Rush is Out
It’s official: Rush Limbaugh has withdrawn as a minority participant in a group that is trying to buy the St. Louis Rams. This follows opposition to Rush’s participation from Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and, shamefully, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Such opposition, in turn, was fueled by false claims that Limbaugh has made various racist statements in the past.
Saul Alinsky would be proud. As the good folks at Powerline point out, Rush is on the air 15 hours a week for 20 years and they had to make things up to demonize him. Read the whole thing.
Note to the political types on both sides – we don’t care that you think your cause is good and noble. If you have to lie in order to push your agenda, it’s wrong. Period.
October 15th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
If you can’t tell that Rush is a racist then chances are you might be one too. Rush is a big fat liar and a racist one at that.
http://newsone.com/obama/top-10-racist-limbaugh-quotes/
October 15th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Brian:
This blog is great. It actually shows how much bulls**t the Tea Party is made of!
Thnaks and kee[ up the great work making yourselves and Cincinnati look like idiots!
Rush quotes:
"I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark."
"You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed.”
“Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”
“The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.”
“Take that bone out of your nose and call me back(to an African American female caller).”
“Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.”
http://www.cbssports.com/print/columns/story/9947327
Sources for other quotes can be found here: http://newsone.com/obama/top-10-racist-limbaugh-quotes/ And across the web.
October 15th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Justin:
I suggest you read your article and actually look at the sources. The first two offensive quotes attributed to Limbaugh all come back to a book by Jack Huberman. As you can see by clicking “source 2,” the Huffington Post actually removed the quotes from the book because the author couldn’t substantiate the quotes.
My point isn’t that Rush is or isn’t racist. The point is that quotes are made up without being substantiated in order to tar and feather him. Am I understanding your argument that the “truthiness” of the statements makes them valid?
Out of the 10 you list, 1, 2, and 6 are not sourceable. 4 isn’t relevant, 9 isn’t racist, and 5 and 7 are taken very much out of context. 10 isn’t a quote and more of a general accusation that he must be racist because he dislikes Obama.
So that leaves 3 and 8 as the only substantial criticisms out of 10. And that’s exactly my point. Attack him for what he said and don’t make things up.
October 15th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Oh what 3 and 8 aren’t enough?
October 15th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
No, 20% accuracy is not enough. Are you saying you condone lying and distortions to make a point?
October 15th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Oh Mike that is soooooo funny coming from someone who runs the Tea Party and follows Glenn Beck.
Your whole party is based on lies and distortion.
Like Death Panels, Health Care Covering Immigrants, and all the crap you’ve spewed have been the truth.
October 16th, 2009 at 5:52 am
So Mike, the DNC has sent a flock of trolls here to haunt our little site. Seems like we may be more troubling to them than many believe.
Any rational (for liberals, that means using REASON and FACTS) person can look at the situation and easily recognize race baiting as the major tactic of the Leftists here. The deeply twisted values of our morally relative Socialist citizens is sad, but they need not fear of being sent to “reeducation camps” by the Right. Only the communists like our White House communications director, FCC diversity czar, {and oh, don’t forget Carol Browning) will impose tyranny on America.
October 16th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
WIll,
If you want to comment on someone being a racist, why don’t you examine the statements of Jesse Jackon, or Al Sharpton’s masterminding the Tawana Brawley hoax?
October 16th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
I would like someone to source a lie or distortion the Cincinnati Tea Party has made.
We don’t speak for every single Tea Party person in the US because most of the groups have no common connection. So please be specific to the Cincinnati Tea Party.
So, when you say something like “Your whole party is based on lies and distortion.” I need you to give me a time where we have said something which fits this criteria.
No name calling and slander please. Just facts.
Thanks.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Chris:
So what you are saying is that its okay for anyone to join your party and use it for thier own personal agenda like Stormfront, Birthers, Death Panelist, Racist, Birthers, and Insurance Lobbyist who spread lies in the name of the party. Thats okay just as long as the “leaders of the organization” don’t state it.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Oh and HERE SRE YOUR LIES:
“This is being done while essentially lying about the cost to the American people. They have built reductions in future Medicare provider reimbursements to lower the cost of the bill so it can be “deficit neutral” knowing full well that these will not be implemented. They are jeopardizing our health care system and our future prosperity by settings us up for fiscal disaster.”
