Rush, Donovan and the Media – from a Project 21 Member

From Project 21 member Dutch Martin:

I am not a football enthusiast, so I cannot comment on Donovan McNabb’s performance this season or any previous season. However, as a newly minted and proud black conservative minded person, I feel that the “controversy” surrounding Rush Limbaugh’s comments last weekend do raise some interesting issues about free speech, contemporary American race relations, and the media.

* It’s Rush Limbaugh! First of all, I agree with the National Center’s Amy Ridenour in that the whole media buzz over Limbaugh’s comments is completely overblown. Rush Limbaugh is a proud conservative. He speaks his mind, and could care less whether you agree with him or not. The fact that he is the most successful conservative radio talk show host in the country should let people know that, for one thing, people respect him for being a straightshooter, and many people agree share his views. Because he’s so popular, Rush Limbaugh also has a lot of enemies on the left, particularly in the media, many of whom I’m sure couldn’t wait for an opportunity to find something to use against him.

* ESPN has no backbone. I do not believe that Limbaugh’s comments had any racial overtones to them, and ESPN brass should have come to his defense the moment the uproar started. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a poor reflection on its top brass that this did not happen, not to mention the fact that they were lightning-quick to accept his resignation. This reminds me of the political fallout a few years ago in Washington, DC, following one of the Mayor’s aides using the word niggardly (which means stingy, miserly). The word has absolutely no semantic meaning whatsoever with the racial slur nigger, but that didn’t stop many blacks in DC for demanding that the Mayor fire the guy. (Incidentally, Mayor Williams did accept his resignation, but later hired him back after conservative groups rightfully cried foul.)

* The Truth Hurts. In my opinion, the media’s outcry over Limbaugh’s comments leads me to believe that maybe, just maybe, his comments were too close to the truth. To reiterate, I don’t follow football, but maybe Limbaugh said what some are thinking, and maybe, just maybe, his comments struck a nerve with ultra-far-left, forever-guilt-stricken liberals in the media and elsewhere.

During an interview with Paula Zahn last evening, black conservative columnist Armstrong Willaims made a very good point in that he believes that if someone black had made those comments, chances are not only would he have not been fired, but he might have even received a raise in salary! Just a thought.

Those are just my observations.

Dutch Martin



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