Rush Limbaugh

I was struck by the failure to note that, on the one hand, depriving Limbaugh of a job because of his past behavior was a violation of his rights, as Buchanan saw it,

I listened to that segment. I was struck by the failure to note that, on the one hand, depriving Limbaugh of a job because of his past behavior was a violation of his rights,

It's a fascinatin' debate, for sure.

The point is . . . . there is a disagreement about whether is past behavior IS racist. I don't think it is.

There is proof about Van Jones . . lots of it. Where did you read that the he didn't actually sign the petition?

Jones, who joined the administration in March as special adviser for green jobs at the CEQ, had issued two public apologies in recent days, one for signing a petition in 2004 from the group 911Truth.org that questioned whether Bush administration officials "may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war" and the other for using a crude term to describe Republicans in a speech he gave before joining the administration.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/...s_resigns.html

And liberal Bob Beckel asked the Prez to cut off his ties with Van Jones. And Van apologized! There is a video about half way through the following link of Beckel.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sh...t-relationship


It is a fascinating and frustrating discussion.

steph

What I want to know, is why didn't he defend himself so vehemently against these racist claims before now? One has to think there was a payoff for him, in letting people think he was a racist before this, correct?

It's just pretty darn suspicious that now there is a negative consequence of his words, he's doing interviews all of a sudden, etc. He's a snake, IMHO.

I suspect that we disagree on racism in general. I think that the word has been gerrymandered to refer only to negative feelings toward white folks by members of minority groups. By that definition, and that definition only, Rush is not racist.

When I listened to Limbaugh, I heard mockery, contempt and dismissal of the struggles of minority groups ... mostly in the name of "personal responsibility" for one's own lot in life.

As you've pointed out, we heard different things ... but I heard what I heard and I know others heard him the same way.

More than one of us has noted that Limbaugh has played up his reputation, whether good or bad, for years in order to promote himself as some kind of oracle of conservative values, not to mention boosting his ratings.

Maybe he only listened to dittoheads, I don't know. It just seems too disingenuous to all of a sudden complain that he's been misunderstood and lied on ... he's not a stupid guy and, although he dismisses anyone who disagrees with him, there's no way he didn't know long before this how he is perceived by many non-conbservatives.

I tend to regard with a jaundiced eye this attempt to rehabilitate him as some sort of kindly, humble, egalitarian Dutch Uncle, misunderstood and maligned by people who don't want to hear the hard truths he wants to teach.

As for Jones, I don't see how the citation changes the comparison. Jones made a bad decision about that petition and called a politician a bad thing. For that he was judged a bad political risk and lost the opportunity to work for the administration.

Rush made a bad decision to advocate for conservative values by means of insult and pejorative rabble-rousing, cultivating in the process a reputation which he used to make millions. For that, he is judged a bad business risk - by his business partners - and is denied the opportunity to own a sports team.

At least Jones had the grace to apologize and resign. Limbaugh, on the other hand, is busily blaming his troubles on everyone but himself.

What's disappointing is that personal responsibility for one's behavior and choices seems to change depending on whose ox is getting gored.

And I'm just cynical enough to remember a piece I read recently naming Glenn Beck as the guy calling the conservative shots nowadays.

Limbaugh playing the victim card is one way of getting his thunder back. I guess negative attention is better than no attention at all.