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News :: Right Wing |
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Limbaugh's Latest Slur: No Surprise? |
Current rating: 0 |
by FAIR
(No verified email address) |
02 Oct 2003
|
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Limbaugh and his thinnly disguished racism can be heard weekdays on WDWS 1400, a subsidiary of the News-Gazette, from 11am to 2pm. |
NEW YORK - October 1 -Conservative radio talkshow host Rush Limbaugh has already started a controversy at his new perch on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown. On the show's September 28 broadcast, Limbaugh chastised the media for overrating Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. According to Limbaugh, reporters have been soft on McNabb because they are "very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There's interest in black quarterbacks and coaches doing well." Limbaugh added that McNabb, who has been voted by his fellow players to the Pro Bowl three times, is not "as good as everyone says he has been."
Today McNabb held a press conference to respond to Limbaugh's charges. "The people who were watching in the African-American homes, the kids, the parents.... When they hear something like that, what do they think?" he asked.
Limbaugh's comments have sparked a controversy in the media, as columnists and reporters discuss the subject of Limbaugh and racism. ESPN can't claim to be surprised by the situation. When the network hired Limbaugh, the talkshow host clearly intended to bring his politics into his sports commentary: "I am who I am," he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (7/15/03). "I think my overall philosophies of life will be a factor."
So is racism a part of Limbaugh's "overall philosophies of life"? The following op-ed by FAIR's Steve Rendall and FAIR founder Jeff Cohen-- co-authors of 'The Way Things Aren't: Rush Limbaugh's Reign of Error'-- was written in 2000, when Limbaugh was being considered as an addition to ABC's Monday Night Football. Limbaugh was ultimately rejected for the job.
Limbaugh: A Color Man Who Has A Problem With Color?
June 7, 2000
by Jeff Cohen and Steve Rendall
Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh may be returning to television. He recently auditioned for a job as color commentator on ABC's "Monday Night Football." The tryout followed weeks of self-promotion by the self-styled "truth detector" to the millions who listen daily to his syndicated radio show on some 600 stations.
Limbaugh's audition is stirring controversy. Sports columnist Thomas Boswell quipped that if Limbaugh joins "Monday Night Football" then baseball's game of the week broadcasters might "team up with John Rocker."
Veteran sports writer Michael Wilbon, who is black, indicated a boycott might result: "If Rush Limbaugh is put in that booth, I will NOT listen to the broadcast," he wrote in a Washington Post chat session. "His views on people like me are well documented and I would find it insulting and hypocritical to watch him... There are tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands who feel the same way I do."
If ABC hires Limbaugh, it's not clear a boycott will materialize. What is clear is that his expressed views on racial matters -- from the spiteful to the sophomoric -- would make him an odd color commentator. Indeed, CBS Sports dismissed Jimmy the Greek Snyder for ignorant racial remarks, less derisive than some of Limbaugh's.
As a young broadcaster in the 1970s, Limbaugh once told a black caller: "Take that bone out of your nose and call me back." A decade ago, after becoming nationally syndicated, he mused on the air: "Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?"
In 1992, on his now-defunct TV show, Limbaugh expressed his ire when Spike Lee urged that black schoolchildren get off from school to see his film Malcolm X: "Spike, if you're going to do that, let's complete the education experience. You should tell them that they should loot the theater, and then blow it up on their way out."
In a similar vein, here is Limbaugh's mocking take on the NAACP, a group with a ninety-year commitment to nonviolence: "The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies."
When Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL) was in the U.S. Senate, the first black woman ever elected to that body, Limbaugh would play the "Movin' On Up" theme song from TV's "Jeffersons" when he mentioned her. Limbaugh sometimes still uses mock dialect -- substituting "ax" for "ask"-- when discussing black leaders.
Such quotes and antics -- many compiled by Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) for our 1995 book -- offer a whiff of Limbaugh's racial sensibility. So does his claim that racism in America "is fueled primarily by the rantings and ravings" of people like Jesse Jackson. Or his ugly reference two years ago to the father of Madonna's first child, a Latino, as "a gang-member type guy" -- an individual with no gang background.
In 1994, Limbaugh mocked St. Louis for building a rail line to East St. Louis "where nobody goes." East St. Louis is home to roughly 40,000 residents -- 98 percent of whom are African-Americans. One of its 40,000 "nobodies" is star NFL linebacker Bryan Cox.
Once, in response to a caller arguing that black people need to be heard, Limbaugh responded: "They are 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?" That's not an unusual response for a talk radio host playing to an audience of "angry white males." It may not play so well among National Football League players, 70 percent of whom are African American.
