[speechlesstx]

Rush already has one NO vote for ownership.

Yep, and Irsay jerked his knee a little quick on dragging Tony Dungy into the conversation. Dungy appeared on Rush's show this year.

Mark Steyn weighed in:

For some reason, Rush Limbaugh's mooted purchase of a sports franchise has prompted CNN and others to distribute far and wide what appear to be entirely fabricated racist quotes by Rush. As Tim Blair points out:

Bizarrely, nobody running these career-killing “quotes” seems to question why they weren’t of previous interest.

Just so. What's the theory here? He said these things on the air in 2006 and nobody noticed? 2001? Maybe 1995, back when Clinton was blaming him for Oklahoma City? Hey, let's not get hung up on details. Just because nobody can find any evidence anywhere of Rush saying these "quotes" doesn't mean he didn't say 'em. As someone called Jason Whitlock says:

Limbaugh doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt on racial matters.

Why not? He does his show every day with an off-mike black sidekick yakking in his ear (Mr. Snerdley) and he has a black guest-host (the great Walter Williams). More to the point, when I began guest-hosting for Rush, I was amazed to discover that George Soros pays a team of stenographers, many of them called Zachary, to work their tippy-tappy fingers to the bone for three hours transcribing everything Rush or his fill-ins say in the hope that their efforts will one day be rewarded and he will deliver the big career-detonating soundbite. Among the aficionados of this service are, as I discovered recently, America's "newspaper of record," which faithfully follows the George Soros typing pool and dutifully plasters any potentially damaging bon mot on page one.

And, aside from all that, 20 million people are out there listening.

So where are these racist soundbites? Where's the audio? Where's the transcript? Name the year.Heigh-ho, say CNN's Rick Sanchez and the rest of the basement-ratings crowd. Not our problem: It's for Limbaugh to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he's never said it. We're too busy fact-checking anti-Obama jokes to fact-check our own reporting.. .

[spitvenom]

What team does Dungy own? None. Who does he coach again? Oh that's right no one. So what is your point?

[speechlesstx]

Speech I looked couldn't find anything about him going to rehab. You don't lose part of your hearing taking a little bit of Oxy. You have to be taking a lot. So if he was taking a lot he couldn't just stop taking them or he would be going through withdrawal. I never listened to Rush so did he have like a month of shows where he was throwing up on the air?

Rush spent 5 weeks in rehab.

[speechlesstx]

What team does Dungy own? None. Who does he coach again? Oh thats right no one. So what is your point?

The point is Irsay dragged him into the conversation - presumably because he's black - when he should have just spoken for himself. Dungy's appearance on Rush's show should be yet another clue that Rush is not a racist.

[spitvenom]

5 weeks is not enough time to clean up from pain killers if you were taking them since 95 or 96. I know this because my cousin spent two months in a rehab after taking Percocet for a year. Sorry he went on a 5 week vacation good try though on his part to "act" like he did something!

[spitvenom]

Speech it doesn't matter who he drags in the conversation. Simple fact is Irsay's vote and 31 other team owners will decide Rush's fate. Not to mention Rodger Goodell came out and said they don't need someone like him in the NFL.

[speechlesstx]

Speech it doesn't matter who he drags in the conversation. Simple fact is Irsay's vote and 31 other team owners will decide Rush's fate. Not to mention Rodger Goodell came out and said they don't need someone like him in the NFL.

Apparently it does matter or he wouldn't have brought into the conversation. Apparently it does matter as the player's union head is asking players to speak out. This is a coordinated campaign to derail Rush's bid based on false smears and imaginary quotes. He, like any other potential owner (including trashy little singers) deserves a fair and impartial review. Personally, I don't care if Rush buys the Rams or not, but I suspect they'd be a hell of a lot better team with him. Regardless of all the trash talk, Rush is a winner, has the money, and he's a passionate fan and cheerleader for the NFL to 20 million people. What more could the NFL want in an owner?

