case are in NYC, then it's clearly all Dems involved -- Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau and obviously State AG Elliot Spitzer are both Dems.
Bullshit, when was the last time any rich white man in the media went to jail for anything? As much as I'd like to see him get reamed in the ass in prison for all of his years of hate speech, it'll never happen. Rush will have the best justice money can buy.
I had to chuckle at this inadvertant egotism in his opening comments:
"...a good thing Senator Kennedy didn't say it on ESPN, or he might have resigned. John Mohammed guilty. I see the court system tried to screw up my debut here today, but somebody screwed up and they read the verdict two minutes early, and so we were not interrupted by that..."
Okay, facetiously said, perhaps, but maybe just a wee solipsistic, too?
Let's also add what we've been repeating to anyone who will listen: If Cline's story is true, then Limbaugh should be charged with criminal solicitation, coercion, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice (the part about his lawyer offering Cline $80,000 to destroy the hard drive with the emails on it in his presence ... instead, she bought an old computer, ripped its HD out and destroyed that. It does not matter that she deceived them for the charge to stick).
As much as illegal structuring may be a crime (sort of like the way road cops ID drug runners partly by the fact that they tend to drive below the speed limit to avoid arousing any attention, even if everyone around them is driving 10 mph over it), maybe it would be easier to just lower the limit at which transactions must be reported? Yeah, it would create a huger headache for banks but make money laundering that much more tiresome.
And yes, taking money out of your own bank account as cash is money laundering if, say, it got there from some illegal purpose. If they're saying these withdrawals may have been money-laundering, you can bet they’re looking at what went into those bank accounts and they have something not quite right there.
NY also updated its money-laundering statute after 9/11 so it's more in line with the federal version. Limabugh is in deep trouble if he gets prosecuted in NY.
Does anyone know when the statute of limitations would run out? I thought of a nice companion clock for the Osama bin Missing clock...
I wonder if LimpBalls fronting the money for his 'Man' to buy mass quantities?
I'm waiting for my man
9,900 dollars in my hand
Up to Lexington, 125
Feel sick and dirty, more dead than alive
I'm waiting for my man
Hey, white boy, what you doin' uptown?
Hey, white boy, you chasin' our women around?
Oh pardon me sir, it's the furthest from my mind
I'm just lookin' for a dear, dear friend of mine
I'm waiting for my man
Here he comes, he's all dressed in black
Beat up shoes and a big straw hat
He's never early, he's always late
First thing you learn is you always gotta wait
I'm waiting for my man
Up to a Brownstone, up three flights of stairs
Everybody's pinned you, but nobody cares
He's got the works, gives you sweet taste
Ah then you gotta split because you got no time to waste
I'm waiting for my man
Baby don't you holler, darlin' don't you bawl and shout
I'm feeling good, you know I'm gonna work it on out
I'm feeling good, I'm feeling oh so fine
Until tomorrow, but that's just some other time
I'm waiting for my man
Good post Sully. I was wondering about the amount too. I have no idea how much he can buy for $9,900. And I have no idea how much a day he would use so it is hard to figure out why he got so much money and for what he was using it for. The money could have been used for something else like gambling.
I have listened to Rush on and off for over 15 years. In the past 2-3 years it seemed to me like he was mailing it in. In the past he was usually pretty cordial to callers, but I noticed that he started being rude to them several years ago. I do not know when the drug problem started. I always thought he would retire from his program long before this.
Limbaugh is hated by a lot of people on the left (for good reason). He has had tremendous influence on the politics in this country. He probably was responsible for derailing the Clinton healthcare fiasco in the early 90s. At one time he was a KC Royals go-fer and gave tours of Royal Stadium to digitaries. He came a long long way by working hard, getting lucky, and being at the right place at the right time. My boss was a friend of his in KC and had nothing but good things to say about him.
I always felt like drug addicts/alcoholics are basically people who hate themselves and are trying to either destroy themselves or get away from the reality of who they are. Limbaugh, who didn't have a college degree, came from a family that attained quite a bit in Missouri (father was a lawyer I believe and brother is a judge) and probably always felt inadequate his entire life although he did not sound that way. He always knew what he was and what he was not. He knew knew that he was just an entertainer and that he was not some kind of political savior. One thing he did do was teach a lot of people to think analytically about politics and just not accept what politicians from both parties tell them at face value. There were those that listened to him who were, so course, idiots looking for someone to tell them how and what to think. He was not really speaking to them. His typical thing is to point out little known facts that put a different perspective on an issue or individual. Like the fact that Tom Daschle's wife works as a lobbyist for Boeing. He misrepresented a lot of stuff, but exposed a lot of things as well.
