Limbaugh: "The government's been taking care of [young blacks] their whole lives"

On the February 1 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh responded to a Reuters report on a University of Chicago study that found that "a majority of young blacks feel alienated form today's government" by asserting: "Why would that be? The government's been taking care of them their whole lives."

From the February 1 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: U.S. blacks -- young U.S. blacks believe in politics, according to a new study. "Many U.S. blacks are as confident" -- and we're talking about the clean ones here, folks, I must stipulate this -- young, clean U.S. blacks -- "believe in politics. Many young U.S. blacks are as confident as their white and Hispanic peers that they can use politics to make things better, but a majority of young blacks feel alienated from today's government." Why would that be? The government's been taking care of them their whole lives. Why would they feel alienated from -- maybe "today's government" means the Bush administration.

" 'There's good news and bad news when it comes to politics,' particularly as U.S. Senator Barack" -- the clean -- "Obama, an Illinois Democrat, may try to become the first black to reach the White House, said Cathy Cohen, a political science professor who headed this project at the University of Chicago." This research, by the way, "covered a wide range of social issues from sex to entertainment, also found that young blacks think that rap music and videos are riddled with too much sex and mistreatment of women -- even though they are the biggest consumers of that entertainment. Nearly 80 percent of young blacks, whites and Hispanics think they can make a difference by getting involved in politics. Large numbers of them feel that they have the skills to do so."

So I got -- the headline says "Young U.S. blacks" -- but blacks, whites, and Hispanics. Everybody thinks they can get involved in politics here. No big -- no big shake there.

—A.I.