Kurtz asked Wilbon about the shortcomings of his fact-checking and the resultant false attribution of a “bogus quote about slavery” to Limbaugh on his ESPN show Pardon the Interruption:

WILBON: That’s a journalistic no-no. What? If I had checked and found out the information that we had basic access to every day on deadline, I might have done it anyway. Still, that’s wrong and a journalistic no-no, and I said that to him.

But Wilbon put the brakes on the pity party there, saying “Let’s not make it seem like Rush Limbaugh has not insulted black people on his radio show… millions of black people know that.”

Meanwhile, Limbaugh has taken to the Opinion page of the Wall Street Journal to, as usual, decry the hypocrisy of his critics — most notably Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. He also singled Wilbon out by name:

Mr. Wilbon wasn’t alone. Numerous sportswriters, CNN, MSNBC, among others, falsely attributed to me statements I had never made. Their sources, as best I can tell, were Wikipedia and each other. But the Wikipedia post was based on a fabrication printed in a book that also lacked any citation to an actual source.

At this point the discussion of Limbaugh’s role in bidding on a stake in the Rams has moved so far away from the actual news: On Fox News it’s turned into a discussion of racism within the black community that emerges when black people try to defend people like Limbaugh; elsewhere, and on Reliable Sources, it’s turned into a discussion about journalistic ethics. And if Rush Limbaugh has his way, it will turn into one hundred other things (including good ratings) before it leaves the news because he’s had one crazy week of publicity.

ESPN’s Michael Wilbon on Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz this morning:

News of Limbaugh’s bid was met with stiff opposition from many quarters, including players, other owners, and a host of Limbaugh’s opponents who view him as a racist.

While the right has decried some shaky sourcing on quotes attributed to Limbaugh in order to portray him as a racist, there are plenty of rock-solid examples of Rush’s racially charged rhetoric.

This result isn’t surprising considering what happened the last time warnings about Rush and the NFL were ignored.  It almost makes you wonder if Limbaugh ever really expected to get within ten yards of an NFL team ownership.

Active players and the head of the NFL Players union are speaking out against the move, and cable news networks across the board are debating the possibility. But when push comes to shove, is all the uproar just hype?

Last week Stephen A. Smith, formerly of ESPN, was asked by Ed Schultz on MSNBC about whether the owners would oblige a Limbaugh deal. “I don’t think they would hesitate to do it quite honestly,” he said. But what about the players who say they wouldn’t play for him? “They are lying through their teeth, I don’t care what they say,” said Smith. “Money talks louder than anything else, especially when it comes to the players.”

One of those players, Mathias Kiwanuka of the New York Giants, phrased his opposition this way:

I don’t want anything to do with a team that he has any part of. He can do whatever he wants, it is a free country. But if it goes through, I can tell you where I am not going to play.

I am not going to draw a conclusion from a person off of one comment, but when it is time after time after time and there’s a consistent pattern of disrespect and just a complete misunderstanding of an entire culture that I am a part of, I can’t respect him as a man.

NFL Players exec director DeMaurice Smith‘s email Saturday to the union’s executive committee highlighted his point of contention, while urging the players to continue to speak out. “Sport in America is at its best when it unifies, gives all of us reason to cheer, and when it transcends,” he wrote. “Our sport does exactly that when it overcomes division and rejects discrimination and hatred.”

Then this happened – today, Rev. Al Sharpton sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hoping he blocks the bid.

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