I’m sure none of us would expect anything less from Amerika’s foremost racist. Maybe, it was satire.

Rush simply used tricky language and spoke inartfully, right?

Out of curiosity King, why do you spell America with a “K”?

Cause he’s 12 years old.

MartiniShark says:
March 9, 2010 at 4:39 pm

I’m certain it has everything to do with his birthplace and the pan-racial and pan-cultural aspects of it.

Yeah, that’s it!

Just ask TRRK. He is the expert on that little known field of study.

PS Love your name and is that a martini your shark is holding?. It’s too small for me to quite see.

@smitty0830: Perhaps it has to do with him not being from “real America”?

But can Eric Massa sell Watermelons? I guess I should go ask Dan.

‘Tis Grammie, and a cigar as well.

I think it was just yesterday, yes, I’m certain it was just yesterday that I said that Limbaugh (along with fellow brainiac Glenn Beck) made racist comments almost daily. And like clockwork, Limbaugh delivers and once again makes himself look like a buffoon…and he doesn’t need the help.

I’m betting before the week is out either Beck or Limbaugh make yet another racist comment. Any takers?

PS – I’m sure those of you who jumped all over Rather will do the same to Limbaugh…right? I mean, just to be consistent.

Ted, we’ve already established it was satire in the Korpulent Karper’s Kase.

Geez, the media is indeed so biased that what they report if often more of a joke then Jesse Ventura or Franken. I listened to Rush this a.m. and except for the massuh comment’s pronunciation, the rest is just garbage. Where did Mediaite get its story, MoveOn.org or the DailyKos. That may explain it. Oh you did report on Dan Rather talking about Obama and watermelons, didn’t you? Just checking.

And as you’ll recall Ted, you couldn’t give one example.

Ted, I think it was Michelle yesterday that tried to explain how many conservatives view this whole tangled mess of word and racism police on the left.

Often, we don’t see any offense from the words from the left. Our problem is that far too often similar, or even less concrete, words when used by the right, turn into blatant racist attacks and the so called attackers are hounded and chased to the ground.

In this case I think Rush was being deliberately provocative and his attempt at satirical humor failed in this case.

I’m speaking just for myself here but I don’t think either one of them behaved in a racist way. Rather was using a funny line to illustrate BHO’s lack of leadership and political persuasion and Rush was making a satirical point that flowed from the first black governor being pushed aside by the first black president in favor of a white candidate. Bid whoop for both.

BTW, I did nothing re Rather than to be snarky towards all you Libs here who see racism in your sleep and under every rock in others here jumping thru hoops to defend Rather. I think it’s funny.

MichelleF – I don’t need to, they make themselves. The “leg-work” you complained about should take all of 30 seconds if you know how to use the internet…and apparently you do.

Grammie – Are we really going with the “It was satire” defense? With Limbaugh, there is a clear pattern of this kind of behavior. My bet is that Rather would say his choice of words were not the best (and they were not); Limbaugh will defend his racist rant and give us more before the week is out. Bet on it.

K I’ll take that as you have no proof. Thanks for admitting it.

Ted says:
March 9, 2010 at 5:27 pm

I’ve been listening to Rush for over twenty years and I know he frequently is outrageous and absurd as a way to illustrate the absurdity of opposite views and he puts SNL to abject shame with how good he is at it.

That said, I think he missed the mark here just as Rather did.

Rush is, and has been, on the air not only live but unscripted 15 hours a week 52 weeks a year. I expect him to sometimes miss the mark but, unlike many, I don’t approach him with the conviction that he is a sexist, xenophobic, homophobic racist pig and that I’ll find some little proof out of all those hours to hang him with.

If you’ve never listened to him with an open mind try it for a week or two and see for yourself what he and his show is all about.

As a side note last week I saw a headline with Obama and Massa in it. This was before I knew about Massa, Eric. I did a double take and thought “Oh my God” what AH said what?”. After clicking on the link I learned that my initial reaction was strange. I attribute it to the fact that as a society so many of us see what isn’t there b/c of the political climate and all the overcharged emotional reactions to anything to do with race.

“Since I am not ‘speaking’ to or with any of these gentlemen, I am not going to label them.”

Quote from the (White) Royal King on refusing to say Rev. Wright or Louis Farrakhan are racists.

Don’t bother Grammie. Libs would never listen to him with an open mind. They have their template of Conservatives are racist and if they gave that up, what else would they have?

True, Michelle, true.

BTW, I know exactly what you are going thru with your sports active bottomless pit son. My Daddy always said his grandsons had straight guts and hollow legs.

I had one who simultaneously played playground football with school basketball, then playground basketball with school basketball, followed by school softball with playground baseball.

Of course that also included pickup tennis and golf with his Dad. I actually dedicated a small platter to being his plate.

Enjoy it now b/c it ends much too soon.

