The American Spectator

Liberal Reader| 10.13.09 @ 7:29PM

Rush rarely says overt racist remarks. He is a very skillful communicator.

However, to argue that he is entirely innocent of race baiting seems to me hopeless. But I say Good Fortune to you.

Paul McGrath| 10.13.09 @ 7:49PM

President Obama never states that he would like to abolish general elections so that he can install himself as dictator for life. He is a very skillful communicator.

But to argue that he is entirely innocent of being a communist seems to me to be hopeless.

Interested Conservative| 10.13.09 @ 8:31PM

You forgot the good fortune closing, or is that inapplicable to incompletely innocent communists?

Etiquette Man| 10.14.09 @ 12:34AM

"Argument from Analogy-cum-Reductio-ad-absurdum" is my favorite argument form.

Nicely done, Mr. McGrath.

Wendy Weinbaum| 10.15.09 @ 5:13PM

As a Jewess in the US, I ask why are you DEFAMING Communists and Nazis, by comparing Hussein Obama to them? LOL.

Alan Brooks| 10.13.09 @ 8:34PM

Jesse can say 'Hymietown', but Rush can't say 'Leroytown'.

Greg| 10.13.09 @ 9:46PM

Please do not make statements without citing example.

martin j smith| 10.14.09 @ 8:02AM

The Obama administration has brought forth the worst hatredof opposition to ,rival the Democratic hartred of Bush--I mean Democratic hatred for Republic opposition that is. It is fascistic in nature coming along with out right thugs fro SEIU and ACORN. The race carde--that is looking for racial issues where they are not there !!!! is on the increase. The Obama administration and his loyal followers have set back not only race relations but class,ethnic and political relations wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back. And someday you will regret it. And so will I ( But I do so now )

Tim| 10.14.09 @ 8:51AM

"However, to argue that he is entirely innocent of race baiting ... "

In the United States, guilt must be proven, you have it exactly backward comrade.

Jeffrey Lord| 10.13.09 @ 8:04PM

LR...

"However, to argue that he is entirely innocent of race baiting seems to me hopeless. "

Seriously. This is a man with black friends, black employees, who has hosts who are black filling in for him. Do you think they think he's a race baiter? Why would they be friends? Work for him? Fill in for him? Just asking.

Terrence Holmes| 10.13.09 @ 11:38PM

Because Limbaugh has black friends, employees, and guest host, he can't be labeled a race baiter? Sharpton and Jackson likely have white friends, but I don't recall that ever preventing Limbaugh from calling them race baiters. Which they are and which is the reason why I have little use for them as a person of African descent. I guess that is where the similarity between thinking black people and thinking white people ends or is it just you?

Pete| 10.13.09 @ 8:16PM

Ahhh, surely these are the dreaded Oreos or Uncle Tom negroes. A rare but extremely dangerous breed who have learned to think for themselves and respect themselves as people rather than go through life in perpetual victimhood. Ask Clarence Thomas. If you haven't suckled up to the tender teat of big government and don't toe the Democratic party line, you are instantly marginalized, no matter the color, religion (or lack thereof) or sexual orientation.

Interested Conservative| 10.13.09 @ 8:38PM

Ultimately, this could be an interesting test of whether there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Rush clearly wins either way this plays out, but the NFL may not be so fortunate. The Irsay comments are just the start, and if someone gets Art Modell to comment, some damage control will be needed.

jharp| 10.13.09 @ 8:58PM

It'll be interesting to watch this play out. Seems like there is a legitimate question here.

But make no mistake about it. I couldn't be happier to see the right wingers defend the racist Limbaugh.

It'll just bring more of the racists Limbaugh's diatribes front and center.

Is Limbaugh still playing Barack the Magic Negro?

Liberal Chowderhead| 10.13.09 @ 9:31PM

Attack Limbaugh all you want, but don't make up false quotes do it. If it's about his not being sufficiently respectful of Obama, our Magic Negro, just say so. At least "Barack, the Magic Negro" actually was used on his show.

What his infatuation with pro football is, I can't see. It's just a collection of overpaid, ignorant thugs (and that includes owners as well as as players).

Jeffrey Lord| 10.13.09 @ 9:52PM

jharp...

