Media Channel

Limbaugh leaves probation better, richer

No, Sen. Tom Harkin, radio talker Rush Limbaugh isn’t back on drugs!

So says the state of Florida. And Limbaugh himself, who told Page Two, as he enters his last month on probation for a narcotics arrest, that he doesn’t even miss getting high and now feels like a better person.

And a much richer one: According to records, he’ll have made an estimated $50 million while on conditional liberty.

“All’s well that ends well,” he said, contemplating the Oct. 31 finish of his 18-month probation, barring unforeseen trouble. “But I tell myself sometimes: ‘I can’t believe I did this s—-.’ ”

In a rare interview, Limbaugh - who just this week created a firestorm by calling antiwar service members “phony soldiers,” prompting Iowa Democrat Harkin’s comment from the floor of the U.S. Senate - says he isn’t bitter. Never mind that the justice system forced him to fill out monthly reports on his whereabouts, get tested and attend therapy.

“The system is what it is,” Limbaugh, 56, said from his oceanfront compound in Palm Beach. “I became addicted to drugs because of a medical condition” - a bad back - “and I’m convinced now that most addicts come to a point where they do drugs just to stave off withdrawal.

“The only thing I regret is that, because of legal and business reasons, I haven’t been able to tell my story. But I’ll ponder how I could start sharing because I’ve often wanted to.”

Partly, Limbaugh wants to tell the world how he managed to beat the up to 70 percent relapse rate after spending five weeks in an Arizona drug treatment center in 2003. Of 10 people Limbaugh met there and stayed in touch with, including two NFL quarterbacks and several CEOs he didn’t identify, seven have fallen back.

“I have had no desire” for narcotics, he said. “But I plan on continuing therapy even after the probation. It’s been extremely important and valuable to me.”

Actually, according to his Florida Department of Corrections file, Limbaugh is feeling so secure he beat his demons that he has been drinking booze. He’s allowed to drink, but not in excess.

A corrections spokesman this week confirmed Limbaugh has been a good boy and that the drug tests his doctor has conducted have been negative.

Only half-jokingly, meanwhile, Limbaugh said he considered lying on the monthly reports he sent to WPB-based state probation officer Louis Kurtz.

Filling out the forms, Limbaugh said, was at times “surreal.”

The paperwork asks for the make and license plate of a probationer’s set of wheels. In Limbaugh’s case, it’s a 2007 Maybach 57, with an MSRP of $335,500.

Under “Your Total Money Earned Monthly,” Limbaugh wrote $2.1 million on a bad month and $3 million on a better one.

“I’d be filling out these forms and thinking: ‘I wonder what Louis is going to say?’ I’d be thinking about cheating a little and reducing the amount, but then you’ve got to be honest on the forms, otherwise they could claim it’s an irregularity.”

Limbaugh actually had kind words for Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer. His staff investigated Limbaugh for nearly three years when Limbaugh’s former housekeeper squawked about his buying thousands of doses of OxyContin.

“In the end,” Limbaugh mused, not mentioning that he blasted Krischer on the air beaucoup times, “the state attorney’s office has been very fair. My objective during this battle with the state attorney was to make sure my business would not be harmed and my credibility not damaged.”

After tangling with Limbaugh’s people over access to medical records, Krischer in April 2006 charged Limbaugh with lying to a doctor. He then gave the talk show host the same break that many first-time offenders here receive.

If Limbaugh abided by a strict probation for 18 months, Krischer wouldn’t prosecute and Limbaugh would be spared a criminal record.

“This whole thing has made me a better person,” Limbaugh said. “I looked at it as an opportunity. My five weeks in rehab at The Meadows (an $8,000-a-week center in Wickenburg, Ariz.) were among the best times in my life. I would recommend it even to people who are not addicted.”

Over the past four years, Limbaugh said, he learned to deal better with criticism, which once greatly affected his life.

How does he deal with top Democratic Sen. Harry Reid’s blasting him for his “phony soldiers” quip? He makes it a business issue.

“When the Senate majority leader denounces me, that could have an impact on my business,” Limbaugh said. “But I no longer care about other people’s opinions. I learned to handle criticism and take blows. When 30 percent of the country hates your guts, it takes a psychological toll.
“Frankly, I love myself a whole lot more.”

Rush, is that really you?

Could this possibly be the same guy whose radio words spark accusations of racism, sexism or any other “ism” in between?

“Don’t forget that the radio show is just a performance,” he said.

And then Limbaugh laughed when asked why his monthly probation reports don’t list anyone visiting his sprawling property. Isn’t it lonely at the mansion?

“I successfully cultivated the image of a recluse,” he said. “But I wished I were more alone. I’ve got 65 family members coming for Thanksgiving. I’m putting 20 here and the others at The Breakers. I’ve got the producers of 24 coming down.

“I’m really a middle-America person from Missouri. I try to live as normally as possible. But I’m sort of like Las Vegas: What happens here stays here!”

For a look at Limbaugh’s probation report, check out Page 2.1 at PalmBeachPost.com.