And now we know. Despite Rush Limbaugh’s macho posturing, he is really a closet supporter of health care reform. The truth emerged this week when Limbaugh promised to leave the country if Congress passes the health care package. His startling announcement will no doubt cause many opponents of the the bill to re-think their opposition.

I can only presume that Rush experienced an epiphany during a New Year’s  visit to the “socialist” state of Hawaii, which offers universal health care similar to the plan supported by the Obama Administration. Following his December 30th, 2009, treatment for chest pains thought to be a minor heart attack, he praised the Honolulu “socialist” hospital for the care he received.

Rush is a pretty shrewd guy. For years, he has exploited the worst fears of his audience with moronic analysis of public affairs issues, his racist comments, personal attacks on Democrats, and a lack of compassion for people at the bottom of the poverty scale. Now we know that he was simply using scare tactics to make a few bucks. It is the “ditto-heads, who are the simpletons since they believed he was a serious about his opinions.

In salesmanship, Rush’s techinique falls into the category of a negative pitch. For example, when car buyers are at the brink of a purchase but can’t quite make up their minds, a salesman may say as a last resort, “This car seems a little too expensive for you. Why don’t we look at something a bit cheaper?” At this point, pride causes a lot of people to respond, “Sure I can afford it.” To prove the point, they buy the car.

By emphasizing the negatives of health care, Limbaugh convinced listeners that they can’t afford the President’s plan. But the backlash by the GOP politicians and tea partiers was more than he bargained for. Realizing he needed to do something desperate to get the bill passed, he promised to do what many of us have hoped for years would happen. He pledged to leave the country. Costa Rica is his intended destination. It is a beautiful place with rain forests, beautiful beaches and hospitable weather. I’m certain Rush will enjoy his new home.

Unfortunately, I have bad vibes about the country. Costa Rica is the only place I ever walked off an assignment—at least during the 39 years I’ve been sober. In 1998, I traveled to Costa Rica to do a CNN story about child prostitution. I was working for the first time with a new producer in our Special Assignment Unit. She was a veteran reporter, who I wrongly assumed to be competent. I didn’t know that her skills and journalism ethics were non-existent. Nor did I realize that she knew nothing about production planning. Indeed, only one member of our crew spoke any Spanish at all, making it nearly impossible to effectively interview non-English speaking Costa Rican’s she lined-up. Even worse, a Honduran human rights advocate with pre-conceived notions about the direction of our story accompanied us. At the same time, I discovered my producer had previously been involved as an activist in the 1980’s and early nineties ”recovered memory” craze in which children were manipulated into making sexual allegations that turned out to be fantasies prodded from them by inept therapists.

None of the above caused me to depart Costa Rica in a huff, although I was sorely tempted when the producer suggested I wear a hidden camera and microphone while shopping for under-aged girls in whorehouses. I refused. The final straw for me finally occured during a stake-out of a place where police had earlier found a sixteen year-old prostitute. I did a telephone interview with the pimp who ran the house. He answered questions, claiming the girl produced a birth certificate indicating she was eighteen. However, the guy refused to do an on-camera inteview. The next next afternoon, our  producer decided to station a camera on a public sidewalk outside the gate of the house of ill-repute. An hour passed and nobody emerged. However, the cops were summoned. Hearing the producer’s explanation, they cautioned us remain on the sidewalk and left. So we continued to idiotically stand there with the camera pointed toward the doorway. I asked what this charade would accomplish. The pimp was obviously staying inside. The producer only shugged. In disgust, I said, “Adios (one of the few Spanish words I knew), stopped by the hotel to get my baggage, and headed home.

A postscript. As the result of a series of events, CNN’s then president, Rick Kaplan, named the incompetent producer to head the Special Assignment Unit. She was an old friend of Kaplan. Thus, her competence made no difference. A few days after the appointment, the network offered to give me a bonus and continue paying my salary for two years if I would consent to stay at home. I considered the proposition for all of 30 seconds before again saying, “Adios.” My Spanish was getting better.

I hope Rush Limbaugh has better memories of Costa Rica. While in exile, he will need to master Spanish in order to accomodate radio listeners—no easy accomplishment for a man his age. My suggestion is that he move to Australia.

By the way, I need to clarify yesterday’s post in which I questioned whether Wyoming was a real state, or a myth. I have never been to Wyoming, nor knew anyone personally, who claimed to be from the state. But relying on my skills as an award-winning investigative reporter, I have now determined it was admitted to the union in 1890. I guess the ancestors of Wyoming natives Dick and Liz Cheney failed to inform them of this development. Hence, they have not yet grasped the freedoms guaranteed by our country.