You are making these statements as the TRUTH without any supporting evidence. These are your OPINIONS and you should state as much. You do not know they are lower the cost of the bill so it can be “deficit neutral” and that they know “full well” that these will not be implemented.
Also “Move-on.org moved on within 10 minutes when they found themseles outnumbered 50-5.” I was around fountain square that day and that is a BOLD FACE LIE. Its not an exact count and it wasn’t even CLOSE to that. But yet you state it as a fact. You can’t even cover your butt by putting an “estimated” in front of your phoney numbers.
Now these are opinions masked as statements and thus make them exagerations and when you come down to it. LIES.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:04 am
@ Will
“Stormfront, Birthers, Death Panelist, Racist, Birthers, and Insurance Lobbyists” are not the Cincinnati Tea Party. [BTW is there a reason that you listed 'birthers' twice?] They have never claimed to be members of the Cincinnati Tea Party and the Cincinnati Tea Party has never claimed them as members.
The move-on.org numbers are accurate. I was there. There were 5 move-on members on 5th street by the flag pole across from the westin. There were 40 tea party members on the corner of fifth and vine; there were 5 members on the square proper, and there were 5 members on side streets (the law limits demonstrators to 50 without a permit).
Your responses support Mike’s initial statement “Saul Alinsky would be proud.” You, on the other hand, should be embarrassed. Slander is without honor and dishonor is not a positive trait.
October 17th, 2009 at 11:46 am
@Will – http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091014/ap_on_go_co/us_doctor_dollars
They are already moving to raise current reimbursesments so the new bill can be “neutral” by planned cuts.
There have been providers cuts enacted in current law that have been avoided each year since 2003.
So, perhaps I should have included a link, but no I did not make things out of whole cloth. Which if you recall, was the point of this post.
So to summarize your position:
Liberal lies – good
Conservative lies – bad
October 17th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
1. Justin Jeffres:
“They have never claimed to be members of the Cincinnati Tea Party and the Cincinnati Tea Party has never claimed them as members.”
Well then perhaps they should denounce them when they show up at the next Mass Tea Party.
Also pick a lane and go back to the Beacon and ecplain why the Greens are votiong YES ON 9
2. Mike
You stated: “They have built reductions in future Medicare provider reimbursements to lower the cost of the bill so it can be “deficit neutral” knowing full well that these will not be implemented.”
The finance committee did not Damn well know that when they approved the Bill. And you can’t say for certainty that they did. So you are presenting your opinion and planting it as truth in others minds.
You can’t deny that.
Conservative lies – bad
Tea Party lies – DANGEROUS
October 17th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
For the record – that stuff has been denounced.
As for fringe people who show up at events – Some truthers and birthers asked to set up a booth at a function of ours and we refused.
We regularly encourage people not to support things of that nature, publicly and privately.
We have been invited by mutiple people to inappropriate events of all kinds supporting the causes you mention. We refuse because we don’t support them.
I’ve said it on stage. I’ve said it in interviews. I’ve said it in blogs. And, now I’m saying it again, we don’t support things of that nature.
You want to believe we do, but we don’t. It’s just that simple.
And, much like a blogger before you, I want to invite you to meet me in-person to discuss this stuff.
I hate the anonymity of blogs, and I’m committed to working through ideas with people of opposing view points. I will ask this of every person if I need to – when can we meet?
I’d like to meet in person and talk about this stuff. This is not a joke or tactic. Its a sincere request to meet.
I live in West Chester, but happy to go anywhere in the area.
Do you have any free evenings over next couple weeks? I’ll buy the first round.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I can’t believe that you guys are rallying around Rush as if he’s just some “everyday” ‘murican hero being kept down by “the man”.
He embodies (and boy, does he ever) “the man”. He’s a rich white guy that uses his wealth and megaphone to lobby for the representatives and other politicos that will serve his own personal interests best. He doesn’t give a crap about you all, and would gladly turn on and lampoon you if (and when) it would make him more money.
