In a quick news blurb I just heard on the radio (600 PM) Rush Limbaugh has just surrendered himself to the Palm Beach Counny, Florida, Sheriff's Office in connection with doctor-shopping charges against him that have been made by State's Attorney Barry Krischer. (In FLorida a State's Attorney is the equivalent of a county prosecutor.)

The progressive in me is doing a sort of mental snoopy dance because this would appear to be seriously major news in the case of Limbaugh's drug addiction. (Yes, some progressives have a reptilian side to their personalities.) This man, a hypocrite like all winger talking heads, fulminated for years on the radio, urging stringent treatment of all addicts. It has long been a major platform in Republican philosophy that addicts are in fact criminals, and not sick with a disease. The Party of personal responsibility has demanded strict, and maximum, prison sentences for use of illegal drugs, and Limbaugh was one of the most vocal of those advocating punishment rather than treatment.

The human in me finds the compassion that the wingers pretend to champion. Having been a child in a house of addicts I understand the chemical, mental, and psychological dynamics of addiction. I hope that this time, which I think would be the third time, he gets the help he really needs to kick. I don't expect that, since Florida officially condemns addicition as a crime, and to my knowledge treatment intervention is rare. But I honestly hope he finds peace within himself, and kills that monkey.

UPDATE: Implicit in this announcement, I would think, is the fact that Limbaugh and his attorneys have reached some sort of plea agreement with the State's Attorney's office. Nothing has yet been made public, but that would seem to be the obvious cause of surrendering himself while officially trial pleadings have been ongoing.