SURPRISED BY TIDBITS COMING FROM RECENT COMMENTARY

Kathleen O'Brien's syndicated commentary, "Limbaugh's dependency reinforces a
lesson for us all," (AC-T, Oct. 14), on Rush Limbaugh's drug addiction is full
of surprises. First, I was surprised to find out that "drugs ... are apolitical
.. just a chemical reaction with no moral underpinnings..." I thought a
standard right-wing platform is that drug abuse is just another liberal flaw
that a good war can cure. Reading on, I was surprised to see the Asheville
Citizen-Times carry yet another slur on the region. O'Brien argues that
OxyContin is not really "hillbilly heroin" because, as she not very subtly
implies, even intelligent people use it. Finally, I was surprised by O'Brien's
lack of a sense of irony about the right-wing bully's predicament. Rush is my
nominee to join William Bennett in the Moral Hypocrites Hall of Fame.

Mary Jean Ronan Herzog

Cullowhee