FRESH FROM REHAB, LIMBAUGH BACK ON AIR

Like many recovering addicts fresh from rehab, he was bursting with new
personal insights. His vaunted confrontational vocabulary had taken on an
unexpected dimension -- self-empowerment references and the occasional
reminder that you cannot feel responsible for other people's happiness.

Only this time the recovering addict was a rich and famous 52-year-old man
sitting inside a Manhattan radio studio, speaking to millions of people.

Rush Limbaugh, who has become a cultural and political force as America's
most popular radio host, returned to the air Monday after five weeks in an
unnamed Arizona rehabilitation facility where he was treated for an
addiction to the painkiller OxyContin.

His departure had been forced by a National Enquirer expose in which an
ex-housekeeper claimed Limbaugh bought and hoarded tens of thousands of
pills. Limbaugh's on-air admission of his addiction Oct. 10 set off weeks
of ideological clashes over whether he should be seen as a victim or a
hypocrite. It also prompted hundreds of supportive and often adoring
e-mails from fans of the show, which reaches about 15 million listeners
each week. "I was beginning to wonder if you were human. I guess you are,"
one man wrote.

On Monday, Limbaugh said he'd been a drug addict since 1995 or 1996 --
around the same time he advocated sending drug users "up the river." He
told his listeners that, despite a few well-publicized quotes, he'd tried
to avoid talking much about drugs on the air over the years because "I was
keeping a secret. I didn't want to sound like I had any knowledge." He said
rehab had been an "exciting" experience that is "going to give new meaning
to the future," and said he wished he'd had the introspective experience 30
years ago.

He continued to withhold comment on reports that he is under criminal
investigation in Palm Beach County, Fla., where he lives and normally
broadcasts from, for illegally purchasing huge amounts of prescription
drugs. A law enforcement source familiar with the Florida case, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said officials will decide in about two weeks
whether to file charges against Limbaugh.

On the air, Limbaugh suggested to fans he would be vindicated.

Hands down, it was the strangest day in Limbaugh's 15-year career as a
syndicated talk-show host -- a career that paved the way for the domination
of conservative-themed talk radio, that won Limbaugh praise for helping the
Republican Party obtain its first majority in the House of Representatives
in a generation, and that earned him a $285 million, multiyear contract
serving 650 Premiere Radio Networks affiliates. Never had a man whose voice
practically bursts with certitude and who likes to boast he has "talent on
loan from God" so publicly shared his insecurities and weaknesses.

The three-hour show featured plenty of standard liberal-bashing (including
a drinking-glass sound effect when Sen. Edward Kennedy was mentioned). But
early on, there was the moment when Mary Jo from Alabama called in to ask
Limbaugh's advice about the kind of conversations to have with a friend who
is in recovery.

"Mary Jo," Limbaugh said sternly, sounding more like Dr. Laura, "you are
not responsible for what your friend does. You can't live your friend's
life. It's not your job. You're not an addict, you're not in recovery. If
they're gonna relapse, they're gonna relapse. Be who you are. Don't try to
make decisions for this person. Just trust 'em."

Later in the morning, Limbaugh was mocking antiwar liberals who accuse war
supporters of hypocrisy "because they're not in the line of fire." He
decided to use himself as an example:

"There are people who are saying I'm a hypocrite because I was using drugs,
yet I was telling people to live a moral life," he said. "If what I was
saying to do was the right thing, does the fact I was not doing it myself
mean it's not right to do? My behavior doesn't change right and wrong."

He brought his example back to the war -- when you insist we leave Iraq
because casualties are mounting, you forget that the soldiers volunteered
- -- and then added a coda of non-Limbaugh-esque pop-psych-speak: "You are
transferring your values to other people. You don't have a right to do that."

In the show's final minutes, in response to a caller's medical question,
Limbaugh said he is now managing the pain of two herniated discs in his
back with the non-narcotic drug Vioxx, which he said "has cut the pain
considerably." He said he had resisted surgery in recent years because the
procedure doctors wanted to use would have gone near his larynx, then
acknowledged that the operation might have restricted his rationale for
taking painkillers. "I found excuses to take them," he said.

He also said his loss of hearing a couple of years ago "had nothing to do"
with the painkillers, which in addition to producing feelings of euphoria
have been linked to deafness in some users.

Observers differed as they tried to put Limbaugh's performance into
perspective.

"Rush has gone through something like life-threatening surgery," said
conservative columnist Pat Buchanan. "It doesn't change your views, but it
changes your priorities."

Liberal comedian Al Franken, author of "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot,"
was dismissive, comparing Limbaugh's remarks about his treatment to "a bad
Doctor Phil or Oprah . ... It's interesting how the Republicans are always
dismissive of therapy and 'feelings' but now Rush is talking like everybody
should have this."

Critics took aim at several comments Limbaugh has made about strong
punishment for those who use illegal drugs. When Grateful Dead guitarist
Jerry Garcia died, Limbaugh mocked tributes to the musician, arguing,
"Jerry Garcia destroyed his life on drugs. And yet he's being honored, like
some godlike figure."

In 1995 he said, "Too many whites are getting away with drug use. The
answer is to find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and
send them up the river."

Bruce Cotter, a recovering addict and alcoholic who has been an addiction
interventionist for a dozen years, suggested that Limbaugh faces several
challenges. First, did he spend enough time in rehab? Cotter, who has an
office in Palm Beach, said five weeks is an exceptionally short period.
Second, can Limbaugh accept the advice he has been receiving or will he
feel above it? Third, "Who's he going to be? Rush Limbaugh the entertainer
or Rush Limbaugh the recovering addict?"

Limbaugh had twice checked into rehab facilities in the past half-dozen
years in failed efforts to break his addiction. He described this
rehabilitation visit as "a wonderful process ... as important as the first
grade and maybe the second grade," something that would benefit many people
without drug problems.

"I'm not a role model," he said. "What I did, I did knowingly. What I did,
I did because I wanted to do it, but I knew it was wrong the whole time.
It's a powerful addiction this stuff has."

"I can no longer anticipate what I think people want and try to give that
to them," he said at another moment. "I can no longer try to live my life
by making other people happy. I can no longer turn over the power of my
feelings to anybody else, which is what I have done a lot of my life."