It will be interesting in 10-20 years for someone who is fair and balanced to sit down a write a good biography so people can appreciate the impact the man has had on politics.
It will be interesting to see how this all turns out. It sounds like he has gotten himself into a lot of trouble. Apparently the only person he has hurt is himself (and maybe those who work for him).
After reading the posts above I am reminded how I have always dispised watching someone else kick another person while they are down. Democrats are so compassionate.
Dennis: well thought and even more finely put.
but bottom line is, limbaugh has helped two evil things:
1. he's provided a voice and rallying cry for some of the basest tendencies within humanity (racism, separatism, the list goes on); and
2. he's helped befuddle average people and concurrently transformed them into an evil army who march to the beat of drums that are actually diametrically opposed to that peasant army's own interests.
and i say "peasant" lovingly, being one of them, as are most of us here.
i agree: 20 years from now, it will be interesting to view this right-wing power shift from a different light.
i only hope that analytical thought, dissent and opposing opinions will still be allowed then.
"After reading the posts above I am reminded how I have always dispised watching someone else kick another person while they are down. Democrats are so compassionate." --DS
How is Rush "down?" He maintains he'll come out of this okay, and will explain it all to his loyal fans. He still has a job making gobs of money, his followers still adore him and stand by him, the president of the United States made a public statement supporting him. Hardly "down" for someone who's allegedly done what he's done, eh?
And have you looked lately at what vitriol has gotten the Republicans? Everything! They didn't get where they are by being "compassionate." Apparently compassion is for pussies.
Haven't you read that we're all traitors?
Oh, and on that kicking someone when he's down, apparently you haven't read or heard El Rushbo's pronouncements on other people's addictions. His opinion of users is that they are human waste and deserve the fullest punishment the law metes out.
Gotta say, cops did a good job on this one. This investigation has probably been going on for months. You know they don't like hearing the media refer to oxycoten as a "legal" drug when they're trying to keep it off the streets. Its not even near legal without a prescription.
"Apparently the only person he has hurt is himself (and maybe those who work for him)."
Apparently he's been quite involved in trafficking illegal and dangerous drugs. Ask the cops and D.A.s trying to stop this abuse whether it is harmless. Ask people who really need pain medications and can't get them because of this sort of abuse. By the way, did he pay his doctor bills when he was losing his hearing or did his insurance company? I would also like to hear from the maker of this drug whether they too think its abuse is harmless.
vigilante sez: Gotta say, cops did a good job on this one. but I can't agree.
If those God damned corrupt fucking pigs didn't bother to stop him and frisk him and bust him, even months after they had the dealer's confession complete with audio tapes, when every single day he was carrying around a fistful of unprescribed Oxycontins in his pocket (and I mean, "every day prior to the one when he checked into the luxury detox spa-and-resort," because I know junkies, and no one could coherently tape a radio show while cold-turkeying off a thirty-pill-a-day habit) then you can rest assured that they also won't get their fat asses out of the chair to charge him with money laundering either.
"Laws," to paraphrase that tax-dodging hotel harpy, "are for the little people."
Of course the drug laws in this country are about a hundred times harsher than they would be in any country run by people with any sense at all, but that's not my point. There are something like a million people in jails for various "drug crimes" ranging from the trivial to, well, the more trivial. But millionaire political tool Rush Limbaugh will never, never be one of them.
The lesson you will learn from Limbaugh's non-prosecution and non-conviction and non-penalty, boys and girls, is that laws mean nothing; not only "it's not illegal unless you get caught," but "nothing's illegal at all, even if you get caught, if you've got enough money." So ignore all the laws and do whatever you feel like doing, boys and girls, just make sure that you get away clean.
Melic,
you never call. you never write. makes this tomato very blue. (my hdd crashed during my move and i can't find your addy)
J.T.
DS:
Like the fact that Tom Daschle's wife works as a lobbyist for Boeing.
What the hell is that all about? So Phil Gramm's wife was on Enron's board of directors.
Richard Shelby's wife was on the Ratheon's board of directors.
Bush the Elder was in the Carlysle Group.
Colin Powell's son is the Chairman of the FCC.
What's your point?
I have always dispised watching someone else kick another person while they are down.