MichelleF – I listened to what Limbaugh said with an open mind and guess what? There is just no getting around it, It’s still a racist comment. What do you think…satire?

Grammie – Is “it’s satire” the new get out of jail free card? Where can I get one?

Ted says:
March 9, 2010 at 6:40 pm

MichelleF – I listened to what Limbaugh said with an open mind and guess what? There is just no getting around it, It’s still a racist comment. What do you think…satire?

Be serious, Ted… an “open mind?” YOU, who hates everyone not like yourself, an “open mind?”

Grammie – Is “it’s satire” the new get out of jail free card? Where can I get one?

I think David Letterman and Seth MacFarlane hold them.

I cannot speak to the rest, but yesterday I did not jump all over Rather, I was more amused at his saying such to the race-baiter extrodinaire Chris Matthews. I was pointing out how he would get scant coverage for his comment while those on the Right are instantly branded as hate-filled. And sure enough, look at the difference of coverage from Mr. Krakauer.

Yesterday with Rather it was all chin-rubbing and brow-wrinkling introspection on how those words could be interpreted, and that he used “tricky language”. Today with Rush, “blatantly racist”! Talk about predictable. And I won’t get into the satirical angle or Rush doing this intentionally to be provacative. That won’t appease any accuser, and anyway I don’t get bent out of shape by these verbal landmines myself.

INB- Thank you for yet another scintillating and informative update.

PS – Got my get out of jail free card at the EIB web site, but thanks.

Ted says:
March 9, 2010 at 7:39 pm

For the record, Ted… it was a dopey thing for Rush to say. Satire, eh… maybe. But it doesn’t really matter. It was a dumb thing to say, and Rush should make amends for “attempting” a joke, and offending folks.

See… that’s what it’s like not to have a double standard. Give it a try.

ImNotBlue says:
March 9, 2010 at 7:52 pm

I said satire and even while saying it I couldn’t come up with a single more accurate word. Still can’t.

He had a hook that he misused and misplayed. As I said, he missed the mark. But, having been a regular listener for over 20 years I know enough about his ideas and his style to know that one, he is NOT a racist and two although he is very good at using opponents words and strategy against them he sometimes bombs.

I started out on this thread saying that I approached Rather’s remark as OK b/c I understood the point he was trying to make but in our current hyper sensitive to racism climate he used an unfortunate example, but was not being racist.

I think very much the same about Rush today as I did about Rather yesterday.

Of these four incidents: Rush; Rather; Biden; Reid I actually think that the last two are are a much darker grey compared to the first two.

Do you understand patterns of behavior? One data point versus many? Rush Limbaugh has a pattern of making racist remarks, and he never, never apologizes for them. Tomorrow, he’ll defend it and its pathetic.

Ted says:
March 9, 2010 at 8:15 pm

Gee, just after my saying that based on 20+ years of listening to Rush I have made a certain judgment you ask me if I “understand patterns of behavior”. Duh.

Why don’t you provide me with these many data points, or just a few. I’ve heard quite a few that I listened to in real time and in the retelling based on Media Matters’ original spin usually has no comparison to reality.

I’m game if you are.

Had some trouble getting the clip to load, but I did manage to listen to it finally. IHMO it wasn’t that funny as a joke but wasn’t racially offensive either. It seems to me that a lot of people taking offense at this are hypersensitive and live too sheltered of a life. There are a lot more real problems with race such as economic issues and communication between communities. Ralph Ellison’s “The Invisible Man” might be a bit dated now but gives a look into another person’s mind, letting you compare your experience with a different perspective. Worth a read IHMO.

Grammie says:
March 9, 2010 at 8:08 pm

Oh, I agree with that too… he’s not racist, his comment was just dumb. This is similar to Rather… although, as I was watching a report on it tonight, we heard Rather’s statement once again, we had to ask, “What was he going to say next?”

“He couldn’t sell watermelons to…” To what? No ending to that statement was going to be positive!

I think it takes more than a statement here or there to suggest actual racism.

I am outrageously outraged! How dare he imply David Patterson is, um, what exactly, a slave? A slave owner? A pun?

Mediaite, you guys are better than merely reposting Media Matters clips with almost no commentary.

And I noticed very positive “Attaboy Spike!” sentiments in the Politico comments page. Is this really “racist” or just “insensitive”?

Some of the biggest racists around are Liberal Democrats. They need to be that way in order to classify and stratify people into more malleable Groups. We all know this to be true. But curiously, Libs are seen by fellow Libs to have ‘mis-spoken’ whenever a clearly racist phrase or tone is used by them. Such gentle handling is what Krakauer engages in (and he probably would use a ‘K’ to spell ‘America,’ too).

The bottom line is that David doesn’t (yet) know the difference between ‘infer’ and ‘imply.’ Communication consists of a message, a sender, and a receiver. The sender can imply, but the receiver can only infer. David is simply ‘inferring’ what Limbaugh meant. That doesn’t make David correct.

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