On Rush Limbaugh and the St. Louis Rams

I actually feel bad for Rush on this issue. I don't think he's done anything that should prevent him from being able to own a team in the sport that he loves. Being a fan of Mr.Limbaugh's, I know how much the game means to him and I know that owning an NFL franchise would have been as exciting for him as anything he's even done in his life or career.

That he's being prevented from doing so because of his politics is sad more than anything else, but it's also alarming. And those of us who are Conservatives should take note of what's being done to Mr. Limbaugh and prepare ourselves for the fact that it will one day happen to us as well, even if it's not on such a large and public scale.

But here's what this incident is not. It is not, as some claim, a free speech issue. Rush Limbaugh has the right to say whatever he wants, and to the extent that he says what he says on a high wattage radio broadcast antenna funded by large corporations, he has done so quite successfully.

But there is a misunderstanding among Americans that freedom of speech also means freedom from the consequences of that speech.

It does not.

If Michael Richards wants to get up on a stage in New York and scream the N-word at his audience, he should NOT, under any circumstances, be hauled of to jail for doing so. But if those actions effectively end his career, then, as they say, dems da breaks.

And if you want to walk down a busy New York street with a sign that says "The Holocaust was a myth" I will go to the mat to protect your right to do so, but I will also laugh my ass off when someone walks up and punches you in the schnozz... because you will deserve it.

Now, I do not believe that Rush is a racist. The evidence to the contrary is simply overwhelming and the quotes that have been used to label him are made-up. But it is also a fact that Rush, as an extremely successful Conservative voice, has pissed off a large number of very powerful Liberals. And when Liberals decide to take a Conservative down, they almost always do it by crying "RACISM!!!"

And so they have in this case. They are way off base on the charge, as they often are, but they control the outlets and they determine what voices get heard, and now that the overwhelming voice America has heard on this subject has been the one shouting racism, a large enough number of Americans have begun to believe it... and so Rush had to go.

I hope Rush fights the charge. He was wronged, and those who wronged him should pay as big a price as Rush can impose upon them. But I will not cry foul. Amercians are always going to be quick to believe a charge of racism levelled at a Conservative, and that's just the way things are. Frankly, I'd rather carry that burden than the burden Liberals face... that they'd rather tax and spend above all else, and that they wouldn't pick up a weapon in their own defense even if it meant the lives and honor of their own families.

Few things are more unforgivable to me than being a coward. And no one will ever accuse Rush of that.

But Freedom of Speech and the resonsibility to face the consequences of that speech goes both ways.

So Roger Godell and the NFL want to stake out the position that Rush Limbaugh is too divisive to own an NFL franchise... that his behaviour has been so beyond that pale that it damages the reputation of a fine and noble institution like the National Football League.

Does Rush's behaviour rise to a standard beyond that which should be acceptable for an NFL owner?

I don't know... but here's the problem for the NFL... now we are going to find out.

Conservatives, with Rush cheering them on from his corner, are going to dig into the background of every single man, woman, or child who owns so much as a dime's worth of interest in any of the 32 NFL teams and we are soon going to find out every single offensive thing those people have ever done or said in their entire lives.

I don't know how long the assault will last, but it's already started with folks like Fergie finding themselves under the microscope. It's going to be incredibly embarrasing for the NFL... but you know what, just as the NFL has a right to deny ownership to whomever they decide is not fit to own a franchise, they must also face the consequences of the decisions that they have every right to make.

And here those consequences come.

So Mr. Godell, to you I say... I hope it was worth it.