RUSH HUSHES ON PILL PROBE

Rush Limbaugh insisted yesterday he was not being "Clintonesque," but once
again he refused to address accusations he illegally bought thousands of
black-market painkillers.

"People are asking am I being Clintonesque?" Limbaugh said on his
syndicated radio show. "Ladies and gentlemen, that is not what is going on
here at all."

But the king of conservative talk radio would not confirm or deny reports
that he bought massive amounts of OxyContin, Lorcet and hydrocodone from
his former maid and her ex-con husband from 1998 through last year. "I'm
not determining what, down the road, I should lie about," he said.

Limbaugh, who regularly ripped former President Bill Clinton for moral
lapses and parsing his words, appears unlikely to face criminal charges in
West Palm Beach, Fla., where authorities are probing his alleged pushers.

If allegations that Limbaugh was hooked on drugs prove true, however, he
could be marked as a hypocrite because of his past tirades against drug
abusers.

That shouldn't hurt Limbaugh's career, said Michael Harrison, editor of the
trade publication Talkers magazine. "He's a ratings giant," Harrison said.
"The guy is the most talked about guy in the news. That's not bad in a
business that thrives on controversy."

Like most radio personalities, Limbaugh has a so-called morals clause
written into his contract that allows his bosses to fire him if he breaks
the law or behaves inappropriately, one station confirmed. But Limbaugh
would have to be convicted of a serious crime before it would be enforced,
Harrison said.

"I think this [drug scandal] only makes his story more colorful and
interesting," he said.