T-shirts for sale in Georgia compare Obama to ‘Curious George.’
T-shirts for sale in Georgia compare Obama to ‘Curious George.’
Mike Norman, a bar owner in Marietta, GA, who is peddling t-shirts that feature “a look-a-like of cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with ‘Obama in ‘08′ underneath” claims that the shirts are “not meant to offend,” despite his acknowledgment of “the imagery’s Jim Crow roots“:
Norman acknowledged the imagery’s Jim Crow roots but said he sees nothing wrong with depicting a prominent African-American as a monkey.
“We’re not living in the (19)40’s,” he said. “Look at him…the hairline, the ears — he looks just like Curious George.”
Radar notes that Norman could have been inspired by listening to Rush Limbaugh, who apologized on-air earlier this year after laughing at a caller’s suggestion that Obama “looks like Curious George.”
Hispanic media coalition calls Limbaugh’s comment ‘nasty, bigoted, racist.’
Hispanic media coalition calls Limbaugh’s comment ‘nasty, bigoted, racist.’
Brian Maloney of the right-wing site Radio Equalizer defends Rush Limbaugh’s comment about Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa being a “shoe shine guy.” “As to Limbaugh’s remark, was it indeed racist? This one’s easy: not at all!” writes Maloney. “There’s nothing race-specific about his comment. Are ‘shoe-shine guys’ usually Hispanic? No.” Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, has quite a different take:
What can I tell you? It’s the same kind of nasty, bigoted, racist type of comment that has become so prevalent in today’s society, as practiced by Lou Dobbs, as practiced by [Sean] Hannity, [Bill] O’Reilly, [Michael] Savage — all these guys who are appealing to a particular bigoted audience, and fanning the fires of bigotry and racism by doing these kinds of things without real concern about the consequences of their words.
Media Overlook Limbaugh’s Ethnically-Charged Insult Against LA Mayor
Media Overlook Limbaugh’s Ethnically-Charged Insult Against LA Mayor
Yesterday, as ThinkProgress reported, Rush Limbaugh went on Fox News and insulted Los Angeles’s Hispanic mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Limbaugh said that when he first met Villaraigosa, he thought he “was either the shoe shine guy or a Secret Service agent.” Yesterday on his radio show, Limbaugh again repeated the story:
I shook his hand, he left, comes back, the mayor of Los Angeles, I thought it was a Secret Service agent, maybe a shoeshine guy. Turns out he gives me his card, I said, “Oh, my gosh, it’s the mayor of Los Angeles.” I stood up, I said, “Hello, Mr. Villaraigosa.
Limbaugh’s remarks were in response to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) joke that he has a crush on her. While major media outlets reported on Limbaugh’s Fox apearance, all overlooked his insult to Villaraigosa:
ABC’s Jake Tapper: Tapper noted the “shoe shine” quote, but did not note its discriminatory nature. [Link]
Time’s Mark Halperin: Halperin did not note the “shoe shine” quote at all, focusing instead on Limbaugh’s allegations that President Bill Clinton hit on his date. [Link]
Politico’s Jonathan Martin: Martin also did not note the “shoe shine” quote and also focused instead on Limbaugh’s allegations that Clinton hit on his date. [Link]
Portfolio reports that Villaraigosa plans to release a statement today in response to Limbaugh’s comments. Perhaps then the media might notice.
There will be no national debate about whether he should step down as there was when Imus referred to a women's basketball team in a derogatory fashion. There will be no national outrage like there was following the racist vocal vomiting of "comedian" Michael Richards. There will be no slam down and painful lame excuses like those offered by Mel Gibson after his anti-Semitic comments. The rules for Latinos are different.Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition also responds here.
Limbaugh on Hispanic mayor of LA: I thought he was either a ’shoe shine guy or a Secret Service agent.’
Limbaugh on Hispanic mayor of LA: I thought he was either a ’shoe shine guy or a Secret Service agent.’
Today, Rush Limbaugh appeared on Fox News to discuss to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) joke that he has a crush on her. Limbaugh responded with a story about how President Bill Clinton once allegedly tried to hit on his date. He said that Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was with Clinton, distracted him, because he wasn’t sure if Villaraigosa was a “shoe shine guy” or a “Secret Service agent”:
I understand now why Bill Clinton hit on my date about a year ago at the Kobe Club in New York. I was minding my own business and Clinton came in. And the short version is he used the mayor of Los Angeles to distract me, while hitting on my date. […]
He came over three or four times, had Ron Burkle with him and the mayor of Los Angeles, who I thought was either the shoe shine guy or a Secret Service agent.
Watch it:
More here on Limbaugh’s knowledge of the “Spanish” people.
Limbaugh’s listeners ‘most numerous’ during his commercials.
Limbaugh’s listeners ‘most numerous’ during his commercials.
A new study by a radio consulting firm finds that Rush Limbaugh’s listeners fans “are at their most numerous when he is not even speaking.” The right-wing pundit’s “share of radio listeners was greatest during commercials, beating his share during on-air segments by 0.18 percentage point.” The study found that listeners “tuned in during commercials so as not to miss the beginning of each segment.” The study also found that Limbaugh “did worst during minutes in which he was expressing approval, with a 5.43 percent average share of listeners. He had 5.71 percent of listeners when expressing negative opinions.”
Limbaugh: Obama has ‘disowned his white half.’
During his show on Friday, Rush Limbaugh insisted that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) “disowned his white half” by standing by his pastor, Jeremiah Wright:
This is the stuff, this is the part that might bother some of you. It is clear that Senator Obama has disowned his white half. He’s decided he’s got to go all in on the black side.
