Fools Rush In

Much was made over the past few weeks about a bid, by ultra-conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh, to purchase the indescribably bad National Football League franchise in St. Louis.

Hordes of folks came out of the woodwork (literally and figuratively) to condemn, block, threaten, picket, write, march and/ or do anything else that would prevent Rush from using his own money to purchase the Rams.

Callers jammed talk radio phone lines, television commentators found a plethora of willing souls, ready to "man up" before the cameras, to stop this "national embarrassment" from happening. Most laughably, a few professional athletes, not known to speak out about ANYTHING EVER, took to the mic, saying they "would not play in St. Louis," should Rush become an owner of that franchise.

I could see it now, the strong determined look upon their faces as they accepted retirement and the loss of hundreds of thousands (or millions) of dollars, instead of accepting a contract from the only team willing to pay them. Does anyone really believe any professional sports franchise, in any sport, will have a hard time filling out a roster...with professional athletes? Me either.

The woodwork refers to the Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, emerging from the (Presidential Election-induced) Cone-of-Silence, to "stand up" and "fight" for what they felt was a slap in the face of minorities and women. This was especially telling, in that, for the first time in their storied careers, they were covered as an almost afterthought. America is far from being a post-racial society, but the television punditry world has already decided to agree that it is.

Don't get me wrong, I hoped he wouldn't be allowed the prestige (that is what this is all really about) of joining one of the most exclusive clubs in the world, NFL owner. But that's kind of as far as I took it.

When Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, spoke up against the idea, saying he thinks "a higher form of decency" should be required for admission, I applauded. When I heard he personally sat with NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, to explain he would never vote yes, under any circumstance AND actively campaign against the proposal to other owners, my applause became a standing ovation. Such ethics are hard to find in the strata of the hyper-wealthy.

Jim Irsay's stand differed from all others in that, he was a member of the organization Mr. Limbaugh was attempting to join. Everybody else had a very clear path to showing their displeasure with a team owned by a bigoted, woman-hating charlatan...not supporting that team.

Anybody that thinks they can turn a profit on a product that requires millions of people to support it financially by appealing to a White-American-Male-Uneducated-Rural-Usually Poor fan base, to the exclusion of all immigrants, minorities and women, is living on another planet...or inside a booth or something for the better part of the day. Uh...oh.

Anyway, I think the hype on the part of Rush and the part the dissenting millions was false, pithy and convenient. For if you really want to go after the fool, here is a recipe.

STOP SUPPORTING HIS EMPLOYER

When Rush Hudson Limbaugh III picks up his $40 MILLION paycheck at the beginning of each year (yes he is paid before he works), his check is imprinted with the name : Capital Cities/ABC.

Now avoiding this company will be kind of hard, as it is wholly owned by...The Walt Disney Company!

So that means:
No more theme-parks, no more Lost , Scrubs, Grey's or Ugly Betty (ABC).
No more Broadway productions (Walt Disney Theatrical).
No more Desperate Housewives (ABC), College Football Game of the Week (ESPN/ABC), Hannah Montana or Jonas Brothers (Disney Channel/Disney Music).
No Nickelodeon, High School Musical (Disney Channel), Snow White, Lady and the Tramp (Disney Pictures Classic).
No Monday Night Football, SportsCenter or sports talk radio (ESPN)
No more Mickey, Minnie or Goofy (Disney Consumer Products).
No more Marvel comics (recently acquired) or Tarantino (Mirimax).
No Rascal Flatts or SHeDAISY (Lyric Street Records), Los Lobos (Mammoth Records).

And because the 2006 sale of Pixar to Disney made Steve Jobs the largest shareholder of Walt Disney Company stock, no more of the most consistently well-made movies in the business...or Apple (iPhone, MacBooks, iPod) for that matter.

And so on...

Since there is no way you are ready to take such a stance, why not use your time, energy and intelligence on more useful endeavours (like coming back to reading this blog).

Rush Limbaugh had lost his "shine" over the past 6 months. Overshadowed by his far more idiotic counterpart, Glen Beck, who spent the summer months asking for (and receiving!!!) the resignation of several high-profile persons in the Obama administration. With his glacier-sized ego being melted by the greenhouse gases he denies exist, this was his masterstroke in reclaiming the hearts of those fringe elements that have sustained him for so long.

And thanks to all the uproar, he succeeded.