Mark Whittington
New Hardball Strategy from Limbaugh
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Democrat of Texas took to the floor of the House to explain why Rush Limbaugh ought not to be allowed to own a NFL football team. Rush Limbaugh took to the airways October 14th to make her wish she hadn't.
Sheila Jackson Lee was only one of several people who felt Rush Limbaugh's ire over the controversy in which Rush is being accused of racism based on fabricated quotes. Other people feeling Rush's wrath included CNN reporter Rick Sanchez, whom Rush Limbaugh mentioned had been involved in a hit-and-run accident while drunk while a reporter in Miami, and Senate Majority Harry Reid, whom Rush reminded his listeners is—well—Harry Reid.
Rush Limbaugh told an old story about how Jesse Jackson had lied about Martin Luther King dying in his arms, though apparently he had arrived in time to smear the blood of the iconic civil rights leader on his own clothes to make it look like he had been present. Tawana Brawley was trotted out to beat Al Sharpton over the head with. Rush also accused Al Sharpton of running a shake down racket.
But it was Sheila Jackson Lee who was the special subject of Rush Limbaugh's new policy of answering attacks. Rush inquired, "I wonder if Ms. Jackson Lee to have any regard for the truth. Does she have any regard for hoping, desiring to sound intelligent and knowledgeable, or is she content to be happy and proud to go the floor of the House of Representatives and make a fool of herself?
"Rush Limbaugh went on to relate an old story about Sheila Jackson Lee. It seems that Sheila Jackson Lee was present at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory when the Mars Pathfinder landed in the mid 1990s. Sheila Jackson Lee inquired whether the rover would be able to roll over to where astronauts had planted the American flag.
The problem is that astronauts have yet to visit Mars at all, not to mention plant any flags on its surface. Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents a district in Houston and sits on committees that deal with NASA, did not know that astronauts had in fact planted flags on the Moon
Rush Limbaugh is apparently adding to the legal strategy that he explained on October 13th's broadcast. The idea seems to be that if you launch against Rush Limbaugh, call him names, or lie about him, he will launch against you in responds with overwhelming force. If you go after Rush and have a skeleton in your closet, that skeleton will be trotted out for all to see.
Sources: Limbaugh fires back at 'fool' Jackson Lee for NFL floor speech, Bob Cusak, The Hill, October 14th, 2009
Rick Sanchez of CNN Ran Over a Man Then Fled the Scene. Two Hours Later, Sanchez Was Still Drunk, Erik Erikson, Red State, October 14th, 2009
Jesse Jackson Aims For The Mainstream, Joyce Purnick and Michael Oreskes, New York Times, November 29th, 1987
Sharpton's Million Dollar Shakedown Racket, Sabel Vincent and Susan Edelman, Sweetness and Light, June 15th, 2008
The Smearing of Rush Limbaugh, Mark R. Whittington, Associated Content, October 14th, 2009
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Source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2285345/rush_limbaugh_hits_back_at_sheila_jackson.html?cat=62
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Related:
Democrat Congresswoman Bashes Rush Limbaugh on House Floor
By Noel Sheppard (Bio Archive)October 14, 2009 - 11:39 ET
Monday night's football game between the Jets and the Dolphins might have been the best so far this year, but nothing is matching the entertainment value of the Left's hysteria concerning conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh's bid to buy the St. Louis Rams.
The fiscally-challenged Democrats could actually balance the budget if they sold beer, popcorn, and hot dogs every time some liberal politician or media member stepped in front of a microphone to express why the Excellence in Broadcasting chief isn't qualified to own a football team.
On Tuesday alone Congress could have raised a fortune if it would have sold tickets to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's (D-Tex.) hyperventilation about Limbaugh on the floor of the House of Representatives (video embedded below the fold with transcript, relevant section at 2:30, h/t Story Balloon, file photo):
Let me finally move to another topic and offer my thoughts. Even though I believe in the first amendment and the right to freedom of association, but I stand with the NFL Players Association not to make Rush Limbaugh any kind of national standard or a national hero or the national issue. I'll let my friends on the other side of the aisle determine what he is and what he is not.
Stop the tape: notice how she just said, "I'll let my friends on the other side of the aisle determine what he is and what he is not." That sentiment didn't last long:
But I know that he is not the kind of owner that the NFL needs.
Didn't she just say she was going to let her friends on the other side of the aisle determine what he is not? But I digress:
He does not represent the fullness of appreciation of athletes of all diverse backgrounds no matter what he wants to pretend to say on his radio station. But he is one who is divisive just as they're about to select him as a judge for a Miss America contest. I can't understand that, but that is their choice. Maybe they think he'll bring in millions of listeners, but can you imagine a poor girl scared already to be able to ask a question about the person she admires most, and she says somebody that happens to be a different political affiliation. She is, of course, not a winner. But that's their decision.
Hmmm. You mean like how Carrie Prejean didn't win the Miss USA pageant a few months ago because of HER political views? Where was the Congresswoman when THAT happened?
From this act of uproarious hypocrisy, Jackson Lee predictably moved to Donovan McNabb:
NFL has become one of America's pastimes. All of us from all walks of life and economic backgrounds look at the NFL. I know that there are far better owners that could be selected than one package that has this gentleman in it. I'd ask the NFL owners to put standards in place, criteria, base it on integrity, not just the bottom buck. Anybody that wants to call a quarterback in Pennsylvania and call him out - he happens to be African-American - as not being competent, just somebody that the media has promoted, not being talented. Interestingly enough, that football player is, happens to still be playing and doing a great job.
Well I don't know why in the heck other than the big dollar that Rush Limbaugh would be interested in the NFL. And so, we're not interested in him either.
Wait a minute. What if it is exclusively about money. What's wrong with someone investing in a sports franchise because he or she thinks it's a good longterm investment? Would that be terrible if that was Limbaugh's sole motivation?
Of course, it isn't, for Limbaugh is a diehard football fan who now finds himself in the financial position to invest in something he loves. I guess the Congresswoman doesn't understand that:
And I would hope, though this is not my choice, this is not a government issue as well as it is an issue of integrity for those of us who believe that this is a great sport that brings all of us together.
Well, if this isn't a government issue, why are you talking about it on the House floor?
I would hesitate to say that he is not someone who brings people together. And I just simply ask those owners to do the right thing, have a criteria, a standard, a bottom line of integrity. It's not all about the dollar. It's about the value of sports and teamwork and working together and bringing young people together and looking at values that are not political that are simply about us getting along as a nation, being admired by the world for having a great sporting community if you will whether it's baseball, basketball, football, soccer, tennis, golf. That's what it's about. NFL owners, have some integrity. I think you need a different owner team.
Hmmm. So sports aren't about the dollar? Then why do athletes make more in a year than most Americans will in their entire lives? And why do companies spend so much to advertise during games?
And what about her comment that sports are about "looking at values that are not political?" Isn't that EXACTLY what the Congresswoman did on the House floor Tuesday -- look at Limbaugh's values that ARE political?
Indeed, this entire issue has become political because Limbaugh represents conservatism, and the Left along with their media minions just can't stand it.
As a result this battle has a long way to go; folks better stock up on peanuts, popcorn, and Cracker Jacks if they REALLY want to enjoy the show.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters
Source: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/10/14/democrat-congresswoman-bashes-rush-limbaugh-house-floor
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