Rama Jama Limbaugh

“He has made his wealth appealing to the fears of whites”

With that comment and a bevy of other incendiary statements the good Reverend Jesse Jackson has thrown down the gauntlet in his battle to keep Rush Limbaugh from ownership of an NFL franchise. Jackson is joined in his efforts by the Tweedledum to his Tweedledee, the right Reverend Al Sharpton.

Limbaugh is looking to partner with the St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checkettes to buy the hapless St. Louis Rams football team. Limbaugh has the dough and Checkettes involvement in St. Louis sports should boost fan support by reducing (but certainly not eliminating) the possibility of moving the franchise to another city. Limbaugh is a Missouri native growing up a hundred miles down the road from St. Louis in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He is also a football fanatic and a remarkably successful businessman. Checkettes is a major league sports veteran having been the youngest chief executive in the history of the NBA after he was named president and general manager of the Utah Jazz at the age of 28. Checkettes has served in numerous sports related positions including CEO of Madison Square Garden and owns Sports Capital Worldwide a consulting and investment firm for sports franchises.

Successful businessmen with a passion for sports. Sounds like a great pair of professionals for NFL team ownership, right? Well, not in this seedy world of political correctness at all costs.

Jackson and Sharpton are desperate to regain at least a modicum of significance in the age of Barack Obama. Both of these veteran pot stirrers have been neutered in their efforts to remain in the headlines and, more importantly, in the heads of the black community. Every grab these two publicity hounds have made for front page coverage have fizzled thanks to the historic inauguration of a black president. They don’t matter, and they don’t like it.

Limbaugh steps into this catfight with some baggage of his own, not the least of which is his remark as commentator on ESPN that Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb was overrated and the only reason he received so much attention was that the press was desperate for a black quarterback to succeed. ESPN disavowed any concurrence with that opinion and Limbaugh resigned rather than retract. There was much discussion and accusations of racism after the comment but nobody dared address if it was true. Was it provocative? Yes. Was it true? Absolutely!

But this campaign to thwart Limbaugh’s efforts is not about racism. It’s about giving two tired old show ponies a chance to strut their stuff in front of an audience again instead of shipping them off the glue factory. Limbaugh is outspoken and sometimes brash in his conservative message. But he is never, I repeat, never racist. If anybody has made a living, and a pretty good living at that, by being divisive and pitting one racial group against another it has been the pandemic duo of Jackson and Sharpton. It is their only claim to fame. A fame they both desperately want to rekindle.

The J&A team have been supposedly joined in their efforts by NFL Player Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith. Smith delivered a prepared statement last Sunday, but as is the case with many lawyer’s statements it’s tough to make out exactly what he’s trying to say. "I have asked our players to embrace their roles not only in the game of football but also as players and partners in the business of the NFL," Smith said. "They risk everything to play this game, they understand that risk and they live with that risk and its consequences for the rest of their life. We also know that there is an ugly part of history and we will not risk going backwards, giving up giving in or lying down to it."

I’m not sure I understand what point Mr. Smith is trying to make, but I’m pretty sure Rush Limbaugh would not increase the risk NFL player’s face in the field. And if the NFL Players Association truly want to be partners in the business of football maybe they should ante up the capital to buy the Rams.

As for the ugly part of history, if Mr. Smith is talking about slavery, it was abolished by the Emancipation Proclamation.

And once again by free agency.