Roger Goodell

Last week Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa) made quite a splash when he raked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell over the coals for the decision to stop Rush Limbaugh from becoming an owner of the St. Louis Rams.

On Wednesday I spoke to King about this episode as well as it's bigger meaning as it pertains to what's happening in America today.

King described what he sees as "victimology and multiculturalism...where the liberals decide that they’re going to be the judges of what goes on in the heads of people."

As a result, he wasn't going to sit by and watch Goodell "pass judgment on Rush Limbaugh for what he thought Rush thought" or for what "some irresponsible bloggers had to say about what Rush said."

In King's view, the witch hunt against Limbaugh is emblematic of how liberals and the media "have been so steeped in this for so long that they believe they're right, and they believe that the people that disagree with them are evil racists."

As such, King feels the Left have adopted the Marxist philosophy of Antonio Gramsci who argued "a lie [has] as much virtue as the truth, you just [need] to create the case for that in the constituency group that would support the lies" (20-minute audio available here with relevant section beginning at 2:15, transcript below the fold): 

While NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was calling conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh too "divisive" to own a professional football team, rapper Snoop Dogg was appearing in television ads for ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown."

I guess Goodell and other higher-ups within the league weren't concerned with having a man possessing multiple felony charges against him including murder do commercials for the highly-watched Sunday pre-game show on the nation's leading sports cable network.

Maybe Goodell should have looked at Snoop's rap sheet before he derided Limbaugh right out of an ownership position with the St. Louis Rams (ESPN commercial embedded below the fold along with Wikipedia highlights of the rapper's legal issues, h/t NB reader Shekhar Jain): 

Congressman King's insistence for an apology yesterday is exactly what we have been calling on the media to do since they first misrepresented the fictitious, racist quotes attributed to Rush Limbaugh. Rep. King set the record straight, exposing the outright fabrications and distortions attributed to Limbaugh. [see our "Tell the Truth" Web page detailing the media's smears of Limbaugh] 

He was absolutely correct to hold the NFL accountable for caving to pressure from the left-wing extremists out to destroy a conservative leader - as well as the media who were complicit in these attempts.

The Congressman aptly noted that if the parsing of words was the real reason the NFL forbade Rush from placing a bid for the Rams, then they must hold all NFL owners to the same level of scrutiny.  For starters, Miami Dolphins owners Fergie and J-Lo should be among the first disqualified given the disturbing, violent and pornographic lyrics they publicly perform on a regular basis.

We offer our thanks and commendation to Rep. King for having the backbone to say enough is enough and call out the NFL for their cowardly hypocrisy.  We need more Congressmen like him to herald the truth for those who refuse to acknowledge it."  

As NewsBusters previously reported, Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa grilled NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Wednesday about conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh being denied ownership in the St. Louis Rams despite pop artists Fergie and Jennifer Lopez having minority interests in the Miami Dolphins.

In King's view, Fergie and J-Lo's offensive behavior in the past don't fit Goodell's own highly-publicized standards that "Divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about."

Although Limbaugh has posted a response to this hearing at his own website, he has been kind enough to elaborate for our readers:

UPDATE AT END OF POST: Limbaugh responds to today's hearing.

During Wednesday's Congressional hearing about head injuries in football, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) ripped NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell over the decision to not allow conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh to own a team when pop artists Fergie and Jennifer Lopez do.

As NewsBusters reported on October 17, Fergie and J-Lo are part owners of the Miami Dolphins despite having incidents in their respective pasts that are far more offensive than anything Limbaugh was accused of.

With this obvious hypocrisy in mind, King gave Goodell quite a tongue-lashing (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript):

Media Research Center (MRC) President Brent Bozell took to the MRC studio Saturday morning for an interview with "Fox & Friends" about how the media latched onto phony quotes attributed to Rush Limbaugh, helping to scuttle his St. Louis Rams ownership bid.

Bozell also commented on how NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell insisted his quarrel with the radio talk show host was his "polarizing comments" about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb back in 2003.

"Nine out of ten people have no idea what Roger Goodell is talking about" and those who do know what Goodell was referencing know that "again, Rush Limbaugh was right," that some sports journalists hyped an overrated McNabb because of politically correct considerations [MP3 audio available here]:

After conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh was forced out of a consortium seeking to buy the National Football League's St. Louis Rams, there's evidence there is a double standard at play in the NFL.

Last week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that people in "responsible positions" in his league are held to a "higher standard," reacting to the notion that Limbaugh could be a part-owner of an NFL franchise.

"I have said many times before that we are all held to a higher standard here," Goodell said. "I think divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about. I would not want to see those kind of comments from people who are in a responsible position within the NFL. No. Absolutely not."

Analysis and video below fold

Is NFL Players Association Chief DeMaurice Smith being forthright when he contends he wants to protect the sport from "discrimination and hatred" as he has claims, or is he engaging in partisan hackery, with the benefit of having the ear of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell? If you look at Smith's past, you might come to that conclusion.

As NewsBusters Noel Sheppard pointed out Sunday, ESPN's Chris Mortensen shared Smith's concerns on the network's Web site Oct. 11 based on an e-mail Smith had sent which said the following:

"I've spoken to the Commissioner [Roger Goodell] and I understand that this ownership consideration is in the early stages," Smith wrote. "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."