Montagne asks Tom Goldman to "remind us what caused that fire storm in the first place?" to which Goldman responds,
"Well, Limbaugh is well-known for making statements that could be called racially polarizing. A few years ago, he lost his job as an ESPN pro football broadcaster when he said Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb, who is African-American, was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback do well. And then in 2007, Limbaugh said the NFL often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons."Toward the end of the program Montagne says to Goldman, "And Rush Limbaugh himself, now he loves a good controversy. Is he loving this particular one?"
Here's Goldman's answer:
"I don't know if he's loving it, but he is speaking out. He blasted his critics yesterday. He accused them of a full-fledged smear campaign. And on his radio show, Limbaugh said he's trying to get apologies and retractions, with a threat of lawsuits, from journalists who have repeated incendiary quotes attributed to him, quotes where he allegedly said James Earl Ray, the man sentenced to prison for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, deserves a posthumous medal of honor. And another one, that slavery had its merits because the streets were safer after dark.That's how facts are established at NPR. Somebody said one thing, someone else denied it - oh well, the rhetoric sure is heating up! And notice how the story ends with Limbaugh's allegations and his challenge against unsubstantiated comments. Does anyone at NPR EVER do a little basic research? There's no "could be called racially polarizing" aspect to the documented racist garbage that Limbaugh airs. Media Matters does the obvious task of finding and annotating many of Limbaugh's low-lights (h/t to Crooks & Liars).
Limbaugh said yesterday he never said that stuff...."
