October 9-15, 2003

slant

Rush to Judgment

The First Amendment protects assholes, too.

by Darrell Greenwald

Rush Limbaugh thinks Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is overrated. A lot of people, including me, would agree. After all, when Limbaugh made the comments before last Sunday¹s game against Buffalo, McNabb was the lowest-rated QB in the NFL this season.

Limbaugh also argued that Philadelphia's defense was more instrumental in the team's success over the past two years. Once again, a lot of people would agree. That is our opinion.

A lot of people wouldn't agree, however. That's their opinion and they have the right to it, just as Limbaugh and I have the right to our opinions. While the question may never be answered, the debate is real, and therefore should be addressed. If not, it is guaranteed that the truth will never be known.

Sadly, some people in this country don't believe in free speech -- at least not for all -- and called for Limbaugh to be fired. He wasn't. But unfortunately those people, who include Democratic presidential hopefuls Wesley Clark, Howard Dean and the Rev. Al Sharpton, still won a major victory when Limbaugh resigned Wednesday amid the fallout for the thoughts that he expressed.

Meanwhile, the ACLU, the supposed champion of free speech and defender of the First Amendment, was nowhere to be found. How could this happen? Isn't America the land of the free? How could this man be stripped of his right to speak freely? Did Limbaugh really cross the line?

Did Limbaugh suggest McNabb or any African American was unable to meet the mental or physical challenge of quarterbacking in the NFL because of his or her ethnicity? No.

Did he somehow suggest the inferiority of another race? No.

Was his message hate-filled or did it call for violence against anyone?

Absolutely not!

Limbaugh merely suggested that the NFL and media, driven by social concern -- a.k.a. political correctness -- perpetuated the overrating of McNabb. Limbaugh did play the race card, but does that make him racist?

In other words, is it racist to argue that race is a factor behind any given bias? Of course not!

People consistently accuse the police of having a bias against minorities. People accuse the legal system of having a bias against minorities. And people accuse the Motion Picture Association of America of having a bias against minorities.

Are those people racist? No. One thing is for sure, though. They, like Limbaugh, are raising legitimate questions.

Sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wrong, but rarely are they racist and never should they be silenced. In fact, oftentimes these people are praised for exercising their right to dissent. Race is in fact a very real, very viable issue in today's society.

Why then was Limbaugh's questioning of a race-related bias treated differently? The answer is because he questioned whether political correctness had in this case gone too far and actually crossed the line into a bias which favors a minority. For this he was quickly labeled a racist and stripped of his right to free speech.

Limbaugh is not alone, however. This problem is growing larger all the time. All too often, those who question affirmative action are quickly labeled racist and insensitive and dismissed as ignorant. Sadly, they too may be right in their beliefs but we may never know as long as the Thought Police are allowed to silence dissent, dialogue and debate through so-called political correctness. This we are right and you are racist attitude is more dangerous to America than anything Limbaugh said while broadcasting for ESPN.

Whether you agree or disagree with Limbaugh, for the sake of debate, we as Americans must denounce political correctness as a means of thought control. Then, we must learn to respect each other's opinions.

To do anything less would be to play right into the hands of the Thought Police. If the emperor is wearing no clothes, or in Limbaugh's case if we don't like the emperor's outfit, we as Americans have the right -- some would even say an obligation -- to discuss it.

Even if we are wrong about the emperor's $5,000 Armani suit.

Darrell Greenwald is a former U.S. Marine turned screenwriter who lives in Los Angeles. If you would like to respond to this Slant or have one of your own (850 words), contact Howard Altman, City Paper editor in chief, 123 Chestnut St., third floor, Phila., PA 19106 or e-mail altman@citypaper.net.