Besides, the interesting point to all of these stories I read and hear coming out of the conservative press blames “the liberals” for slandering him through all of this and something about the weight they pull being able to prevent him from buying a football team. I don’t know what weight that is (other than his own), but I challenge that it doesn’t really exist.
The primary reason for this was that the NFL got word that many of its premier players would refuse to participate if Rush was allowed to purchase the St. Louis Rams. The “lobby” was the players union. I’m surprised you didn’t attack the “obvious communists” playing football out there, who opposed a purely capitalistic transaction, but perhaps that line of attack would look bad to supporters of yours who also like football (obviously ignorant to the fact that a PLAYERS’ UNION exists to stand up for the players).
Because of this, the NFL made a capitalistic decision in determining that the loss of profit from driving away players would cost them more than any profit likely to be gotten (if any) due to el Rushbo’s purchase of the Rams.
I also find it curious that the “socialists in Green Bay, WI” never came up in a discussion about football on the CTP blog.
I guess, as far as the Cincinnati Tea Party is concerned, socialism is fine if it can provide good football, but bad if it provides good health care.
October 18th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Mike Wilson, there are videos on the site that I linked to that show that Rush is a racist. “Barack the Magic Negro” isn’t racist? You can hear him defending it himself.
I don’t like Barack Obama or support his policies either but that doesn’t mean that it’s OK to make racial jokes about the man. And yes 3 and 8 prove he’s a racist. FAIR is a good source.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2549
Mike, it is quite interesting that you are defending a racist.
Will, comment #11 isn’t Justin Jeffre. There are many people named Justin so maybe you need to get a clue. If you want to know why the Green Party supports issue 9 maybe you should go read CityBeat because they covered it a week or two ago.
October 18th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
@Will – Yes, I made an assertion about the Finance committee motives, but I backed it up with evidence (6-year history plus the new bill). That is not a “lie.” If you are saying that is the equivalent of making up a quote to attack somebody or quoting them out of context, then that says a lot more about you than it does about me.
@Coleman and Justin Jeffre – My post had very little to do with defending Rush and much more to do with condemning those who had to make things up to attack him. I’m sick of the lies and distortions on both sides.
Now that being said, I don’t think Limbaugh is racist. I think his comments (#3 and #8 from the link posted by Justin Jeffre) were clearly offensive. I don’t think this provides conclusive proof that Limbaugh thinks blacks are inferior or that they should have remained slaves. In all seriousness, if that’s the best you can do after 20 years x 52 weeks x 5 days x 3 hours, then it’s a really weak argument.
Apparently those who made up the quotes agree – since they felt the need to make things up to buttress their argument.
As for “Barack the Magic Negro,” I’m not sure you’ve actually listened to the song. Read the wikipedia entry for the song:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_the_Magic_Negro
“The lyrics of “Barack the Magic Negro” refer to President Barack Obama (who at the time the song was written, was a candidate in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries) as an example of the stock character of the magical negro for whom white American voters would vote in order to assuage white guilt.”
In fact, the point of the song is nearly the direct opposite of racism in that it is a parody on the likelihood of white voters voting for him specifically to demonstrate that they are *not* racist. Now, you could take that particular fact as racist ala “the soft bigotry of low expectations” that Walter Williams and others point out, but then you’d be taking the conservative viewpoint
.
@Coleman – To your larger point about the NFL, they should be free to sell to whomever they want, and the players should be free to work for whomever they want to. If the NFL decides that the poor image would affect their product, that’s entirely up to them. I may disagree, but they are well within their rights to make that call.
Now, part of the problem is that the opinions of players were shaped by the falsely attributed statements and by a letter sent by DeMaurice Smith, the Executive Director of the NFL Players Union. The same DeMaurice Smith who worked for Attorney General Eric Holder and was on the Obama transition team.
http://change.gov/learn/obama_biden_transition_agency_review_teams
I’m just guessing here, but he may have some interest in taking down an Obama critic. There is clearly a double standard when DeMaurice Smith wants the league to reject “discrimination and hatred,” but gives a free pass to Keith Olbermann.
