Who knew right wing whack-jobs could be such big softies? Rush "Big Fat Idiot" Limbaugh's tragic—oh, so very tragic—transformation from King Dittohead to disgraced crackhead has brought on an outbreak of bleeding heart conservatism not seen since the death of Eric Breindel. It seems that if a drug addict is well-educated (though Rush, it turns out, dropped out of school after a year) and has the fine fortune of being white and rich (that means you, Noelle Bush), then they deserve our support, sympathy, and respect. If they're some sort of poor ethnic type, well, they deserve to have their kids taken away and get the stiffest sentence the law allows.

Today's New York Post features an op-ed by John "Norman's son" Podhoretz bending over backwards, tying himself in knots, and bouncing off the walls in a fit of overly-compassionate conservatism for Rush (not an easy task given the Pod-man's doughy frame). Here are some samples of Podhoretz laying it on thicker than... well, something thick:
Brilliant… Limbaugh has built and kept his phenomenal audience… The reason Rush Limbaugh has been one of the defining cultural figures of our time - the man who singlehandedly brought an entire dormant medium, AM radio, roaring back to life - is that he has brought a spirit of fun and high good humor to the social and political controversies of our time. His show is punctuated by often-hilarious song and commercial parodies… he is some kind of genius, capable of explaining complicated ideas in ways understandable to enormous numbers of people… significantly more polite…engages his callers with unfailing courtesy, and he always affords those callers with whom he disagrees the respect of an honest debate…Limbaugh has made ideological battle fun, and given heart to many millions of people who think their opinions have been ignored…

With friends like these, who needs enablers?