Limbaugh Ignores Controversy Over His Assertion That Michelle Obama Exhibits "Uppity-ism"

Rush Limbaugh has a long and ugly history of race baiting. Yesterday was no exception. Limbaugh said that First Lady Michelle Obama was booed at a NASCAR event because she has exhibited "uppity-ism." Today, however, Limbaugh acted as if nothing controversial had happened. 

Here's what Limbaugh said yesterday:

LIMBAUGH: Bottom line: We don't like being told what to eat. We don't like being told how much to exercise. We don't like being told what we've got to drive. We don't like wasting money. We don't like our economy being bankrupted. We don't like 14 percent unemployment. The question is, what the hell is there to cheer for when Ms. Obama and Ms. Biden show up? 

NASCAR people, as are most people in this country, are mature, tolerant people who fully understand when they're being insulted and condescended to. And they remember being called bitter clingers. They know that in their hearts the Obamas don't like them. We've taken notice of this as has, by the way, Chris Matthews and a lot of congressional Democrats are also fully aware that the Obamas just don't like a lot of people and they don't like hanging around a lot of people. 

I'll tell you something else: We don't like paying millions of dollars for Mrs. Obama's vacations. The NASCAR crowd doesn't quite understand why when the husband and the wife are going to the same place the first lady has to take her own Boeing 757 with family and kids and hangers on four hours earlier than her husband, who will be on his 747.

 NASCAR people understand that's a little bit of a waste. They understand it's a little bit of uppity-ism. First ladies have not been known to hop their own 757s four hours ahead of their husband when they're both going to the same place. 

The word "uppity," of course, is intimately tied up with race, as Limbaugh himself knows. After all, when Limbaugh called President Obama "uppity" in February 2010, he remarked: "Obama is uppity, but not as a black. He is an elitist."

Limbaugh's comments were highlighted by ABC News, The New York Times, The Daily Caller, the Huffington Post, and Mediaite, which described them as "obvious race-baiting." ABC's Jake Tapper noted that "uppity" means "presumptuous but is loaded with racist connotations" and is "[o]ften used to describe African-Americans who don't know their place, in the view of white society." 

Tapper also pointed out that when Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas denounced the investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee into allegations that he had sexually harassed Anita Hill he called it "a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks." 

So how did Limbaugh deal with the controversy? Limbaugh usually responds to attacks even when he clearly has no defense for what he has said. 

Today Limbaugh again discussed Michelle Obama's appearance at the NASCAR race, referred to her as Mooch-elle (as is his custom), and called the booing "totally understandable." But he didn't even bother to discuss the controversy, much less apologize for his racially charged remark.