In the movie "The Last Samurai," the war-hardened American hero is captured by Japanese rebels and is forced to kneel helplessly, his hands tied behind his back, before an enemy samurai. As a test of courage, the samurai swings a sword at the captive's neck, as if to lop his head off, but the man does not flinch.

The character -- Nathan Algren as played by Tom Cruise -- has lived by the sword and is prepared to die by it as well. He is a warrior true to the code. If he gives no quarter, he also asks no quarter.

Rush Limbaugh is no Nathan Algren.

For years, Limbaugh has preached the importance of personal responsibility: Don't rely on others; don't blame others if you fail. His own success he attributes to hard work and unparalleled genius, what he calls "talent on loan from God." Limbaugh has been particularly hard -- and often with good reason -- on those who have been caught in crime or corruption yet claim to be victims of discrimination.

But if Limbaugh has delighted in swinging the sword at others, he cringes and whimpers when the sharp edge points in his own direction. Now under investigation for possible crimes related to his longtime addiction to prescription drugs, the talk-radio king refuses to accept the consequences of his own behavior. Instead, he claims victimhood at the hands of some vast left-wing conspiracy.

"I'm not whining about it," he recently told his radio audience, before proceeding to do just that:

"My friends, it is, and has been, obvious to me for the longest time that all these leaks were an attempt to try me in the court of public opinion. The Democrats in this country still cannot defeat me in the arena of political ideas, and so now they are trying to do so in the court of public opinion and the legal system."

Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, has taken the same tack, arguing in court last month that his client is the innocent victim of discrimination. "This investigation is political," Black complained to a Florida judge, although he offered no evidence.

At this point, prosecutors have seized Limbaugh's medical records from four doctors to try to determine whether he illegally went from doctor to doctor to get enough drugs to satisfy his habit. On his radio show and in court, Limbaugh has complained bitterly that the seizure violates his right to privacy, in particular regarding medical matters. But Limbaugh seeks a protection that he would deny to others.

On April 4, for example, Limbaugh noted that American doctors had performed spinal surgery on Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who had just been rescued. According to a transcript of his broadcast (www.rushtranscript.blogspot.com), Limbaugh offered conjectures as to why the surgery was necessary:

"One of the things that we do know about, from anecdotal evidence from previous captures of female POWs, is that the Iraqis hang them naked by their feet," Limbaugh said. "Now, you take it from there -- but she did suffer from some lumbar spinal injuries that required surgery."

He also noted that Lynch had suffered two broken ankles. "Yeah, two broken ankles, which might have come from the being hung naked upside down by the ankles."

To Limbaugh's frustration, the military had refused to release further medical information, citing respect for Lynch's privacy. He wanted to know if Lynch had been raped, he said, not out of voyeurism but because it might shut up those feminists who are always griping about letting women serve alongside men in the military.

Some have wondered recently whether Limbaugh's troubles might make him more understanding of his fellow human beings, might help him look beyond himself and his own narrow perspective to the larger, more complex world where the rest of us live.

It seems unlikely, though. In the words of a Japanese proverb, a frog stuck in a well cannot know the ocean. And in his smugness, Limbaugh has dug himself a well too deep to ever allow escape. It does make his words ring hollow, though.

© 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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