Think Progress

Limbaugh blames Newt Gingrich for screwing up the NY special election.

Yesterday, Bill Owens scored an historic victory by becoming the first Democrat in more than a century to win a congressional election in upstate New York’s 23rd district. Owens’ victory was a defeat for many prominent leaders of the conservative movement, particularly Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. In the lead-up to the election, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had engaged in a public brouhaha with Beck over his support for Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman’s candidacy. Gingrich complained that Beck, Limbaugh, and company were pursuing “a very destructive model for the Republican Party,” and those concerns appear to have been vindicated by the outcome of Tuesday’s election. Nevertheless, Limbaugh is blaming Gingrich for the conservative’s defeat:

Here is — these are my thoughts on New York-23. … We cannot forget how this whole thing happened in the first place. There was not a primary. The right message here would indict the way party bosses, Republican Party bosses and these big thinkers like Newt screwed the whole thing up from the get go.

Listen here:

The war between Newt and Rush extends back to earlier this year, when Limbaugh said Gingrich was tearing apart the conservative movement by trying to embrace “better policy ideas.” Gingrich had argued that the “era of Reagan is over,” and that Republicans needed more than simply being the “party of no.” Limbaugh is of course quite comfortable with the “party of no” status.

Limbaugh lumps Fox News into ‘conservative media,’ Chris Wallace doesn’t object.

For weeks now, Fox News has been vigorously objecting to the Obama administration’s contention that the network often acts as “the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party.” But on Fox News Sunday today, host Chris Wallace did not object when Rush Limbaugh included Fox News as an example of the “conservative media” that has been spawned in the wake of his success on the radio:

LIMBAUGH: Look at 1988, there was nobody doing what I’m doing. Nobody. You had CNN was the only cable network and you had the three networks and the newspapers. And now, look, now look what’s out — all this conservative media. Conservative talk radio, television, Fox News, the conservative blogosphere. I mean, in one way, I could, if I wanted to have my ego be as big as Obama’s is, I could say, look what I created.

Instead of pushing back on Limbaugh’s description of Fox as ideologically conservative, Wallace moved on to the next question, saying, “let’s talk about you.” Watch it:

During House hearing on concussions, Rep. King defends Limbaugh and demands Goodell apologize to him.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell testified to the House Judiciary Committee today about “legal issues related to football head injuries.” However, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) decided to use the hearing as an opportunity to defend Rush Limbaugh and quiz Goodell on why the hate radio host couldn’t become an owner of a team, even while “offensive” musicians like Fergie and J-Lo (who have “alleged that the CIA are terrorists and liars” and “used…verbal pornography”) can. “In fact I don’t think that anything Rush Limbaugh said was offensive,” added King. Although he requested that Goodell apologize to Limbaugh, the NFL commissioner never did so, repeating his belief that Limbaugh’s comments about Donovan McNabb were offensive and inappropriate. Watch it:

Limbaugh whines that NFL is an outpost of ‘racism and liberalism.’

Hate radio show host Rush Limbaugh’s bid to purchase a minority stake in the St. Louis Rams failed yesterday, after players, a team owner, the head of the players union, and the commissioner publicly expressed concern about his joining the league based on racist comments he had made in the past. Today, Limbaugh addressed the controversy on his show, saying it was all a ploy by Democrats to villainize him and calling the NFL “outpost of racism and liberalism”:

LIMBAUGH: They [Democrats] have to have a villain to advance everything, because they cannot sell their ideas. They had to demonize me with false, fake, made up quotes. To protect their precious little — National Football League as an outpost of racism and liberalism, which is what it is.

Listen here:

But as Media Matters points out, NFL teams, owners, players and personnel gave overwhelmingly to GOP since 1989. Limbaugh fans are rallying behind him, with some proposing a boycott of the NFL. A RedState blogger strongly supported the hate radio host in a post titled “Tonight… We Are All Rush Limbaugh.”

Limbaugh dropped from bid to purchase St. Louis Rams.

After nearly a week of controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh’s involvement in a bid to purchase the NFL’s St. Louis Rams franchise, ESPN reports today that that the hate radio host has suffered a major defeat. Dave Checketts, chairman of the National Hockey League’s St. Louis Blues and “point man in the Limbaugh group attempting to buy the Rams,” will drop Limbaugh from the bid:

[Checketts] realizes he must remove the controversial conservative radio host from his potential role as a minority member in the group in order to get approval from other NFL owners, the sources said.

Three-quarters of the league’s 32 owners would have to approve any sale to Limbaugh and his group. Earlier this week, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay predicted that Limbaugh’s potential bid would be met by significant opposition. Several players have also voiced their displeasure with Limbaugh’s potential ownership position, and NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith, who is black, urged players to speak out against Limbaugh’s bid.