It is, after all, Rush Limbaugh who said that they ought to send all drug-taking white guys up for the maximum prison term along with the drug-taking people of color. And now that his illegal drug-taking is public knowledge, Rush is claiming that it isn't hypocrisy if the message is correct? What the hell is that all about?
And BTW, it remains to be seen if Limbaugh is really 'down'. After all, he still has his radio show. Is Ken Lay in jail yet? How about Noelle Bush? How about Rep Janklow?
"Rush" Lamebrain didn't launder that money?
Yeah. Just like Michael Jackson didn't molest those kids.
"Rush" Lamebrain, indeed.
Looks like Rush has taken the most superficial aspects of rehab (like accusing people of projection) and carried on like nothing happened. If demanding one thing of people and doing the exact opposite isn't hypocrisy, I'd like to know what his definition is.
If you accuse your political enemies of projection and you're guilty of it yourself, have we got the first documented case of meta-projection?
send rush your blue m&ms
i'm glad they waited for him to be back on the air.
$396,000.00 a whole lot of oxys
honey, where's the checkbook?
Kicking people when they are down is the only thing conservatives are good at. They hate the poor, the oppressed. It goes way beyond indifference, they hate them. It's because to a person they are cowards. Rush deserves whatever we can give him. He's just like the servant in "The Goose Girl" except she had a pretty good reason to pull a fast one against the little rich girl who ordered her around. Let his own words dictate his treatment.
Let's not forget this nice little bit of compassion I found over on another board:
"Kurt Cobain was, ladies and gentlemen, a worthless shred of human debris, who had been trying to kill himself for 12 years, and finally did it right, by using a shotgun, so he couldn't miss..." - Rush Limbaugh 4/11/94
Yeah, let's talk about kicking someone when they're down ...
I want Rush to be tried and convicted, not for addiction, but for mutiple criminal actions. C'est une nuance.
I have always despised the lickspittles of the powerful. We all have things we despise.
Oh, Slater, you masy not actually realize I'm talking about you as well as Rush. I am. Let's see you devote six loving paragraphs to the next crack addict off the street, O compassionate motherfucker.
Let's not forget this nice little bit of compassion I found over on another board:
"Kurt Cobain was, ladies and gentlemen, a worthless shred of human debris, who had been trying to kill himself for 12 years, and finally did it right, by using a shotgun, so he couldn't miss..." - Rush Limbaugh 4/11/94
Yeah, let's talk about kicking someone when they're down ...
Call me cynical and paranoid, but, it ain't gonna happen. And if it does, Bush will pardon him.
Hmmm... $9900 divide street price of about $1 per mg, with volume discount... oh, 10000mg. 10 grams per each withdrawal. So, times 30 to 40. Yeah, that's personal use, uh huh.
http://www.oxycontinaddiction.in...treet-
price.htm
On one such web site, one self-described addict says she had a $50,000-a-year habit on OxyContin, which she'd begun taking illegally for chronic back pain.
That must be what makes it all right, then.
Oh I tell you: it's been a *good* week to be a queer lefty.
"If the actions, the evidence, and the case are in NYC, then it's clearly all Dems involved -- Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau and obviously State AG Elliot Spitzer are both Dems."
Morgenthau has been in office since the Kennedy administration and has a high celebrity convict rate. He cannot be pressured into avoiding this case.
Spitzer has a high celebrity convict rate and wants to run for Governor against Pataki in a heavily Democratic state. He won't let Pataki or Bush run all over him.
Call me cynical and paranoid, but, it ain't gonna happen. And if it does, Bush will pardon him.
TinFoil Hat Boy
As usual,
">TinFoil is correct:
Q When does he pardon the turkey?
MS. BUCHAN: He'll pardon the turkey on Monday.
Q Before he leaves?
MS. BUCHAN: Before he leaves, the turkey will get pardoned. Does anybody have anything else?
Link: http://tinyurl.com/vo1s
If I go take out 9,900 out of my savings several times over the next month, and put it under
my mattress, in the eyes of the law I am a money-launderer.
Maybe it depends on what you're going to do with that mattress.
"Kicking people when they are down is the only thing conservatives are good at. They hate the poor, the oppressed. It goes way beyond indifference, they hate them."
You people are nuts.
