About us Login Get email updates
Quick Clip
Print

Limbaugh: "Obama is uppity, but not as a black. He is an elitist"

February 10, 2010 12:58 pm ET

From the February 10 edition of Premiere Radio Network's The Rush Limbaugh Show:

Please upgrade your flash player. The video for this item requires a newer version of Flash Player. If you are unable to install flash you can download a QuickTime version of the video.

EMBED

LIMBAUGH: From InsideHigherEducation.com, you will not believe -- well yeah, you will believe it. Everything that used to be unbelievable is not only believable it is happening. "Barack Obama has been called a lot of things since he hit the national stage: Celebrity, elitist and even one who 'pals around with terrorists.' But as his poll numbers come back down to earth, and an emboldened conservative movement sharpens its attacks, the label that seems to be sticking to Obama as much as any lately is that of 'professor.' Speaking to Tea Party activists in Nashville last week, Sarah Palin did her part to keep the 'professor' dig in circulation. The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee told a frenzied crowd, 'They know we're at war, and to win that war we need a commander in chief, not a professor of law standing at the lectern.' The use of 'professor' as a term of derision may have hit its stride in the 1950s, but it dates back to scolding characterizations of Socrates, according to Geoffrey Nunberg, a linguistics professor at the University of California at Berkeley."

OK, fine. Frankly, I didn't know that "professor" had become the number one dig. But if it is, fine and dandy. Now get this: "Charles Ogletree, Harvard law professor, founding and executive director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for race and Justice says that he sees the 'professor' label as a thinly veiled attack on Obama's race."

Yes, my friends, you heard me read that. I heard myself read it. So now when we call Obama a professor, we are racist. "Calling Obama the professor walks dangerously close to labeling him uppity, a term with racial overtones that has surfaced in the political arena before, Ogletree said. Describing his divisive confirmation hearings as a circus, Justice Thomas called the proceedings a high tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deigned to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas. It's perhaps ironic, then, that the Ogletree, who represented Anita Hill, now sees a bit of the 'uppity' label being placed on Obama."
 
This is two different kinds of uppity that are being discussed about here. So now is professor the P-word? We've got the N-word, we have the R-word, and now we have the P-word? We can't -- we gotta -- we gotta speak in code? And only people who don't know what P-word is will understand what we're saying.
 
"The idea that he's not one of us, Ogletree says of the professor label. He has these ideas on that are left-wing that are socialist, that he's palling around with terrorists. Those are buzzwords, but the reality was that they were looking at this president as an African-American who is out of place." You know, Professor Ogletree, I hate to burst the balloon, but the single most important reason Obama was elected was his race.
 
A bunch of white people who thought electing a black president would assuage all of their guilt and erase our racial past voted for Obama. They couldn't of cared less what he thought, what he said. He didn't think of his as uppity, they were being selfish. They didn't like feeling guilty over our racists past, slavery, and so they thought pulling the lever for Obama would absolve them. It wasn't for his policies, as we are now quickly learning.
 
What Clarence Thomas meant by uppity, meaning he wasn't a liberal black. When Clarence Thomas said uppity black thinks for himself means he's off the reservation, so to speak. He's not following the civil rights speech codes set forth by the Reverend Jackson and Al Sharpton and whoever else is in charge of them. But nobody -- Obama is uppity, but not as a black. He is an elitist. He does think he's smarter and better than everybody else. That's what he was taught. He's a Harvard man.

Previously:

Limbaugh's "colorblind" history of racially charged comments

Expand All Expand 1st Level Collapse All Add Comment
    • Author by The New Pilgrims (February 10, 2010 1:01 pm ET)
      8  
      Good boy, Rush! That's a good start at getting your inner racist feelings more out in the open.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by Don Hussein Fabuloso (February 10, 2010 1:03 pm ET)
        6  
        Oh, he's getting so close ! I've heard some clips of Boss Hogg recently, and he sounds more shrill and out-of-breath than ever. He's getting more hysterical and incoherent, and it's gotta be only a matter of time before he starts screaming the N word.