"Barack the Magic Negro? "

You mean the song based on the column by the liberal African-American guy published in the liberal Los Angeles Times? That song?

tonypal| 10.13.09 @ 11:28PM

jharp is a waste of time. However, the media is not. It seems to me that Rush may have a cause of action against those who are spewing this garbage and he needs to pounce. Here's why.

Slander is generally the communication of a falsehood to a third party, with the result that the intended target's reputation is sullied to such an extent that damages can be proven.

For public figures such as Rush, the standard is higher. Rush would have to demonstrate malicious intent. It seems that when major news outlets and various media types knowingly broadcast lies, which can only do harm to the target of the attack, a malicious intent can at least be inferred, if not proven. Surely a broadcast "professional" such as a Rick Sanchez or David Schuster has an absolute duty to verify anything they air. Failure to do so, particularly in this case, is a complete abdication of their responsibility as journalists, which leads one to believe that perhaps they had a motive, or intent.

I for one hope and pray that Rush uses any and all of his enormous resources to punish these people. They are not just political enemies, they are just plain bad people who need to pay a serious price. Rush does indeed have the resources and apparently the motivation to go after these clowns, based on what I heard today.

victor | 10.14.09 @ 2:14AM

Dear Mr. Lord,
David Ehrenstein is not black, but like the current occupant in the White House, is of mixed race, some black, some white, but unlike the current occupant, David is a Homo Sexual. But judging from his past words, and current behavior, I am not so sure.

Nick| 10.13.09 @ 10:40PM

I would like to be a "journalist" like the ones at MSNBC and CNN.

Did you know Barak Obama said, "I would love to beat on a white woman, just once."

And David Shuster once said, "Wetbacks should be made to pick up trash on the highway as practice for picking fruit."

Boy, this is fun!
No wonder you liberals like to make up lies about conservatives.

But we conservatives don't need to lie, we can just quote you guys back to yourselves.

B.O. said, "My grandmother is a typical WHITE WOMAN."

Shuster said Hillary was "pimping out Chelsea."

Liberal Reader| 10.13.09 @ 11:21PM

Mr Lord --

Come on. You know race anxiety is much more complicated than that. I'm not saying the man is a out-and-out racist; I'm saying he engages in race baiting, and there IS a huge difference.

Part of the problem is that your definition of racism is so abstract: to you, racism is that which is not "colorblind." IN theory, this should work, but in a country with our actual history, it does not.

For Limbaugh to call Obama a "racist" is not only absurd, it is itself hateful race-baiting.

To give just one example of what I mean:

It suggests to the mostly white male audience that THEY and not blacks are the victims of prejudice, playing on their status anxiety and other woes and basically stirring up resentment.

tonypal| 10.13.09 @ 11:38PM

So much nonsense to deal with, so I'll stick with one particular thing. Please explain why it is "absurd...hateful race-baiting" to call Obama a racist.

As for your example, just more nonsense. There are many prominent blacks who I for one consider racist. Specifically, some of the big mouths who feel compelled to weigh in on this whole issue. Just because I hold that belief, I do not view myself, a white guy, as a victim. One does not necessarily lead to the other.

Truth to Power| 10.14.09 @ 12:03AM

At the end of the day the liberal reader must face the fact that it is people like himself who have caused so much misery in the black community by enslaving them to pathetic government programs. It is a lot of guilt to carry around and I believe it accounts for the projection that oozes out of both jharp and the liberal reader. There whole political existance is doing harm to that which they profess to love. Unfortunately people are known by what they do and not what they say.

Deborah D| 10.14.09 @ 6:28AM

Political correctness, created by Marxists at the Frankfurt School of Columbia University (formerly of Berlin, before Hitler came to power -- so as Marxist Jews they had to move the school to the U.S. in the 1930's -- moved back in the 1950's). All of this separation-diviseness just plays into the hands of those who would turn the country into a Marxist nation.

Rush Limbaugh doesn't believe in political correctness. He believes in freedom to pursue your own happiness. He believes in judging a person on "the content of his character not the color of his skin" -- something the left has totally discarded in favor of judging a person first on his color, race or gender.

