As of Dec. 6, there are at least 514 confirmed coalition deaths and a minimum of 7,935 civilian deaths. The Department of Defense has confirmed the following American deaths:

Spc. Aaron J. Sissel, 22; Spc. Uday Singh, 21; Spc. Raphael S. Davis, 24; Sgt. Ryan C. Young, 21; Chief Warrant Officer Clarence E. Boone, 50;

May they rest in peace.

Before the end of the semester, I had wanted to write a column about Rush Limbaugh. The only problem was figuring out what I wanted to talk about. From the day all the freshmen moved in, until the last week of school, Rush’s story kept getting grittier, and grittier, until now, when it looks like he could actually go to jail.

To tell you the truth, I’m just shocked to see someone go from conservative talk show host and ESPN commentator, to rehab, to last week’s scandal, in the span of a semester.

According to the New York Daily News on Friday, Rush had his medical records seized by Florida investigators in a probe to see whether he was “doctor shopping” to support a pill addiction. “Doctor shopping,” is visiting different doctors to find those that prescribe a certain under-the-counter drug, in order to maintain a steady supply. Apparently, it’s a common occurrence with pill addicts.

If he’s found guilty, the conservative talk-show host could get up to 5 years in prison, under Florida law.

What happened to Limbaugh is a story going back to last summer. With over 650 markets broadcasting Rush and his “golden EIB microphone,” the conservative commentator brought 14 million people what he liked to call, “3 hours of broadcast excellence.” Last summer, Limbaugh signed a contract with ESPN, to host “Sunday NFL Countdown.” In early October, he stepped down amid controversy over a remark about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.

After the NAACP and, predictably enough, Democrat politicians, got involved, Rush “took the path of least resistance” and resigned amidst allegations of EPSN’s “institutional racism.” According to ABC, within a couple of days, it became public that some kind of drug investigation was underway for Limbaugh. A week later, Rush came clean to his listeners about his drug problem.

The Christian Science Monitor reports that Limbaugh had undergone unsuccessful spinal surgery several years ago.

“Rather than opt for additional surgery for these conditions, I chose to treat the pain with prescribed medication,” Limbaugh told The Monitor. “This medication turned out to be highly addictive.”

Limbaugh then told his listeners, “I am no victim and do not portray myself as such. I take full responsibility for my problem.” After Limbaugh spent five weeks in a rehabilitation center, he was back on the radio, but several weeks later, Rush is now the center of a legal investigation.

The truth is plain, simple, and sad. Rush Limbaugh has turned into what he had publicly detested for years: the image of the sad junkie – the stereotypical, liberal consequence of too many welfare checks and too little family values. Even worse, the scandal turned the staunch supporter of the “War on Drugs” into a hypocrite in the eyes of many. Now, nobody knows what to expect.

Believe it or not, I respect Rush, both as an entertainer and intellectual. He believes in a political platform that many people simply adhere to because of an abstract hatred for liberals. I almost never agreed with him on issues, but respected his well-thought opinions. He’s controversial enough to be entertaining and, at the same time, smart enough to defend his beliefs and doesn’t resort to cheap ratings tactics that you would find on shows Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, or the O’Reilly Factor.

I really don’t think that Rush ever wanted to become a drug addict, especially to the extent he has become. I don’t think it was as simple as saying that he wanted to get high and just got carried away. The man has a problem, which stemmed from a medication that was originally legitimately prescribed to him. Drug addiction can wreak havoc on life. I have never personally had a drug problem, but the experience of watching people, both peers and family, devastate themselves even unto death, was a factor that kept me wary about both my body and mind. Unless you experience addiction, either through your own eyes or through the eyes of someone you know, there are a lot of aspects of it that you can’t understand.

When you’re addicted to drugs, you may as well be insane. Depending on the level of addiction, hence, desperation, certain standards that may have seemed wretched, now become viable options. Most the time, people are under the spell of an addiction to the point that they can only look back on what they have done, well after they snap back into reality. Recovering people have been saddened with stories of how they smashed their own kid’s piggy bank, or even prostituted themselves, all for a fix of whatever hooked them.

Sadly, Rush is no different and a part of me, although angry at his hypocrisy, respects him for admitting it. If the allegations are, in fact, true, he should be considered lucky that “doctor shopping” was the worst his problem extended to. On the other hand, I think that Roy Black, Rush’s lawyer, is not giving the 52 year-old talking head the accountability that he deserves.

“Unfortunately, because of Mr. Limbaugh’s prominence and well-known political opinions, he is being subjected to an invasion of privacy no citizen of this republic should endure,” he said.

Yes, I understand that it’s his job to proclaim Rush’s innocence, but to blame it on Rush’s politics is simply politicizing the issue of a man who needs all the accountability he can get, to empower himself in fighting his addiction. It also doesn’t help when people like Ann Coulter use his scandal as a mud-catapult against the liberal left (as she had done in an Oct. 15 column on anncoulter.org).

It’s disrespectful to the common Rush listener, and highly disrespectful to Limbaugh. I also hope that those on the left maintain their compassion for a man with a problem like Rush’s, and, for at least the time being, overlook his politics.

Hopefully some good will come out of this. Hopefully, Rush will finally understand that addiction is a disease that even staunch conservatives have a hard time overcoming. Hopefully, those on his side of the political spectrum will also understand that drug addiction is not simply a network of blame and pointed fingers.

It’s a real and indiscriminate disease, requiring only for someone to step into its line of fire. Rush has done just that and all we can do now, as fellow human beings, is wish him well.

Mark Ostroff is a Collegian Columnist.