I am a firm believer in the idea that it is okay to have differing opinions. I try very hard to teach this to my students. I also tell them that they need to be able to express their opinions in a thoughtful and articulate manner. As individuals, we should be open to listening to other people’s opinions; if we disagree it is okay. It doesn’t make someone right or wrong or good or bad.

Over the last couple of days, I have been listening to the rhetoric being thrown around regarding Rush Limbaugh and his bid to buy a minority ownership stake in the St. Louis Rams. In 2003, Rush was hired by ESPN for their NFL pre-game show. Let’s understand something before we go any further. Rush Limbaugh was hired to give commentary, his opinion. Everyone knew that he had controversial opinions. When he made a comment about Donovan McNabb being an average quarterback, and the media propped him up because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed, people went nuts and started calling him a racist. What Rush said had more to do with the media than with McNabb. Whether you think McNabb is a great quarterback or not is a matter of opinion. Whether you believe what he said about the media is a matter of opinion. What Rush did was what he was paid to do– give his opinion. By all accounts that I am aware, nobody who knows Rush would label him a racist. However, people who don’t know him but disagree with him and his political views are quick to throw that label at him.

Rush Limbaugh would not be the most listened to radio talk show host in America if he was a racist. Nor would he garner the radio advertising dollars that he does if he was a racist. But you have geniuses such as Jim Irsay (who by the way has a laundry list of social problems) say he would not vote for Limbaugh to be an owner. Remember that the Irsays left in the middle of the night from Baltimore to evade Maryland law to keep the Colts in Baltimore. There are players who say they wouldn’t play for a team that Limbaugh was an owner for. I am pretty sure if they were offered a contract better than they have now, they would sign it and be happy they had an ownership group that valued them that much. The NFL has rules to make sure that minorities are given a fair chance and yet they are still underrepresented and nothing is really said or done about it.

The NFL is a private business. They can keep Limbaugh out if they want to, and I am fine with that. What I take issue with is the idea that an individual who has expressed a thoughtful and articulate argument has been cast as something he is not because people did not like what he had to say. On this subject, one of my Twitter friends said, “Not fond of restricting his ability to own a company, but someone w/ his track record in control of an NFL team makes me nervous.” Why does it make you nervous? What is he going to do? It’s not like he is a government official running the country into the ground! What is his track record, being a successful business man?

A large segment of our society has become so intolerant that if someone says something we don’t agree with, we label them as racists, or bad terrible people. Whatever happened to the idea of a society where freedom of thought and speech was cherished and actually caused dialogue and progress? Or does that only happen when we agree with what is said? Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer who gets paid to say provocative things, like him or don’t like him I don’t care, and that isn’t the point of this piece. Agree or disagree with him, I don’t care. If you agree you should be able to thoughtfully express why. If you disagree, you should be able to thoughtfully express why on the merits of what he says and does, not just through words such as racist and divisive. Go back and listen to what he said and form your own thoughts. Remember, it is okay to disagree, but do it on the merits, form your own opinions, and express them in a thoughtful manner. His political views should not be the issue concerning whether or not he becomes an owner of an NFL franchise.

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There are 2 comments on this post. Join the discussion!

Jewell

Hi, I respect your defense of Mr. Limbaugh, and yes, we have free speech, so he can give his opinion, "so he's not a racist with his one sided views". But how do you elucidate his exhilaration at our beloved country losing the 2016 Olympic bid in Coppenhagen on his radio talk show? Was it lack of Patriotism or downright Racism, when he said he was happy Mr. Obama did not win? Just my opinion too.

Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 1:20pm EDT

robm

It's called putting it to the opposition, something political zealots, left and right, routinely engage in nowadays. I suspect he would have reacted much the same way had it been Bill Clinton or some other Dem president. (Have we so soon forgotten how mercilessly Limbaugh's gang hounded Clinton when he was in office?)

Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 3:30pm EDT