By all means, be sure not to give any 'mercy' to Rush!
You don't understand the meaning of the word. You want me to give him absolution and support for his immoral behaviour. That is not mercy. I want him to pull back from his slide into the pit of Hell. If he has indeed at some point in his life accepted Christ then the mercy that God gives him may hurt like the sting of a thousand vipers. Sometimes that's the only thing that works on a stiff necked sinner.
I highly suspect he is back on oxycotin.