[spitvenom]

You mean like the imaginary quote he said on ESPN in 2003 and I quote:

"I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL,'' Limbaugh said." The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They're interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well... McNabb got a lot of the credit for the performance of the team that he really didn't deserve."

This is the quote they are coming out against. I am sure I can find it on You Tube if you like.

[speechlesstx]

You mean like the imaginary quote he said on ESPN in 2003 and I quote:

"I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL,'' Limbaugh said." The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They're interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well ... McNabb got a lot of the credit for the performance of the team that he really didn't deserve."

This is the quote they are coming out against. I am sure I can find it on You Tube if you like.

That's what started this years ago, but I showed a number of dubious quotes in the OP. But what was racist about this?

Update: One of these unfounded quotes is attributed to someone with a wiki account making it up and then being picked up in a book by Jack Huberman. Facts still matter.

[spitvenom]

He is saying the only reason people want Mcnabb to succeed is because he is black. How disrespectful to a first year Hall Of Famer. Aside from this year and the year T.O. was there McNabb never had a good WR. Him and Westbrook did it all themselves. And this bigot is trying to say McNabb is not a good QB it is a creation of the media. Please.

[tomder55]

Irsay ;isn't he the snake who tried to sneak his team out of Baltimore in the middle of the night ?

[spitvenom]

Tom, Maybe he did but it has no relevance to this conversation.

[tomder55]

OK here's one that does . I wonder how the NFL will stand up to restraint of trade and anti-trust lawsuits ?

[spitvenom]

Tom I don't know anything about restraint of trade or anti-trust lawsuits. So could you explain

[ETWolverine]

Who says he isn't?

Who says Fergie isn't a current Meth user?

You can make that argument in both directions.

So... you think it's all right for someone like Fergie to own a football team but not someone like Rush... despite the fact that they have been accused of doing the Same THINGS.

Can you say "double standard"?

Elliot

[ETWolverine]

Hello:

Rush Limprod has the right to lose money on the Rams just like anybody else does.

excon

Nobody said it was a SMART purchase. But he does indeed have the right as much as anyone else does. We are in agreement on this point.

Elliot

[spitvenom]

I'm sorry ET where did I say I was all right with Fergie being part owner? Oh that is right I didn't! You just ASSumed I was all right with it. She has no business being part owner.

[spitvenom]

Yes he has a right to put a bid in. Just like the NFL owners have a right to deny that bid.

[speechlesstx]

He is saying the only reason people want Mcnabb to succeed is because he is black. How disrespectful to a first year Hall Of Famer. Aside from this year and the year T.O. was there McNabb never had a good WR. Him and Westbrook did it all themselves. And this bigot is trying to say McNabb is not a good QB it is a creation of the media. Please.

Aside from his jab at the media hype he was saying the defense carried the team, not McNabb. "There's a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."

Allen Barra analyzed it right when it happened:

In his notorious ESPN comments last Sunday night, Rush Limbaugh said he never thought the Philadelphia Eagles' Donovan McNabb was "that good of a quarterback."

If Limbaugh were a more astute analyst, he would have been even harsher and said, "Donovan McNabb is barely a mediocre quarterback." But other than that, Limbaugh pretty much spoke the truth. Limbaugh lost his job for saying in public what many football fans and analysts have been saying privately for the past couple of seasons...

Rush Limbaugh didn't say Donovan McNabb was a bad quarterback because he is black. He said that the media have overrated McNabb because he is black, and Limbaugh is right. He didn't say anything that he shouldn't have said, and in fact he said things that other commentators should have been saying for some time now. I should have said them myself. I mean, if they didn't hire Rush Limbaugh to say things like this, what did they hire him for? To talk about the prevent defense?

[speechlesstx]

I'm sorry ET where did I say I was alright with Fergie being part owner? Oh that is right I didn't! you just ASSumed i was alright with it. She has no business being part owner.

But she's already been approved.