Here's more on the Frankfurt School and the origins of political correctness: http://www.pjtv.com/video/Afte.....ness/2343/

Tim| 10.14.09 @ 8:54AM

I agree with you. Rush Limbaugh should be in prison: he says things and thinks thoughts that are bad for America. He should be digging for rotten potatoes in the permafrost.

renata| 10.13.09 @ 11:52PM

I see a lot of comments accusing Limbaugh of being a racist. I see zero facts to support the charges.

Liberal Reader and jharp are typical of the race-baiting left. It is the usual crap about code words and being careful, but that the listening audience "gets it". These people, like jharp and Liberal Reader, are the real race-baiters. All mouth, no facts.

Just like the comments Limbaugh made about McNabb, I have no doubt the usual suspects are involved now screaming racism. Limbaugh said McNabb was over-rated. That is his opinion, and there is nothing racist in it. It is just an opinion of a player's skills. Limbaugh also said he thought the media-- the media, not the NFL-- was building McNabb up because they-- the media-- were desirous of having a black QB succeed. The criticism was of the media.

Now, of course the race-baiters jump in and twist it. Because we all know the mostly liberal media would never over-hype or fawn over somebody, or build them up just because that person is black . That could never happen, for instance, with a Democratic Presidential candidate. No, the liberal media would never do that

Liberal Reader| 10.14.09 @ 12:44AM

Renata --

Just to be accurate, Limbaugh said McNabb was "overrated" AND that the press was making a big deal over him ONLY BECAUSE he was black.

He said this with NO evidence to substantiate such a claim, and it was an excellent example of the kind of race baiting he does on a daily basis.

victor| 10.14.09 @ 1:41AM

I would take Rush Limbaugh's assessment of any NFL player over yours any day of the week and twice onn Sunday.
He had plenty of evidence based on his knowledge of football and from what I remember, he said plenty.
What other kind of "race baiting" does he do on a regular basis, eh?

Jeff| 10.14.09 @ 1:48AM

You might have a point if it weren't for the 2 items below. Both were found via Google.

1. Article in Slate (hardly a conservative mag) admitting that the press did root for McNabb due to his race:
http://www.slate.com/Default.aspx?id=2089193&

Jeff| 10.14.09 @ 1:49AM

2. Article by Duke economists published before Limbaugh's comments: http://www.insignificantthough.....s/nfl5.pdf

Liberal Reader| 10.14.09 @ 12:55AM

We have a term for middle aged men who refer to Obama as a racist: we call them "douche bags."

Just to use Mr Lord's logic above: The idea that Obama, who was raised by white people, whose mother is white, who has been surrounded by white people his whole life, who attended and taught at prestigious universities dominated by white people, is racist is absurd. But more to the point: there's just no EVIDENCE he is racist, so to call him -- the first black president -- racist IS racist.

To call him, as Limbaugh has done, an "affirmative action" president is equally racist.

Limbaugh conveniently forgets the fact that we had an ELECTION, in which voters cast ballots for president. Obama won.

Now, I know losing hurts, but you people should just grow up and deal with it. God, you are a bunch of weaklings!

victor| 10.14.09 @ 1:58AM

"We have a term for middle aged men who refer to Obama as a racist: we call them "douche bags." "
You really need to cite this allegation, my dear boy.
I found this one that fits Obama to a tee:
"An individual who has an over-inflated sense of self worth, compounded by a low level of intellegence, behaving ridiculously in front of colleagues with no sense of how moronic he appears."
Just watch him stutter and hem and haw with a teleprompter.

Just to use Mr Lord's logic above: The idea that Obama, who was raised by white people, whose mother is white, who has been surrounded by white people his whole life,"
That's why he called his WHITE grandmother a "typical white woman"?
" who attended and taught at prestigious universities dominated by white people, is racist is absurd. But more to the point: there's just no EVIDENCE he is racist,"
Is that why he taught black acorn people how to game and work the system to their advantage?

"so to call him -- the first black president"
Since he is half white and half Kenyan Arab, I would say that he is of mixed race or Mulatto.
Besides, I thought that BJ Clinton was our FIRST black president.
BTW are you subscribing to the Southern Democrat philosophy that one drop of black blood makes you black? Then that is RACIST!

"To call him, as Limbaugh has done, an "affirmative action" president is equally racist. "
Really, is that why 98% of black people voted for him, if not because of his race?

