If allegations of illegal drug use are true about talk host Rush Limbaugh, his Excellence in Broadcasting radio network should be renamed Excellence in Hypocrisy. A hophead should not tell ditto heads to support the war on drugs. That would be brazenness on loan from God. Rush can’t be a jingoist for the drug war while allegedly swallowing 4,350 pain-killers supplied by a South Florida drug ring during one 47-day pill-popping binge. This isn’t the stuff of fellow conservative stuffed-shirt William Bennett’s “The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories.” Limbaugh is, of course, the nationally syndicated radio talk host whose program airs live on about 650 stations including KDKA-1020 AM from noon to 3 p.m. weekdays, with a repeat show 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays. He supposedly consumed illegal drugs for four years, according to his former housekeeper. She also says Limbaugh went through detox — twice. He has hired a high-profile defense attorney, according to published reports. Limbaugh hasn’t denied allegations that he was gobbling drugs like Elvis on a bad hair day. “Thank you, thank you very much.” He did say he would cooperate with any investigation. Didn’t Bill Clinton say something similar during his scandals• How cooperative Limbaugh’s legal counsel might be is problematic. Even though Limbaugh just resigned (wink, wink) from his sports commentator gig on ESPN because of his comments about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, viewers could be seeing him soon on Court TV. Check your local listings. There is no shame being addicted to a substance or behavior, just as there is no shame in suffering from a disease or chronic condition. That does not absolve the afflicted if he chooses shameful behavior. Being a law-breaker is bad enough without telling 20 million listeners about being a law-abider. If Limbaugh was buying and consuming illegal drugs, would he be different from the hundreds of thousands of nonviolent drug users in our federal and state prisons• If their only crime was trying to feed their habit, why are they behind bars• The state does not arrest alcoholics just because they are alcoholics. Adults can buy liquid drugs at state stores. Why should other drug users be treated differently• We incarcerate the inebriated only when they break the law — such as driving under the influence or when they harm other people or their properties. If Limbaugh simply had been self-medicating, the war on drugs should not make him a POW. Let him sentence himself to one more stretch in detox, or to a 12-step program. Even if Limbaugh is convicted and the sentencing judge forces him to take his medicine, so to speak, surely Limbaugh’s listeners will forgive his duplicity about his double-dittos standard. If they continue supporting the war on drugs, how will his listeners ever forgive themselves•

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