Pubdate: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 Source: Bradenton Herald (FL) Copyright: 2003 Bradenton Herald Contact: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradentonherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58 BASHER'S BACK Limbaugh Spins His Return To The Airwaves "There's more honesty to come," Rush Limbaugh promised on his first day back on the air after five weeks in drug rehabilitation. "More" implies that there has been some honesty, but we must have missed it. Perhaps he meant with himself; his references to his drug treatment ordeal indicated it must have been insightful for so cocky a person as he. That's about as close as he came to apologizing to his audience. His return was vintage Limbaugh, as mean-spirited and narrow-minded as ever. There was no acknowledgement of the hypocrisy of his being exposed as a drug-abusing addict after having harshly criticized public figures tainted by illegal drug abuse in the past. He was in fact defensive on that score, asserting that he's never been "phony" or "artificial" on his program because "I avoided the subject of drugs on this program for the precise reason that I was keeping a secret." The question of whether Limbaugh should even be back on his old show, as if nothing happened, apparently didn't occur to him, his network or much of his conservative audience. His defenders argue that prescription drugs are different than illegal drugs like cocaine or heroin. They say Limbaugh suffers from severe back pain uncorrected by spinal surgery and is not a recreational user seeking a "high." But prescription drugs are legal only with a prescription. Close personal associates claim he was buying illegal black-market pain pills - an offense that, if true, is certainly on a par with other street drug purchases. And he all but admitted Monday that he enjoyed the way the pills made him feel. Some hoped that his exposure and rehabilitation experience might cause him to show the same degree of empathy and fairness toward his political foes that he received. It would have redemptive to hear him crusade for less-harsh punishment of first-time and non-violent drug offenders, and for more and better drug treatment facilities. Apparently, fame in conservative circles means never having to say you're sorry. Limbaugh signed off by warning liberals, "The party's over; I'm back." Let's hope the state attorney's office in Palm Beach County, where Limbaugh owns a $24 million oceanfront mansion, isn't quite as willing to sweep this drug investigation under the rug as Rush and his "ditto- heads" are. If there's really "more honesty to come," it should be in fully cooperating with law enforcement authorities investigating illegal pill trafficking rings, not playing coy with listeners about "a whole lot of stuff I can't tell you yet." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens