Posted on 10/12/2003 7:08:17 PM PDT by yonif
NEW YORK -- None of Rush Limbaugh's friends contacted by Newsweek seemed to know the talk-radio host had a drug problem. "What's interesting," one of these friends told Newsweek, "is that he apparently hid the pills from his wife." Limbaugh's dependence on painkillers began after an unsuccessful back surgery in the late '90's, reports Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas in the October 20 issue of Newsweek, (on newsstands Monday, October 13).
In last week's radio confessional, Limbaugh told his listeners that he had twice gone to a hospital to detox. "What did he tell his wife when he checked into the treatment center? -- unless these were 24- to 48-hour clinics to clean out your system. There's an awful lot of mystery about it," said the friend.
Law-enforcement sources tell Newsweek that Rush Limbaugh's exposure as a pain-pill addict began when his former housekeeper Wilma Cline, 42, showed up at the Palm Beach County state attorney's office late last year eager to alert the cops to her boss's drug use. Her motive remained murky, but her story -- how she had met Limbaugh in parking lots to exchange sandwich bags filled with "baby blues" (OxyContin pills) for a cigar box stuffed with cash-was luridly damning, reports Thomas.
According to Cline, Limbaugh took as many as 30 OxyContin pills a day. It is not clear why Cline went to the authorities. She could still be prosecuted, despite a partial grant of immunity, say law-enforcement sources. The investigation has so far produced an arrest of a Palm Beach County couple accused of pushing hydrocodone and OxyContin.
Journalists who have spent time with Limbaugh have been struck by the contrast between Rush the Radio Know-It-All and the private, ill-at-ease Limbaugh.
Friend Bill Bennett, whose book, "The Moral Compass," Limbaugh touted on radio, says he knew nothing of Limbaugh's pill opping.
"He's a very private man," Bennett told Newsweek. "He takes problems into himself."
Limbaugh lasted only a year in college. He jokes that he flunked Public Speaking. Actually, he got a "D," his speaking teacher, Dr. Bill Stacy, told Newsweek. Limbaugh's father maneuvered him into the communications class,hoping his son would like it enough to stay in college and eventually become a lawyer.
Limbaugh was more interested in riffing off the top of his head.
"You need to make an outline. You need some data to support your assertions," Stacy told young Limbaugh.
Failed Disc Jockey
"Frankly, he wouldn't do those things." He was not much of a success as a disc jockey, either. Fired twice (and briefly on the dole, a detail Limbaugh overlooks when he rants against welfare), Limbaugh finally scored when he replaced Morton Downey Jr., an angry right-wing talk-radio host, on a Sacramento station.
He quickly became the patron saint of conservative talk radio and has stayed on top of the charts for more than a decade. (His most recent contract, signed in 2001 for eight years, was for $285 million.)
But his personal life left something to be desired.
His self-absorption made dating difficult. Two women who dated Limbaugh told conservative activist (and Limbaugh friend) Paul Weyrich that they couldn't seem to get his attention. "They both said, 'I'll never go on a date with him again'," Weyrich told Newsweek. "They did not have a good time. He talked about himself and didn't seem interested in them at all."
Limbaugh may have dropped a hint about his addiction a few months ago when he joked, in a seemingly offhand way on his radio show, that he had been "popping pills" for back pain. He drew a very sympathetic response two years ago when he announced that he had suddenly gone deaf-the result of some kind autoimmune illness, he said at the time.
Suspicion has now turned to his drug habit: repeated large doses of hydrocodone, a painkiller sold under the brand name Vicodin, can cause severe hearing impairment.
The penalty for illegally buying large quantities of prescription painkillers in Florida can be five years in jail, and contrary to some published reports, prosecutors do go after users as well as pushers -- especially if they want to make an example of a celebrity.
Limbaugh's best shot at keeping his vast audience is by being open about his problem, reports Thomas. Glenn Beck, an up-and-coming conservative talk-radio host who is regarded as one of the heirs if Limbaugh falters, is himself a former drug addict and recovering alcoholic.
"The hardest thing I had to do was stand up in front of a room of people and say, 'I'm an alcoholic,' and those were people who were sympathetic to what I was saying. He had to do it in front of 18 million...I can't imagine how hard it was to get on the air and say I have a problem."
After an atheletic career that Rush would probably admire, I have had major shoulder surgery and back surgery, orthoscopic surgery on my knee, and multiple broken bones over the years. I have taken all of the drugs that he is alleged to have taken -- as prescribed --and I was off of them within days after the surgery. I still have pain from time to time, and as a result I no longer play golf or ski, although I still lift weights and use a cross trainer every day. I know about pain. I also know about addiction. Aspirin and an occassional bong hit is my drug of choice.
The employer may pay it directly, but it still amounts to less $$$ in your paycheck. Just like SS and Medicare, the portion provided to the government by the employer is considered compensation.
Yeah, he probably only took 11 or 12 a day....
The housekeeper may not have been his only source. He could have just as easily been taking 40 or 50 per day. He took enough to knock out his hearing. You keep getting less bang for you buck because of tolerance, yet the phsyical damage just keeps piling up.
Richard W.
Yes. This amount of 10mg Oxycontin tablets would be roughly equivalent to an above average heroin habit.
I doubt he took 30 100mg tablets daily. It would take quite some time to build up this kind of tolerance.
Remember, these pills come in a wide variety of strengths. When they say "30 tablets" ... that means very little if they don't include how much Oxycodone was included in the tablet.
Assuming they were the lowest stregth, however, that is still quite a high dose, but defintely not unheard of.
Could he have hired the housekeeper because she did have drug connections?
Richard W.
The Oxycontin wouldn't knock out his hearing, it is the Vicodin that would. And even that is not solely because of the Hydrocodone in the Vicodin, but because of the combination of Tylenol that is in the drug.
By far the most physcially harmful thing he took was the large doses of Acetaminophen.
I haven't picked up the Enquirer to read the article. Going by the news accounts, I had seen $200,000 mentioned
I have no idea what his arrangement with her was, I'm only speculating based on what I've encountered elsewhere
As I said earlier up the thread, people can be compensated in ways other than cash. If he gave her a salary of $370 but provided her with clothing, lodging, cars, etc it might be a plausible explanation. He could write these off as business expenses, and she might or might not have to pay taxes on them. For instance, an employer-provided wardrode and car might have a value of $30,000, but if used primarily for work it would not be a tax concern. I'm reasonably sure he had good accounting advice
When writing a contract like this (or any contract), a lawyer notes the agreed upon compensation and inserts the line "and other valuable considerations". No contract is ever executed "to item", but that line covers alot of slop.
That's a good question. I do know that referrals for this sort of thing are many times via word of mouth. If she had a past but came recommended from someone, that past might be overlooked. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Rush was reaching down to help someone up. The sense of betrayal would be complete, no?
It's also possible that her record was not available to him or his 'people' for some reason (if she worked or was sentenced under another name, in another state, or if she concealed it somehow).
It does beg the question: what if the DNC wanted to plant someone within the walls of the EIB?
Let's face it, Rush was buying drugs in parking lots. By the time you reach that point, even though his drug of choice was Oxy, he might have been taking anything avaiable to avoid withdrawal symptoms. All opiates are just chemical cousins of one another.
Richard W.
Also HERE
RUSH RULES!!! I hope he stops trying not to disappoint those who love him. He can't. The rest are fair weather *friends*, and only matter to the degree that snakes, rats and weasels matter in the grand scheme of things.
GO RUSH!!!!
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