Limbaugh. "Cracker." Steinbrenner. Sharpton.

Oh, Rush! Controversial right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh decided to pay tribute to Yankees owner George Steinbrenner during his show by espousing Steinbrenner's capitalist tendencies, "That cracker made a lot of African American millionaires."—uh, what about the white millionaires—"George Steinbrenner, the classic capitalist. Everyone around him became wealthy... And at the same time he fired a bunch of white guys as managers left and right." Hear his clip below.

The Reverend Al Sharpton responded with a statement:

The statements made by Rush Limbaugh about George Steinbrenner were repugnant and offensive whether they were intended to be facetious or tongue and cheek. The fact that he could make these comments less than 24-hours after Mr. Steinbrenner's death makes it even more offensive. For the last 20-years I have known George Steinbrenner and we have quarrelled over diversity and community programs but I always found him fair, direct, and genuinely prone to do what he felt was right. He generated a lot of money for a lot of players as well as for baseball as a whole and should not be disparaged in any matter. In later years, in a twist of irony, his granddaughter and my daughter became close, which only brought me closer to knowing him and we developed a mutual respect. Mr. Limbaugh and his broadcasters owe his family an apology that the first day of their mourning to have to be subjected to this type of rhetoric. To think that just a year ago Mr. Limbaugh sought to be an owner of an NFL team and has now said this about a legendary baseball team owner. This says more about Mr. Limbaugh than it does Mr. Steinbrenner.

Naturally, Limbaugh's comments also made him Keith Olbermann's target—Limbaugh was the Worst Person in the World:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Here's Limbaugh's "cracker" riff:

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on July 14, 2010 11:04 AM

Comments [rss]

ANGRYGOD11

Steinbrenner was a capitalist?

That would be news to the family shipyard he ran into bankruptcy once the government stopped giving them contracts.

That would also be news to New Yorkers who gave him two stadiums (rebuilding in the late 1970's and charging almost nothing counts)massive police protection and just about anything else he wanted.

I stopped being amazed how little jerks like Rush know about real capitalism a long time ago.

Kelles

I think Gothamist has a picture collection of outspoken personalities holding their fingers inches apart

Gothampc

If you're looking to manufacture outrage, why not pick on The AP, which basically wrote an article saying "How unfortunate that Steinbrenner chose a non-tax year to die."

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/07/14/business/AP-US-Estate-Tax-Steinbrenner.html?_r=4&dbk

grandzu

Big deal. They do a story like this whenever a billionaire dies in 2010.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/business/09estate.html?scp=2&sq=death%20tax&st=Search

Law and Order even did a story line on this topic.

Jen Chung

Don't worry—we're working on it.

wobbleSmith

you mean the nation's most widely-listened-to bigot said something offensive on his radio show? i think a more interesting article will be the day the headline reads:

"Limbaugh Makes Profound Statement about Race, Class in America that EVERYONE Can Agree With"

until then, i'm going to assume everything that he says on his show which i don't listen to somehow revolves around headlines, race, being rich and white and (har har) powerless.

fuck this clown.

Stevennnn

Limbaugh loves to do this kind of thing because it puts him back into the media spotlight and makes people listen to his show which equals $$$$$.

He is no different than the other attention whores out there.

jles

Wait, so he called Steinbrenner a "cracker" while simultaneously praising his character and accomplishments? THAT is the controversy? Honestly, has any white person in history ever been remotely offended by the word "cracker"?

I think this is blown WAY out of proportion and doesn't warrant anywhere close to this type of a backlash...and I pretty much hate everything about Rush.

Guest

White people aren't allowed to be offended by epithets. It just goes with the territory.

Gothampc

Read my comment about "cracker" above. During the show Rush had played a "cracker" statement by the New Black Panther Party. He was riffing throughout the entire show about "crackers".

Gothampc

Jen, you're really showing your ignorance here. The least you could do is get some context.

In order to understand Rush, you have to listen to the entire show. You can't quote him out of context, his show is too complex for that. He builds riffs on what was said earlier in the show.

The "cracker" statement comes because he had been talking about the Black Panther quote about killing white people. He was proving the opposite of what the Black Panthers have been saying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIrKtoHYPsE&feature=related

John_Matrix

yes jen, to really appreciate the stupid you have to immerse yourself in it.

shut up dittohead cracka!

Gothampc

Obviously you've missed the point as well. Limbaugh was contrasting Black Panther Party people saying white crackers have kept the black man down by showing them a cracker who had helped black men make money. See how that works?

hotstepper

yeah, the show is extremely complex. Rush is like an enigma wrapped in a mystery coated in bacon.

here he delves deep into relevant contemporary issues like the black panthers, who offer important insights into the life and death of george steinbrenner.

and now for 45 minutes of commercial interruption...cash4gold!!!!

Manitoba

I agree on many levels. Too many levels to really get into here, though, because it is too complex. To fully understand how I feel, you should go back and read every comment I've ever written.

robingee

"I'm a loudmouth fathead who needs attention so I say shocking things! See how controversial I am? What? You got a problem with me? Hey, freedom of speech, man!"

Someone married this turd.

RoboticInsides

That one person married him is surprising, but to think that he's been been married 3 times before is just unfathomable... I guess he found the only 4 people on the planet that can stand him for more than 10 minutes.