Ilya:
Sorry, but it's not your money. Take a close look at the nearest bill, and you'll see who it belongs to at the top: "Federal Reserve Note." That's who it belongs to, and that's why it has value: It's backed up by the full faith etc. of the US Gov't etc. As far as I can tell, Ilya-money would only be backed up by the full faith etc. of Ilya, and while that might be good enough for the folks hereabouts, I'm not sure it would carry much weight, say, in Fresno.
You're just getting to use it under certain conditions, and one of those conditions is that you not use it to participate in illegal activities. Like buying Schedule II narcotics without a prescription.
All the enlightened tolerance on display from posters when the subject is gay marriage or gay bishops seems to disappear whenever there's a topic that suggest some (male) might go to jail. Then you can bet there will be several posts sniggering about male-to-male sex in prison and making a joke out of rape. Some of you folks need to check yourselves, really. The stench of homophobia isn't covered up by your pious protestations to the contrary.
Steamboat Willie,
Dammit ! I had that same thought! But I wanted to make the lyrics more limbaugh specific so I haven't been able to finish it.
My version was going to be Waiting for My Maid.
It was going to begin,
I'm waiting for my maid
I get the pills, she gets paid.
If anyone wants to take a crack at finishing it, you have my blessings.
No, Reg, we just deal with NeoCons and their addled supporters every day.
You also have to admit, there aren't many legal reasons for someone to walk around with $10,000 or even $5,000 in cash. Today, when we can get paid by direct deposit and foreign travelers can find ATMs in most countries, large cash withdrawals do, and should, raise suspicion. And if you really do need the cash for legitimate reasons, you shouldn't have any problem with filling out the forms with the bank, as required.
You people are nuts.
Reg
The stench of homophobia isn't covered up by your pious protestations to the contrary.
parse
Does this really require an explanation? People are happy to see Rush in trouble here because he is a Hypocrite. For years he has demonized people who use drugs, and now it turns out that he was guilty of the exact same behaviour.
The money laundering angle only adds to it, as it indicates that he wasn't some poor soul who was led to a life of addiction because of his serious back pain, but a willing participant in a criminal conspiracy to distribute drugs illegaly.
And sniggering about the possibility of Launderin' Limbaugh on the receiving end of a bodacious cornholing is not homophobia. It's a celebration of the possibility of long-overdue payback for a pompous racist who has never displayed any sympathy for anyone caught in the spokes of our inhuman system of criminal justice.
He's on now and he's spinnin this story like a whirlwind!!!
He says he was withdrawing money for home repairs and stuff ...
Hmm. Maybe, but I would like it too if folks didn't add riffs about prison rape to their comments. It's like jokes about abortions. Rape is an awful thing.
I think there's still plenty of ways to trash Limbaugh justly. He's an inviting target.
Sadly, old Rush will not be caught in the spokes of our inhuman system of criminal justice. Even if his assets are seized due to his alleged narcotics trafficking, he has plenty of friends in high places who will pay for his defense.
And he can bluster on and on about junkies and welfare mothers and god knows what else on his radio, free as a bird while his housekeeper most likely takes the rap. Sweet.
But you know? The only thing that keeps me sane is belief in karma. You can't go around spewing toxin and encouraging hate without suffering some kind of bounce back. Can you?
He says: the bank TOLD him to make the withdrawls under $10K so they could avoid the paperwork ... When the Feds told him that this was wrong or whatever, he stopped doing it ...
We all have things we despise.
Apparently Dennis only has things he "dispises."
A.
Rush is fucked. Jeb Bush can pardon fatso. George W. can pardon fatso. It doesn't matter.
As Old Hat pointed out above, Rush's only hope is to change and there's no chance of that now.
His medical and medical problems only started with his anus. They've spread from there, and he's a wreck.
He's his own worst enemy and for him there can be no happy ending. Just watch him unwind.
Wait a minute...I'm starting to sound like him. Hatred is contagious
He says: the bank TOLD him to make the withdrawls under $10K so they could avoid the paperwork ... When the Feds told him that this was wrong or whatever, he stopped doing it ...
pete
US Trust, a full service bank, don't ya' know. Hope their stockholders didn't mind the $10 million fine they had to pay for this kind of activity.
Should read "His medical and >i>mental problems only started with his anus.
Atrios, can you get a rpeview button, I mean, a epreview button, I mean, a preview button?
This Rush hatred is just as wrong as Bush hatred. You liberals need to calm down, too much hatred on both sides.
We might feel a little mellower if the man actually came out in support of more funding for rehab programs allowing the hoi polloi with drug problems to get even a slice of the help cleaning up that he had.