Compared to some talk radio hosts, racism is not central to Rush Limbaugh's shtick. But there has been a pattern of commentary indicating his willingness to exploit prejudice against blacks to further his on-air arguments.
ABC has the right to hire Limbaugh, even at the risk of alienating members of its audience. ("Monday Night Football" is the second-most watched TV show in black households). Thrust into the world of pro football where Limbaugh himself would be something of a racial minority, is it possible that he'd rise above his history of racial bigotry and insensitivity? Not likely.
When all is said and done, the athletes are the key players on "Monday Night Football." It would be great to know how they'd feel about a color man who seems to have trouble with people of color.
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See also:
http://www.fair.org/
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Comments
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Limbaugh Resigns From ESPN's N.F.L. Show |
by Richard Sandomir
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
02 Oct 2003
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Rush Limbaugh resigned last night from ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" three days after he made race-related comments about how the news media view the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.
The remarks prompted demands for ESPN to fire Limbaugh yesterday by Gen. Wesley K. Clark, a Democratic presidential contender, and Rep. Harold Ford Jr., Democrat of Tennessee, who said that he had enlisted 20 other House Democrats and had interest from three Republicans to sign a letter to the ESPN protesting the radio commentator's comments.
On Sunday, Limbaugh elaborated on his belief that McNabb is overrated and that the Eagles' defense has carried the team over the past few seasons.
"What we have here is a little social concern in the N.F.L.," he said. "The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback can do well - black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve."
Two of the analysts on the show, Tom Jackson and Steve Young, commented on the football part of Limbaugh's remarks, but did not address the racial content.
"My comments this past Sunday were directed at the media and were not racially motivated," Limbaugh said in a statement issued at midnight yesterday. "I offered an opinion. This opinion has caused discomfort for the crew, which I regret.
"I love 'NFL Sunday Countdown' and do not want to be a distraction to the great work done by all who work on it. Therefore, I have decided to resign."
George Bodenheimer, the president of ESPN, said, "We believe he took the appropriate action to resolve this matter expeditiously."
Limbaugh's departure ends a monthlong experiment at ESPN in which the syndicated radio star - on a perch away from the other members of the show's main desk - offered essays about the National Football League and challenged the opinions of Jackson, Young, Michael Irvin and the host, Chris Berman.
While usually tart, Limbaugh's opinions on the program did not provoke much controversy, merely a lot of shouting and laughing on the set. But that changed with his discussion about McNabb. McNabb told The Associated Press yesterday that he wished someone on the show had challenged Limbaugh's view on race. "I wouldn't have cared if it was the cameraman," he said.
He also said that an apology from Limbaugh "would do no good because he obviously thought about it before he said it."
Early yesterday, Limbaugh refused to retreat from his comments about McNabb, saying on his radio talk show that the focus was on the news media, not McNabb.
"All this has become the tempest that it is because I must have been right about something," Limbaugh said. "If I wasn't right, there wouldn't be the cacophony of outrage that has sprung up in the sportswriter community."
Hours before the resignation, Clark wrote to Bodenheimer to say, "Mr. Limbaugh has the right to say whatever he wants, but ABC and ESPN have no obligation to sponsor such hateful and ignorant speech."
ABC, a division of the Walt Disney Company, owns 80 percent of ESPN.
Ford, who is black, said that he had no problem with Limbaugh voicing an opinion on McNabb's quarterbacking skills, "but when he injected race and said the reason we root for him or that we have something invested in him is because he's African-American is asinine. And it borders on his motivation for making the comment beyond his assessment of Donovan McNabb as a quarterback. It suggests to me that he was thinking of things in cruel and nefarious ways."
The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson told Bloomberg News that Limbaugh's remarks were insulting and asked that Michael D. Eisner, the chairman of Disney, and Paul Tagliabue, the N.F.L. commissioner, intervene with ESPN.
"ESPN knew what they were getting when they hired Rush Limbaugh," said Joe Browne, a spokesman for the N.F.L. "Donovan's status as a top quarterback reflects his performance on the field, not the desire of the media."
The rating for "Sunday NFL Countdown" has risen 10 percent from last season, and Sunday's show, Limbaugh's last, was the highest-rated edition in seven years.
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com |
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Rush Limbaugh In Pill Probe |
by Tracy Connor
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
02 Oct 2003
|
Talk-radio titan Rush Limbaugh is being investigated for allegedly buying thousands of addictive painkillers from a black-market drug ring.
The moralizing motormouth was turned in by his former housekeeper - who says she was Limbaugh's pill supplier for four years.
Wilma Cline, 42, says Limbaugh was hooked on the potent prescription drugs OxyContin, Lorcet and hydrocodone - and went through detox twice.
