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May 06
Rush Limbaugh appeared on Fox News this week and insulted Los Angeles’ Hispanic mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Limbaugh said the first time he saw Mayor Villaraigosa he thought the Latino was a “Shoe Shine Boy.” He was shocked to learn this Latino held such a high office and was, in fact, the Mayor of Los Angeles. Limbaugh repeated the same comment yesterday on his show.
I guess we should not be surprised by any outrageous, sexist or racist statements Limbaugh makes. As a reminder, some of Rush´s famous quotes include:
Barack Obama a “Magic Negro.”
“I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark
.
- We’re not sexists, we’re chauvinists — we’re male chauvinist pigs, and we’re happy to be because we think that’s what men were destined to be. We think that’s what women want.
Limbaugh has made numerous outrageous remarks. These media zealots! They make a mockery of all Journalists.
Today, Penn Jillette was on Morning Joe. He joked and called Hillary the B word. Why are misogynistic insults ok? Why are racist terms ok? Have we degenerated to such low levels of communication that we view them all as ok? Are Sad Times Ahead?
Interesting comments on Immigration talk with a Mexican American Blog
Mario Solis-Marich is a radio talk show host who also had an excellent rejoinder to Limbaugh’s racist rants.
I say this so that you can understand that my reaction to Rush Limbaugh’s comment that he mistook Mayor Villaraigosa as a “shoeshine guy” is not a knee-jerk reaction based on partisanship. It is a reaction as an American of Latino decent that quite frankly is tired of the media’s Latino rules.
As a member of the largest minority ethnic group and a member of the media, I am continually puzzled and outraged by the idea that anyone can say anything about Latinos without fearing any consequence. While it would be out outrageous for anybody to have said a similar thing about an elected official of almost any other ethnicity, Rush will certainly not receive any heat at all for supposedly “mistaking” the Latino Mayor of the nation’s second largest city as a shoeshine guy.
There will be no national debate about whether he should step down as there was when Imus referred to a women’s basketball team in a derogatory fashion. There will be no national outrage like there was following the racist vocal vomiting of “comedian” Michael Richards. There will be no slam down and painful lame excuses like those offered by Mel Gibson after his anti-Semitic comments. The rules for Latinos are different.
Rush, Lou Dobbs, and a host of shock jocks are well aware of this different set of rules. Dobbs & Rush inc. can freely accuse Latinos of spreading Leprosy and TB, of raping children, and even planning the violent overthrow of the US, without any proof whatsoever.
While the silence around these comments is consistent, media heads are wrong to believe that they bring no negative impact. Someday, CNN will understand that most Latinos laugh when we hear the slogan ” the most trusted name in news”. Radio advertisers will eventually come to the realization that there is a correlation between radio market share loss, the growth of Latino populations in certain and important markets, and anti-Latino hate speech dominating the airwaves.
And as always, you can read the rest of Mario’s excellent discourse at Nuestra Voice. That’s “OUR VOICE” in Spanish for those of you without a brain, which is the majority who idolize Limbaugh and the rest of the right wing looney toons.
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Look, some nuance is needed here. I’m a Republican and I know he is way off on anything having to do with Mexico or Latin American generally, though I do listen because I’m bored at work. And Lou Dobbs is an embarrasssing fool. But don’t think they are “The Right”. They aren’t. There is a strong conservative case to be made for strong partnership with Mexico, including trade, military (fighting narco traffickers), economic, immigration, and simply friendly relations between neighbors. That conservative case will never be made by Limbaugh, but Republicans are not the enemy. Many Republicans do believe in all the things I mentions, but Limbaugh claims were not real Republicans. But we are, and we are many. You think the left is your friend? What have they done for you lately?
BTW, Republicans have been enamored of Mexico since U. S. Grant, and many love it as I do. The liberals act like they’re your friends, but they aren’t. Take care not to be manipulated.
Mark, First, thank you for an intelligent comment and assessment of the situation, and I happen to agree totally with you.
Contrary to what many might want to believe, I am very conservative, but I also have a brain, know how to use it and am possessed with the gist of logic and common sense.
The purpose of this site is to try and give people cause to pause and think, of the stupidity and irrational things that are being crammed down their throats by the talking heads and the other media outlets.
I returned this morning from my home in Monterrey and during the trip, as well as the time at home, I kept thinking and looking for, the Mexico that most Americans think exists. I couldn’t find it.
Wednesday night, having dinner on the patio of Atlantica in the hills overlooking Monterrey, I looked around me at all the well to do Regiomontanians and wondered where all the illiterate disease carrying Mexicans were. I could not see them. I say a successful emerging middle class with education and with money to spend.