We also know that this will happen when pigs fly.
Anyone see that episode on Sopranos where Edie Falco starts investing at several firms with amounts always just below $10,000. It would be interesting if this inspired Rush.
Nicky the K, you don't have to be a liberal to hate Rush -- only human.
But you're right, hatred only destroys, it never helps.
Still, it's morally okay to go ahead and detest and even to puke sometimes.
Holden, it's not about Rush.
Look at any collection of comments that mentions the possibility of some male going to prison. There are always a few people who snicker at the probability of rape.
I think one of the reasons the subject is so popular is because it's a way for heterosexual men to displace their conflicted and anxious feelings about the issue of anal sex. It's the essence of homophobia.
Call me cynical and paranoid, but, it ain't gonna happen. And if it does, Bush will pardon him.
Not until he gets a sizable donation to the Bush Library.
Rush is coming apart. He used to be able to lie with complete confidence. Not now. He was stammering, shaky, and uncertain.
He tried, by implication, to blame all of it on his usual liberal Democratic media hobbyhorses, but I can't imagine even his listeners feeling sympathetic for someone that needs to make $10,000 - oops, that's $9,999 - withdrawals of "pocket money".
Haven't you read that we're all traitors?
You certainly fooled me.
Oh, and on that kicking someone when he's down, apparently you haven't read or heard El Rushbo's pronouncements on other people's addictions. His opinion of users is that they are human waste and deserve the fullest punishment the law metes out.
I think that it is dealers that he is refering to. He supported Clinton pardoning a former member of KC Royals that got caught up in using drugs. Clinton didn't pardon him. No donation, no pardon.
I think one of the reasons the subject is so popular is because it's a way for heterosexual men to displace their conflicted and anxious feelings about the issue of anal sex. It's the essence of homophobia.
parse
Not how I see it, but I can understand your point of view. In my mind, prison rape has little to do with homosexuality. It's violent assault and degredation. Humiliation is what some would like to see heaped on Limbutt, I don't think people are saying he is gay.
Personally, I want to see him in chains and off the air. If you scroll back through this lengthy thread you'll see I never wished any violence on him. But I understnad why others do, and I don't see any connection to homophobia in those posts.
I think that it is dealers that he is refering to. He supported Clinton pardoning a former member of KC Royals that got caught up in using drugs. Clinton didn't pardon him. No donation, no pardon.
Dennis Slater
Bzzzzt!! That's incorrect, but thanks for playing.
See Limbaugh on Curt Cobain, Jerry Garcia, etc. He demonized anyone who used illegal drugs, not just dealers.
And, anywho, he appears to be involved in the dealing end himself. Four thousand hits of hillybilly heroin over three months ain't for personal use, kiddies.
O compassionate motherfucker
Another angry extremism leftist liberal has an well-deserved aneurysm. LOL
I will be as compassionate toward Rush as he was toward Bill Clinton when he was being cannibalized by the right. El Rushbo had a feeding frenzy during that time, IIRC.
I'll be as kind to Rush as he was to a certain 12-year girl on national tv.
Bleeeek!
J.T., I just emailed you ...
Slater, I'm waiting for your six loving paragraphs on a crack addict. I'm expecting a long wait.
But rather than laugh, I'll express my contempt again. At you. Lickspittle.
"Sorry, but it's not your money. Take a close look at the nearest bill, and you'll see who it belongs to at the top: "Federal Reserve Note." That's who it belongs to, and that's why it has value: It's backed up by the full faith etc. of the US Gov't etc. Ilya-money would only be backed up by the full faith etc. of Ilya, and while that might be good enough for the folks hereabouts, I'm not sure it would carry much weight, say, in Fresno."
That may be strictly technically correct, but it's an absurd arguement. I may not have Ilya-backed money (and if there is out there, it wasn't me guv, honest), but I can walk into any bank or currency exhange in Vancouver and change said Federal Reserve owned currency into Swiss francs, Euros or gold (which doesn't sound a bad idea these days). ANy "conditions" implied in ownership of US dollars no longer apply. And they may not accept Swiss francs or gold coins right now in Fresno, but give it time....
"You're just getting to use it under certain conditions, and one of those conditions is that you not use it to participate in illegal activities. Like buying Schedule II narcotics without a prescription."
Read my post. I painted a hypothetical scenario which involved merely the withdrawal and possesion of legally earned and banked funds
but no subsequent illegal activities.
