House Editorial: The politics of Parkinson’s
Rush Limbaugh, bully of the airwaves, uses Michael J. Fox’s disease as an election game
Posted on October 26, 2006

If life were a playground, Rush Limbaugh would be the bully. And, as of a recent story involving Michael J. Fox appearing in a Democratic Senate ad campaign supporting stem-cell research, Fox is the scrawny kid hiding under the bleachers.

Fox’s crime? Appearing in a television advertisement for Democrat Claire McCaskill, a candidate for Senate and a supporter of stem-cell research.

Fox suffers from Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system — and an ailment for which stem-cell research may hold the cure. Fox suffers from tremors as a result of his disease, which caused him to shake dramatically throughout the ad as he sat and spoke into the camera.

“They say all politics is local, but that’s not always the case,” Fox said in the ad. “What you do in Missouri matters to millions of Americans — Americans like me.”

Because of the visual power contained within the spot, Rush Limbaugh apparently felt damage control needed to be done. On his radio show, Limbaugh asserted that Fox “goes off his medication for Parkinson’s disease when he appears before Congress or other groups, as a means of illustrating the ravages of the disease … He’s either off his medication or acting — he is an actor, after all … I think this is exploitative in a way that is unbecoming either Claire McCaskill or Michael J. Fox.”

In the commercial, Fox does thrash around; his head bobs and his torso weaves in and out in front of the camera. However, these are actual symptoms of the disease — sometimes, say doctors, the symptoms worsen even after taking medication.

And while Fox has appeared as a guest star on TV shows like “Boston Legal,” filming was an arduous task. According to his representative, the show’s crew had to film around how he was feeling, sometimes waiting hours until he could regain composure.

And Limbaugh, if anyone, should tread lightly when criticizing anyone for taking or not taking medication. The temptation to respond ad hominem, based on his illustrious history with prescription medication, in kind is far too great.

Regardless of one’s belief on stem-cell research, it is not considered socially acceptable to criticize those with such ailments for exhibiting their ailments, especially not in the ides of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Limbaugh is the only one guilty of playing politics with Parkinson’s; if he is even capable of shame this far along in his career, he should be ashamed of himself.