So I’m the last person in all of Blogland to approach the topic, but by now you’ve all heard that Rush Limbaugh, one of ESPN’s new NFL commentators, called Donovan McNabb overrated and said that the overratedness was on account of a media interest in finding a stellar black quarterback.
I don’t think he’s been that good from the get-go,” Limbaugh said. “I think what we’ve had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn’t deserve. The defense carried this team.”
From NewsDay
I don’t follow the NFL much, so my opinion on McNabb is almost worthless, but I’ve never been exceptionally impressed by him. Is he a bad quarterback? Not by any means, but is he one of the best in the league? Eh. Not so sure about that.
I do want to point out how patently stupid it is to call this a racist remark, though. The damn PC police happen to be one of the greatest threats to our freedoms (as far as I’m concerned, more of a threat than Ashcroft and the Patriot Act) — calling attention to racial double standards doesn’t make someone racist.
Think about the corollary — does anyone call minorities that complain about employment discrimination racist? Even if it’s not true? It’s the same story, the employer thought too highly of a white person on account of his/her skin color.
Rush did not say that McNabb wasn’t good because he was black. That would be racist. He said that McNabb wasn’t good. Then, in a separate (but related) thought, he said that the media gives him too much credit because he’s black. So what? I think he’s wrong, but it’s certainly a valid opinion.
Of course, Democratic Presidential “candidate” Wesley Clark has now come out against the comments, demanding that ABC fire Limbaugh. Woohoo… thank you, thought police.