Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:07 pm
On his radio show today, Rush Limbaugh took out his bitterness over not being able to become an owner of the St. Louis Rams on the NFL. Limbaugh said that he was demonized with false quotes so that the NFL could protect their, “outpost of racism and liberalism.” I hope Limbaugh realizes that 90% of the NFL’s political contributions go to Republicans, not Democrats.
Here is the audio courtesy of Media Matters:
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Limbaugh said, “The US Chamber of Commerce is now being demonized by Democrats. They have to have a villain to advance everything, because they can not sell their ideas. They had to demonize me with false fake made up quotes to protect their precious little National Football League as an outpost of racism and liberalism, which is what it is.”
Limbaugh’s comments are the equivalent of a child who was turned down for membership in a club saying I didn’t want to be in your stupid club anyway. It is hard to believe that anyone could seriously call an organization that has a 70% minority employment rate racist. The NFL is overwhelmingly conservative and Republican. The Center for Responsive Politics study of the NFL’s political donations for the last 20 years found that 22 of 32 teams donated more money to Republicans than Democrats.
The NFL is a lot of things, but it definitely not liberal and racist. It does have its problems such as an under representation of minorities in management and leadership positions, including ownership. In Limbaugh’s mind, it isn’t his fault that he made those racist statements, and it is likely that nothing doomed him more than his comments about Donovan McNabb while working for ESPN. It is the NFL’s fault for not wanting him and his race baiting around.
I don’t know if Rush Limbaugh is a racist, but it is clear that he has made a fortune, in part by engaging in race based politics. It would have been refreshing if Limbaugh would have taken responsibility for his previous comments, but that isn’t how Rush works. It is always someone else’s fault. There is always a villain out to get him.
However, Rush Limbaugh is a moron for taking on the NFL. I am going to go way out on a limb here and suggest that millions of his listeners are NFL fans. When Limbaugh attacks the NFL, he is hitting at something that many of his listeners love. If Limbaugh forces his listeners to chose between him or the NFL, he isn’t going to like the results.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