We took my girlfriends daughter to a private office party in San Pedro, a very affluent suburb of Monterrey, with shops like Prada and Saks and still, I could not find the Mexico of Lou Dobbs. You see where I’m coming from and what drives this site?
Again, thanks for the comment.It is appreciated.
Oh yes, I do see where you are coming from. Too well I’m afraid. I lived on the Texas border for several years while I worked in Mexico in the 90′s. I loved the border region in the US, and I loved working in Mexico. I traveled to many parts of Mexico and met many pleasant folks; I never had a bad experience with anyone. Monterrey, Tampico, San Luis Potosi, Guanajuato (my favorite). Even dusty little towns in between I like. Mexico is an enchanting place. Many Americans do. But I am embarrassed by my fellow Americans so much of the time. It isn’t racism per se. Bigotry I suppose. But even the folks on the TC border feel it too. They are called the “poorest” area in the US, with no regard at all to the quality of life there, which is very high in my opinion.
The “build a fence” crowd is the most objectionable bunch of folks I’ve ever encountered. Totally irrational. I get a kick out of arguing with them. Mexico has the 12th largest economy in the world, and they are our 3rd or 4th largest trading partner. The most trafficked border in the world. There is no historical precedent for a fence that they propose that still allows trade to flow at reasonable rates. The 90′s were spent building just in time inventories that span the US border, north and south. These folks really want to kill NAFTA, or at least don’t care if it is. So screw the whole Southwest as far as they are concerned, US or Mexico. Trucking is a huge part of NAFTA and that’s why I watch your blog. To know what is going on with trade to Mexico and the shameful games Congress has played with Mexican trucks.
I get a kick explaining to the Paleocons (the Tancredo supporters & Limbaugh types who desperately cling to the “it’s only the illegal immigrants” we don’t like” crowd) that to build a fence you’ve got to claim large chunks of US private land by emmanent domain to do it. They immediately pivot and are all for emmanent domain (otherwise virulently opposed as I am) to get a fence built. They are shameless. It is conservative populism, nothing more. It seeks to scare people into approving things they otherwise wouldn’t to get done what the fearmongers want.
Yes, I know Mexico in the American mind bears little resemblance to reality, and that grieves me. When I go to Guanajuato I see many European tourists, but few Americans. But I do think things will change over time as Mexico changes. I do hope we partner with Mexico for military purposes to kill the narcos. I was saddened to hear of the murder of the anti-narco Mexican chief this week. I hope the authorities kill all those evil bastards that seek to tyrannize others with fear. The Paleos are opposed to the Merida initiative (foreign aid!), but they support the same thing in other nations: Colombia, Iraq (I support these actions too), and a zillion other nations where our military has supplied to combat terrorist groups and made a difference. 1.4 billion is nothing to either nation, but the military training and partnership is priceless. It is totally irrational, and believe me I argue with them all the time. I pray that Mexico and the US smash these brutal thugs and Mexico continues the great progress of the last decade. The Tancredos and Dobbs types are real threats to US/Mexico relations and security. Ralph Peters nails it here:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08092007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/narco_insurrection_opedcolumnists_ralph_peters.htm?page=1
Excerpt:
“On this side of the border, the greatest threat to cooperation will come from posturing lawmakers and from demagogues who reduce our southern neighbor, with its 110 million population, to the issue of illegal immigration alone.”
So I hear you man, believe me. And I’m trying not to let the Paleocons take over my party! They belong in some other party, not mine. Keep up the good reporting!
[...] ? again Rush Limbaugh Attacks Black Katrina victims and praises Whites as the Floods hit. Racist Limbaugh Calls Mayor Villaraigosa a ?Shoe Shine Boy!? Lott, Reagan and Republican Racism Republican Racism Gimme Yo Change Yard Sign Stick a Pin in [...]
Did you hear about this?
The commercial, to air in Limbaugh’s home state of Florida as well as Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, features a picture of the conservative talk show host and shows his words on the screen: “Mexicans are stupid and unqualified” and “Shut your mouth or get out.” It was first reported by the Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe.
“Obama is now stoking racism in the country,” Limbaugh wrote in an email. “Obama is a disgrace – he wants the public to think he is Mr. Nice Guy while his thugs are in Alaska looking for dirt on Palin and he runs race-baiting ads and lies about what he has done and what McCain has done.”
As for the quotes, Limbaugh said they were taken out of context.
The first, “stupid and unqualified,” was from the NAFTA debate of the mid-90s, he recalled. Limbaugh, a NAFTA proponent, said in the fall of 1993 he got a call from a listener who was upset at the potential loss of American jobs.
In response he said, “If we are going to start rewarding no skills and stupid people–I’m serious, let the unskilled jobs, let the kinds of jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do–let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work.”
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0908/Limbaugh_hitting_back_over_usage_in_ad_says_Obama_stoking_racism.html