The same Keith Olbermann of NBC’s Football in America, who nightly slams conservatives on MSNBC in strong language and who just recently said the following about Michelle Malkin, “total mindless, morally bankrupt, knee-jerk, fascistic hatred, without which Michelle Malkin would just be a big mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it.”
Here’s the full context for quote: http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/keith_olbermann_with_her_fascistic_hatred_michelle_malkin_would_be_a_mashed/
Oh and for the record… FAIR has a clear liberal bias. Check out their blog today – not a single “exposure” of liberal bias and over and over accusations of conservative bias. It doesn’t mean they aren’t right on some things, but that you should at least question their perspective a bit.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:40 am
I don’t get to watch MSNBC or Fox News much. However, I’ve long held Fox News up as entertainment-centered programming, not news or information-centered programming. From what I’ve seen on MSNBC since their migration, it’s almost all entertainment-based on there too, but at least MSNBC doesn’t conflate their broadcast by entitling it as “News”. The difference to me is that I find most of Fox News to be arrogant, selfish, and not funny, while I find MSNBC to be arrogant but funny. Maybe it’s just my sense of humor or my values system. Nothing wrong with that.
I’ve got no problem with people making money off of entertainment. The problem I see comes when real news time is sacrificed in favor of “entertainment” time. MSNBC used to be a news channel, Fox probably did too at one point. Both of them are embracing the ability to sell viewers on being an alternative to CNN, the nightly news, or the newspaper. I personally don’t think they are. I feel that both stations have begun to carve out a big niche in televised programming. Basically, they’ve discovered the lucrative market for punditry that has existed on Radio and during isolated TV time blocks for decades now. However, in this transition they have discarded the actual “news” component in much of their programming.
I feel that this blurring of the line between “news” and “punditry” intentionally attempts to simultaneously entertain as well as convince people that they are getting better informed through such entertainment. In fact, both channels’ programming will even go so far as to denigrate competing channels and the viewership of competing channels, further discouraging its viewers from seeking out information. This is because the primary aim for a television station is to retain and expand its audience, through any means allowed by law.
I feel that much of this blurring of lines in Cable news is bad for the intellectual health of the nation as a whole, whether it is from MSNBC or Fox News. In their defense, MSNBC seems to have taken an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” attitude to the whole thing. I guess they were originally hedging on a revival of the “fairness doctrine” legislation as of three years ago.
Anyhow, that said, I don’t even have cable TV. Instead of paying monthly fees to the cable company that come in at around the same cost as my property taxes, I instead vote for things like school funding, health care funding (which exists at the local level as well), and so forth.
I recall that Thomas Jefferson once said: “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.“. To keep the people well-informed, I am voting to continue funding the Cincinnati/Hamilton County Library system, with money I could otherwise be using to pay for Cable TV news. Considering how expensive Cable TV is, I’ll even still have money left over. I ask any of you to consider giving up one of the luxuries that you enjoy, and then vote to help ensure that all people in Hamilton County have access to quality, plentiful information.
October 19th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
“Barack the magic negro” certainly is racist and so are many of the comments made by Limbaugh. You are pretending that Rush isn’t a racist. You are defending him and that is shameful.
October 19th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Welcome back Justin. I’m still not sure where you’re going with this. Rush may be racist, he may not. I’m just pointing out that your evidence is not persuasive and that others (who broadly are on your side) must agree since they felt the need to make things up to attack him.
You aver that “Barack the Magic Negro” is racist, but you offer no evidence whereas I explained the satirical nature of it. While I disagree with you frequently, I don’t always and I know you can do better than “well it just certainly is.”
October 19th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
At some point, can’t we just admit that making things up to attack is wrong?
October 20th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Mike, since you can’t understand that “Barack the magic Negro” is racist you probably won’t get why these other statements are racist too.
Maybe you should learn about white priveledge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Xe1kX7Wsc
Then read all of these quotes from the guy you’re defending.