Limbaugh would not comment on Checkett’s reported move. However, on his radio show today, he remained defiant and defensive, saying criticism of his bid is “all about smearing mainstream, traditional conservatism” and accusing his critics of “spread[ing] lies.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suggests that Limbaugh would not be welcome in the league.

Today, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell essentially came out against Rush Limbaugh’s bid for the St. Louis Rams, saying that based on the hate radio host’s past rhetoric, Limbaugh didn’t live up to the “standard” of the League:

“I’ve said many times before, we’re all held to a high standard here,” Goodell said. Then he continued: “I would not want to see those comments coming from people who are in a responsible position in the NFL –- absolutely not.” [...]

“The comments Rush made specifically about Donovan, I disagree with very strongly,” Goodell said. “It’s a polarizing comment that we don’t think reflect accurately on the N.F.L. or our players. I obviously do not believe those comments are positive and they are divisive. That’s a negative thing for us, obviously.”

In 2003, ESPN fired Limbaugh for arguing that Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated within the sports press because the “media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well.” In recent days, NFL players and the head of the union have also spoken out against the bid, and today, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said he would vote against Limbaugh, calling his past comments “inappropriate, incendiary and insensitive.”

- Ryan Watkins

Limbaugh proudly claims to ‘have spawned’ Glenn Beck.

There have been indications that Rush Limbaugh is growing jealous of Glenn Beck’s success. Limbaugh recently suggested to Politico that Beck’s promotion of the 9/12 march was “cheap and disingenuous.” In the second part of her interview with Limbaugh, NBC’s Jamie Gangel asked the hate radio host what he thinks of Glenn Beck. Limbaugh responded somewhat defensively:

GANGEL: Glenn Beck — do you worry about the new guy on the block?

RUSH LIMBAUGH: No. Look, in 1988, I’m the only national conservative voice. Now look at conservative media. Look what I have spawned. Glenn Beck to me is right on daddy-o. Glenn Beck is a result of my success.

Limbaugh’s attempt to take proud procreative ownership of Beck sickened MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch this morning. “What a megalomanic,” Deutsch said of Rush. “What a scary, distasteful human being he is.” Emphasizing that Beck and Limbaugh are in the business of “selling hate,” Deutsch observed, “Think about what I’ve spawned? Think about someone who even says that. Ick. Ick. Ick.” Watch it:

Head of NFL players union opposes Limbaugh’s bid: Sports are meant to reject ‘discrimination and hatred.’

Since Rush Limbaugh came out and expressed interest in buying the St. Louis Rams, black NFL players have let it be known that they would never play for a team owned by the hate radio host. “He’s a jerk. … He could offer me whatever he wanted, I wouldn’t play for him,” said New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott. Now, NFL Players executive director DeMaurice Smith is also opposing Limbaugh’s bid. In an e-mail to the union’s executive committee yesterday, Smith wrote:

I’ve spoken to the Commissioner [Roger Goodell] and I understand that this ownership consideration is in the early stages. But sport in America is at its best when it unifies, gives all of us reason to cheer, and when it transcends. Our sport does exactly that when it overcomes division and rejects discrimination and hatred. [...]

I have asked our players to embrace their roles not only in the game of football but also as players and partners in the business of the NFL,” said Smith in the e-mail. “They risk everything to play this game, they understand that risk and they live with that risk and its consequences for the rest of their life. We also know that there is an ugly part of history and we will not risk going backwards, giving up, giving in or lying down to it.

Our men are strong and proud sons, fathers, spouses and I am proud when they stand up, understand this is their profession and speak with candor and blunt honesty about how they feel.

In 2003, ESPN fired Limbaugh from Sunday NFL Countdown for saying that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the “media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well.”

Beck: Obama should turn down the Nobel and give it ‘to the Tea Party goers and the 9-12 Project.’

Engaging in a bit of explicit blog-baiting on his radio show today, Glenn Beck declared the naming of President Obama as this year’s Nobel Peace Prize recipient “the last nail in the coffin” for the credibility of the Nobel committee. Beck conspiratorially claimed that the award revealed that “these progressives are extraordinarily powerful and this campaign of Barack Obama, this global campaign for Barack Obama is done by global interests that have extraordinary power. They’re very well-connected.” Beck said that the prize should have instead been given “to the Tea Party goers” who have protested Obama:

BECK: Of all things, the Nobel Peace Prize should be turned down by Barack Obama and given — you ready for this, oh this one’s going to make headlines — should be give to the Tea Party goers and the 9-12 Project. … Because of the arrogance of the progressives that thought no one would stand in their way. That he would be able to accomplish everything. Two weeks into his presidency, they nominated him for it and said, “oh this is going to be a slam dunk.” Because of the Tea Party goers and the 9-12 Project people that stood in his way and stopped him from accomplishing the things that he thought, “please, I’m the Messiah, I’ll be able to accomplish that.”

