Defending Limbaugh

Slate ^ | 10/3/03 | Allen Barra

[cordeiro]

Rush Limbaugh didn’t say Donovan McNabb was a bad quarterback because he is black. He said that the media have overrated McNabb because he is black, and Limbaugh is right. He didn’t say anything that he shouldn’t have said, and in fact he said things that other commentators should have been saying for some time now. I should have said them myself. I mean, if they didn’t hire Rush Limbaugh to say things like this, what they did they hire him for? To talk about the prevent defense?

[dr_who_2]

It doesn't matter. This fellow's friends at Slate know that Rush is one of their long time enemies and as such he needs to be assassinated at the earliest possible opportunity, especially during an election year.

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[Rutles4Ever]

Great article -- and from Slate! Methinks some of the "free-speechers" in the media are having second thoughts about their knee-jerk condemnations... now, if only Paingate wasn't an issue...

[samiam1972]

bump

[truthkeeper]

I should have said them myself. I mean, if they didn’t hire Rush Limbaugh to say things like this, what they did they hire him for?

Back when Rush first got the gig he discussed it on his radio show. If I remember correctly, he said he was hired to "spice up the commentary...with a little political twist." (Or words to that effect.)

[Non-Sequitur]

Limbaugh said that McNabb was deliberately built up by a liberal media in search of a black hero. I guess that means that McNabb's QB rating over the last two years, which is near 90, was fabricated by a liberal media and opposing teams also seaching for a black hero. I suppose that means that his 71 career passing TDs were assisted by the liberal media and complacent defensive backs in search of a black hero, and his 14 rushing TDs are all the result of assistance from opposing defensive lines trying to assist the black hero. No doubt his two pro-bowl appearenced are due solely to the liberal media and a conspiracy on a national scale to find a black hero. And on and on and on.

Is McNabb hall-of-fame material? Hell, no. But he's a good quarterback, he earned his slot with the Eagles through his ability, and Rush's comment was asinine and wrong. Limbaugh did it to himself, and while I would never say he got what he deserved he did sow the seeds of his own destruction by mixing politics with sports. I'm sorry he lost the spot. I have a good idea just how much it meant to him. But he has nobody, but nobody to blame but himself.

[conservativecorner]

Thanks much for the article! You can also vote on the Rush's resignation. Should he or shouldn't he of resigned? You may want to re-post for the poll.

[mrtysmm]

Unfortunately, paingate IS an issue and one that will not go away. If it were anyone else, maybe, but not with Rush. It will be milked for all it can give the dem/libs. He's a voice of the conservative movement very much needed this year and by silencing him, the dems get points!

[Techster]

Yesterday, I saw a recent quarterback rating list for this season and McNabb doesn't even make the top twenty. So, I guess he has fallen off a little this year.

[G.Mason]

"He's a voice of the conservative movement very much needed this year and by silencing him, the dems get points!"

Firstly, Rush is but one voice in the , more or less, conservative movement.

Secondly, the only way Rush will be silenced is if the listeners, many of the 20,000,000, stop listening and the advertising revenue drops off the charts.

I'm no "ditto" head, but that's not very likely.

The socialists have begun the bombardment of all American principles, and will continue the onslaught through November of 2004.

It may well be that then we will see what they [socialist dems] have destroyed.

I, and others, predict it will have been themselves.

[Alberta's Child]

Go back over the last few years and compare McNabb's numbers to any number of white quarterbacks who are starters in the NFL. You'll be surprised at how many guys who you would normally consider "average" QBs in the league have had better numbers than McNabb.

[Dante3]

Rush may be right or he may be wrong. But surely this comment does not reach the level of getting fired. Thie reminds me of the novels "Anthem," "We," "1984," "Brave New World."

What about Bustemante's extreme racist views? And he is running for governor of California. So far I have failed to see Greta screetch about this.

People here jumped on me when I stated that the Dixie Chicks original comment was nothing to get excited about. Well, Rush's is even far more trivial. It's about football. And normal people would state reasons why he is wrong.

[LizJ]

This is a great article. It is the first place I have seen someone actually talking about what Rush said, not what they THINK he said. And he puts up some numbers to defend the point.

[Born Conservative]

Hard to believe this was on MSNBC...

[jonalvy44]

http://www.chronwatch.com/featured/contentDisplay.asp?aid=4471

my defense of Rush

[rintense]

McNabb is good. But the media has made him more than he is. If you notice, every single NFL show gives McNabb credit for the Eagles success and doesn't even mention the defense. The Eagles offense has been anemic and the defense has carried the team over the past few years. McNabb is in the middle of the QB pack this year in terms of ratings. So yeah, McNabb IS overrated in my book, and doesn't even compare to Steve McNair.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

That being true, I am wrong about Rush making a mistake with his comments. I thought , although he should not have lost his job, he should have left politics out of football. Interesting. I am not a Rush Fan, but this is silly. I saw a clip on fox last night, and I felt really bad for Rush. I am sure he is smart enough to take care of this. Perhaps he will get the spot back once all of this has settled down. I know one thing for sure, the libs are NOT ever going to be able to take him down. BTW, I don't really care if he WAS taking pain pills. That is none of my business.

[rintense]

Yep. But the NFL shows have labeled McNabb the best if the 'black' quarterbacks (which isn't true). Its the NFL's fault for always looking at race first, not the talent or numbers.

[verity]

This issue would not have been important on 10/11/01!