LIMBAUGH MAY BE OFF DRUGS, BUT HE'S ON HIS HIGH HORSE

I wasn't one of the 1 million people glued to the radio waiting to
hear how Rush Limbaugh would handle his return to the air waves.
Actually, I don't think I've ever listened to Limbaugh. That's the
beautiful thing about free speech. People are free to say whatever
they want, but we are also free not to listen. Since no one put a gun
to my head and forced my ear to the radio, I didn't catch Limbaugh's
act.

Still, I followed news accounts. I was curious about how Limbaugh
would be received upon his return from rehab to kick his addiction to
painkillers. Would he be more tolerant of drug abusers in the future?
Would he offer a feeble mea culpa for remarks he's made in the past?
Had he become a convert to the cause of treating drug offenders more
compassionately?

Now that he's been in the valley, would he use his power to help pull
others out?

Of course not.

Why should he? He's doing just fine. He still has his radio show. He
still has his $24 million oceanfront mansion. He still ranks right up
there with 1 percent of the wage earners in this country.

Is he a hypocrite? Probably not, because addicts don't see themselves
as addicts.

As any addict would tell you, when people are abusing drugs, they are
always hiding their real selves. How would I know that? Well, to be
honest, I've dealt with enough addicts in my own family to know their
moves. There's not much difference between addicts who snort, shoot up
or pop pills, although many of us would like to see it that way.

All addicts are notorious liars. They have to be in order to hide
their sickness from people who care about them -- not to mention those
who don't give a darn.

Between 1995 and five weeks ago, the time Limbaugh said he was an
addict, the man must have told a whole lot of lies. Yet he was still
able to climb back onto his high horse and crack the backsides of the
liberal establishment on Monday, just as he did before he was outed by
a National Enquirer expose about his drug use.

"I've not been a phony here," he told his audience on Monday. "I've
not been artificial on the program. I was all of that elsewhere. I was
all that other places, but not here."

He also said "he avoided the subject of drugs" on his program, despite
the fact that the quip most quoted while he was laid up in rehab was
about drugs.

As tainted as it is, Limbaugh has his image to uphold. Obviously, it
wouldn't be good for business if the rooster came off looking like
your average chickenhead. Because Limbaugh has mastered the art of
manipulating the masses, he knows his celebrity status and drug of
choice distance him from other drug abusers.

Most people can relate to the "ordeal" of getting hooked on a
prescription drug and forgive the means by which those illegal drugs
are obtained. But fewer people can relate to the life circumstances
that have led millions to abuse street drugs. Those conditions --
neglect, sexual abuse, violence, mental illness, and depression -- are
far less palatable.

But a backache or dislocated disc? That's another matter.

Since Limbaugh's drug use has been exposed, many people have called on
him to repent, so to speak, by taking up the cause of addicts everywhere.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, for instance, has challenged Limbaugh to "use
his power to change our drug laws."

"It is unjust and hypocritical for Limbaugh to unapologetically
condemn other drug abusers but seek exemption for himself," Jackson
told the Chicago Defender.

Jackson is right. But you see, that kind of logic is exactly why
Limbaugh ridicules liberals as "linguine-spined."

While it is noble to show Limbaugh more compassion than he has shown
others, he can't be lumped with your average drug abuser. In fact,
he's worse than the pitiful white guys who sneak into drug-infested
urban neighborhoods looking to score.

Accusers claim Limbaugh used his former maid as a drug mule to make
his buys. If that's true, he should be treated like other small-time
drug dealers. Maybe after he gets out of prison, listeners would
really see a changed man.

Palm Beach County officials have said that Limbaugh's drug use is
still under investigation, and fair-minded people in that town ought
to make sure those officials don't flush the toilet on this one.

I don't expect Limbaugh to come clean about how he acquired illegal
drugs for eight years, but police officials should go after this drug
conspiracy as aggressively as they go after other drug
conspiracies.

And I don't expect Limbaugh to change his tune. Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush's daughter was arrested for obtaining anti-anxiety drugs, and the
governor didn't jump on the reform bandwagon, either. When it comes to
narcotics, the punishment never seems to be as harsh for the rich and
prominent as it is for the poor and powerless.

When the majority of us are fed up with that unfairness, those laws
will change.

Until then, Limbaugh will make an entertaining poster child for
America's unequal justice system.