Rush Limbaugh once called me a liar on his show without giving me a chance to respond. I considered that remark part of the territory - a badge of honor - when you take on the right-wing machine in this country.

So how should I respond to recent stories about this right-wing propagandist filing for divorce for the THIRD time?

Calling Limbaugh a liar and a hypocrite doesn’t begin to cover it.

Here’s a conservative who often harps on "family values," who once called himself "your epitome of morality of virtue, a man you could totally trust with your wife, your daughter, and even your son in a Motel 6 overnight." Then he goes through almost as many wives as the Gabor sisters did husbands, admits he watches pornography and doesn’t even father a child.

Would you trust Limbaugh with your son or daughter or wife in a Motel 6? I sure as hell wouldn’t. For one thing, what is a multi-millionaire doing in a Motel 6 - besides watching porn? For another, why did he say "even your son?" That implies that Limbaugh considers your son more sexually tempting than your wife or daughter. How weird, and far from the typical conservative’s vision of "family values," is that?

Here’s a conservative who once said, "If people are violating the law by doing drugs….they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up," and "Too many whites are getting away with drug use. The answer is to....find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them, and send them up the river." Then he admits to smoking marijuana and enters a drug rehabilitation program after saying he was addicted to painkillers. He also uses his show to lash out at prosecutors who are doing their jobs by investigating whether Limbaugh illegally bought prescription drugs.

Here’s a conservative who blasts the ACLU every chance he gets. Then he accepts the help of the ACLU after prosecutors seized his medical records to help them decide whether to file charges against him.

Here’s a conservative who raked Clinton over the coals about Monica. Then he allegedly cheats on his other two wives - see http://www.kerncountyinquisitor.com/Hobson.html and http://www.americaheldhostile.com/cheating.html. So the odds are that he cheated on Marta, his third one.

Another odd fact about Limbaugh is that he owns a $24 million oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach, Fla., ground zero for the Republicans’ heist of the 2000 presidential election. Is that just a coincidence?

Look at some of Limbaugh’s closest right-wing friends for some more odd fodder. There is Supreme Court Injustice Clarence Thomas, who officiated during the wedding of Limbaugh’s third marriage. Thomas’ fondness for pornography was confirmed by former right-wing operative David Brock in his revealing book. Another reported close Limbaugh friend is Bill Bennett, the so-called morals czar whose hypocrisy through gambling and possibly paying to see a dominatrix has been unearthed.

The Bush men also are quite close to Limbaugh. After Limbaugh checked into rehab last fall, Bush Jr. called him a "great American," something Bush doesn’t say about every American who buys drugs illegally off the street. And in 1992, Bush Sr. even bowed down to Limbaugh by personally carrying Limbaugh’s bags into the White House when he stayed in the Lincoln Bedroom in 1992. Another hypocrisy alert – didn’t Limbaugh criticize Clinton for some of his White House visitors?

After a week of having to suffer through the Reagan propaganda, it’s good to see a story that speaks to the sheer hypocrisy of Republicans so clearly that not even the mainstream media can ignore it.

Jackson Thoreau is a Washington, D.C.-area journalist/writer. The latest book to which he contributed, Big Bush Lies, is available from RiverWood Books of Ashland, Ore., at http://www.riverwoodbooks.com/books/Big-Bush-Lies.html. He can be contacted at jacksonthor@yahoo.com or jacksonthor@justice.com.