One of the most damaging accusations you can level at opponent is call that individual a racist in one form or another. And that's the tactic MSNBC and others left-wing opponents of Rush Limbaugh are taking to thwart his bid to purchase the St. Louis Rams.
During a segment on MSNBC on Oct. 13, former Pulitzer Prize winner Karen Hunter appeared to voice her opposition to the Limbaugh's NFL bid. She made one of the most outrageous - likening Limbaugh's ownership of an NFL team to being a plantation owner, a metaphor that invokes the image of antebellum South during the 19th Century, when slavery was rampant.
"I can just see the visions of plantation grandeur dancing in his head as we speak," Hunter said. "Yeah, it doesn't make you a racist to want to own a team. But, it does kind of with all his history question his power position over these players who make millions of dollars and his ability to be able to move them around, deny them contracts and do whatever he wants willy-nilly. It's the ultimate power position to be an owner of an NFL team."
Hunter is the author of notable works of literature - "Pimpology: The 48 Laws of the Game," "Don't Blame It on Rio: The Real Deal Behind Why Men Go to Brazil for Sex"and "On the Down Low: A Journey Into the Lives of "Straight" Black Men Who Sleep With Men," which to MSNBC makes her uniquely qualified to comment on Limbaugh having an ownership stake in the NFL.
The journalism teacher also used to a highly questionable quote to further her charge against Limbaugh that he's a racist. According to a post on the Smash Mouth Politics blog (cited by Limbaugh on his Oct. 12 radio program and his Web site) there's evidence a quote frequently cited, which Limbaugh appears to show remorse for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassin, James Earl Ray, is completely fabricated.
In a related story, Media Research Center, the parent organization for CMI, challenged both MSNBC and CNN about another supposed Limbaugh quote. MRC President Brent Bozell today demanded that CNN and MSNBC prove that radio Limbaugh uttered a racist quote they have attributed to him as fact after Limbaugh publicly denied having ever said.
Hunter claimed the quote she used were available on the Internet. "The words you even put up - two of the statements that he said about the NFL looking like the Crips and the Bloods," Hunter said. "He even said that Dr. Martin Luther King, his killer, James Earl Ray should have a medal given to him, a medal of honor. He says, ‘We miss you, James.' You can go online as to the top 10 Rush Limbaugh racist comments."
As Hunter says, "You can go online" and find them, which is in itself a remarkable admission for a Pulitzer-winning journalist to use as a source when making such a bold charge. But, based on this evidence that Hunter has apparently found online, she said the NFL should be done with Limbaugh. According to her, Limbaugh's ownership stake, which she maintains is the "ultimate power position" is only a minority stake and therefore, he's easily replaced.
"I'm surprised they haven't put this issue to bed already," Hunter continued. "They could very simply say Rush Limbaugh is off the table and keep it moving. They don't need him to own this team. He's a minority owner. And they could replace him tomorrow and not have any blip in the screen at all. It could continue to go. Why do they not say anything? That's the question. With their history and all the controversy they have with their players, they don't need this."
