Rush to judgement

Controversial radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh is mad as hell, and he is fighting back against allegations of racially charged comments which he says led to his firing from a committee to buy the St. Louis Rams football franchise. What has ensued, is a microcosm of race relations and the willingness to smear people in furtherance of hidden objectives.


When Dave Checketts, who is chairman of the St. Louis Blues hockey team, asked Rush Limbaugh to join a new committee to pool together to buy the Rams, Limbaugh was excited to say the least. Limbaugh, a Missouri native out of Cape Girardeau, saw an opportunity to become a more active participant in a sport he arguably loves.

Controversy erupted this week as left wing groups lead by Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton led attacks against Limbaugh's participation in the committee, calling him a racist and attributing several comments to him of a highly charged nature that Rush says he did not make.

According to Limbaugh, when Checketts approached him earlier this year about his participation, he was asked if he was aware of the potential for controversy that would be attached to his name. He was given assurances that his participation had cleared the, "..highest levels of the NFL."

That assurance was apparently fickle. The NFL, known for violent collisions and swan-like long passes, succumbed to the fear of public pressure as they have every time in the past. Jackson and Sharpton, who have their own ties to racism and false accusations, apparently got the highest levels of the NFL to ... think a "better" way.

Colts owner Jim Irsay and NFL Chairman Roger Goodell have backed away from supporting the Limbaugh committee's chances at securing ownership of the Rams, indicating that Limbaugh had made polarizing statements. This led committee organizer Checketts to fire Limbaugh from participation in the effort. Limbaugh contends that Checketts asked him to voluntarily quit and when Rush said he would not and the allegations were false, Checketts fired him.

DeMaurice Smith, NFL Player's Association (NFLPA), along with Irsay expressed his concerns with Limbaugh's statements while a member of the Fox NFL Sunday show, when he said the media was being easy on Donovan McNabb (Eagles) because they wanted to see a black quarterback succeed. The comment and resulting public pressure caused Limbaugh to resign from that job.

Limbaugh has also made comments on his syndicated radio program about the nature of the NFL and the players. In 2007, he said that the game too often resembles a fight between bloods and crips without weapons.

Other comments have been attributed to Limbaugh that he flatly denies. 

• "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."

• "Slavery – indentured servitude, whatever you want to call it – is abominable, particularly in a free country." 

It was these comments, according to Limbaugh, that Smith used in his discussions with Goodell when he expressed his objection. Different sources have found these quotes in a book by Jack Huberman called "101 People Who are Really Screwing America." 

The preceding quotes were not cited and Limbaugh denies any connection. Legal analysts have said that Limbaugh probably has a claim of Libel against the author and publisher of the book and that he has probably been slandered by those who have repeated them or verbalized them, such as Smith and Irsay of the NFL.

Whether Limbaugh will make more hay out of this for ratings, or will use the courts to vindicate his name, the short term reality is that people like Jackson and Sharpton have once again taken their questionable morals and character to depict a white person as a racist.

It further goes to show that the state of race relations in this country has not improved by any significant degree since Sharpton stood up in front of the cameras to proclaim in fiery rhetoric that Tawana Brawley had been raped my multiple white men back in the 80s. DeMaurice Smith clearly has an agenda to push, given a new labor contract with the NFL is coming soon and perhaps this is just a little... listen dude, we are running this show now talk. The NFL has clearly caved in to the union and allowed someone's character to be besmirched publicly. It is a travesty for all of us who look beyond color and make our judgements based on actions.