My former colleague Casey Lartigue says I was wrong to criticize Rush Limbaugh for his remarks about Rex Grossman, and how, according to Limbaugh, the media only pick on Grossman because he’s white.

Apparently, Limbaugh told his listeners a few weeks prior to those remarks that he was going to try to say things to deliberately provoke the media. And a few days later, he explained that his Grossman comments were part of that plan.

So I guess to the extent that I implied that Rush Limbaugh actually thinks the media is picking on Rex Grossman because he’s white, I stand corrected. As it turns out, he was only pretending to think the media was picking on Rex Grossman because he’s white so people like me would read it, criticize Limbaugh for being an idiot, and then Limaugh could have a good laugh about it, because he’s not really an idiot, just someone pretending to be one.

I wonder: What’s the point? Is Limbaugh’s point that if he says something stupid and tinged with race, someone might notice, and criticize him? Shocker! That damned liberal media!

It all seems like a fairly puerile exercise, doesn’t it? I mean, I could put up a post tonight letting you know that in two weeks, I plan to post anti-semitic comments on this site — just to mess with my critics. Then, when I do start putting up those anti-semitic posts, I’m sure lots of people would criticize me — people who didn’t see the original post announcing that this was all part of a plan.

That’s when I say “Gotcha! Man, are you stupid!”

And this supposed to be funny? Clever? Cheeky?

Search me.

I guess now that Limbaugh is no longer baldly shilling for the Republican Party, he needs to find new ways to fill three hours each afternoon.

I once liked Rush’s show. I didn’t always agree with him. But he was entertaining. And he was principled — more than just a GOP mouthpiece. Now the only time his show is worth listening to is when Walter Williams is guest-hosting.

NOTE: Casey is right that I got the year of Limbaugh’s departure from ESPN wrong. Regrets. As to whether he was fired or resigned, come on. The writing was pretty clearly on the wall.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 10th, 2007 at 7:16 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.