He Who Lives By The Loudmouth ... (CBS News makes it official: We Favor The Destruction of Limbaugh)

CBS News ^ | October 2, 2003 | Dick Meyer

[Timesink]

He Who Lives By The Loudmouth ...
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2003


Rush Limbaugh says he’s a victim of the thought police. In his latest Against the Grain commentary, CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer says, in a nutshell, 'spare me.'

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(Photo: CBS) Am I delighted to see Rush Limbaugh attacked, ridiculed and forced out of his ESPN gig? Absolutely. Justice is being served. (Photo: CBS)

Live by the loudmouth, die by the loudmouth.

Poor Rush. Not.

Do I think Rush Limbaugh’s cracks about Donovan McNabb are seriously racist? Not really.

Do I think they were offensive? Mildly, not profoundly.

Do I like it when the thought police, the language cops and the political correctness enforcers pounce on an utterance and declare it illegal? No, I hate it.

Am I delighted to see Rush Limbaugh attacked, ridiculed and forced out of his ESPN gig? Absolutely. Justice is being served.

Limbaugh routinely insults those he disagrees with. He gives them nasty nicknames; he mocks them, besmirches them and makes fun of them far more adeptly than his current attackers. This is how he makes his millions. It is ludicrous for him, and for his defenders, to claim he is being treated unfairly. Others are simply doing unto him what he does unto others. That’s justice in my book.

Limbaugh’s public shtick for years and years has had a constant hum of low-grade racism and race baiting. When he talks about black people on his radio show, he often uses "ax" instead of "ask," apparently to be funny. When the topic is Carol Moseley Braun, his producers play the theme song from "The Jeffersons." This is how he entertains his audience. This is how he makes his millions.

Given Limbaugh’s track record, why did the McNabb remark cause such a frenzy when so many other cracks hadn’t? I really don’t know. Maybe because it was on TV. Maybe because it was about football and his audience, for a change, was actually knowledgeable about what he was talking about – and knew that what he was saying was stupid and wrong. I don’t know, but as I said, I am delighted.

It doesn’t matter if I think Limbaugh’s remark was racist or offensive. Many other people did. And just as Limbaugh has a right to speak his piece, so do they. And they did. And Limbaugh left the ESPN gig. What is unfair about that?

Limbaugh is an entrepreneur who peddles the spoken word in the open market. The market has firmly rejected his latest public offering. Markets do that, and Limbaugh worships the market. So what’s unfair here?

Well, Limbaugh and his defenders say he is being deprived of the right of free speech. I quote from his Web site:

"You know, this is such a mountain made out of a molehill. So much needs to be said here. I guess at the top of the list would be that we supposedly have freedom of speech in this country, but if you don't say what people who consider themselves the Arbiters of What Can Be Said agree with, then they want to come after you with everything they've got and try to humiliate you and take a stab at your reputation and otherwise get your mind right."

That, of course, is exactly what Limbaugh does for a living – he humiliates those who he thinks don’t have their minds right and he takes stabs at their reputations. He calls opponents of the Iraq war unpatriotic, for one very mild example. This doesn’t deprive anyone of his or her free speech rights. Nor is Limbaugh being denied his rights now.

Poor Rush, say his defenders, is being held to a politically correct double standard. It may be that he is being held to a political standard, but it isn’t double. The last sports and race flap was instigated by Dusty Baker, the manager of the Chicago Cubs, who is black.

This summer Baker said he thought black and Hispanic players probably tolerated playing in extreme heat better than did white players. The Arbiters of What Can Be said machinery started to crank up, columns were written, talk radio hashed it out. But it turned out that not very many people were offended. Was it because Dusty is black or because what he said really isn’t very disturbing? It doesn’t much matter; many people were offended by what Limbaugh said and they get to be, and if there are consequences for Rush, so be it.

