Apparently, a full hour of Rush Limbaugh was so nice for “liberal” Greta Van Susteren that she did it twice – in one week! And just as she did the first time, Van Susteren was full of softball questions, only, last night. Limbaugh’s recent “nigga” remark, part of his comments about the George Zimmerman trial, that was widely condemned? Not a word from Van Susteren, even though she asked if he had “anything to say” about the verdict.
As Media Matters noted,
Limbaugh was widely criticized for his remarks on race in the wake of the “not guilty” verdict in the murder trial of George Zimmerman.
On the July 16 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show, Limbaugh claimed that he could say “Nigga’ with an a” because “it’s not racist.” A week later Limbaugh declared “If any race of people should not have guilt about slavery, it’s Caucasians.” “It’s time for all this white guilt to end,” Limbaugh said.
Considering that Van Susteren was very concerned about African Americans being inflammatory over the Zimmerman verdict, you’d think she might have challenged Limbaugh over his comments. But no.
Instead, Van Susteren brought up the Zimmerman case by asking, “Do you have anything to say about the Zimmerman verdict?” As if Limbaugh hadn’t already said anything noteworthy.
“I was shocked,” Limbaugh replied, saying that he thought “the fear of civil unrest” would ensure a “not guilty” verdict. But that didn’t stop him from smearing African Americans (and Democrats) anyway:
...(F)orces…(were) out there trying to gin people up. …There were people out there subtly, in a subconscious way, encouraging civil unrest.
Instead of challenging Limbaugh and pointing out that Trayvon Martin’s parents had called for calm, as had Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and President Obama, Van Susteren asked Limbaugh what he thought about Bill O’Reilly’s recent comments about race – which she characterized as “the terrible things that are going on in the inner city and the families that are deteriorating, basically, the social issues.”
Now let me be clear, because I know Van Susteren doesn’t like me and has accused me of misinterpreting her desire to heal racial wounds. I do not think Van Susteren, unlike Hannity and O’Reilly, is a bigot. But in this case, she directly served to advance the cause of bigotry, either because she missed it in her colleagues or chose to overlook it for professional reasons. And even if she did not notice the hostility in O’Reilly’s recent racial rants, the way she described the African American community (full of “terrible things” and “deteriorating” families) was hardly an opening for a positive, healing message. Especially if you’re dealing with a guy like Limbaugh.
And it’s funny how, if Limbaugh thinks it’s now OK to use the word “nigga” and it’s time for white guilt to end, he didn’t say a word about that. Instead, he argued, essentially, that African Americans are a mess, thanks to the Democrats they keep stupidly voting for because they have “silly” and “bogus” views of Republicans:
"I’ve had black people calling my radio show for 25 years," Limbaugh claimed, who told him, “Rush, the problem is what the Democrat party, what big government policies have done to the black family. They’ve destroyed it.” As he spoke, a banner on the screen underscored that point: RUSH: POLICIES OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAVE DESTROYED THE BLACK FAMILY.
He continued, “That’s why I’ve asked African Americans, ‘You keep voting for 50 years for these people that are promising you this panacea and nothing’s changing.’ And they all say, ‘Cause the Republicans are racists. And I know they don’t like us.’ Well, that’s just bogus, it’s silly. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican.”
Yes, if only African Americans would wake up and realize that some of their best friends are Republicans – from 150 years ago.
The Zimmerman clip is below. You can watch more of the infomercial interview on FoxNews.com.
Interesting article. There was a segment in the interview where Rush talked about his wife and it sounded like they were rather disconnected from each other.
But speaking of which, check out this Enquirer article (Yeah, I know. But they got it right about John Edwards) about how Rushbo’s young wife was pissed off about his Fluke commentary.
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/rush-limbaugh-marriage-rocks
And Rush, you’re such a pro-lifer. Where are your babies? You and wife number 4 haven’t done your duty to god and country by producing offspring. What’s up with that?!
LOL, the GOP is trying to pay it backward!!! Actually, by today’s extremist GOP standards, Lincoln was a real liberal. Not only was he sympathetic to those whom today’s extremist GOP claim are thugs and “takers,” but he wasn’t officially connected with a church, either.