Gretchen Carlson joined Fox News’ race war on Oprah Winfrey on today's Real Story. And she turned to Rush Limbaugh, of all people, for ammunition. Ironically, Carlson proved Winfrey’s point – that some attacks on President Obama are because of his race - even while trying to vilify her as a race baiter.

It was bad enough that the discussion about Winfrey’s comments was among three white people. But to cite Limbaugh to rebut Winfrey? I guess Glenn Beck wasn’t available.

Carlson introduced the segment by saying:

Two media titans now duking it out over President Obama. With Rush Limbaugh calling out Oprah Winfrey after she claimed the disrespect the president faces stems from racism.

Actually, Winfrey said SOME of the disrespect stems from racism. But why quibble when you can cue up Limbaugh and use Winfrey’s comments as an excuse to do exactly what she was talking about: use race to attack President Obama.

Of course, there was no mention of Limbaugh’s long history of race-baiting attacks on President Obama. Carlson just played a clip of Limbaugh saying:

If there is a level of disrespect simply because he’s black then how, Oprah, have you managed to become the at-one-time most popular and certainly wealthiest television personality? How does that happen?”

But even then Carlson selectively edited Limbaugh. I’ve got the clip of Limbaugh below (the second video). What got left out was his blatant, racial resentment toward Winfrey. In his more complete response, Limbaugh scorned Winfrey for misidentifying Rep. Joe Wilson as a Senator and citing his “You lie” outburst during Obama's State of the Union as an example of shocking disrespect:

Then how the hell did you become who you are?  Why hasn’t anybody in your audience, Oprah, ever said, “You lie!”?  Because you have.  It wasn’t a senator, Oprah.  It was a congressman by the name of Joe Wilson, and he was right.  Obama was lying.  My God, Oprah.  You know, I gotta be really careful ’cause I know Oprah is a goddess to a lot of people, but my goodness, folks.  These people are not nearly as smart as they think they are, and they don’t know nearly what they think they know.  They are embarrassingly ignorant.  It wasn’t a senator.  It was a congressman.  And it’s not because he was black.  It’s because he was lying, Oprah!  He’s lying now!

But Oprah, if black people are so mistreated and so disrespected, then how in the name of Sam Hill, did you happen? Would somebody explain that to me?

Nevertheless, Carlson framed the matter as a he said/she said and asked her panel, “Who’s right in this battle… or are they both wrong?”

Carlson Joins The Pile-On Against Oprah

We didn’t have to wait long to discover which side Carlson came down on. Carlson said to her conservative guest, “I do have to say that Joe Wilson – I mean, may have been on to something.”

Memo to Gretch. It wasn’t the sentiment, it was the way it was expressed. The fact that you’re just backing up Wilson – while condoning his extremely disrespectful behavior – actually validates Winfrey’s point rather than refutes it.

It’s funny how these Fox News conservatives attacking Oprah often want you to know how much they like her – right before they give her a racial scolding. Conservative guest Chris Plante said:

I’ve always kind of liked Oprah. There’s a lot to like about Oprah (Carlson agreed: “Sure”), I think. She’s an extraordinary American success story (“Right!” chirped Carlson) and she should recognize that. The president of the United States is black and he’s the president of the United States.

Now, Oprah, I think – they’ve become so accustomed to playing the race card, in matters having to do with Obama, that’s become the first refuge of the liberal scoundrel, to just cry racism at every turn.

Carlson didn’t challenge a word. She turned to liberal Leslie Marshall and asked a “Cavuto mark” of a question designed to discredit Oprah as some kind of race hustler. “So if anyone questions President Obama, then are they a racist?”

Of course, that’s not at all what Oprah was saying. Marshall did a good job of pointing that out. She also pointed out that it was Wilson’s disrespectful behavior toward the Commander in Chief, not his disagreement with Obama’s policy that Oprah was speaking to.

But Marshall is a Fox News contributor. So, sadly, she remained mum on the race baiting of President Obama that has run rampant on the “fair and balanced” network. See here for some examples, if you need any.

Nor did Marshall challenge Fox's agenda in holding this discussion in the first place. As I wrote last night, even if you hate what Oprah said, why is Fox making such a big deal of her relatively innocuous comments?

I previously noted that last night, O’Reilly devoted the top three segments of his show to this non-story. The Hannity show also held one. This Carlson segment makes at least five discussions. I saw another one on Hannity and another on O’Reilly tonight, too. This, after Fox News barely stopped making racial attacks on Winfrey for speaking out about the Trayvon Martin case. Even though his acquitted killer, George Zimmerman, looks guiltier than ever.

Methinks Fox not only protests too much, they’re using Oprah Winfrey as a scapegoat to justify their bad race behavior. Shame on them.