October 16, 2009
Limbaugh Targeted By Obama Official
By Joseph Ashby
The plot thickens on the media’s character-lynching of Rush Limbaugh. Of the four stories run on ESPN.com about Limbaugh’s bid for the Rams (October 6, October 12, October 15, and another October 15) none of them mention that NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith served as counsel to Attorney General Eric Holder and was a member of Barack Obama’s transition team.
The October 12 article references Smith’s anti-Limbaugh email meant to garner opposition against the radio host’s bid. The report refers to Smith only as the executive director of the NFLPA. Despite the fact that Smith’s opposition was based on Limbaugh’s political commentary, the report failed to mention that Smith’s political connections (including those to whom he donated thousands of dollars) have a vested interest in Limbaugh’s discrediting.
The October 15 article (the last of four listed above) is decidedly negative toward Limbaugh, portraying him as paranoid about Obama’s involvement in the decision. The report states:
Limbaugh blamed Smith, executive director of the NFLPA and an "Obama-ite," along with Sharpton and Jackson, whom he referred to as "race hustlers," for Checketts' decision to drop him. He said his sacking was an example of the political clout wielded by President Barack Obama's administration.
There is no mention in the piece of Smith’s relationship with Holder or his work on the Obama transition.It is not as if ESPN didn’t know of Smith’s history. The sports web site ran a report in July which stated:
In selecting Smith this year, the union chose Washington smarts over football experience. Smith, a Washington lawyer, served on the Obama transition team and also worked for Eric Holder before Holder became attorney general.
Smith’s gross conflict of interest and apparent political targeting of Obama’s top foe is a huge story. Unfortunately the media appears too blinded by their prejudice of Limbaugh to report on it.
To summarize, we know that a former Obama official and political ally--who was chosen by the NFLPA specifically for his political clout and connections to the highest rungs of power in government--directly attacked Limbaugh for the radio-talker’s political commentary.
Historically politicians have been prone to vindictive and petty behavior, but never in American history has someone had so much power to pummel his political opponents as President Obama. With control over banks, insurance companies, car companies, media (sports media included) and unions (like the NFL players union), Obama tentacles seem to penetrate into nearly every corner of the nation.
October 20, 2009
Who will rid me of that troublesome Rush?
Don't be tempted to believe in an organized conspiracy to race-bait Rush Limbaugh. That's not how things work in politics.
To understand how DeMaurice Smith, head of the NFL players' union and politically connected Obamite, could be the center of an attempt to destroy the reputation of Rush Limbaugh you only need to recall the complaint of English King Henry II about Thomas Becket. "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?" the King is supposed to have said. Immediately four knights set off to Canterbury to deal with Archbishop Becket (See Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral; Anouilh, Becket).
Here's another example. A lowly courtier thinks he heard British Henry IV say of the deposed King Richard II: "Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear?" And so he rids Henry of his fear. Of course, Henry is livid when the courtier brings in the coffin of Richard. "I thank thee not," he says. (See Shakespeare, Richard II).
It doesn't take a conspiracy. It just takes a word, an attitude from the king, and the courtiers get the message.
In the case of Limbaugh it doesn't even take a careless word from the president. Every liberal knows how turbulent and troublesome, uncivil and racist the president's critics are. If it weren't for them we would have universal health coverage by now. If it weren't for them we'd be well on our way to saving the planet by now. If it weren't for them, we'd be well on our way to resolving the world's conflicts with diplomacy and "soft power" by now.
What's the harm in adding a little "artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative?" (See Gilbert, The Mikado).
(We are adding all these literary quotes for the benefit of any sophisticated liberals reading this article.)
Rush Limbaugh is just doing is what the turbulent critics of the powerful always do, whether it's Thomas Becket criticizing Henry II, Sir Thomas More criticizing Henry VIII, or Tea Partiers criticizing Henry Paulson.
Politicians have the power of force; critics have the power of ridicule. Limbaugh's power is his talent to deliver "fun, frolic, and a serious discussion of the issues" to his 20 million listeners. You might even say that Rush is "edgy," because he commissions Paul Shanklin to do parodies like "Barack the Magic Negro" and "Banking Queen" to make his point. That's what art is for, according to our liberal friends. It is supposed to challenge the comfortable shibboleths of the establishment and say things that you are not allowed to say.
Here is the irony of the full
-court press on Rush Limbaugh. Our liberal friends have made a big deal in recent years about the unilateral foreign policy of the Bush administration. They have lectured the "neo-cons" about the importance of "soft power" in resetting relations with powers that President Bush treated as adversaries, but that could be our global partners in diplomacy. They know the importance of developing trust and reciprocity.
But what do liberals do on the domestic front? They blow 1,000 page bills through Congress that nobody has read. They rush through a so-called stimulus bill in early 2009 that spends most of its money in the 2010 election year. They twist the Baucus health bill into a pretzel so it will score well with the Congressional Budget Office. They plan elaborate legislative tricks and subterfuges to snake their unpopular legislation around the long-established rules and customs of Congress They set up phony quotes on Wikiquote (that curiously seem to be edited from an IP address at a New York law firm) to discredit their political opponents. To heck with trust and reciprocity. We won, as the president said.
Let us not call this hypocrisy. It goes well beyond hypocrisy. It points to a delusional worldview. How can liberals think and write and act as though American conservatives are beyond the pale of polite society while they talk nicey-nicey with thug dictators and millennarian revolutionaries all over the world? If "soft power" and diplomacy works so well in international relations, what disqualifies them for the day-to-day diplomacy between the governing liberal elite and its loyal opposition, even including a popular entertainer and commentator?
However you look at it, the way the powerful treat their opponents tells us a lot about their fitness for power.
In a partisan sense, the clumsy political thuggery of the Obamites is a once-in-a-generation gift for conservatives. But as Americans who want the best for our country and its people, we deeply regret the truth that it communicates. Day by day, issue after issue, our liberal friends are telling all Americans that they do not deserve the political power that the voters have entrusted to them.
Limbaugh asked last weekend just what was the problem with his troublesome racial views:
You mean, my belief in a colorblind society where every individual is treated as a precious human being without regard to his race... Those controversial racial views?
Remember when young Prince Hal became king? The corrupt Sir John Falstaff thought he'd get his own shovel-ready stimulus project. Prince Hal had other ideas. The new King Henry V told Falstaff: "I know thee not, old man." (See Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part Two).
Would that President Obama were as wise.
Christopher Chantrill is a frequent contributor to American Thinker. See his roadtothemiddleclass.com and usgovernmentspending.com. His Road to the Middle Class is forthcoming.