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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Rush Limbaugh's Failed Attempt to Purchase the St. Louis Rams

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh made a bid to become part owner of the St. Louis Rams. Limbaugh was part of a group headed by St. Louis blues owner Dave Checketts seeking to buy the Rams. As it turned out, Rush Limbaugh was "sacked" in his attempt to purchase the Rams. Checketts, who is leader of the group said, "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." Limbaugh was dropped from consideration in his attempt to purchase the Rams due to some controversial racial statements he supposedly made. Some of those statements couldn't be substantiated.

Last month I wrote a post entitled, "Injecting Race Into Politics" where I mentioned about race baiting being used by those on the Left in an attempt to discredit particular individuals in order to push through their adgenda. Former President Jimmy Carter made the claim that Joe Wilson's shouting "You Lie!" in regards to Obama's healthcare speech was racist. Carter was implying that Joe Wilson represented some who believe a black shouldn't be president. Carter made a racist charge against Wilson but he didn't give evidence why he believed that Wilson's statement was racist. It was Al Sharpton who was involved in trying to prohibit Limbaugh from being included in purchasing part of the Rams. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson both participate in race baiting. I said that those that make the charge of racism should give ample evidence of what they are saying is accurate. Race baiting has done nothing but divide and polarize our country. There were allegations about Limbaugh that were made that alleged years ago that slavery built the South and it wasn't all bad. Another allegation that was made was that Limbaugh praised James Earl Ray in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination in 1968. Limbaugh has denied those charges and none of them have proven to be true.

The only kind of racial comment I know Limbaugh made that was in poor taste was the statement he made about the Philadelphia Eagle's quarterback Donovan McNabb. In 2003 Limbaugh was an analyst on ESPN's NFL Countdown pregame show. He contended that McNabb was overrated because the news media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed. That ignited controversy and right after that Limbaugh resigned from his position. That comment doesn't signify that Limbaugh is racist. However, it was very poor taste in how he made that statement. There's nothing wrong in the media desiring a black quarterback to succeed. There's nothing wrong in desiring any black to be successful in whatever vocation they're involved with. As long as the standards for achievement are equally applied regardless of race. I desire to see blacks succeed. It's great for them personally as well as it can be a motivator to the black community to show that if one black can be successful, so can others. I don't know how great McNabb was in his position as quarterback, but Limbaugh's statement in that case was unnecessary. That doesn't make Limbaugh racist nor should that have prevented him from being able to go through the process to become part owner of the St. Louis Rams.

Some of the NFL players, Al Sharpton, and NFL Association chief DeMaurice Smith spoke out against Limbaugh for being part of Checkett's group. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay declared Tuesday he wouldn't vote for a sale of the Rams to a group that includes Limbaugh. All this about Limbaugh's being a racist was conjured up to pressure the St. Louis Blues owner to drop Limbaugh from consideration in purchasing the Rams. The truth of the matter is the Left along with Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson don't like Limbaugh because he pokes fun at Democrats and liberals. Limbaugh has been steadfast in his opposition to President Obama's policies. Of course the Left wants to say if you oppose or disagree with Obama's agenda it's because you're racist. That couldn't be further from the truth. Racism is treating a particular race as inferior or second class citizens. Making observations about a particular race isn't racism. Criticizing Obama about his policies doesn't make one a racist.

The Left knows that race baiting will give them what they desire. That's why they use it. They used it against former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott in 2002 and that resulted in Lott's resignation from that leadership position. That's why they want to use it in this healthcare debate in Congress. They will marginalize their opponents to push through their agenda. Al Sharpton stirred up this controversy about Rush to prevent him from purchasing part of the St. Louis Rams. The Left dislikes Limbaugh and they use race baiting against him to achieve their objectives. In this case it was to persuade Dave Checketts to drop Rush in pursuing the sale of the Rams.

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