From: Norm Gaudet
Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2004 01:15:33 -0700
To: StateAttorney@sa15.state.fl.us
Cc: jeb.bush@myflorida.com, charlie.crist@myflorida.com, public@co.palm-beach.fl.us, kmarcus@co.palm-beach.fl.us, jkoons@co.palm-beach.fl.us, wnewell@co.palm-beach.fl.us, mmccarty@co.palm-beach.fl.us, baaronso@co.palm-beach.fl.us, tmasilot@co.palm-beach.fl.us, agreene@co.palm-beach.fl.us, clerkweb@co.palm-beach.fl.us, rush@eibnet.com, rblack@royblack.com
Subject: PROSECUTION OF RUSH LIMBAUGH
Barry E. Krischer
State Attorney Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County, etc.)
State of Florida
Dear Mr. Krischer,
I am writing to you, and ?cc-ing? the State AG, the Governor, and others, on the subject of your prosecution of Rush Limbaugh.
I am an American, some would say liberal, who staunchly supports gay marriage and who would like to see marijuana decriminalized if not legalized. I don?t love Rush Limbaugh, I don?t really like him all that much, but I absolutely detest what the State of Florida is doing to my admittedly oft-overbearing fellow American. It smacks of persecution and abuse of governmental power. I ask you, when was the last time you or any other prosecutor cut a deal with two — count them, two — drug dealers to obtain evidence to prosecute one of their customers? Is your office doing such a great job taking care of the Columbian drug dealers, the Everglades polluters, the Fanjul family criminal sugar enterprise, the anthrax mailings, O.J. Simpson, etc., etc., that you?ve the time and the resources to mobilize a legal army against one pain pill abuser?
The prosecution of Rush Limbaugh defies logic. I believe we all know how the game is played: squeeze little criminal fish, get bigger criminal fish. Rush Limbaugh is a bigger celebrity fish, but he?s not the bigger criminal fish in this smelly affair. He?s also not a crackhead with the attendant problems, he?s not a violent tweaker (methamphetamine user) seeing the devil in his kid and killing him, he?s not a coked up, drunken menace behind the wheel, he?s not the acidhead or pothead of urban legend putting the baby in the microwave?. he?s just another person who became addicted to (initially) legally prescribed pain medication.
I am forced to conclude from the facts of the case, and from your apparent effort to humiliate the man through the release of supposedly private medical records, that this is a malicious and bogus prosecution, an attempt to silence an American voice, either by imprisoning him or besmirching and discrediting him to the point that his audience or his microphone disappears. That?s not the America that I want to live in. If I?m wrong, please tell me why then are you doing what you?re doing, and please give me a case name to support the notion that you give legal immunity to drug dealers not to convict bigger drug dealers, but to convict end-users at the bottom of the drug food chain. I guess I thought Florida?s new doctor-shopping law was designed to bust drug dealers and criminal doctors. Was I wrong on that, too?
I?m sure you?ve heard from many Limbaugh fans, and you?ve probably discounted their comments because Rush is their guy. Well, Rush Limbaugh is not my guy. But please understand that all Americans with good hearts and a love for freedom, liberty, and justice are on Rush Limbaugh?s side in this case — and said Americans knows who the villains of the piece are at the moment. Please consider the notion that if you were to find it in your heart and mind to drop this unfortunate case, that act of grace and mercy would go a long way toward softening many hearts in this country. It would reassure many people that their government has a sense of fair play and the ability to recognize, and right, a wrong of its own making. It would argue against the idea that government is just a big club that can be brought down on any citizen’s head on the whim of a politician.
I think there?s hope for Rush Limbaugh — this experience has certainly changed him, even if we?re not hearing yet the fruit of his bitter, hard-earned knowledge. I think there?s hope for you, too, Mr. Krischer, I am hopeful that you will take another look at this whole case, and maybe come to a better conclusion for everyone concerned. Thanks for your time and consideration. Please do not hesitate to call me to discuss this further. Take care, and be well. Peace.
Norm Gaudet
Phoenix, AZ