"There were times when I worried," Cline told the National Enquirer, which broke the story in an edition being published today. "All these pills are enough to kill an elephant - never mind a man."
Cline could not be reached for further comment yesterday, but her lawyer, Ed Shohat of Miami, said his client "stands behind the story."
The Daily News independently confirmed that Limbaugh is under investigation.
His lawyers, Jerry Fox and Dan Zachary, refused to comment on the accusations and said any "medical information" about him was private and not newsworthy.
They said Limbaugh - who has a top-rated syndicated radio show but resigned early today from a weekly ESPN football segment amid criticism of racial comments about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb - was traveling and had no comment.
The Palm Beach County state attorney's office, which is running the probe, said it could not confirm or deny the allegations.
Scoring in parking lot
Cline told the Enquirer she went to prosecutors with information about Limbaugh and others after four years of drug deals that included clandestine handoffs in a Denny's parking lot.
She said she wore a wire during her last two deliveries to the conservative commentator and gave the tapes to authorities.
She also gave the Enquirer a ledger documenting how many pills she claimed to have bought for him - 4,350 in one 47-day period - and E-mails she claimed Limbaugh sent her.
In one missive, Limbaugh pushed Cline to get more "little blues" - code for OxyContin, the powerful narcotic nicknamed hillbilly heroin, she said.
"You know how this stuff works ... the more you get used to, the more it takes," the May 2002 E-mail reads. "But I will try and cut down to help out."
The account Cline gave the Enquirer is that she became Limbaugh's drug connection in 1998, nine months after taking a housekeeping job at his Palm Beach mansion.
It started after her husband, David, hurt himself in a fall, and Limbaugh asked how he was.
"He asked me casually, 'Is he getting any pain medication?' I said, 'Yes - he's had surgery, and the doctor gave him hydro-codone 750,'" Cline said. "To my astonishment, he said, 'Can you spare a couple of them?'"
Husband's pills
Cline said she gave Limbaugh 10 pills the next day and agreed to give him 30 of her husband's pills each month. When the doctor stopped renewing the prescription in early 1999, Limbaugh allegedly went ballistic.
"His tone was nasty and bullying. He said, 'I don't care how or what you do, but you'd better - better! - get me some more,'" Cline said.
The housekeeper said she found a new supplier and arranged to hide Limbaugh's stashes under his mattress so his wife, Marta, wouldn't find them.
After several months, Limbaugh told her he was going to New York for detox and didn't need any more pills, Cline said.
But a month later, he said his left ear was hurting and asked her for hydrocodone, followed by an order for OxyContin.
Limbaugh, 52, suffered from autoimmune ear disease, a condition that left him deaf and had to be corrected with cochlear implant surgery two years ago.
Cline said she continued to make deliveries to Limbaugh even after she quit as his housekeeper in July 2001 - but he became increasingly paranoid, even patting her down for recording devices, she said.
In June 2002, Limbaugh told her he was going to New York for detox a second time.
After he returned, "I went to talk to him, and he cried a little bit," she said. "He told me that if it ever got out, he would be ruined."
She claimed that a lawyer for Limbaugh gave her a payoff - $80,000 he owed her, plus another $120,000 - and asked her to destroy the computer that contained the E-mail records.
Soon after, Cline and her husband retained Shohat and contacted prosecutors.
Feeling no pain
The drugs Rush Limbaugh is accused of abusing are legal only with a doctor's prescription. All are habit-forming.
# Hydrocodone
Anti-cough agent and painkiller similar to morphine. Side effects include anxiety, poor mental performance, emotional dependence, drowsiness, mood changes, difficulty breathing and itchiness.
# Lorcet
Brand name for the combination of Tylenol and hydrocodone, prescribed for moderate to severe pain. Side effects include dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, dizziness, tiredness, muscle twitches, sweating and itching.
# OxyContin
Potent time-release medication for relief of moderate to severe pain, known as hillbilly heroin because of black-market popularity in some rural areas. Side effects include drowsiness, dizziness, sweating, muscle twitches and decreased sex drive. A large dose can be fatal.
Rush tells why he quit
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh said Thursday he resigned as an ESPN sports analyst to protect network employees from the uproar over critical comments he made about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.
Limbaugh stepped down from the sports network’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” late Wednesday, three days after saying on the show that McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed.
“The great people at ESPN did not want to deal with this kind of reaction,” Limbaugh told the National Association of Broadcasters at its convention in Philadelphia on Thursday. “The path of least resistance became for me to resign.”
Limbaugh did not directly address media reports that began surfacing Wednesday that said the talk show host was under investigation in Florida for allegedly illegally obtaining and abusing prescription painkillers.
