Sandy GholstonFar-right commentator Rush Limbaugh supposedly is part of a group that is attempting to by the National Football League’s St. Louis Rams franchise. Limbaugh is a polarizing figure with a long and dubious history of making racially offensive comments about minorities (most notably blacks), women, gays and others who don’t seem to fit his vision of what the United States of America is supposed to look like.
Here is a statement from the player’s association (as posted by Media Matters for America) in regard to Limbaugh’s controversial bid to become an NFL owner:
NFL Players Executive Director DeMaurice Smith on Saturday made a move to solidify the union against a bid by conservative talk show radio host Rush Limbaugh as part of a group that aims to purchase the St. Louis Rams.
In an e-mail to the union’s executive committee on Saturday specifically addressing Limbaugh’s bid, Smith said, “I’ve spoken to the Commissioner [Roger Goodell] and I understand that this ownership consideration is in the early stages. But sport in America is at its best when it unifies, gives all of us reason to cheer, and when it transcends. Our sport does exactly that when it overcomes division and rejects discrimination and hatred.”
Limbaugh and St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts are among six potential ownership groups that have discussed buying the Rams. League sources say the current sale price has ranged from $700-to-$750 million but that there did not appear to be an imminent transaction.
On Sunday, Smith briefly elaborated, “This communication is more about what we stand for than the reality of our role in any franchise sale. While it’s true the subject matter was related [to Limbaugh's bid], I do understand that the NFL does not present ownership bids to me or the NFLPA. I encourage our players to express their views.”
At least seven NFL players have publicly opposed Limbaugh’s interest in purchasing the Rams with Checketts. In Smith’s communication Saturday with his executive committee, the union leader encouraged players to speak their mind on all matters, including Limbaugh’s bid.
The Limbaugh apologists are out there (including Bill O’Reilly who lacks the guts to stand up to Rush) and coming to the controversial commentator’s defense.
Here is another statement Media Matters posted from the owner of the Indianapolis Colts, Jim Irsay:
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said this afternoon that the divisive rhetoric of prospective Rams minority owner Rush Limbaugh makes him unappealing.
“I myself couldn’t even think of voting for him,” said Irsay speaking from the NFL’s fall ownership meetings in Boston.
Asked if he’d spoken to other owners about Limbaugh’s candidacy, Irsay said, “I haven’t and I don’t think I would even go to the point of talking to Tony Dungy, Jim Caldwell, Dwight Freeney, talking to those men and seeing what their positions are. I’m very sensitive to know there are scars out there. I think as a nation we need to stop it. Our words do damage and it’s something that we don’t need. We need to get to a higher level of humanity and we have.
“I come from a different era where Marvin Gaye and John Lennon were speaking about [certain things] and we’ve been doing a slow crawl to some of the things they talked about. We don’t need to go the other way,” Irsay added. “We can’t go the other way where there isn’t forgiveness and understanding but we gotta watch our words in this world and our thoughts because they can do damage.”
It would be interesting tos ee the owners and NFL executives who would come out in support of Limbaugh or simply turn a blind eye on his part in this bid to buy the Rams.
NFL players are speaking out as well as evidenced by this New York Daily News article from which an excerpt is below:
Mathias Kiwanuka loves his former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, but the Giants‘ defensive end says he will never play for Spagnuolo’s Rams if Rush Limbaugh purchases the team.
Kiwanuka and the Jets‘ Bart Scott made it clear Thursday that they would never play for the Rams or any team owned by the controversial conservative radio host.
“All I know is from the last comment I heard, he said in (President) Obama‘s America, white kids are getting beat up on the bus while black kids are chanting ‘right on,’” Kiwanuka told The Daily News. “I mean, I don’t want anything to do with a team that he has any part of. He can do whatever he wants, it is a free country. But if it goes through, I can tell you where I am not going to play.”
“I am not going to draw a conclusion from a person off of one comment, but when it is time after time after time and there’s a consistent pattern of disrespect and just a complete misunderstanding of an entire culture that I am a part of, I can’t respect him as a man.”
Kiwanuka is right on the money and I would encourage people to visit the New York Daily News site and read more of his words on the topic.
The NFL players must speak out and be heard so that this bigoted and hate-driven divider is not welcomed as an NFL owner.
One question. Would you say that Jesse Jackson is a good candidate for team owner? If he had the money, and all other things were equal…
Good question. My answer: I would not have nearly as much of a problem with Jesse Jackson being the owner of an NFL team if he had the finances to make it happen. Jesse Jackson has made some stupid comments more than 20 years ago, but Rev. Jackson’s efforts in civil rights, human rights, (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) rights, women’s rights (including for reproductive freedom) and more far outweigh stupid comments he made more than 20 years ago. Limbaugh continues to make racially inflammatory comments today calling mixed race people (specifically Halle Berry) Halfrican Americans and saying, “in Obama’s America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering, ‘Yay, right on, right on, right on, right on.” There is no place for this kind of divisive stuff in the NFL.
