RUSH TO REVENGE? NO THANKS

Sorry to betray such a low level of lust for revenge, but as a
card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union, I am
duty-bound to defend the rights of even those I loathe.

Not that Limbaugh, the talk-show bully, has been charged with a crime
or sentenced to jail time. However, as an admitted addict who
allegedly purchased drugs illegally, his freedom, were he an ordinary
guy on the street, would be very much in jeopardy.

In Florida, where Limbaugh allegedly committed his felony, the crime
of purchasing large amounts of powerful narcotics without a
prescription can get you a five-year sentence if prosecutors are so
inclined. That is, if they are in a mood to be the tough anti-drug
warriors that the Limbaughs of this world have long applauded.

Credit Limbaugh for riling up the public and politicians to imprison
many addicts whose behavior was no worse than what he has admitted to.
As he once told his radio audience, "If people are violating the law
by doing drugs, they ought to be accused, and they ought to be
convicted, and they ought to be sent up."

Limbaugh was an equal-opportunity drug warrior who, in response to the
charge that drug laws singled out African Americans, said in an
interview in 1995: "Too many whites are getting away with drug use.
The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with
it, convict them and send them up the river, too."

Three years later, he is alleged to have begun his own white man's
odyssey into a life of addiction and crime.

Let me be on record as being strongly opposed to sending Limbaugh up
the river, even though that is the penalty he wished to inflict on
others. Just chalk me up as one of those bleeding-heart liberals who
believe that drug addiction should be treated as a medical rather than
a criminal matter.

If convicted and imprisoned, Limbaugh could come back a hardened
criminal, most likely having learned only how to get away with
convenience store stickups to support his habit. Although in prison he
might also be educated by fellow inmates to drop the OxyContin that he
allegedly was hooked on for heroin, which has a similar high but might
be less damaging to the body. We don't know why he didn't turn to pot
for relief, but I suspect prescription drug abuse is just more
acceptable in right-wing circles.

But those are his choices, and I support his right as an adult to pick
his own poison. I don't endorse the tough-love hard line that because
Limbaugh has failed in his two previous attempts to end his addiction
by voluntarily checking into a medical program, he shouldn't be given
a third chance. He should get as many more as he needs. As one who has
had bouts of addiction with truly dangerous drugs - good red wines and
only the most aged of Scotch - I don't want them throwing me into jail
just because I fall off the wagon.

Although Limbaugh is obviously a hypocrite, that is no reason to
compound the madness of our drug problem by punishing him in what
seems to have been a victimless crime - unless he pressured his
housekeeper-supplier into the Florida narco-underworld, which would
make him far more culpable. But we liberals believe in innocent until
proved guilty.

Limbaugh's experience is the best argument against the demonization of
all junkies - this one throughout his addiction held a big job and
presumably paid a lot in taxes. The considerable harm he inflicts
daily on the larger society can hardly be blamed on his addiction. The
drugs might have even tempered his verbal brutishness. In any case,
there is no evidence that the drugs caused him to daily savage others
- - he was equally offensive before and during his drug abuse. To put it
another way, his drug use, if it has caused pain to others, is the
least of his crimes.

But why be mean about it and wallow in the suffering of
another?

Let's hope that Limbaugh emerges from this experience more tolerant of
the weaknesses of others.

Perhaps he could then prevail upon his buddy, Attorney General John
Ashcroft, to end his vicious crackdown on cancer and AIDS patients
attempting to use marijuana to manage their pain without running afoul
of the law.

Robert Scheer is a columnist with Creators Syndicate.