Rush Limbaugh has been many things since he took upon the mantle of spokesperson for Conservative Republicans. He's been wildly popular, he's been vilified, he's been proven a liar, he's been married and divorced, and he's been a drug addict.

Most important for this entry, though, he's been deaf. He brought his malady upon himself due to his addiction to Oxycontin which can destroy hearing with prolonged use.

Rush is deaf. One doesn't stop being deaf because one has hearing aids like I do or cochlear implants like Rush does. Deaf is a loss of hearing, not just a complete loss of hearing. Like me but beyond me, Rush is profoundly deaf.

Michael J. Fox has Parkinson's disease. He's had it for sixteen years. He's not doing very well.

Fox recently made a campaign ad for Democrat Claire McCaskill who's running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri. In the ad, Fox asks voters to support stem cell research by voting for several Democratic candidates, McCaskill included.

The ad has spread virally across the Interweb and is a top draw on the You Tube service.

Fading into irrelevency, especially since his Republican party looks poised to cripple itself in the coming midterm elections, Limbaugh lashed out at Fox.

On his October 23rd radio show, Limbaugh impugned Fox for "faking" his symtoms: "Now, this is Michael J. Fox. He's got Parkinson's disease. And in this commercial, he is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He is moving all around and shaking. And it's purely an act. This is the only time I have ever seen Michael J. Fox portray any of the symptoms of the disease he has. I know he's got it and he's raising money for it, but when I've seen him in public, I've never seen him betray any of the symptoms. But this commercial, he -- he's just all over the place. He can barely control himself. He can control himself enough to stay in the frame of the picture, and he can control himself enough to keep his eyes right on the lens, the teleprompter. ... So this is really shameless, folks, this is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting, one of the two."

Later in the same broadcast, presumedly after being informed of reality, Limbaugh offered the standard Limp Limbaugh Apology of no apology at all: "All I'm saying is that I've never seen him the way he appears in this commercial for Claire McCaskill. So I will bigly, hugely admit that I was wrong, and I will apologize to Michael J. Fox if I am wrong in characterizing his behavior on this commercial as an act, especially since people are telling me they have seen him this way on other interviews and in other television appearances.

There are a million ways to go on from here with this. I could revisit Limbaugh's calling the 12-year old Chelsea Clinton "ugly". I could go on about the meaness of many Conservative Republicans. I could talk about the tendency of Republicans to only see what they want to. I could go into the dark abyss of Rush's psychology and talk about why he can't offer a straight apology that doesn't excuse the behavior he's apologizing for ("...if I am wrong..."). I could get into the unfeeling callousness of most Conservatives like Rush when it comes to the fate of their fellow Man.

What I'm going to do is say two things and let Michael J. Fox have the last word.

First, Rush Limbaugh is a pig.

Second, Limbaugh would feel very differently if Fox was supporting cochlear implant research.

And one last thing, I'm giving $50 to Claire McCaskill. You should, too.