Rush Limbaugh Owes America An Apology
During his show yesterday, Rush Limbaugh claimed that he was being libeled and slandered by several major news organizations. His outrage was directed towards those who had falsely attributed a quote defending slavery to him.
“I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: 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.”
Rush claims that he has never said anything like this in his career and that it has been fabricated and used deliberately to label him as a racist. I have looked and can find no credible source that directly links this quote to Rush. So, for now, we’ll give this one to him. But if he thinks he deserves an apology for this or can legitimately claim the moral high ground he is dead wrong. Even if this isn’t actually his quote, it bears a striking resemblance in tone and substance to any number of other incendiary remarks that he has made over the years. Here are just a few samples of his more divisive statements.
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Limbaugh on Survivor series: “African-American tribe” worst swimmers, Hispanics “will do things other people won’t do.” On August 23, 2006, Limbaugh suggested that the competition in a season of CBS’ Survivor, in which contestants were reportedly divided into competing “tribes” by ethnicity, “is not going to be fair if there’s a lot of water events.” In support of this assertion, he cited a March 2, 2006, HealthDay article reporting that “young blacks — especially males — are much more likely to drown in pools than whites.” He later added that Hispanics have “probably shown the most survival tactics,” that they “have shown a remarkable ability to cross borders,” and that they can “do it without water for a long time, they don’t get apprehended, and they will do things other people won’t do.” On his September 29, 2006, show, Limbaugh claimed “[t]here can only be one reason” Survivor scrapped “segregated” competition after two episodes — “the white tribe had to be winning.”
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Limbaugh called illegal immigrants an “invasive species.” Referring to an April 1, 2005, federal court ruling that prohibited shipping boats from dumping of ballast water containing “invasive species,” including some types of mollusks, into U.S. waters, Limbaugh described illegal immigrants as an “invasive species” that U.S. courts willingly permit to enter the country.
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Limbaugh repeatedly calls Native Americans “Injuns.” Media Matters for America documented at least four separate instances of Limbaugh using this slur on his program.
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Obama is “Halfrican-American.” On January 24, 2007, Limbaugh referred to Obama and actress Halle Berry as “Halfrican-American[s],” stating that “Barack Obama has picked up another endorsement: Halfrican-American actress Halle Berry.” Limbaugh then said: ” ‘As a Halfrican-American, I am honored to have Ms. Berry’s support, as well as the support of other Halfrican Americans,’ Obama said.” Limbaugh then conceded that Obama “didn’t say it.”
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Obama is “more African in his roots than he is American” and is “behaving like an African colonial despot.” After reading extensively from an American Thinker column smearing Obama, Limbaugh said on June 26 that Obama is “more African in his roots than he is American” and is “behaving like an African colonial despot.”
Unlike the slavery quote, all of these remarks can be directly attributed to Rush Limbaugh. Again, this is a very small sample. You can find a must larger list at MediaMatters.org.
Rush has claimed that he is color blind and is more interested in what’s in people’s souls and not the color of their skin. Then why does he insist on talking about it? For example, why did he claim that Obama wanted to be the “black FDR”? If he was truly color blind, then why not simply refer to him as a “new FDR”? Why would he call Obama’s entire economic program “reparations”? The list goes on and on. I would love to see him actually sue somebody for slander or libel and attempt to prove how the allegedly false slavery quote has substantially harmed his reputation.
Whether you voted for Barack Obama or not, you have to admit the election moved our country morally and socially forward in some very significant ways. Yet Rush Limbaugh, day after day, has attempted to drag his listeners back into the racial polarizations that dominated American politics for so many years. Rush Limbaugh is not entitled to an apology. The American public deserves an apology from him. His stock and trade is division, fear and marginalization. Those are not American virtues. In fact, they are the antithesis of those very things that make America great. So on behalf of all Americans, I am officially demanding an apology from Rush Limbaugh.