Premiere Radio Networks, which syndicates the politically focused “Rush Limbaugh Show,” issued a statement from Limbaugh earlier Thursday saying: “I am unaware of any investigation by any authority involving me. No government representative has contacted me directly or indirectly. If my assistance is required, I will, of course, cooperate fully.”
Talking about his comments about McNabb on ESPN, Limbaugh said Thursday that he had thought about the issue the night before making the comments. He also said he was used to scrutiny after 15 years in radio and expects to get attention.
“I figured if I’m going to do this (the ESPN show) I should be who I am,” he said.
Limbaugh has denied that his comments were racially motivated.
“I think what we’ve had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well,” Limbaugh said on Sunday’s show. “There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn’t deserve. The defense carried this team.”
© 2003 Daily News, L.P.
http://www.nydailynews.com
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Limbaugh: A Color Man Who Has A Problem With Color? |
by From the FAIR Files
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
04 Oct 2003
|
by Jeff Cohen and Steve Rendall
Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh may be returning to television. He recently auditioned for a job as color commentator on ABC's "Monday Night Football." The tryout followed weeks of self-promotion by the self-styled "truth detector" to the millions who listen daily to his syndicated radio show on some 600 stations.
Limbaugh's audition is stirring controversy. Sports columnist Thomas Boswell quipped that if Limbaugh joins "Monday Night Football" then baseball's game of the week broadcasters might "team up with John Rocker."
Veteran sports writer Michael Wilbon, who is black, indicated a boycott might result: "If Rush Limbaugh is put in that booth, I will NOT listen to the broadcast," he wrote in a Washington Post chat session. "His views on people like me are well documented and I would find it insulting and hypocritical to watch him…There are tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands who feel the same way I do."
If ABC hires Limbaugh, it's not clear a boycott will materialize. What is clear is that his expressed views on racial matters -- from the spiteful to the sophomoric -- would make him an odd color commentator. Indeed, CBS Sports dismissed Jimmy the Greek Snyder for ignorant racial remarks, less derisive than some of Limbaugh's.
As a young broadcaster in the 1970s, Limbaugh once told a black caller: "Take that bone out of your nose and call me back." A decade ago, after becoming nationally syndicated, he mused on the air: "Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?"
In 1992, on his now-defunct TV show, Limbaugh expressed his ire when Spike Lee urged that black schoolchildren get off from school to see his film Malcolm X: "Spike, if you're going to do that, let's complete the education experience. You should tell them that they should loot the theater, and then blow it up on their way out."
In a similar vein, here is Limbaugh's mocking take on the NAACP, a group with a ninety-year commitment to nonviolence: "The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies."
When Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL) was in the U.S. Senate, the first black woman ever elected to that body, Limbaugh would play the "Movin' On Up" theme song from TV's "Jeffersons" when he mentioned her. Limbaugh sometimes still uses mock dialect -- substituting "ax" for "ask"-- when discussing black leaders.
Such quotes and antics -- many compiled by Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) for our 1995 book -- offer a whiff of Limbaugh's racial sensibility. So does his claim that racism in America "is fueled primarily by the rantings and ravings" of people like Jesse Jackson. Or his ugly reference two years ago to the father of Madonna's first child, a Latino, as "a gang-member type guy" -- an individual with no gang background.
In 1994, Limbaugh mocked St. Louis for building a rail line to East St. Louis "where nobody goes." East St. Louis is home to roughly 40,000 residents -- 98 percent of whom are African-Americans. One of its 40,000 "nobodies" is star NFL linebacker Bryan Cox.
Once, in response to a caller arguing that black people need to be heard, Limbaugh responded: "They are 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?" That's not an unusual response for a talk radio host playing to an audience of "angry white males." It may not play so well among National Football League players, 70 percent of whom are African American.
Compared to some talk radio hosts, racism is not central to Rush Limbaugh's shtick. But there has been a pattern of commentary indicating his willingness to exploit prejudice against blacks to further his on-air arguments.
ABC has the right to hire Limbaugh, even at the risk of alienating members of its audience. ("Monday Night Football" is the second-most watched TV show in black households). Thrust into the world of pro football where Limbaugh himself would be something of a racial minority, is it possible that he'd rise above his history of racial bigotry and insensitivity? Not likely.
When all is said and done, the athletes are the key players on "Monday Night Football." It would be great to know how they'd feel about a color man who seems to have trouble with people of color.
Cohen and Rendall are staffers at the media watch group FAIR, and co-authors of "The Way Things Aren't: Rush Limbaugh's Reign of Error" (The New Press, 1995). A version of this column appeared in the Los Angeles Times, 6/7/20000.
More on Limbaugh:
http://www.fair.org/media-outlets/limbaugh.html |
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