Personally, I think as a culture we’ve become over-sensitive to insignificant offenses and insensitive to significant offenses – poverty, lack of public services for the impoverished, for instance. I think jumping on people for using the wrong buzzword or a politically incorrect locution does nothing to breed tolerance and public cheer. But as someone who also peddles words in the public market, I am acutely aware that if I write something that offends, no matter what my intentions, the offended have every right to feel offended and call for my head. They are not tampering with my freedom of keyboard.

My only concern about the Limbaugh Affair is that he’ll make money on it.

(An earlier version of this story mistakenly said Limbauch was fired from ESPN. I apologize for the error.)

Dick Meyer, the Editorial Director of CBSNews.com, is based in Washington. For many years, he was a political and investigative producer for The CBS News Evening News With Dan Rather.

E-mail questions, comments, complaints and ideas to
Against the Grain

[teeman8r]

good or bad, right or wrong, left or right... americans have the right of free speech, not some speech, all speech.

americans have the right to be wrong, thought of as stupid, whatever... espn also has a right to oust rush, people to complain about rush, to defend rush.

what they do not have a right to do is misinterpret what rush said, he blamed the media as being desirous of having a black quarterback do well... they can use their freedom of the press to prove him wrong... of yet i have not seen the article...

teeman

ps- i do recall doug williams being taughted as one of the best quarterbacks around and then he threw a fourth down pass out of bounds to stop the clock...

sometimes things happen

[GOPJ]

What liberal would make the front page of any paper if he was found abusing pain medication? If Kennedy had a problem with pain pills would it make the front page? Never. And these lying member of the press knows it. When Clinton was accused of rape it wasn't as big as Rush thinking a black quarterback got a media break because he was black. Two standards. A self-serving big fat pass for themselves, and a no pass "go directly to jail card" for conservatives.

[fortaydoos]

I agree. Rush was extremely funny when he mocked drug addicts and said they should all be locked up. That was hilarious. You know why? Because I think addicts are scum, all of them.

[weegee]

You said that Rush was savaging certain people in the "black leadership" (self appointed "leaders"). I assume you are talking persons like Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Do you have any specific examples to cite?

[Timesink]

afternoon ping

[WOSG]

Gee, Mr Meyer ,you really *are* a Dick!

[Abe Froman]

Sometimes people need to hear what they don't like. Rush's treatment of the word "ax", in particular is the only mention I have ever heard in the media (save for one black girl on MTV's "Made" tv show) of the bad grammar and enunciation that many blacks have not only made routine, but have embraced as some kind of cultural value.

Interestingly, the black girl on MTV was considered somewhat of a nerd, and claimed to be rather shut out by the majority of blacks in her school precisely because she refused to use bad grammar and didn't act appropriately "black".

[mrustow]

Limbaugh is an entrepreneur who peddles the spoken word in the open market. The market has firmly rejected his latest public offering. Markets do that, and Limbaugh worships the market. So what’s unfair here?

The liar -- Limbaugh boosted the show's ratings by 10%. The market bought him. It was the liberal media, few of whom watched him anway, that rejected him.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Dick Meyers fits his namesake. BIG TIME.

[CyberCowboy777]

Mr. Meyer

I missed your piece regarding the Dixie Chicks stupid comments.

Where was your delight when the people spoke against them?

Where was your:
"And just as the Dixie Chicks has a right to speak thier piece, so do they. And they did. What is unfair about that?"

Funny how fair and unfair are defined differently according to who you critize with ones freedom to speak.

Please post a piece telling us how delighted you were that the Dixie Chicks songs were removed from playlist.

Pretaining to this comment: "Maybe because it was about football and his audience, for a change, was actually knowledgeable about what he was talking about – and knew that what he was saying was stupid and wrong."

Please give us all evidence that the Radio Limbaugh listeners are uninformered.

You want to insult millions you have no knowledge of? Yes, I think we all know that what you are saying is stupid and wrong.

He Who Lives By The Loudmouth ...? Does that apply to you?

[hope]

If these haters actually took the time to really listen to what Rush has to say, many would agree with him and know that he is not just pushing his agenda, but telling the truth. They are so busy being a leftist and carrying that badge rather than thinking. The truth to them is only what they percieve it to be.

