In some ways, he said, the stigma of addiction is as crippling as the lure of the next fix.
A loss to the United States in August could be as crippling as Sunday's victory was uplifting.
But in the public-relations battle over the governor's proposed reduction in local school financing, Mr. Cuomo and his aides are using every possible opportunity to suggest to New Yorkers that the proposed cuts would not be as crippling as the governor's critics claim.
So, today's afternoon reversal clearly suggests markets are getting comfortable with the view that although Fed stimulus measures will have to come an end at some point, with a backdrop of a recovering US economy, perhaps withdrawal from the stimulus pills won't be as crippling as some had previously though.
Plaque on the brain doesn't sound good, but the condition may not be as crippling as once thought.
Undiagnosed and untreated PTSD and TBI are in many cases accompanied by depressive disorders, which can be as crippling as the physical wounds a veteran may bear.
Within two years (if not already), lack of understanding appointment mechanics, game mechanics and leveling will be as crippling to someone who aspires to design online solutions as it is today for someone who doesn't understand HTML and CSS and AJAX and JQuery.
The injury list, meanwhile, is hardly as crippling as it has been in the past.
Of all the terrible things that come along with addiction -- mental anguish, physical decline, spiritual vacuums and untimely demises -- perhaps none are as avoidable as the crippling shame and utter hopelessness that often ride shotgun while the disease settles into the driver's seat.
Theoretically, it could be almost as crippling as a stock market crash.