"Limbaugh conveniently forgets the fact that we had an ELECTION, in which voters cast ballots for president. Obama won. "
You conveniently "forget" that the republicans put up such a lousy candidate and that 6-10Million people stayed home in disgust?

"Now, I know losing hurts, but you people should just grow up and deal with it. God, you are a bunch of weaklings!"
We'll see what you have to say after 2010.
Should it be anything such as 1994, you will see rending of garments and gnashing of teeth such as you've never seen.
BTW you still haven't gotten over 2000 and 2004. "bunch of weaklings!"

Jeff| 10.14.09 @ 2:00AM

Here's another absurd idea: anyone who spent 20 years in Rev. Wright's church could not possibly be racist due to his ethnicity.

And another: that there are no racists among non-white students and faculty at major universities.

(Note: I am not saying Obama is racist. Just pointing out holes in logic above.)

You obviously need a lesson in Limbaugh 101. He is a satirist. Calling Obama an "affirmative action president" is tweaking those people who voted for him because he symbolized their ideals without knowing any positions he held. That's a shot at liberals, not at Obama.

victor| 10.14.09 @ 2:01AM

correction:
"We have a term for middle aged men who refer to Obama as a racist: we call them "douche bags." "
You really need to cite this allegation, my dear boy.
I found this one that fits Obama to a tee:
"An individual who has an over-inflated sense of self worth, compounded by a low level of intellegence, behaving ridiculously in front of colleagues with no sense of how moronic he appears."
Just watch him stutter and hem and haw WITHOUT a teleprompter.

Liberal Douchbag| 10.14.09 @ 2:18AM

The problem is, the "Liberal Reader" arguments, whatever one thinks of them, are not the ones being used on MSDNC and CNN. They are using evidently fabricated quotations about how Limbaugh was praising slavery and so forth. Whatever you think of Limbaugh, that's a despicable tactic, engaged in by despicable people.

It's a form of socialist realism. They think it SHOULD be true of Limbaugh, so they'll just make it up.

Liberal Douchebag| 10.14.09 @ 2:24AM

By the same standard, a person could post under the name of, say ( just to pull an example completely out of thin air), "Liberal Reader" all sorts of outrageous comments in an effort to get him banned from American Spectator. That would not be right, however. "Liberal Reader" should be held accountable only for the stupid things he ACTUALLY WRITES as opposed to those someone had fabricated under his name.

Ideally, MSDNC and CNN should extend the same favor to Limbaugh. This is assuming, of course, that they employ ethical journalists, which, of course, they do not.

alyeska campbell| 10.14.09 @ 5:10AM

rush just wants to hang with the cool kids and, unfortunately, they don't want to hang with him, so he overcompensates.

it's the story of his life -- poor sod!

Deborah D| 10.14.09 @ 6:36AM

You're ridiculous, as this post shows.

alyeska| 10.14.09 @ 10:19AM

and you're just wrong -- very, very wrong!

Interested Conservative| 10.14.09 @ 8:25AM

Another day of distraction to aid the POTUS approval ratings and efforts to cram through reform.

Let's talk about something other than you-know-who. An interesting strategy.

Becky| 10.14.09 @ 8:54AM

Let's see, Mark Cuban is not a controversial team owner. How about the whole Lions organization? Ever drive around your state and read billboards that say, "Mr. Ford, sell this team"? That was last year's season in Michigan. We have trouble watching the games on tv because they can't sell out, or need special arrangements to do so. I wish Limbaugh would buy the Lions.

Racist is actually a very small word, that cannot describe an individual's preferences. I am willing to bet that everyone does not like someone or something about another cultural group, or even their own. Does that make me racist, or as an individual do I discriminate? If I like some black singers, but not some black rap artists, am I a racist? As a white person, there are a lot of white performers I can't stand. I profess that everyone is discriminatory, that if you are not, you are vulnerable to being taken advantage of. Do you drive around downtown Detroit at night alone with the doors unlocked? If you did and something bad happened, most people would say you were not being careful. Careful is another word for discriminating.

When you go out to eat, do you like everything on the menu? I don't like mushrooms in my spaghetti sauce, does that mean I don't like spaghetti?

The racist charge is silly, because by the standards both sides set, everyone actually is.

Rush has black friends and workers because they share values and the benefit is mutual. That is how grownups operate.