Limbaugh: “I do believe” Obama is an “angry black guy” http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907270023
Limbaugh: “[I]n Obama’s America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering”
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200909150017
Limbaugh: “The government’s been taking care of [young blacks] their whole lives”
http://mediamatters.org/research/200702060001
Limbaugh: “it is striking how unqualified [Sen. Barack] Obama is and, and how this whole thing came about with, within the Democrat Party. I think it really goes back to the fact that nobody had the guts to stand up and say no to a black guy.” Limbaugh went on to say: “I think this is a classic illustration here where affirmative action has reared its ugly head against them.
http://mediamatters.org/research/200808200002
Discussing Obama, Limbaugh suggests Dems, media believe “you can’t criticize the little black man-child”
http://mediamatters.org/research/200808200009
Limbaugh suggests Obama would not have acted if he’d known that the Somali pirates were “actually young, black Muslim teenagers”
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200904140029
Limbaugh: “[W]e saw white firefighters under assault by agents of Barack Obama”; “Now white policemen are under assault”
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907230019
Limbaugh: Obama is “more African in his roots than he is American” and is “behaving like an African colonial despot”
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200906260019
Limbaugh on Obama: “Halfrican American”
http://mediamatters.org/research/200701240010
Limbaugh on Obama: “He’s a bad guy. He’s one angry guy. His wife is angry as well.” http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200903240012
Limbaugh: “Here you have a black president trying to destroy a white policeman”
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907240015
Limbaugh: “The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is little hope invested in [Donovan] McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn’t deserve.”
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/01/mcnabb-gets-las.html
For the record, I’m not sure if anyone made up racist quotes and attributed them to Rush Limbaugh or not. Maybe somebody did and if they did that is wrong, especially when you consider he has made so many racist comments.
Mikw Wilson, are you really going to defend his comments?
October 21st, 2009 at 1:09 pm
This is an emotional issue for many Americans. This so-called “public option” in Government run health care presents serious challenges for us. As Consumers we should be able to compare the cost and quality of health care services. How much is a specific surgery at one hospital, as compared with another? http://www.friendsoftheuschamber.com/media/
October 21st, 2009 at 7:26 pm
dana, a single payer system like Medicare-for-all is government health insurance with private delivery. LBJ named Medicare after the Canadian system.
Here in the US we pay double per capita what the Canadian’s pay and they cover everybody cradle to grave. We leave 47 million people uninsured, 25 million under-insured and those with insurance can be dropped if they get sick which is why health care is the #1 cause of personal bankruptcies.
1/3 of Ohians delay care because of costs whic is in line with the national average. 45,000 people die every year in this country because they don’t have health insurance. That’s 15 Sept. 11ths every year.
The Chamber of Commerce is still denying climate change because they are nothing but corporate shills. A majority of doctors and nurses support single payer because it is cheaper and more efficient.
Canada-like every other industrialized nation on earth-pays a fraction of what we pay for drugs because they can negotiate better prices (you know like Walmart does).
BTW, Rush is a racist! Are you going to still deny that Mike?
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Dana,
All your concerns mentioned in your post are addressed by Health care reform as well as the public option proposals. You don’t have access to that information now, but if you would support Health Care reform you would have that info, and if you support a public option, you will have the tools to fight to keep the costs of them down.
Will you join us in support of Health Care Reform (incl. Public Option) if the items that you complained about are addressed by it?
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Mike Wilson, are you going to defend Limbaugh’s comments and pretend he hasn’t made racist comments?
October 25th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Rush Limbaugh is absolutely hilarious. I never listened to him until Obama and the demoncrats started crying…
….as for racist quotes, please. Considering the current condition of America, it’s impossible for whites to be racist….
October 25th, 2009 at 9:25 am
What is so unusual about “climate change” er….ahhh….I mean “global warming” er….ahhhh….wait, yeah, “climate change”?
The climate has been changing for millions of years…..
October 29th, 2009 at 12:06 am
Well, I had a long post wrote the other day and I clicked through to one of the links and lost it all. I don’t have the heart to retype it, so here’s a quick summary. I already admitted Limbaugh made offensive comments. Some of the ones you listed are offensive.
I am curious about what your operative definition of racist is. Some of the comments you highlight are just his commentary on how other people (Democrats) react to race. Some are neutral and just mention races while reporting facts. Others seem to be gratuitous and play to stereotypes (angry black man). I definitely have issues with the latter.
Care to clarify?