Imus called some nice, successful college student-athletes prostitutes. That was ugly and unseemly. Limbaugh, via Shanklin, suggested that a longtime public figure with a criminal past and presidential aspirations was inarticulate. That’s neither beyond the pale nor even untrue.
James Joyner, Outside the Beltway
Much, way too much, has been written about the Rush Limbaugh/Paul Shanklin parody of the L.A. Times and Al Sharpton. I echo what James says.
Tags: BitsBlog, Democrats, WHAT biased press?
April 28th, 2007 at 16:42
While I certainly agree with your point, David, I would hasten to add to your post that this is part of the concerted effort to bring talk radio back under the control of the far left. And, it’s not like Limbaugh hasn’t mentioned this previously.
April 28th, 2007 at 16:58
Granted the leftards absolutely hate Rush Limbaugh. However the analogy with Don Imus simply isn’t there. Imus depended on liberal quests. A quest boycott could have hurt. Limbaugh doesn’t need quests. Further, Limbaugh’s listener base is too strong. How many stations would be willing to drop Limbaugh only to have their competitor pick up the program and hammer them in the time slot? Not any with brains.
How much different is the L.A. Times phrase of “magic negro” from Joe Biden’s description of Barack Obama as “clean and articulate?” Not very.
More over, Obama is not the target of the parody, Al Sharpton is. Calling Sharpton an inarticulate criminal is simply speaking truth to power. If Sharpton doesn’t like the parody, let him sue for libel. The media has to pretend the parody is about Obams, because Obama is defendable. Sharpton can not be honestly defended.
Imus former producer called Sharpton a terrorist on Hannity and Colmes. Nothing the the Reverend Al can do about that either, or they cry over his rented suit.
April 28th, 2007 at 17:12
I haven’t articulated this, previously. But their attack on Imus, given the nature of the guests (as you rightly point out) only makes sense within the context of Imus being an easy target. Something to start the ball rolling. Low hanging fruit.
Predators, you see, always go for the weakest opponent first.