Op-Ed: Is Rush Limbaugh the Victim of a New McCarthyism?

ESPN announced that Rush Limbaugh's bid for the St. Louis Rams has been dropped by prospective buyers, allegedly over charges of making blatant racist statements which have since been proven to be fabrications. Wasn't it really over his political views?

UPDATE: The Radio Equalizer's Brian Maloney has reported that the WaPo's Roman Oben, a former NFL tackle, admitted on the Al Sharpton radio show that Rush's political views regarding both Presidents Clinton and Obama factored into derailing Rush's bid to purchase the Rams. Transcript and audio are available at the above link. Also, Hugh Hewitt of TownHall.com is also calling Rush's ouster from the bid process McCarthyism. On With The No Show. Earlier today, ESPN and My Way News reported that the prospective buyers of the NFL franchise St. Louis Rams football team have dropped Rush Limbaugh from the group. Mr. Dave Checketts, a co-bidder with Rush and the chairman of both SCP Worldwide and the St. Louis Blues NHL hockey team, announced that Limbaugh had been dumped in a news release:

"It has become clear that his involvement in our group has become a complication and a distraction to our intentions; endangering our bid to keep the team in St. Louis," Checketts said. "As such, we have decided to move forward without him and hope it will eventually lead us to a successful conclusion."

Opposition to Rush's bid even from within the NFL has been formidable. Indianapolis Colts team owner Jim Irsay said he would vote against the radio personality. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the radio commentator's "divisive" comments would not be tolerated from any NFL insider. NFL Players' Union Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, as well as seven active NFL players, all opposed Rush's bid for the Rams in no uncertain terms. They all seem to believe, rightly or wrongly, that Rush is "bad for the NFL." Limbaugh is certainly no stranger to NFL or race-related controversies. Back in 2003, Rush was forced to resign his position as an ESPN football commentator over the following statement on Philadelphia QB Donovan McNabb: "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." Rush's comments that NFL teams playing on the gridiron every Sunday are basically "the Crips and Bloods going at each other without weapons" did not endear him to his many detractors, either. Whether those statements constitute racism is another matter. Rush also got into hot water in 2007 over his 'Barack The Magic Negro' parody of Peter, Paul and Mary's famous Puff the Magic Dragon song. Yet as with most parodies, that song did not appear in a vacuum. Rush was also parodying a headline of the same name in the Los Angeles Times, in essence mocking what Rush perceived as the Mainstream Media's deification of Barack Obama. In most highly ironic fashion, the Democrats' David Duke, the Rev. Al Sharpton, recently called Rush a "divisive and incendiary" figure. This, from the man who led the charge against the Duke Lacrosse Team, engineered the Tawana Brawley Hoax and incited the Crown Heights and Freddie's Fashion Mart riots that left a total of nine people dead. Yet many MSM outlets, including ABC, CNN and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow also widely disseminated the fabricated statements posted at an Internet blog in 2005 that falsely quoted Rush as praising slavery and James Earl Ray, the assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King. All this, from a media that fact-checks SNL skits on Obama for accuracy, and which the UK Guardian is now calling "The Rush Limbaugh Media Lynch Mob." Rush called those quotes libelous and stated they never happened, and has threatened legal action against all journalists and media outlets who have repeated those quotes if they refuse to retract them. So Rush's enemies have won today. He has been stuffed on fourth and goal in his bid for the Rams. But at what price to the rest of us? Sure, Rushy is still a multi-millionaire who will be no poorer for the experience and will continue to be free to express his controversial views on his nationwide syndicated talk show, the most popular in America. Yet his lifelong dream of being a part of the NFL franchise he loved so much growing up, one that he was willing to sink a good part of his fortune into in order to keep the Rams in St. Louis, is dead. Perhaps that is the price Rush must pay for the kind of controversy the NFL just doesn't need. His fate would certainly be in line with that of NFL sportscaster Jimmy Snider, aka Jimmy the Greek, who lost his job over racially insensitive comments. To be fair, Snider's were far more racially incendiary. All that said, you have to wonder if there isn't a huge double standard at work here. Let us take a closer look at racial and other controversies among NFL players and owners. Michael Vick, who recently returned to the NFL and cheers in Philadelphia after spending nearly two years in prison on a felony conviction of running a vicious pit bull dog-fighting ring. Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, charged with felony obstruction of justice in a murder case. Adam 'Pacman' Jones, also charged with felony obstruction. Michael Irvin, charged with felony drug possession. Plaxico Burress, now serving a jail term for felony weapons possession but not yet barred from the NFL. Not exactly a roster of model citizen role models. More like the FBI's Most Wanted, in fact. And that's just the players. Let's check out the owners now. Longtime Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, who has been quoted by former Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown of making racist statements. And here are some lyrics from the Black Eyed Peas white lead singer Stacy Ferguson, who was recently pre-approved by the NFL to be a part-owner of the Miami Dolphins:

