Limbaugh Smear

SMEAR!

Let me start by saying, I'm not in the habit, nor will I be, of defending radio personalities against smears. They can do that on their own, much better than I can. However, this is more an illustration of how to root out a smear and follow it to its source.

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Waaaay back on the 5th, HotAir linked, in their headlines section, a post cataloged at Memeorandum announcing Rush Limbaugh's bid to be part owner in the St. Louis Lambs. I read through the post, and inevitably began down the sewer hole of reading the comments. As is typical of any article regarding Rush, there was your typical 'Rush Limbaugh is a racist!' post. When confronted by other commenters seeking back up for this idiot individual's view point, he quickly linked the following article, with an in your face attitude.

Let's try and get beyond the fact that Al Sharpton is now blogging on NewsOne and get to the list itself.

The list is as follows:

1. 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.
2. You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed.
3. Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?
4. Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela — who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing.
5. 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.
6. The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.
7. They’re 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?
8. Take that bone out of your nose and call me back(to an African American female caller).
9. I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn’t deserve.

And finally, not so much a quote as it is whining about Rush's complaints with Obama...

10. Limbaugh attacks on Obama. Limbaugh has called Obama a ‘halfrican American’ has said that Obama was not black but Arab because Kenya is an Arab region, even though Arabs are less than one percent of Kenya. Since mainstream America has become more accepting of African-Americans, Limbaugh has decided to play against its new racial fears, Arabs and Muslims. Despite the fact Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law school, Limbaugh has called him an ‘affirmative action candidate.’ Limbaugh even has repeatedly played a song on his radio show ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ using an antiquated Jim Crow era term for black a man who many Americans are supporting for president. Way to go Rush.

After reading this idiocy article, I thought back on all the shows that I'd listened to over the years, and what I knew about Rush and his show. Some things didn't mesh. First and foremost, Rush's call screener is a black man named Bo Snerdly. Let me ask you something, do you honestly think that a black man would continue to work for a man who advocated the murder of the man most responsible for black rights in the 20th century, let alone advocate rewarding the murderer?! This is as much a smear against Snerdly as it is against Limbaugh.

My mom used to say something to me way back when I was a children, if a glass is filled with a solution that is 10% arsenic and 90% water, would you drink it? Her point being that something can be mostly good, and have just a little bad in it, but it should still be tossed out. For example, the article above, although, I'd argue that it's 98% arsenic and 2% water.

First, and foremost, none of the Limbaugh quotes provided are dated or attributed to a medium, i.e. on the radio, in an interview with XXXXX, on ESPN, etc. Secondly, none of the context is provided. Hell, without context, I could take quotes from PeeBo and make him sound like the Grand Dragon of the Chicago chapter of the KKK. Some of the quotes above, are Limbaugh's. Most notably, some are NOT.

I did a little 'puter searchin' and came across these articles regarding the source of the James Earl Ray quote.

Smash Mouth Politics does a great job of detailing when and where the quote first appeared.

And I'm Right also pins Rachel Madcow over her usage, as well as Jack Huberman, the 3rd rate hack who made up the quote out of thin air. Oh, by the way, Huberman is a poster at Puffington Host... SHOCKER.

24Ahead does a good job of mapping out the circular nature of the sourcing on the quote, as well as the IP address from which the false quote was posted.

Okay, so if you're not convinced by now that the quote was generated out of thin air by a 30 year-old who lives in his mom's basement, then you're a libtard, or you're not paying attention.

As to context, Limbaugh did say that the NFL is beginning to look like a game between the bloods and the crips without any weapons. He also made the comment regarding the media wishing to see a black quarterback do well. Let's look at a little context, shall we?

On his January 19th, 2007 Radio show, (Hint, this is called sourcing) Rush took a phone call from a gentleman in El Paso who asked a question about LaDainian Tomlinson's accusation that Bill Belichick had essentially told his players to go out to the Chargers logo at midfield and disrespect it after beating the Chargers in San Diego. Rush then took 15 minutes to provide examples of how many players within the NFL are completely classless fools. He went out of his way to single out LaDanian and Marvin Harrison as the two most classy guys in the NFL because they go out on the field and make plays. They don't engage in taunting or celebratory dancing after making a big play. They do the job, make the play, get up then hand the ball to the ref so the game can continue.

Rush went on to condemn the behavior of the players in the NFL who get up after making a play and then celebrate on the field, or who get up in the faces of other players talking crap after a big play. These are the people and the behavior that Limbaugh was condemning. Here is the relevant part of the conversation leading up to the outrageously outrageous quote from Limbaugh:

LaDainian Tomlinson was accusing Belichick of ordering his players and creating a culture that would make it okay for players to go on the field and taunt and so forth and so on.

Now, LaDainian Tomlinson to me is the classiest player in the National Football League. He doesn't do a dance, he doesn't spike the ball when he scores. He and Marvin Harrison are the two most classy individuals playing in the National Football League today, in skill positions. They just hand the ball back to the referee. They act like they've been there and done that, like scoring a touchdown is no big deal, they don't taunt, they don’t act like they've been dissed or any of this. Let me tell you, the Chargers would not have lost that game were it not for a bunch of -- I gotta be very careful here. It's not just irresponsible, but there is a cultural problem in the NFL that has resulted in a total lack of class on the part of professional players.

There was a play where Brady was third and long, he was sacked, fumbled the ball, the Patriots recovered it, it will be fourth and long, forcing an interesting decision late in the game by the Patriots. After the play is over, a Chargers player gets in the face of a Patriots player, head butts him and starts jawing. This is the reason these guys are getting shot in bars, folks, late at night. Fifteen-yard penalty, automatic first down. So for the Chargers to complain about the lack of class by the Patriots, I found laughable. I think something ought to be done about it, because I love the game of football, and I don't like the kind of culture that's taking over, that "you can't diss me, you can't disrespect me." After every sack, players are acting like they've won the Super Bowl, and they're prancing around with these idiotic dances. The latest thing is to act like they’re making a jump shot in basketball. It's all done to taunt; it's all done to taunt the other team's fans.

After completing his phone call with the guy from El Paso, the show went to break. As is often the case, as the show was returning from the commercial time out Limbaugh summed up his comments from before the break. He summed up this conversation with the following quote:

RUSH: Look it, 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.

The quote was a summation of his criticism of the classless foolishness displayed on the field by guys who should know better.

I am not going to get into the comment on the media being desirous to see a black quarterback do well quote nor the Barack the Magic Negro song as Limbaugh has fully explained each of those in detail and I do not wish to rehash it here.

As for the rest, the only back up for the composite criminal sketches resembling Jesse Jackson, the NAACP quote and the bone in your nose quote all come from this 'article' at FAIR. FAIR is of course the upstanding, bipartisan organization which reports on accuracy and fairness in the media, as so detailed on their 'About Us' page:

As a progressive group, FAIR believes that structural reform is ultimately needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of information.

The Nelson Mandela Darfur quote was a condemnation of liberals wishing to use the Military of the United States as a Meals-On-Wheels food delivery service. There's nothing even remotely racist about it, period.

So, at the end of the day, what are we left with? A list of unsourced, unsubstantiated quotes which equate to nothing more than a smear. Way to go liberal's, you stay classy!

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Related, Pulitzer Winner, Karen Hunter jumps the shark.

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