Limbaugh has a long history of attacking Obama’s race. He said Obama should “renounce” his race and “become white.” Limbaugh has also referred to Obama as “Osama,” and aired a song on his program called “Barack the Magic Negro.”
(HT: Media Matters)
Rush Smears 12-Yr Old: ‘They Filled His Head With Lies Just As They Have Some Of These Soldiers’
Rush Smears 12-Yr Old: ‘They Filled His Head With Lies Just As They Have Some Of These Soldiers’
Yesterday, ThinkProgress noted the right wing has been orchestrating a coordinated effort to smear a 12 year old recipient of SCHIP. These conservatives have been propagating baseless “facts” to suggest that young Graeme Frost was actually a rich kid being pampered by the government.
Rush Limbaugh has joined in the smear campaign. On his radio show yesterday, Rush introduced his hit job on Graeme by saying, “I had some rudimentary information on this two weeks ago, and it wasn’t enough for me to trust going with. But since then, it has been verified, and most of it’s been verified by a ‘Freeper’ at Free Republic.” Apparently, a posting by a “freeper” is all Rush needs for confirmation.
Rush proceeded to recycle the myths that Graeme and his sister must be fat-cat recipients of government welfare because they attend “one of Baltimore’s expensive private schools” and own a house in a decent neighborhood. As we noted yesterday, Graeme has a scholarship to the private school. His sister’s tuition is covered by the state due to her brain injuries, and the house was purchased for $55,000 in 1991 when the neighborhood was not as safe as it is today.
Limbaugh then tried to draw a parallel between Graeme and his “phony soldiers” remark:
So the bottom line for me is: They can’t rely on truth to make their case for their cause. They have to lie. Be it about me, be it about their own voters (such as the Frosts) be it about President Bush, they must lie — and anybody who stands in the way of their succeeding with that lie becomes an enemy, becomes a target. That’s where I and my buddies in talk radio come in. We are a thorn in their side because we represent the truth they are trying to hide, the truth that they are lying about, and they have to do something about it — and they have to do that by lying. […]
They send the kid out to lie. They filled this kid’s head with lies just as they have some of these soldiers about me. Put lies in the kid’s head or put it on the script that he’s reading. He goes out and reads it. He’s 12-years-old! They will use anybody! They’ll corrupt anybody, to get where they’re headed. That’s who they are, folks.
Listen to it:
The real “bottom line” is: Rush propagates baseless information from a “freeper” to attack a 12-year old, fails to determine the facts for himself, and then accuses others of not being able to “rely on truth to make their case.”
When right-wingers attack soldiers who disagree with them on Iraq or kids who disagree with them on health care, that is indeed where Rush and his “hate radio” buddies “come in.” The right-wing attack machine personally assaults anyone for daring to disagree.
Sestak: ‘I condemn the words’ Limbaugh used.
Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) said this morning on Fox News that he would likely join Rep. Mark Udall’s (D-CO) resolution to condemn Rush Limbaugh’s “phony soldiers” remark. He explained, “I condemn the words that MoveOn.org used, not the organization’s right to say it. I condemn the words, if this is how it’s stated — that Rush Limbaugh used, not his right to state it.” Sestak, who retired as a Navy admiral after serving for 31 years, lashed out at Limbaugh’s smear against pro-withdrawal troops, arguing that it’s important to encourage military people to “think and critique differently”:
Your military remembers that age-old maxim from the 1600s that a nation that draws a broad line of demarcation between its thinking men and its fighting men will find its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools. You need to have military people who think and critique differently.
Watch it:
Senate Democratic Leaders Demand Apology For Limbaugh’s ‘Outrageous,’ ‘Unconscionable’ Remarks
Senate Democratic Leaders Demand Apology For Limbaugh’s ‘Outrageous,’ ‘Unconscionable’ Remarks
ThinkProgress has obtained a letter being circulated on Capitol Hill today by the Senate Democratic Leadership that calls on Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays to repudiate its employee Rush Limbaugh’s “phony troops” remark. Clear Channel is Limbaugh’s parent company, and it owns or operates at least 1,165 radio stations in the United States.
The letter, signed by Sens. Harry Reid (D-NV, Dick Durbin (D-IL), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Patty Murray (D-WA), states that Limbaugh’s comments were “outrageous” and “unconscionable”:
Although Americans of goodwill debate the merits of this war, we can all agree that those who serve with such great courage deserve our deepest respect and gratitude. That is why Rush Limbaugh’s recent characterization of troops who oppose the war as “phony soldiers” is such an outrage.
Our troops are fighting and dying to bring to others the freedoms that many take for granted. It is unconscionable that Mr. Limbaugh would criticize them for exercising the fundamentally American right to free speech. Mr. Limbaugh has made outrageous remarks before, but this affront to our soldiers is beyond the pale.
Yesterday, ThinkProgress asked whether lawmakers who voted to attack a MoveOn newspaper ad would now condemn Limbaugh. The Senate leadership is challenging all their colleagues to demonstrate whether they can show principled condemnation by signing onto the letter. It specifically calls on Clear Channel to issue an apology and demands Limbaugh do the same:
Thousands of active troops and veterans were subjected to Mr. Limbaugh’s unpatriotic and indefensible comments on your broadcast. We trust you will agree that not a single one of our sons, daughters, neighbors and friends serving overseas is a “phony soldier.” We call on you to publicly repudiate these comments that call into question their service and sacrifice and to ask Mr. Limbaugh to apologize for his comments.
Read the full letter here. Call your Senators and ask them to sign on.
UPDATE: More smears against the military by Limbaugh. Huff Post notes that he called Iraq war vet Paul Hackett a “staff puke,” claiming he went to Iraq “to pad [his] resume,” and attacked him as “a liberal hiding behind a military uniform.”