        I'll bet his producers or engineers are hovering over that bleep button for his entire show.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by Porkeater (February 10, 2010 1:14 pm ET)
          4  
          Shall we commence the N-word countdown? Or run a pool? I say within a month from now.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by dogbreath (February 10, 2010 2:34 pm ET)
            3  
            I'm in. I give him a month and a half. The interesting thing will be to see how the rest of the Republicans respond when he says it. They will find some way to justify it, that can be assured.
            Report Abuse
      • Author by Oklad (February 10, 2010 2:13 pm ET)
        1  
        Well done Rush.. You finally got to call Obama "uppity".. More satire I guess?
        .
        Report Abuse
        • Author by liberalXtian (February 10, 2010 7:04 pm ET)
          1  
          You hit it right, Oklad. Rush now thinks he can say anything and get away with it, and Palin's disgusting hypocrisy certainly embolden's him.
          Report Abuse
    • Author by soze169880 (February 10, 2010 1:02 pm ET)
      2  
      He's still Beck's "Obama is Hitler! Now, I'm not saying he's Hitler or anything" rhetorical backflips. You don't get to redefine racially-charged words, you fat, drug-addicted pedophile.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by soze169880 (February 10, 2010 1:02 pm ET)
        1  
        *He's stealing
        Report Abuse
      • Author by Don Hussein Fabuloso (February 10, 2010 1:06 pm ET)
        1 1
        I'm assuming by "fat, drug-addicted pedophile" you only mean that you disagree with his statements. You should really add that disclaimer, or people might misinterpret your remarks.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by soze169880 (February 10, 2010 1:17 pm ET)
          2  
          Eh. Even if Rush didn't pop illegal drugs and have sex with little boys he would still be a disgusting, thoroughly loathsome person.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by shaggles (February 10, 2010 1:55 pm ET)
             
          Oh please. That's obviously just satire.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by Don Hussein Fabuloso (February 10, 2010 2:45 pm ET)
            1  
            I'll admit, I'm a little slow to pick up on satire, even soze's, which isn't nearly as sophisticated as the right wing version of satire.

            I just saw a Climate Change-related thread where one of the wingnuts appeared to misspell Al Gore as " Al Gor".

            When it was pointed out, he explained that it was a parody of E Gor.

            Boy, did the stoopid libs have egg on their faces for not getting that one!
            Report Abuse
      • Author by mshindo (February 11, 2010 2:04 pm ET)
           
        Let the Church say, "AMEN."
        Report Abuse
    • Author by pete592 (February 10, 2010 1:02 pm ET)
      3  
      Your clarification doesn't change a thing, Rush. You're still making a racist smear, plain and simple.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by MidnightWriter (February 10, 2010 1:07 pm ET)
      2  
      I'm wondering if Rush calls the elitist he meets, "boy."
      Report Abuse
    • Author by Mah (February 10, 2010 1:08 pm ET)
      3  
      All of the sudden, it has become a "bad thing" to be educated in America. I feel like stupidity is being rewarded, and if you are a college grad, heaven forbid an Ivy League grad, you are an uppity elitist who looks down on all the "real Americans".

      And you know Rush is just dying to call Obama an "uppity n-word", because not only is Obama Ivy League educated, he is BLACK...now that is like insanely offensive...I feel like I have fallen through the Looking Glass, up is down, right is wrong, etc.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by dogbreath (February 10, 2010 3:07 pm ET)
           
        I feel the same way but it is nothing new with the Republican right. They have a history of denouncing the educated and elevating the undereducated, people who they believe represent them, ala George Bush and Sarah Palin. The funny thing is that if any of their kids got accepted to attend Harvard, Yale, etc. they would jump at the opportunity. It is just another of those mind-bending issues that the right continues to hammer.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by mshindo (February 11, 2010 2:09 pm ET)
           
        First they tricked US into believing Thug Life was the only way out the ghettoes, now they using the same tactics against their own...always knew they'd eat their own young.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by nerzog (February 10, 2010 1:08 pm ET)
      2  
      I think it's funny that they've glommed onto this "Elitist" bullsh*t. What the hell does it mean? That he's rich? He's probably less wealthy than most members of the Senate, and definitely less wealthy than Blimpy.

      Is it because he's educated and smart? Well it's safe to say that he's better educated and smarter than Blimpy, Nostradumbass and Simple Sarah... the Trinity of the Republican Party. I guess they resent that fact.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by bintx (February 10, 2010 1:59 pm ET)
        1  
        According to MagCynic last night intelligence and education are signs of "sophistication and elitism." Beck, Rush and apparently, MagCynic are just "common folks."
        Report Abuse
    • Author by The New Pilgrims (February 10, 2010 1:08 pm ET)
      5  
      Hey Rush: How's that NFL franchisey-thingy workin' out for ya?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by nerzog (February 10, 2010 1:16 pm ET)
        2  
        I can't imagine why those black players didn't want to work for this guy...
        Report Abuse
        • Author by dogbreath (February 10, 2010 3:09 pm ET)
          1  
          It would have been fun to see them walk off the field in protest of his ownership, though.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by i8a_snack (February 11, 2010 10:46 pm ET)
            1
          You can't win if you don't have white guys throwing to them
          Report Abuse
          • Author by mjh (February 12, 2010 7:41 pm ET)
               
            "You can't win if you don't have white guys throwing to them" -- i8a_sh*tsnack


            May want to ask Doug Williams about that . . .

