CHAMPION OF THE US RIGHT FACES DRUG ALLEGATIONS

Rush Limbaugh Bought Thousands of Pills, Says Maid

For once Rush Limbaugh, the US's most popular radio talkshow host and
the voice of America's neo-conservative political movement, had
nothing to say on the story captivating the political salons of
Washington DC: allegations that he is addicted to prescription drugs
and bought thousands of pills on the black market.

'I haven't got to the bottom of this yet,' he told his 20 million
listeners after the claims of his drug abuse emerged last week. 'I
don't want to deal with hypotheticals or respond to what's in the press.'

But if Limbaugh uncharacteristically restrained himself, others
haven't been so reticent, among them the radio host's long-time friend
and political soulmate, President George W. Bush, who reportedly told
aides yesterday: 'Rush is a great American. I am confident he can
overcome any obstacles he faces right now.'

The President's support came as police in Florida, where the
multimillionaire talkshow host lives, confirmed he was being
investigated over claims he illegally procured the prescription drugs
hydro-codone and OxyContin through his former housemaid, Wilma Cline.
She has told police she supplied the drugs to Limbaugh over a
four-year period from 1998.

OxyContin is derived from opium and is one of the most powerful
pain-killers available. It is known on the streets in America as
Hillbilly Heroin because of its popularity among drug addicts in the
poorer areas of the American south.

Cline gave detectives a ledger detailing her alleged drug purchases on
behalf of Limbaugh - including 4,350 pills in one six-week period -
and a thick sheaf of emails allegedly sent to her by her former
employer in which he asks her to supply him with the drugs. She claims
to have bought a total of 11,900 pills for him: 'There were times when
I was worried... all these pills are enough to kill an elephant, never
mind a man.'

Her story first emerged in the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer
but quickly spread to the mainstream media, where it was seized on by
Limbaugh's liberal critics, not just as evidence of his rank hypocrisy
but also as a harbinger of his eventual demise.

The talkshow host has long been viewed as one of the most influential
political voices in America. Over the past 15 years he has risen from
obscure local radio personality to the most listened-to radio
presenter in the US.

His show, broadcast daily on 600 stations across America, consists
mainly of an endless stream of invective aimed at liberal politicians
such as Bill and Hillary Clinton - he led the charge for impeaching
the former President over the Lewinsky scandal - and at so-called
'liberal' values that have supposedly undermined the American way of
life.

Among his many complaints down the years was the alleged failure of
liberal politicians to crack down on the drug problem. 'There's
nothing good about drug use. Drug use destroys societies. Drug use,
some might say, is destroying this country. And so if people are
violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be convicted and they
ought to be sent up,' he once told his listeners.

Al Franken, author of the bestselling expose of right-wing bias in the
US media, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, and a long-time
critic of Limbaugh, said yesterday he felt sympathy for anyone who
suffered a drug addiction but conceded many on the political Left
would be happy to see him arrested if the allegations held up.

'I'll be switching television channels to get it from every angle,' he
said. 'My favourite part is when they push their heads to get them
down into the police car.'

The drug allegations could not have come at a worse time for Limbaugh,
who was already embroiled in a row over remarks he made about a black
athlete - NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb - while making one of his
regular appearances on a television sports show.

He claimed that the highly rated McNabb was a mediocre player who
received favourable treatment in the media simply because he was black
- - a comment that sparked accusations of racism from NFL players,
sports journalists and politicians alike.

Limbaugh has a long history of making incendiary comments on the
subject of race, but they were usually aired within the confines of
his show, where the right-wing audience was unlikely to be offended.
However, he caused huge offence among viewers of Sunday NFL Countdown
on the ESPN sports TV network, which, ironically, had hired the
armchair NFL enthusiast to inject some 'controversy' into the show.

The Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark described
Limbaugh's remarks as 'hateful and ignorant' and called on him to be
sacked from his TV job, but Limbaugh quit before ESPN could take any
action.

Despite his resignation, Limbaugh remained defiant, claiming he had
been the victim of a witch hunt. 'I meant everything I said. So throw
me in jail. So fire me... if that's what it takes to stand up for free
speech, fine,' he said.

His army of devoted listeners have come to expect such belligerence
and the race row is unlikely to dent his popularity. But media experts
are agreed the allegations pose a much more serious threat to his
status as the lodestar of right-wing American politics. Robert
Thomson, director of Syracuse University's Centre for the Study of
Popular Television, said: 'His whole thing has been about getting to
the truth,' he said. '[Now] he is doing some of the things he has made
a career exposing others for doing.'

Rush Talk

'Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.' Limbaugh speaking
to a black caller on his show.

'When you strip it all away, Jerry Garcia destroyed his life on drugs.
And yet he's being honoured like some godlike figure. Our priorities
are out of whack.' On the late Grateful Dead singer/guitarist.

'Have you ever noticed how all pictures of composite criminals
resemble Jessie Jackson?' On one of his fiercest critics.

'I am appalled at people who... look at all this abhorrent behaviour
and say, "People are going to do drugs anyway - let's legalise it."
Those who are for it are 100 percent selfish.' On legalising drugs.

'Ted Kennedy, whose liver is said to be shaped like a Chivas Regal
bottle... ' On the head of America's most famous liberal family.