Rush back on air after weeks in rehab

NEW YORK -- In his first broadcast after undergoing rehab for addiction to painkillers, Rush Limbaugh reassured his radio listeners Monday that he hadn't been turned into a "linguini-spined liberal."

The conservative commentator and Cape Girardeau native exited last Wednesday from what he called "five intense weeks" of treatment for his addiction.

He told listeners that his ordeal would not affect his radio program. He said there was more about his experience that he wanted to tell but could not.

"I've not been phony here," he said. "I've not been artificial on the program. I was all of that elsewhere. I was all that other places, but not here. And all of this will reveal itself."

Limbaugh had not appeared on the air since Oct. 10, before going into a rehabilitation program in Arizona.

Limbaugh had said he started taking prescription painkillers when a doctor prescribed them following spinal surgery. Back pain stemming from the surgery persisted, Limbaugh said, so he kept taking pills and became hooked.

Limbaugh profusely thanked his audience -- about 20 million listeners -- for standing by him and said he came to realize how important his program was to him.

Limbaugh returned with much of his bluster intact on Monday.

"I know the sky probably seems brighter to you no matter where you are," he said. "The air is cleaner, the water is purer, and it's not because of the environmentalist wackos. It's because I'm back, right?"