            Report Abuse
    • Author by New Frontier (February 10, 2010 1:09 pm ET)
      3  
      Limbaugh: "Obama is uppity."
      Your move, Glenn Beck.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by marco21 (February 10, 2010 1:13 pm ET)
      1  
      Rush is just like you and me, living in a Florida mansion, wearing expensive loafers and covering the place in flowers.

      Report Abuse
    • Author by discode (February 10, 2010 1:14 pm ET)
         
      He's so close to saying what he really wants to say.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by bintx (February 10, 2010 1:15 pm ET)
      1  
      There you go, just a couple more weeks and he'll bust out with the WORD that he's been wanting to say for so long. Racist, sexist pig.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by hamroad (February 10, 2010 1:18 pm ET)
      1  
      Rush = racist scum
      Report Abuse
    • Author by mjh (February 10, 2010 1:19 pm ET)
      6  
      Something I learned from the 2008 US Presidential Election:

      In an election where one one candidate

      - is the son and grandson of US Navy Admirals
      - is a multimillionaire
      - is married to the heiress of a beer distributorship
      - and had no idea how many properties he owned when asked

      and another candidate

      - is a former First Lady
      - a former US Senator
      - and is a multimillionaire

      . . . the candidate who's a black man from Chicago raised by his grandparents in a single-parent household who spent part of his childhood in one of the world's poorest countries and whose first job was as a $10K/year community organizer is labeled -- an "ELITIST" . . .


      Report Abuse
      • Author by magnolialover (February 10, 2010 1:23 pm ET)
        3  
        No to mention, said candidate is labeled as an elitist by people who make millions of dollars per year making things up.

        Also, didn't Obama just say that he finished paying off his college loans about 2 years ago?

        Elitist indeed.

        I think what Rush really means, is that, look at Obama, he's got that fancy education, and I mean, what has he done with it really (aside from being a State Senator, a US Senator, a President, and winner of Nobel Peace Prize). Of course Obama is elite, look what he's done with his life so far.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by Don Hussein Fabuloso (February 10, 2010 1:52 pm ET)
          3  
          Elitist indeed.


          Mag, this is really similar to the use of the word "condescending" by the nutters ( There was a recent item at MMFA regarding that word).

          As much as they worship people who make thousands of times the median income for slinging snake oil, they have a seething hatred for anybody who has put in the effort to inform and educate themselves to the point where they ain't buying that snake oil.
          Report Abuse
      • Author by Don Hussein Fabuloso (February 10, 2010 1:49 pm ET)
        1  
        That is incredible, mjh. I mean, I saw it in real time, but seeing it laid out as nicely as you did, it's still amazing that it's working as a wingnut talking point.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by neon desert (February 10, 2010 2:25 pm ET)
          1  
          Well, it wouldn't work among the uppity educated elites. But for those who choose Inhofe over NASA, Cantor over Krugman, and Robertson over Darwin, it ain't really that amazing.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by Don Hussein Fabuloso (February 10, 2010 2:40 pm ET)
            1  
            Point taken, Neon.

            Of course, I've been called a condescending troll, so my opinion doesn't matter as much as somebody with a lot more capital letters and exclamation points, or with any variation of "Proud", "Freedom", "Truth", "Patriot" or "American" in their screen name.
            Report Abuse
            • Author by neon desert (February 10, 2010 3:36 pm ET)
              1  
              I understand why, too. I mean, just look at your screen name. Who but a condescending troll would mock a great southern gentleman capitalist AND respected American poultry franchise, and the United States military, all as a prelude to spouting his fasco-socialist Maoism?
              Report Abuse
      • Author by dogbreath (February 10, 2010 3:10 pm ET)
           
        Well said.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by mshindo (February 11, 2010 2:13 pm ET)
           
        Weeeeeeeeeeeellllll!!!
        Report Abuse
      • Author by i8a_snack (February 11, 2010 10:49 pm ET)
          1
        Obama is a puppet.. that makes him "elitist". He's just following the left's agenda which obviously isn't working.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by mjh (February 12, 2010 7:51 pm ET)
             
          "Obama is a puppet.. that makes him 'elitist'." -- i8a_sh*tsnack


          If Obama's a "puppet" -- wouldn't that make whomever's controlling the strings the "elitist"?