N***as wanna hate on us (who)

N***as be envious (who)

And I know why they hatin’ on us (why)

Cause that’s so fabulous (what)

I’ma be real on us (c’mon)

Nobody got nuttin’ on us (no)

Girls be all on us, from London back down to the US (s, s)

And that's just for starters. I dare anyone to find quotes by Rush Limbaugh nearly that racially incendiary, at least any that haven't been totally fabricated. Couldn't be because Stacy is an Obama liberal and not conservative, could it? And therein lies the rub. If there is any kind of McCarthyism going on in America today, it is the rank slandering of all conservatives as inherently racist. It is a festering nationwide epidemic with no basis in reality. Unless, of course, you consider political opposition to Barack Obama racist, which far too many Obama supporters do. In fact, if I had a dollar for every time I've been called a racist here at Digital Journal for opposing one of Obama's policies or another, I'd own this website! IF I could buy it. So is that the McCarthyite question of our era in America? "Are you now or have you ever been a racist conservative?" How does one defend against that question? Or is merely being a conservative opposing Obama's policies, aka a "redneck racist teabagger," enough to convict and ostracize these days? In short, was Rush denied a shot at ownership of his lifelong favorite football franchise because of legitimate perceived racist statements and views based on the facts? Or were charges of racism merely the pretext by Rush's ideological enemies to hound him out of his Rams bid because of his controversial political views? Rush is far from alone. I can guarantee you this sinks any chances of Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly ever owning a piece of the American Sports Dream and God knows what else. Is that fair, and just the way things go? Even more important, is that American? Or is it un-American? When we can answer those troubling questions, maybe we can get at the root of an element in American politics today as corrosive as any that existed during the McCarthy era. Because it sure as hell seems to me, based on the evidence that I have seen and presented here, that opposition to Rush's bid for part-ownership of the St. Louis Rams was far more ideological than legitimately racial. If so, that is McCarthyism. If you doubt me, look again at the lyrics of NFL-approved Miami Dolphins part-owner Stacy Ferguson and tell me I'm wrong. By the way, Zennie 62, a liberal African-American blogger for the San Francisco Chronicle who hates Rush with a passion, came out in defense of Limbaugh and against the James Earl Ray quote fabrications in his blog column today. I am sure it is a column Zennie would much rather not have written, but his loyalty appears to be with the truth, however unpleasant. Unlike some people. On that note, I certainly hope Mr. Limbaugh uses some of that fortune he would have spent on the Rams to follow through on his promise to sue any and all journalists and media outlets who used those fabricated quotes for the purposes of stuffing his Rams bid and humiliating him nationally, not to mention slandering and libeling him personally. In related news, the Baltimore NAACP is concerned that "someone white, Irish or Republican" might be picked by Maryland's governor to replace disgraced Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon, should she be convicted on nine counts of theft and perjury. I think the NFL just found its replacement Rams bidder for Limbaugh. LAST WORD: I know many of you may bring up the Van Jones and other cases as examples of right-wing McCarthyism. Fair enough. Yet it seems to me Van Jones sunk himself with his own words, not to mention the 9/11 Truther petition he signed. All Glenn Beck and others had to do to outrage Americans was post the petition and videos of Van Jones' own radical statements on YouTube. The American public did the rest. All that said, it seems to me this was a highly concerted effort against Rush Limbaugh in which any means or outrageous accusations, however libelous or slanderous, justified the end of defeating Rush's Rams bid at any cost. As in Van Jones' and others cases, the truth was not a factor in the MSM's and other liberals' goal of being able to declare at least one humiliating victory against the popular conservative talk show host. If so, that is a sad state of affairs indeed. But maybe they shouldn't declare victory just yet. A few well-placed Rushie lawsuits may yet go a long way in changing that outcome. Ya got all that, Big Guy?