But what of the DRUG charges??
What's to investigate??
Did his housekeeper turn over a recording, journel of purchases, and willingness to be a witness--or not??
I'm surprised that Rush isnt demanding that he be arrested, charged, and locked up, Pronto.
This money laundering looks like a diversion. Something fuzzy to confuse and roil up the folks at home.
What happened to the straight-up drug charges??
Home repairs? Sure I believe that-I always go get cash (just under $10,000) to buy stuff at home depot. He maybe and should be a little nervous-the feds are taking the time to make a solid mutiple case on him. All they have to do is follow the money. Taking properly earned money and turning it into drug money is just as illegal as the other way around. He better hope that they cannot trace it or that he can prove where it was all spent (like with receipts) because they won't be as easy to con as his listening dittomonkeys.
Here's what that structuring blurb said (thanks!):
"4.18.1956(a)(1)(B)(ii) Money Laundering—Illegal Structuring,
18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(ii) See Statute
[Defendant] is charged with violating that portion of the federal money laundering statute that prohibits structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements. It is against federal law to engage in such conduct. For [defendant] to be convicted of this crime, you must be convinced that the government has proven each of the following things beyond a reasonable doubt:"
"First, that [defendant] entered into a financial transaction or transactions, on or about the date alleged, with a financial institution engaged in interstate commerce, involving the use of proceeds of unlawful activities, specifically, proceeds of the [_________];"
Proceeds, which in this case is Limbo's legal income.
"Second, that [defendant] knew that these were the proceeds of unlawful activity;"
They were not.
"Third, that [defendant] knew that the transaction or transactions were structured or designed in whole or in part so as to avoid transaction reporting requirements under federal law."
So, Limbo is definitely involved in avoiding reporting the IRS, but doesn't seem to be guilty of the crime of structuring, which requires proceeds of illegal activities being moved, which this is not. If the drug dealer was moving the funds he got from Limbo, in such a way, then THAT'S structuring, it would appear.
I think Limbo's toast. His career is over, his fat pig existence will no doubt continue in the endless lecture circuit for PNAC has-beens. He's a nostalgia hit now for the right-wing crowd...he is on his way to laughing stock. Write another book and retire, try to get back on the drugs without going to prison.
Probably set him up with a nice cot in Casablanca.
going by how Rush sounded today....the rehab stint didn't do much good...he sounds even more drugged up now.
-- And I'm all out of holidays.
Holden Caulfield | 11.18.03 - 8:26 pm | #
Hey, don't forget Festivus!
-- My gut feeling, my Felt Intuition, is that Rush's little leave of absence from the limelight was a sham, a charade. Whether or not he actually attended rehab sessions and went through the motions is beside the point. (BTW, assuming that the administrators of his rehab facility are bound by laws and policies to protect consumer/patient/resident confidentiality, is there any direct evidence to verify that Rush did at least go through the motions? Or will we have to wait for tabloid reports or maybe even infotainment whores like Diane Sawyer or Baba W. interviewing anonymous rehab buddies?
Anyhoo, Rush strikes me as just the type of smug prick who will confidently bull his way forward as if he already knows that he's beaten the rap. I hope that won't prove to be the case.
And Your Humble Narrator returns that air of serene, mild righteousness, that unruffled and even a bit sorrowful mein of those who deplore the unfortunate excesses of negativity, in kind. If this reference means anything to anyone, it's like Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) defending thug and racketeer Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) to the local priest because Johnny used to take Terry to the Polo Grounds when Terry was a kid, and buy him hot dogs.
I leave it to "history" to take, or make, a view of Rush as some kind of seminal positive influence on Amerikan culture. Let "history" vindicate him if it can-- and will, if it's written by the prevailing "winners."
Otherwise, he's doomed to be regarded as a latter-day Father Coughlin or Joe McCarthy: At best a demagogue and a hatemonger, one who preys on the simpleminded, disguised as a "debunker" and truth-purveyor, dazzling his Yahoo disciples while he fulfulls his own self-righteous, egomaniacal agenda with an utter disregard for facts, prudence, or humility. And he's as full of shit as a Christmas turkey.
Other than that, he may have done somebody some good somewhere in the course of his scurrilous life. Ya gotta consider all of the possibilities...
I left out "compassion" in that sentence before the Christmas turkey.
And I forgot to close a parenthesis-- apologies to Dr. Pedant, if he comes this way...
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