White Biker Trash| 10.14.09 @ 10:04AM

Okay, we at this point agree that Rush never said any such thing. But we have as of yet broken down the so called statement.
"Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back. I'm just saying it had its merits. For one, the streets were safer after dark."

1. "Slavery built the South." Historically correct! An agricultural economy, before the time of mechanization needed a large, dependable workforce to expand and prosper.

2. " I'm not saying we should bring it back." An agreement that slavery is wrong for any class or race, this argues against the point that they are trying to make, even though they made up this comment!

3. "I'm just saying it had its merits." Economically this is a true statement, just as to say "Socially abolition had it's merits" as inferred in statement 2.

4. For one, the streets were safer after dark." This is also a true statement! I am sure that careful study of Black on Black crime (If it could be done) Circa 1820 - 1870 as opposed to 1960 - 2010 would prove this point.

So ever if this had been uttered by Rush, it could be shown as factual and historical, yet not racist.

alyeska| 10.14.09 @ 10:17AM

dear deborah d: and you're just wrong, very, very wrong!

Greg| 10.14.09 @ 10:41AM

Ok, I actually take the time to read through all the comments and the last post is from Alyeska..."You're just wrong, very, very wrong!"

It makes me laugh and is so typical of the type of well developed, thought out response someone with no arguement (aka: can't win) will put out. Reminds me of high school when the debate portion of speech class came up...

Ok, serious comment: Liberals will never win the war of ideas. The discussion always turns into some type of name calling. It, again, reminds me of the children in middle/grade school that will name call when they don't get their way. They know they have lost the arguement, but, because of the idea that they can not be wrong (a whole other discussion point), the last retort is aways something along the lines of "I know you are but what am I?!"

Average Americans listen to Rush. Average Americans are not racist. Rush would not have lasted this long and be this successful if he were a racist.

alyeska| 10.14.09 @ 11:06AM

it was supposed to make you laugh -- duh!

martin j smith| 10.14.09 @ 10:44AM

Rush recently made a comment which I think is valid:
If anytime a man or woman of color is elected to the presidence and criticism of that elected person is called "racist" then there is a question about whether such a person is qualified to hold office. Look I think GWB tolerated a lot of crap about him and his staff. So did other presidents before him. Among the things that bother me about this particular president and his fellow travelers is this very obvious tendency to do just this. It is called the " Big Lie" right out of Nazi Germany the old USSof R and other such regimes.Worse that this is being called " Un American" Then you are an "enemy of the state"
I recall seeing T-shirts or buttons worn clearly by Left folks saying something like|: " Do we fascism yet". Boy do these folks have thinskins,short memories --or none-- and actually are LIARS !!!
So the "solution: Call them out as to what they are.

Nick| 10.14.09 @ 12:51PM

Marxist Reader,

"Now, I know losing hurts, but you people should just grow up and deal with it."

What do you mean "YOU PEOPLE"?
You are a RACIST.
All liberals are RACISTS. All lefties are RACISTS. All moderates who lean left are RACISTS.

See, it's easy to call people "racist" without any proof.

It is people like you who have made the word meaningless. Just like you have with the word "fascist". "Racist" and "Fascist" have been reduced to mean "people I don't like."

As a consequence, your accusations against Rush are dismissed faster than you can make them.

Campy| 10.14.09 @ 1:32PM

LR,
Have never listened to Rush, but borrowed and read Dreams From My Father. Have you? I kept waiting for some epiphanic melding moment crystallized by his search. But the 'authentic' identity he longed for was that of a black man. Throughout the entire book, everyone is prefaced as either black or white, with only passing nods to the white family who raised him.

Were I to distinguished associates the same way, you can bet I'd be labeled racist.

alyeska| 10.14.09 @ 4:21PM

listening to rush try to explain away this blood and crips comment today was very telling :)

"It was not racial. Bloods and Crips makes it look racial. But the way I chose to describe it. I could have perhaps chosen a different term."

Diogenes| 10.14.09 @ 8:01PM

Since a lot of football players are ganstas and thugs, he could have compared it to the Bonnano and Luchese crime families. Right?

alyeska| 10.14.09 @ 10:07PM

apples and oranges my friend. it's all moot now -- since the porky one has been dumped once again.