Of course you wouldn’t have a problem with Jesse “Hymetown” Jackson, he’s a lib like you.
So what if he shakes down corporations and threatens boycotts if they don’t hire minorities.
That’s the American way, nothing divisive there.
You’re being disingenuous with the Obama America, black kids cheering story.
Limbaugh was panning Time for their article, as in that’s what they were implying.
But like most lefty’s, instead of actually listening to Rush, you’d believe second hand accounts that fit your ideology.
Whats your thoughts on Jayz being partial owner of the Nets?
I mean he’s made some racially divisive statements, as well as write them in his music.
Then you would need to exclude Jesse Jackson. You say his work in GLBT rights, reproductive rights “and more” (whatever that means) qualifies him, yet what he’s done in these realms is by far as divisive to me as Limbaugh’s. (I’m not backing Limbaugh, by any stretch!)
Mr. GJG,
I didn’t say I wouldn’t have a problem with him. I said I would not have nearly as much of a problem with him. I don’t excuse what Rev. Jackson said, but I would point out that those comments were bad, but they were more than 20 years ago. I am more interested in how people learn from their mistakes and move on. If that’s all you have on Jesse Jackson then that’s pretty weak. The boycott is a powerful weapon and it is used by a lot of different people (including conservatives like Bill O’Reilly who has used it to attack people). Boycotting companies with discriminatory practices is as American as it gets.
Defend Limbaugh all you want, and make excuses for the genesis of his comments, but he nonetheless made it and tried to make fun of the way he perceives black people talking. It stinks of racism. You seemed to have missed his comment about “Halfrican Americans” that smears biracial people in a bigoted way.
Lots of people have made stupid or insensitive comments from time to time, but with Limbaugh it’s the movement behind him and the hatred with which he frequently attacks minorities and women.
David,
You’re trying to hard. If you want to find out the rest of what Rev. Jackson has done then you are free to do your own research. But, his contributions to a better world are tremendous and far outweigh a couple of offensive things he said like 25 years ago. Also, I didn’t say his activism qualifies him to be an NFL owner. I merely used his deeds to show that his body of positive work far outweighs a few negative comments he made back in the 1980s. If you want to cling to his “Hymietown” comment in 1984 then you are free to do that, but I am not going to continue to hold a single comment like that over a person’s head if it seems pretty obvious that the person is a better person than that who has made a few mistakes. That is weak and petty.
Defenders of Rush Limbaugh are amazing. They have a hundred excuses for their hero, but then bash people like Jesse Jackson for one or two comments made two decades ago.
I didn’t bash Jesse Jackson, I pointed out an equivalent. I don’t think he contributed to making the world better, though. And what he has said and done are not 25 years ago. I personally don’t care much if Rush gets the team or not, in fact, I’m growing distant from the NFL in general. Too much emphasis on babes, booze, tattoos and ear rings, money. Not enough emphasis on football. I’ve been a fan for almost 50 years. Gave up Sunday Ticket last year. Watched about 5 games this year, and usually turn them off when there’s a party in the endzone when a player scores a touchdown (or makes a tackle, or any other move that they’re paid to do). I concentrate on serving God these days.
For something well-said about the subject, I suggest this:
http://mercuryblues78.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/if-rush-limbaugh-is-a-racist-are-his-20-million-listeners-also/
Many people of color would disagree with you and the work that Jesse Jackson has done for civil rights. If you don’t think he has contributed to making the world better than you need to research. I would suggest you research the work that Rev. Jackson has done.
I applaud the sacrifices men like Jesse Jackson made during the civil rights movement so I can do the things I am doing today. you may not think that is a contribution to making the world better, but a lot of us do think it is.
I wasn’t going to do this, but here are a few examples:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Jackson
In 1983, Jackson traveled to Syria to secure the release of a captured American pilot, Navy Lt. Robert Goodman who was being held by the Syrian government. Goodman had been shot down over Lebanon while on a mission to bomb Syrian positions in that country. After a dramatic personal appeal that Jackson made to Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, Goodman was released. Initially, the Reagan administration was skeptical about Jackson’s trip to Syria. However, after Jackson secured Goodman’s release, United States President Ronald Reagan welcomed both Jackson and Goodman to the White House on January 4, 1984[20]. This helped to boost Jackson’s popularity as an American patriot and served as a springboard for his 1984 presidential run. In June 1984, Jackson negotiated the release of twenty-two Americans being held in Cuba after an invitation by Cuban president Fidel Castro.[21]
He traveled to Kenya in 1997 to meet with Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi as United States President Bill Clinton’s special envoy for democracy to promote free and fair elections. In April 1999, during the Kosovo War, Jackson traveled to Belgrade to negotiate the release of three U.S. POWs captured on the Macedonian border while patrolling with a UN peacekeeping unit. He met with the then-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević, who later agreed to release the three men.[22]
In 1965, he participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches organized by James Bevel, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights leaders in Alabama. When Jackson returned from Selma, he threw himself into SCLC’s effort to establish a beachhead of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Chicago.
