RUSH LIMBAUGH'S ADDICTION

There may be a tendency, particularly among those who despise Rush
Limbaugh's style and his politics, to crow with delight about his sad
admission that he has become addicted to pain-killing drugs. American
political debate has a show-no-mercy quality to it these days, and Limbaugh
has certainly contributed to the harsher tenor of that debate.

His critics are unlikely to feel much mercy right now. They are likely to
call him a hypocrite because his words didn't match his deeds.

This, though, is a time for compassion. How Rush Limbaugh deals with the
demon he has invited into his life is his own problem, of course. But there
is no minimizing the challenge he faces.

It may well be comforting for those who have never coped with addiction to
think of it as a medical problem that can be solved by spending a couple of
weeks in a nice resort-like hospital in the desert. That is not what
recovery is about, not for Limbaugh, not for the street drunk, not for the
young woman with a needle in her arm, not for the wasted meth addicts of
rural America.

They are all coming from the same, empty place. When one examines the
question of addiction with more than a superficial visit to a brochure, what
one finds is that the drug, the drink, whatever, is not the only problem. It
is the dominant symptom of something much more complicated, and perhaps much
more painful to resolve. In the presence of the substance, of course, there
can be no recovery. But the absence of the substance doesn't mean the cause
has been addressed.

So, as compelling as the temptation may become to deride and chastise him as
this arrogant and seemingly self-confident man leaves the public stage, the
better angels of our nature call us to understand that if he takes recovery
seriously, he is about to strip himself bare, penetrate the veneer he has
constructed over his life and gaze deep into a chasm that no one has ever
seen.

All the cliches he has embraced, we have all embraced, about just saying no
and controlling ourselves and being tough. They will melt away. He has
admitted this is his third attempt at addressing his drug problem; he has
failed twice at ending his addiction.

Forget about the loud, confident voice on the radio. He is an addict on a
steep slope. Like anyone who is addicted, he deserves prayers, compassion
and a sad awareness that when he finally reaches the bottom, the demon
waiting for him will be of his own making.