          Oh, what am I saying -- I'm asking a wingnut to make sense . . .


          Report Abuse
    • Author by shaggles (February 10, 2010 1:24 pm ET)
      2  
      Does that even make sense? To be an elitist don't you already have to be up. How can you be uppity if you're already up? If you're already the most powerful man in the free world? I think Rush just likes to call Obama uppity.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by nerzog (February 10, 2010 1:38 pm ET)
        4  
        You nailed it. Blimpy likes to dangle that word in front of us. "See", he says, gloating. "I'm calling Obama uppity, and my drooling Troglodytes complete the phrase in their heads... I don't even have to say the N word, but they hear it anyway".
        Report Abuse
        • Author by shaggles (February 10, 2010 1:41 pm ET)
          2  
          Yeah. I imagine his listeners thinks he's really clever too. Liek he's really pulling one over on us stupid libs.
          Report Abuse
    • Author by donwelty (February 10, 2010 1:35 pm ET)
      3  
      Rush, I don't think you don't have a problem with a black man in the white house. I think you have a problem with any black man in any house.

      Shut my mouth, Rushbo. I's sho glad you ain't racist.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by mjh (February 10, 2010 2:07 pm ET)
        1  
        "Rush, I don't think you don't have a problem with a black man in the white house. I think you have a problem with any black man in any house."


        Well, that's not exactly true . . .

        Limpballs doesn't have a problem with a black man in a house -- provided the house is his Florida mansion, and the black man is his butler . . .


        Report Abuse
    • Author by marco21 (February 10, 2010 1:46 pm ET)
      6 1
      The right wing will label anyone with more than an 8th grade education an elitist. They know a dumb populace is easier to control.

      Rush's audience is populated by dummies.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by New Frontier (February 10, 2010 2:28 pm ET)
      3  
      He does think he's smarter and better than everybody else.
      Yes the man with self-described "talent on loan from God" actually said that with a straight face about someone else.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by AB-001 (February 10, 2010 2:58 pm ET)
      2  
      I guess he's done with Jews and the developmentally disabled (for now); back to the old standbys.

      Oh, wait. He's a satirist. Or he's being taken out of context. Or he's playing the media like a violin. Or whatever. Just not a garden variety bigot with a Citizen Kane lifestyle and fate
      Report Abuse
    • Author by tman418 (February 10, 2010 3:47 pm ET)
         
      This thread is quite silent of all the Trogs.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by Don Hussein Fabuloso (February 10, 2010 4:55 pm ET)
        1  
        Duh, Tman. Boss Hogg just said this today. Tomorrow he'll explain to his mouth-breathing teabaggers why this was satire and not racist.

        Check this thread tomorrow, about 10am PST. They should have their marching orders by then. And if Rush can't come up with anything else, he'll just go with " I was just tweaking those libs ! And they fell for it !"

        And his monkeys will swallow it.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by Porkeater (February 10, 2010 4:04 pm ET)
         
      His "explanation" is hogwash. There's no such thing as an uppity cr*cker, or even an uppity wetb*ck. His racist listeners know what this means, and they lap it up like swine. This fat fart knows he's sailing close to the wind, safe in the knowledge that there's nobody with enough testosterone/estrogen to have his double-wide ass arrested for public hate speech.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by mshindo (February 11, 2010 2:20 pm ET)
           
        They gotta say Obama's not black to continue to court the Tombaggers...Lord knows they need to show how non-racist they are in every possible way, especially since they cannot seem to control Michael Steele like they'd anticipated. New Negroes will breathe new life into their rapidly dying party, they hope...
        Report Abuse
    • Author by Boxer1979 (February 10, 2010 9:00 pm ET)
      1  
      Limbaugh: "Obama is uppity, but not as a black. He is an elitist"


      [http://www.clipartguide.com/_named_clipart_images/0511-0809-0312-5350_Steaming_Mad_Man_with_Smoke_Coming_From_His_Ears_clipart_image.jpg]
      Report Abuse
    • Author by cst (February 10, 2010 10:24 pm ET)
         
      You realise he's going to use that word ALL THE TIME now, and no Republican will call him out (if only because he's given them a "plausible" excuse for using it).
      Report Abuse
    • Author by Johaely (February 11, 2010 9:02 pm ET)
         
      Yep, Rush is still totally not racist.
      Report Abuse