These and more are at Wikipedia:
That is not an equivalent in the least.
And, fwiw, Rush says he never made those comments. So if you’re quoting him as saying them, you might want to back them up with evidence or retract them…
What comments are you talking about?
The comments attributed to him that are used as proof of his divisivness, hatred and racism.
I didn’t say anything about his work in civil rights, though basically what he did was browbeat people and organizations to give in to him. Sometimes that’s necessary and deserved. I also applaud what he did under the supervision of Martin Luther King. The initial push to make sure that blacks were not marginalized was needed and necessary (fyi, I lived in a place with separate bathrooms for black and white, and where there was a sign on the bus that said “Negros sit to the back of this sign.” White people could move the sign to the very last row of the bus). Jackson took it to another level, which twisted things so much that it came back around. To this day, I know of people who will not go to a black doctor because they believe that doctor might have gotten into med school via affirmative action. Jackson did not try to equalize the playing field, he tried to give special rights to blacks.
But let’s look at what you posted. What might have been going on in 1983 that would have urged JJ to go to Syria?
David,
You said, “I don’t think he contributed to making the world better, though.” I think that is a baseless statement based on the little evidence I provided you. I am not even sure I would make such an irrational statement about Rush Limbaugh. You may not like Rev. Jackson’s politics, and that is fine. But you brought up Rev. Jackson in regard to what I would feel about him as a potential NFL owner. I would venture to guess there are a lot of NFL owners who have politics I might not agree with. If you want to see what Rush Limbaugh is about, look how he is bashing the NFL right now. I will be blogging about that later.
As far as the Syria comment, that seems indicative of someone who can’t give Rev. Jackson credit for anything. Even President Reagan’s administration saw the good in this trip.
As far as the comments about Rush that you say need evidence or should be retracted, it is curious to me that you are offering nothing concrete and instead are just posting a vague generalization. I ask again, what comments are you talking about, specifically? I will correct if I am wrong.
I said I think that much of what he did was divisive, though I give him credit for the good he did. Race relations was not and continues not to be, an easy nut to crack. Credit where it’s due, but you brought up GLBT politics, which is in fact, very divisive.
Regarding what he did in Syria, and Reagan’s reaction, I know for a fact that he wasn’t happy about Jackson taking it upon himself to intervene. He was being gracious and thankful for the outcome, though, for any life saved is a blessing.
I didn’t say you made the remarks, Sandy, but there were false quotations cited to prove Rush’s racism. Those that are true quotes, as you say about Rev. Jackson, were made years ago. I agree, people make mistakes, and as they pass, they should and could be forgiven.
What I believe is that, if you would put the players that say they wouldn’t play for a team owned by Limbaugh, together with him over dinner, or over drinks, you might see a change in heart on both sides.
One example:
The most ridiculous of the statements falsely attributed to Rush was this one:
“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.”
Anyone who has ever listened to Limbaugh would immediately recognize this as a hoax; in fact, it was made up out of whole cloth by a little-known left-wing blogger. But it was reported as fact by news outlets that didn’t bother to verify their facts. CNN was especially blameworthy in this regard; it vouched for the blogger-fabrication.
Fair enough with your example. That quote is not and was not in this blog (unless you’re seeing something I am not seeing). Besides, he has said more than enough offensive stuff to not have to rely so heavily on that quote.
Whether or not President Reagan was happy is meaningless in my mind compared to the greater benefit of Rev. Jackson working to secure the freedom of Americans. President Reagan should have been gracious if he was putting the safety of Americans ahead of his ego. The problem with Limbaugh is that he continues to make these types of racist and offensive statements. It’s not like he just said them in the past. The pattern of these kinds of statements makes the past continue to follow him closely.
David,
I really appreciate you coming in to debate. It’s nice having solid discussions even if we don’t agree on issues and people.
I appreciate solid discussion, too.
No, you didn’t make the statement that he said anything, but people in public (such as on CNN) make the claim based on blurbs such as the one I put here, and claim, on their basis, that he’s racist.
I have not listened to Rush in at least 5 years, maybe more (since I found better things to listen to than political talk), and believe me, I know racism (I can even admit to having told racially charged jokes in my youth, and remember lots of that crud)and abhor it. But Rush, to my knowledge, never was a racist. He always espoused equal rights, and felt that Jesse Jackson and his like were always after special rights. I always appreciated the UNCF commercials about “We’re not asking for a hand-out, just a hand”. I think Jesse Jackson became a special rights specialist.
Regarding disagreeing on issues and people, my wife and I disagree on some issues and some people, too. Doesn’t mean I don’t love her or respect her opinion.
God bless you, Sandy.