LIMBAUGH MIGHT WANT TO TRY COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM

Who would have guessed, when Rush Limbaugh complained that too many
people were "getting away" with drug use, that he was speaking from
personal experience? That his seemingly inexplicable hearing loss,
which two years ago gained sympathy for the caustic, take-no-prisoners
conservative radio talk show host, was in all likelihood
self-inflicted, a result of his long-term addition to
pain-killers?

We do not want to gloat over Limbaugh's personal tragedy, which
splashed into gleeful headlines after Limbaugh's former housekeeper
went to Florida police eager to turn him in for buying massive
quantities of prescription pain-killers. Drug addiction is a horrible
trap, and Limbaugh must be given credit for admitting, albeit
belatedly and after public exposure, his problems and making an
attempt to deal with it.

But as one of the loudest voices supporting our misguided and punitive
national drug policy, Limbaugh bears some responsibility for a society
that all too readily pays to keep nonviolent drug offenders like
Limbaugh in prison while stinting on the kind of treatment that
Limbaugh is now receiving.

Punishment is easy to push for the other guy. After Limbaugh's
addiction became news, a 1995 quote was quickly dug up where he said
the country was being destroyed by drugs and it was time to "find the
ones who are getting away with it, convict them, and send them up the
river."

Florida has a five-year prison term for those convicted of buying
prescription drugs illegally. We assume Limbaugh's attitude on the
need to imprison drug abusers has undergone a shift.

Thirty days go quickly, and we wonder what Limbaugh will say when he
returns to his 20 million listeners. Will the sting of his hypocrisy
result in real change? Is it too much to hope that this entire episode
might leave Limbaugh -- and his conservative supporters -- a little
less ready to damn their fellow citizens for their shortcomings? As
conservative in many ways ourselves, we were never comfortable with
the tendency to condemn other people -- whether drug addicts or
welfare recipients or single mothers or some other struggling group --
and let them bear the brunt of their situations unaided.

Limbaugh probably will not go to jail. His most recent contract was
for $285 million. That buys a lot of lawyering and drug treatment. He
will never end up in a soup kitchen or a shelter.

We hope he beats his addiction and returns to the air. Perhaps, as
penance, when he is back, he might want to think about what drug
addicts who are not rich celebrities must go through in order to fight
their addictions.

He might consider a kind of conservatism that promotes personal
responsibility without condemning and vilifying those who fall short.
And really, which of us does not fall short?