RUSH TO JAIL?

So Rush has publicly admitted he's "addicted to prescription pain
medication," confirming details of a story broken by the National
Enquirer last week.

If he was true to his word, following his broadcast yesterday, the
nation's top talker checked himself into a 30-day drug rehab program
to shake his monkey.

Beyond his personal support of the drug war, the most intriguing
aspect of Rush's current problem is that, since Nixon declared war on
"public enemy No. 1" in 1972, conservatives of various stripes have
been the biggest boosters of the policy.

Working tirelessly to expand state and federal powers to go after
dealers and users, right-wing drug warriors lobbied hard for strict
sentences and tough penalties. If people wouldn't stop using drugs on
their own, the government was going to force them. A drug-free America
was the end, and zero tolerance was the means.

But think about this, you who are conservatives and so vigorously
support the war on drugs: Would you really like to see the legal
thumbscrews tightened on Rush Limbaugh - a man admiringly thought of
by millions as the leading conservative icon in this country - the way
you so enthusiastically insist for other violators of the nation's
drug laws?

I have no clue how the current police investigation into Limbaugh's
situation will turn out, but regardless of the legal facts of the case
and given that he's confessed it himself, would you like to see Rush
in jail?

Would you feel a) terrible if he ended up behind bars; or b) proud
that justice had been done, that yet another drug abuser was locked
away from the society that he could so easily harm with his pernicious
addiction?

It's easy to forget that Justice is blind. But while that scarf is
tied so tightly over her eyes, Justice weighs friends and coworkers,
sons and daughters, husbands and wives in her scales. She weighs our
heroes and icons, and she doesn't give a hoot about the circumstances
of someone's illegal drug use or his ideology, only that he is
breaking the law.

The rule of law is a sword that cuts both ways, but if this sword
whacks Rush, it will only prove that - despite his own support over
the years - it shouldn't be swinging at all.

What possible good could incarcerating Rush Limbaugh accomplish? Would
his life, professional or personal, be better off?

Would jail time help his show improve, or his newsletter get better?
After 15 years of excellence, surpassing all expectations, proving
himself to be the most skilled radio talent in history, it'd be hard
to imagine. Consumers of Rush's entertaining and enlightening product
have been more than well served over the years. I've been listening to
Rush for almost half my life - not half my adult life, half my total
life. Drugs didn't destroy his productive output.

The same isn't true for what jail can do. Ask former Congressman James
Traficant.

What about his relationship with his family, friends and wife?
Stopping Rush's addictive behavior might be a very positive thing in
his personal life, but isn't that a matter best left decided among the
immediate parties? Outsiders shouldn't step in and forcibly work to
improve or salvage personal relationships with regard to finances or
hygiene or character flaws. Why drugs?

Taking drugs is a choice - just like making an investment or, for a
more negative image, gambling. But as long as Rush isn't harming
anyone with his decisions, then the government should stay out of it.
Or, government should also step in and make sure hubby isn't poorly
investing the family savings, that he flosses daily, and isn't so
selfish. After all, pride and egotism (two things at least Rush's
public persona isn't lacking) do far more damage to personal
relationships than dope does.

And note that it's covetousness, not drug use, that wraps up the Ten
Commandments. Jealousy and envy are far more dangerous to society than
funny cigarettes or little blue pills. So if it makes sense to go
after drugs in the effort to save society, then it's equally sensible
to send cops to round up all the envy-pushers on Madison Ave. and in
the halls of Congress.

Isn't it better to let Rush sort out this problem on his own - just as
we let citizens deal with their own failings in other areas, leave him
free to decide what needs fixing in his own life and take care of it?

And if that's true for Rush, then it's true for others. Millions of
Americans do use or have used illegal drugs. Many do so with no
negative consequences in their lives; they don't beat their kids, they
perform acceptably at work, and they forget their spouse's birthday
with no more frequency than the rest of us. But those that do have
negative consequences from abuse - what sense does it make to heap
more problems on their situation by jailing them or otherwise
entangling them in the legal system?

They can lose their jobs, their public standing, sometimes their
families. If they bring such calamity on themselves, that's
unfortunate and tough. Life's full of bad news. But siccing the state
on them to produce the same results is unconscionable. Using the
government to bring ruin on someone's life when he is neither harming
nor defrauding his neighbor is wrong - even if it is for his own good.

Rush has admitted to having relapsed in his "recovery" from addiction.
He said he checked himself in two times before this most recent trip.
Clearly this is ample evidence that Rush's problem is too complex for
the ham-fisted force of law to solve.

Sometimes the state should just butt out of people's lives, and one of
those times is when people are struggling with drugs.