And I remember I told a bunch of people when this ESPN thing started, I said, “You wait. The liberal sportswriters throughout the country are going to be outraged and they’re going to be laying in wait because they’re every bit as political as anybody else is.” And one of the things that has supposedly been laying in wait out there is the press, the sports media has just been waiting for me to introduce politics on this ESPN show, because I’m not supposed to do that. This is a sports show, and I’m not supposed to bring politics into it.
Well, let me ask you this: What is it when the sportswriters automatically and in unison, in lockstep, agree with Martha Burk when she makes her claim about Augusta National? Is that not political when these liberal sportswriters demand that Augusta change its private membership policy and admit women? What of that, if it’s not political? These liberal sportswriters are every bit as political – you’re exactly right, Sean – as anybody else is. They make political analyses, judgments all the time in their sports writing because you can’t separate the cultural from the political, and they must certainly do.
Now, what’s going on here is I said something that they find disagreeable. I said something that not only do they not agree with, I said something that they prefer not to hear, and so they have risen up here and are demanding my head on a platter simply because I haven’t said what they want to hear. If there really was so-called freedom of speech in this country, there would be a tantamount admission that there are all kinds of opinions everywhere, and whether an opinion is about a particular player or an opinion is about the media, it’s just an opinion. It’s just words.
You take a look at some of the actions that take place either on the field in the NFL or on the sidelines, and you’ll find far more tolerance on the part of these sports reporters than you will for words uttered by somebody that are just that: they’re just words. An opinion is an opinion. If it’s right in somebody’s mind, fine. If it’s wrong in somebody’s mind, fine. But certain opinions expressed in this country – it’s not just in sports; it’s throughout all of life, as you said. I’ve been facing this throughout my 15 years on this radio program.
If you don’t say what the appointed, anointed superiorists and those who think that they are at the top of judgmentalism – if you don’t say what they want to hear, if you don’t say what they think is right, then not only are they going to disagree with you, then they’re going to demand that you not be allowed to say it, that you not be given a position or forum to say it because they don’t want to hear it. Now, that is discriminatory in itself. It is also prejudicial in itself. There are many things that have been written about this episode that are so far from the truth that it’s laughable.
Actually, if I can boil it down, what I did was compare Donovan McNabb’s reputation on the field to his reputation in the media. When you boil it all down, that’s the essence of what I did. And I said, “I don’t think he’s as good a quarterback as everybody else does.” I also said, in that same segment, that I think the Eagles not only have made a good investment in McNabb, but they need to keep making the investment. I didn’t say they ought to get rid of him, bench him or anything of the sort. I just said, “I’m a sports fan.
I don’t think he’s as good as some people do.” So if I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I added to it that I think some of the sports media is influenced in their opinion of his performance by their desire for a black quarterback to do well. And now that – that – my friends, is the point of this. For that comment, I am now said to be a racist. And the point is, I’m right about it. I’ll say it again today. I’m dead right about it, and their reaction to what I said is evidence that I’m right about it, otherwise they’d have laughed at it and said what an idiot I am and let it roll off their back. Well, it’s been going on for two days now.
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BEGIN TRANSCRIPT OF CALLER 1:50 PM EST
RUSH: Here’s Ed in Philadelphia. Ed, welcome to the program. Good to have you with us.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. It’s good to talk to you again.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: Let me preface my statement by saying, one (thing). I’m a huge fan. I’m a 24/7 subscriber, and I also listen a lot to Philly media. First – the first comment I have is that the African-American callers that called yesterday were actually more understanding of your words than the media was. But enough of that. There is one point that you made that I have to disagree with, and I think if we had stayed away from it, the hubbub wouldn’t have been there. I don’t think the problem with the Eagles was Donovan McNabb being overrated. Considering the talent he’s got to go along with him, and the horrible play calling that Andy Reid has done, that would be more a contributor to their failure at this point rather than Donovan being overrated. Yes, Donovan is an inaccurate passer and, you know, he’s throwing forever into linemen’s heads and hands, but I don’t think the problem is Donovan McNabb. When he is let go and let free and let loose to do what he can do, he’s pretty, he’s pretty good.
RUSH: Okay. Now, let’s…hold it, let’s stop right there.
CALLER: Go ahead.
RUSH: You have just uttered an opinion, okay? You may be right, you may be wrong.
CALLER: That’s true.
RUSH: That’s where it ought to end.
CALLER: Well, see, the thing is, the media in Philadelphia really wasn’t arguing the football point than they – more they were arguing the fact that you had the audacity, if I may say, to bring the issue up, as though the Philadelphia media coddled him to this point and in fact he’s not as good as everybody thought he was. That’s – and I think that’s the point that. One got them the most upset, and two is probably the thing that I think you don’t make the best point on. If you want to say he’s inaccurate and he’s just played horrible these first couple games, okay, but it’s too early in the season to say that McNabb is overrated and that he’s overrated because the media has hyped him up.
RUSH: Okay, look, I got no quarrel with that. That may be fine. I could have been totally wrong in the opinion. But, you know, this is – I don’t know quite how to say this other than that. I could have been totally wrong. So what? You know, you could be totally wrong in what you’re saying here. So I introduced a racial component. So what? It’s not worth all this. You know, it’s, I think this is all an illustration of a real problem the culture and society has, and it’s not getting any better and it’s simply going worse. There’s simply some certain areas you just can’t touch…
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