[Mr.Atos]

My discourse with Mr. Meyer...

ATOS: I see! "Justice is being served" when those that do not agree with Dick Meyer, and CBS are silenced. I get that.

Consider yourselves to be the ones silenced in my world.

"Justice" is an OBJECTIVE media and press.

MEYER: As if Rush Limbaugh is going to be silenced: spare me.

ATOS: Mr, Meyer... while I appreciate the sage content of your thoughtful response, its seems little more than a juvenile evasion of the fundamental issue. You jest at the notion that you, as a representative of the media, have the power to silence Limbaugh. Yet silence him you have… at least as it concerns his most recent foray into the realm of ‘mainstream’ sports media. As long as he is marginalized to the demonized realm of Conservative talk radio ‘where he belongs’, you’re fine with that (for now). But, Limbaugh challenged the dominion of the ‘anointed’ with his words and the profound relevance of his mere presence and thereby offended your precious ‘progressive’ sensibilities. The rabid reaction to Rush’s sports opinion in a sports opinion forum was nothing more than a political charade at best, and personal vendetta in the least. And unless you are more obtuse than I give you credit, you know this to be true. Therefore, you are either a conceptual imbecile or a mendacious hypocrite. I suspect you know which and will act accordingly… in the same heedless manner, I expect. Regardless, the silencing of a powerful voice of dissention such as Limbaugh represents a tremendous victory for leftist, P.C., thought-police and those, like yourself, who exploit their fanatical malevolence. And it takes this nation one step closer to the abyss of an orwelian legacy. I could give a damn about Limbaugh himself. But, he and others like him are personifications of me and millions like me; not the other way around. Limbaugh conveys my voice, my values, my sensibilities to the public through the media where it otherwise does not get just consideration. Where he validates, small men like you belittle. I can only conclude that the person that you really want silenced is me.

The irony is that for you its over. Your time has passed. Your influence is shattered. Limbaugh's upcoming crucifixion will be the climax in the common struggle of ideas… and the turning. It will expose the character and motives, not of the media per say, but the biased, bigoted, self-righteous, elitist, mindset of the minions like you who have chosen to hijack an otherwise noble, respected institution. Debased to the likes of a diseased prostitute, you’ll continue peddling your filth as virtue and spreading slow, spiritual, death. Yet none but the vitriolic fringe will be soliciting your offerings.

Spare you? Indeed Sir, consider yourself 'spare'. I have no further need for your irrelevant frothings. For now, the power of your poison tongue spouting the ideas of a bitter and polluted mind is mightier than my lone power to turn you off. Nevertheless, I can be certain that there will be no further exposure to it here in my realm.

Good Day, Sir.

[Mr.Atos]

'Ping' entry 32.

I'm curious to know if anyone else received commentary from Dick Meyer.

[DLfromthedesert]

Are you saying he was ridiculing the movers? He was ridiculing the elite self-anointed black "leaders".

[DLfromthedesert]

LOL!! I'm sure they all say "Coumo" too

[massadvj]

This is how he entertains his audience. This is how he makes his millions.... My only concern about the Limbaugh Affair is that he’ll make money on it.

I detect a certain amount of jealousy and class envy here.

[CyberCowboy777]

I have not yet heard back from him.

[bvw]

Nice letter. I trust you'll see no response. From what I see, Rush has gotten through. While villifying him, the sports media is taking a corrective tack -- correcting the race bias, exactly as Rush described it. In the future you will see McNabb's skills -- the assesment of those skills -- described in a sort of embarassed tone. To my view, I've senses that already in the post-game shows I saw.

[1Old Pro]

CBS hire Left Wingers, what a surprise. All along I thought the Dan Rather gang were conservatives.

[Mr.Atos]

Thank you for your comments. We'll see where it all goes, but I suspect we're seeing probing assaults in advance of the Left's 2004 TET. Like the VC in 1968, 2004 is the last violent dying gasp of the Radical Left. Anything will go as far as they are concerned, but they must first probe our lines for weekness.