A MAD RUSH TO DENIAL

Even in normal times, Rush Limbaugh makes little sense during his
radio gasfest. But this week, he tried to fool his audience into
thinking that he wasn't arrested.

Last Friday, Mr. Limbaugh was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail.
He was fingerprinted. His mug shot was taken. He posted bond. His
information will be in the national, state and county criminal
databases. Yet he claimed on the air that he wasn't arrested and that
the outcome would have been the same if he had gone to trial for
doctor-shopping to illegally obtain painkillers and won, rather than
accept a negotiated settlement on one felony charge. In fact, if he
had won at trial, he wouldn't be under court-ordered supervision that
requires him to pass a drug test each month for the next 18 months.
He wouldn't be paying $30,000 for the public cost of dragging out the
investigation.

But Mr. Limbaugh, who on other matters bills himself as the "truth
detector," has been dishonest about his case from the start. He
accused State Attorney Barry Krischer of conducting a politically
motivated "fishing expedition" because Mr. Krischer is a Democrat.
Prosecutors, he railed, violated his privacy by seizing his medical records.

In fact, Mr. Limbaugh's name came up during a wider investigation
into illegal sale of prescription painkillers, which the
Republican-led Legislature recognized as a problem by making
doctor-shopping a felony. The lead prosecutor was a Republican. When
Mr. Limbaugh brayed about supposed prosecutorial misconduct, Mr.
Krischer's office did not respond in kind. And Mr. Limbaugh lost
every court decision regarding seizure of his records.

The outcome is fair, if belated. In late 2003, prosecutors had
offered essentially the same deal on one count, with 18 months'
probation. Under state sentencing guidelines, conviction at trial
then or now would not have meant prison time. Based on the medical
records Circuit Judge Thomas Barkdull allowed prosecutors to see, Mr.
Krischer changed the deal to have Mr. Limbaugh do his 18 months as
part of a pretrial intervention program. If Mr. Limbaugh completes
the program, the charge will be dropped.

So the man who in 1995 maintained that the way to treat drug users
was to "send them up the river" gets the chance to benefit from a
public program he never would have supported for others. Mr.
Limbaugh's attorney once defended his client's comments about the
case by noting that hypocrisy is not a crime. Good thing for Mr.
Limbaugh, who had been a serial offender long before the issue became
his own alleged criminal conduct. Anyone stopping at the Limbaugh
Truth Shop for the facts about his case would see this sign: Gone Fishin'.