Listen here:

Beck’s radio rival, Rush Limbaugh, was more caustic, telling Newsweek, “The Nobel gang just suicide bombed themselves. Gore, Carter, Obama, soon Bill Clinton. See a pattern here? They are all leftist sell-outs.

Miss America pageant selects sexist Rush Limbaugh to judge its competition.

Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren reported on her blog last night that the Miss America Organization (MAO) announced that hate radio host Rush Limbaugh will be named as one of the seven judges for the 2010 Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas:

Limbaugh will be one of a panel of seven distinguished judges that will help decide which of the 53 contestants will capture the Miss America 2010 title and serve as the Goodwill Ambassador for the Children’s Miracle Network, as well as introduce the first Go Green platform for MAO. [...]

“We are thrilled to have Rush join us for our pageant this year,” said MAO President and CEO, Art McMaster. “He will bring a thrilling new dimension to the competition and we know that the 2010 Miss America Pageant will be filled with new twists and exciting opportunities with him as one of our national judges.”

It’s odd that Limbaugh will take part in choosing someone who will ultimately help the MAO “Go Green,” considering that he is a staunch anti-environmentalist. But the MAO’s choice is most shocking because of his fairly solid history of making sexist remarks. He has once said that women love Hillary Clinton because they’ve “had two or three abortions,” that women “live longer than men because their lives are easier,” and that all women want is to be hired as “eye candy.” Limbaugh also regularly rails against feminism, the “feminization of this culture,” “feminazis,” and the “chickification” of America. Unsurprisingly, women don’t like Rush Limbaugh. One wonders what MAO President Art McCaster is so “thrilled” about.

Bachmann: I’m comfortable with Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck being the voices of the GOP.

Tonight on CNN’s Larry King Live, a panel that included Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) discussed the impact and influence of the 24-hour cable news chatter. Bachmann once again demonstrated her true love for Fox News, arguing that Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck are gaining audiences because “people go where they think they’re going to hear the truth.” King then pressed Bachmann on whether she wants those right-wing pundits to be the “voice of the Republican Party”:

KING: Would you want the Limbaugh, that crowd — would you want them to be your voice as the Republican Party stands in this country?

BACHMANN: Well remember it’s who the American people are referring to Larry. And the American people are looking to voices like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck –

KING: I just told you — it’s 2 percent of America. It’s 2 percent!

BACHMANN: If you look for a critical mass, that’s the movement, that’s the direction that the critical mass is going. And the American people are very smart people.

Watch it:

Bachmann’s answer got a chuckle out of Larry King. “That’s funny,” he said.

Group marches for ‘white civil rights’ after Limbaugh hyped bus beating as a hate crime against whites.

Hate radio host Rush Limbaugh recently cast a fight between three Belleville, IL schoolchildren — the two attackers were black and the victim was white — as what happens to “white kids” in “Obama’s America.” Even though police said the bus fight was not racially motivated, Limbaugh insisted, “We need segregated buses.” On Saturday, members of white supremacist groups marched in Belleville holding signs echoing Limbaugh’s rhetoric that said, “It was a hate crime“:

While a police sniper watched from the roof of the police station, 22 members of white supremacist groups, shouted obscenities and made obscene hand gestures. One man, who had a crew cut and wore a black uniform, told the crowd of onlookers, “Wake up white America!”

“We were out there to denounce the violence,” said Belleville resident Jason Bonn, who is a corporal with the National Socialist Movement, a group with a name similar to the Nazi Party of Germany during World War II. Bonn’s group is “fighting for white civil rights.”

Several spectators “booed the white supremacist rally and shouted ‘Go home.’”

Limbaugh says we need to return to ‘segregated buses.’

Last week, a video of a school bus beating showing two African American children assaulting a white student began circulating the internet. Despite claims by authorities that the attack was not necessarily racially motivated, hate radio host Rush Limbaugh jumped on the story and claimed that in “Obama’s America the white kids now get beat up.” Yesterday, Limbaugh proposed a solution to this problem — a return to segregated busing:

LIMBAUGH: I think the guy’s wrong. I think not only it was racism, it was justifiable racism. I mean, that’s the lesson we’re being taught here today. Kid shouldn’t have been on the bus anyway. We need segregated buses — it was invading space and stuff. This is Obama’s America.

Watch it: