Rush Limbaugh Opens 2012 With More Race-Baiting Attacks

Consistent with his long history of race-baiting attacks, Rush Limbaugh has used his first programs of 2012 to levy a series of racial attacks on President Obama. In the last week, he has claimed that President Obama's “plan” is “payback” against the “white Europeans” who “illegitimately founded” the United States, said that the Obamas think they are “owed” a lavish lifestyle “because of what's been done to” them and their “ancestors,” and asserted that Obama believes the United States was “immoral in its founding” in part due to slavery.

Limbaugh Begins 2012 By Attacking Obama For Being Motivated By Racial Grievances

Limbaugh: Obama's Plan Is “Payback” Against The “White Europeans” Who “Immorally And Illegitimately Founded” This Country. From January 11 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: I started to say a couple things here, but I got sidetracked by this Romney thing. By the way, I'm going to sidetracked again here. All this having been said, Romney gave what may be his best speech ever last night, his acceptance speech or victory speech. May have been the best speech he's ever given. Somebody just needs to -- somebody needs to put a pair of comforting hands on the shoulders, a gentle shake, and say, let me remind you who Obama is. Let me tell you who your opponent is, and what he's doing, and how you are nothing like him, and you don't want to be seen as anything like him. But that's not my job, man. I know, Obama's not just a nice guy who's in over his head. Obama has a plan. Obama's plan is based on his inherent belief that this country was immorally and illegitimately founded by a very small minority of white Europeans who screwed everybody else since the founding to get all the money and all the goodies, and it's about time that the scales were made even. And that's what's going on here. And that's why the president is lawless, and that's why there is no prosecution of the Black Panthers for voter intimidation, because it's not possible for a minority to intimidate the white majority. It's not possible. It's always been the other way around. This is just payback. This is “how does it feel” time. That's how he seems himself, pure and simple. He doesn't see himself as a capitalist reformer saving a stupid automobile company. He sees this is his opportunity to take it away from the people who founded it and give it to the people he thinks have a moral right to it because somehow they have been taken advantage of, used, exploited, paid unfairly, what have you. Yeah, it's socialist. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1/11/12, via Media Matters, emphasis added]

Limbaugh: Obamas Think They're “Owed” A Lavish Lifestyle “Because Of What's Been Done To” Them And Their “Ancestors.” From the January 9 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: Now, I believe that in addition to whatever drives Obama and his party ideologically, also near the top of the list is the pursuit of money without having to work for it. Being able to pass it out to their friends and set their friends up to be wealthy for the rest of their lives. I think there's all kinds of that going on, too. And I think if you look at the way the Obamas live, with Michelle and her separate vacations and not being concerned about how much it costs to take separate airplanes -- there's no question in my mind that they view this as -- whatever else they view it as, as an opportunity to live high on the hog without having it cost them a dime. And they justify it by thinking, “Well, we deserve this, or we're owed this because of what's been done to us and our ancestors all these” -- who knows? I think that's -- I think that's part of it.

I also think that it is why the Republican establishment wants back -- and everybody in Washington wants to be in charge of the money. Everybody wants to run the committee chairmans-- the committee and be the chairman. Everybody wants to be in charge of the budget. Everybody wants to have power over it. Do not discount, ever, the money. And do not -- folks, another thing not to fall for: Do not think that however wealthy somebody is, they run around thinking they have enough, because nobody ever thinks they have enough. And no matter how much you have, it's very easy -- it's not hard at all to learn how to spend every dime in your pocket. It's easy.

Now, people who've never had 2 or 3 million dollars think, “My gosh, what would I spend it on?” You'd be surprised once you have it. It's not that hard. And the concept of, “Well, gosh, don't you have enough?” That's a myth. That's something the liberals use to try to guilt other people out of pursuing achievement and so forth. But believe me, no matter what they have, it's never enough. And I think there's a lot of reasons why the Obamas, the Democrats are doing what they're doing. In addition to the ideology, in addition to whatever grievances they have about this country and its past and however they think it needs to be cut down to size, and however they think the people who have gotten rich need to be gotten even with. Also in the mix is their chance to get their share without having to work for it and set themselves up, and their friends up, for life in the process. I don't doubt that that's a factor here.

And they're clearly willing to use the power, and they don't care about the debt that the country is involved in, and they don't think that we are at a point of peril. The idea that the national debt is now greater then the economy -- no big deal. They've been hearing all their lives how the national debt's too high, the national debt's going to cripple the country, but it never has. While they are hearing all of this horrible stuff about the debt, the deficits, all the tax rates, they look around, they see people doing just fine, living high on the hog, and the national debt's not hurting anybody. The rich are getting richer, and that's who they want to be. And if they don't know how to earn a lot of money working for it, they'll go someplace where they can legally steal it. Or apportion it to themselves and their friends, and that's a large part of what's going on with this regime. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1/9/12, via Media Matters, emphasis added]

Limbaugh: Obama “Thinks This Is An Unjust Country, That It Was Immoral In Its Founding For Reasons Including But Greater Than Slavery.” From the January 12 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: I think Obama -- and Giuliani's right: [Obama's] an Alinskyite. He has been taught, he's been raised, educated, whatever. He's got a deep resentment for this country. You know me. I have told you. I'm willfully naïve, I guess. I can't get my arms around the fact that there are people born in this country who hate it. I know they do, they can explain to me the differences in ideology and so forth, I just -- I'm never going to intellectually or emotionally understand it, even though I can explain it, it still makes no sense to me. Yet I know those people exist and I know that they are the people that taught Obama. They are among those who educated him, both in his family and at the institutions of higher learning and academe that he attended. I know that he thinks this is an unjust country, that it was immoral in its founding for reasons including but greater than slavery. He thinks it was economically unjust and immoral. He thinks a bunch of rich white guys -- this one percent versus 99 percent stuff, that's how he thinks the country was founded and that the one percent has maintained themselves in total control of all the wealth since the days of the founding and that they take purposeful steps to keep everybody out of that club. He believes it. He thinks the only remedy for it is to take everything the one percent has and give it away to everybody else. Now the ulterior motives to that are entrenching his own power. I don't think there's benevolence in this. I don't think Obama runs around every day feeling genuinely sorry for the 99 percent. I don't think he's motivated by altruism. I think he's motivated by anger. He's got a chip on his shoulder, a number of them. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1/12/12, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh Has A Long History Of Race-Baiting Attacks

PRESIDENT OBAMA

Limbaugh On White House Hanukkah Celebration: “I'm Sure [Obama] Thought It Was Kwanzaa.” On the December 9, 2011, edition of his radio show, Limbaugh said:

LIMBAUGH: Snerdley, what do you think the odds are that Obama got confused Hanukkah and Kwanzaa? When was Kwanzaa invented? No, '66. I looked it up. Kwanzaa was invented 1966. Close enough. It was invented by a guy named Ron Karenga. Yeah. Yeah. His name was Ron Karenga but he had an alias, Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga.

So he was a doctor. And he invented Kwanzaa, which is a seven-day feast, runs December 26 to January 1. In 1966 he branded it a black alternative to Christmas. The idea was to celebrate the end of what Ron Karenga considered the Christmas season exploitation of African Americans. Now, what was that? What was the Christmas season exploitation of African Americans? Was it all the black Santa Clauses that were out there in the department stores? What was it then? What was the exploitation of African Americans at Christmastime? According to the official Kwanzaa website, as opposed to the Hallmark Cards Kwanzaa site, the celebration was designed to foster conditions that would enhance the revolutionary social change for the -- anyway it also has a candelabra. It was seven days, seven candles instead of eight for Hanukkah, and you light 'em all at once. So Obama had a menorah there and he lit 'em all. I'm sure he thought it was Kwanzaa while talking about loyalty to Israel. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 12/9/11, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: Obama “Talks Honky Around White People.” On the September 27, 2011, edition of his radio show, Limbaugh said:

LIMBAUGH: When you listen to Obama on a stump, when you listen to his nasty tone, which is what our caller called about, you listen to his name-calling, you listen to the class warfare, you hear his supporters with their racism charges, their thug language, who and what does it remind you of? I'll tell you who and what it reminds me of. Jeremiah Wright. We are hearing Jeremiah Wright when Obama gets testy and ticked off out on the campaign trail. We are learning that he heard Reverend Wright all those 20 years.

His message, his tone, his beliefs sound like Jeremiah Wright on the pulpit. When he starts dropping his G's, starts getting angry and ticked off. I even heard somebody talk about chickens coming home to roost the other day from the campaign. Wish I could remember who I heard say that, but regardless, sounds just like Jeremiah Wright when he gets all mad, angry, starts chiding the Congressional Black Caucus, message, tone, beliefs. That's why he was attracted to Jeremiah Wright and his church in the first place is because you strip away the facade, and what you have here is an angry young guy ticked off at whatever he thinks are the injustices and the inequities of this country.

Barack Obama getting in touch with his inner Reverend Wright. He even talks honky around white people. You know what I mean by that, Snerdley. You might have to explain it to Rachel, who is as white bread as anybody I know. But he talks honky. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 9/27/11, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh Coins The Term “Or-Bam-Eo” To Describe New Oreo With Chocolate And Vanilla Cream. During the August 17, 2011, edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show, Limbaugh described a new Oreo that will have both chocolate and vanilla cream as a “biracial” cookie and said “it isn't going to be long before it's going to be called the Or-Bam-eo or something like this.” Limbaugh later called it the “Or-Bam-eo” himself. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 8/17/11, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “There's A Racial Component” To The “Chip On [Obama's] Shoulder.” On the April 21, 2011, edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show, Limbaugh asked why Obama “harbor[s] resentment -- why not thank the people whose taxes made possible the Social Security and the Medicare and the food stamps and whatever else” Obama received growing up. Limbaugh further said there is “this chip on [Obama's] shoulder, which got a lot more on it than just this story, I mean there's a racial component, as you know, and other elements.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 4/21/11, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “Barry Obama” Comes From A “Very White” Background, Not “From Da 'Hood.” On March 3, 2011, Limbaugh said:

LIMBAUGH: Now let me ask you a question. How many people really think of Obama as black? I mean, apart from Chris Matthews, who's obsessed with that? One of Obama's parents was black. Undeniable. But he was raised by a white mother, by white grandparents, he went to a highly exclusive private school in Hawaii with rich white students and white teachers, he went to exclusive colleges that were practically lily white. Barry Obama is from a very white, albeit radical left, cultural background. He's not from da 'hood. He's not from the movement. Although I'm beginning -- you know, maybe he's right. Maybe he's right. Everything is race for him -- the race for the presidency, he can play upon his race and skin color to get reelected. Surely he will, surely he is now. So it's all about making himself a victim. I'm telling you, there's a chip on this guy's shoulder and it, folks, it is a factor in every policy decision he makes, every agenda item that he has. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 3/3/11, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh On “Arrogant” Obama: He's Like “Some” African-Americans Who Say “Fourth Of July Ain't No Big Deal To Me, Yo.” From the August 26, 2010, edition of Limbaugh's show:

LIMBAUGH: I think to get to Obama we need to go a little bit deeper. Let me focus mostly on the lazy. Because I think the lazy -- for example, here he's on his sixth vacation, he really doesn't appear to work very hard, gets to the Oval Orifice at 9:30 in the morning. Bush got in there at seven. Reagan got in there at seven, took a nap at 7:15, got back to work at ten -- just kidding. Tweaking the left. Bush got in there early, Obama is late, he doesn't spend a lot of time in there. I don't think it's laziness. I think it is arrogance. I think Obama thinks of himself as above the job. I don't think he likes the job as much as he thought he was going to like it. I don't think he likes the White House. I think he looks at the White House as confining. I think one of the reasons all these vacations is he gets outta there. He and his wife do not like living there. To them the White House is not a great place of honor, it's a prison, and a lot of presidents have felt that it's a prison, but to them it's like some African-Americans, “Fourth of July ain't no big deal to me, yo.” Well, the White House, to a lot of African-Americans, is the same thing. I mean, there's a lot of stuff that came out of there by presidents that were in there that they're not particularly happy about. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 8/26/10, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: Obama Comments On AZ Law Are “Siding Against The American People,” Playing “The Race Card,” “Dividing America.” On his May 6, 2010, radio show, Limbaugh criticized Obama for condemning the immigration law that was abusing civil rights in the state of Arizona. Rush suggested that “once again we have the race card being thrown down” and the President is “siding against the American people.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 5/6/10, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “Obama Is Uppity, But Not As A Black. He Is An Elitist.” On February 10, 2010, Limbaugh said:

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. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 2/10/10, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “I Do Believe” Obama Is An “Angry Black Guy.” Responding to accusations that he had called Obama “an angry black man,” Limbaugh said on July 27, 2009, “they're finally hearing me -- he's an angry black guy. I do believe that about the president. I do believe he's angry; I think his wife is angry. All liberals are enraged all the time anyways. They're always mad.” Previously, Limbaugh had said that Obama is “one angry guy.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 7/27/09, 3/24/09, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “We Are Being Told That We Have To Hope [Obama] Succeeds, That We Have To Bend Over, Grab The Ankles ... Because His Father Was Black.” After Obama's inauguration, Limbaugh said during an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News that "[r]acism in this country is the exclusive province of the left. We're witnessing racism all this week that led up to the inauguration. We're being told that we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles. Bend over forward, backward, whichever, because his father was black, because this is the first black president. We've got to accept this. The racism that everybody thinks exists on our side of the aisle has been on full display throughout their primary campaign. So I think they've done a great job, the media has, of covering up his deficiencies." [Fox News, Hannity, 1/21/09, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: "[I]n Obama's America, The White Kids Now Get Beat Up With The Black Kids Cheering." On September 15, 2009, Limbaugh said:

LIMBAUGH: It's Obama's America, is it not? Obama's America, white kids getting beat up on school buses now. I mean, you put your kids on a school bus, you expect -- you expect safety. But in Obama's America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering, 'Yay, right on, right on, right on, right on.' And of course everybody says, 'Oh, the white kid deserved it. He was born a racist, he's white.' Newsweek magazine told us this. We know that white students are destroying civility on buses. White students destroying civility in classrooms all over America. White congressmen destroying civility in the House of Representatives. We can redistribute students while we redistribute their parents' wealth. I mean, we can just redistribute everything. Just return the white students to their rightful place, their own bus, with bars on the windows and armed guards. They're racist. They get what they deserve. Newsweek magazine told us this -- post-racial America. I mean, I wonder if Obama's going to come to the defense of the assailants the way he did his friend Skip Gates up there at Harvard. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 9/15/09, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “Obama's Entire Economic Program Is Reparations.” On June 22, 2009, Limbaugh said:

LIMBAUGH: What they don't know is that Obama's entire economic program is reparations. If I were [Al] Sharpton, if I'd been guest-hosting Sharpton's show, and I got a call like that, somebody complaining, I'd say, 'No, hey, hey, hey. Shh, shh. Let me tell you the truth here. Everything in the stimulus plan, every plan he's got is reparations. He gonna take from the rich, he's gonna take from the -- he's gonna give it to you. It just can't happen overnight. Be patient.' That's what's -- redistribution of wealth, reparations, returning the nation's wealth to its rightful owners, whatever you want to call it, it's reparations. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 7/22/09, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: Obama Is “More African In His Roots Than He Is American” And Is “Behaving Like An African Colonial Despot.” After reading extensively from an American Thinker column smearing Obama, Limbaugh said on June 26, 2009, that Obama is “more African in his roots than he is American” and is “behaving like an African colonial despot.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/26/09, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: Obama Is “Halfrican-American.” On January 24, 2007, Limbaugh referred to Obama and actress Halle Berry as “Halfrican-American[s],” stating that “Barack Obama has picked up another endorsement: Halfrican-American actress Halle Berry.” Limbaugh then said: " 'As a Halfrican-American, I am honored to have Ms. Berry's support, as well as the support of other Halfrican Americans,' Obama said." Limbaugh then conceded that Obama “didn't say it.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1/24/07, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “Obama Has Disowned His White Half ... He's Decided He's Got To Go All In On The Black Side.” On March 21, 2008, Limbaugh said of Obama's handling of the controversy surrounding remarks by Rev. Jeremiah Wright: “It is clear that Senator Obama has disowned his white half, that he's decided he's got to go all in on the black side.” Limbaugh had earlier said: "[Y]ou know, opening these race wounds like this, taking us back 30, 40 years, making it look like no progress has been made -- what Barack Obama has done -- I'm going to say something here that might offend -- or not offend -- but might make some uncomfortable. But it is clear to me that there has been a major transformation in Senator Obama." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 3/21/08, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: Obama “Wants Us To Have The Same Health Care And Plan That He Had In Kenya” And “Wants To Be The Black FDR.” On August 24, 2009, Limbaugh said he “finally figured out why it is Obama's pushing so hard on this health care bill.” He asserted: “He just wants us to have the same health care and plan that he had in Kenya. And look, you know, economic anxiety is necessary if you want to become the next black FDR, which is -- well, the black FDR. That's what he wants. He wants to be the black FDR, the next FDR, and FDR fed off of economic anxiety.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 8/24/09, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “God Does Not Have A Birth Certificate. Neither Does Obama”; Obama “Has Yet To Prove He's A Citizen.” On June 10, 2009, Limbaugh advanced the theory that Obama was not born in the United States, saying that “God does not have a birth certificate. Neither does Obama,” and that Obama “has yet to have to prove he's a citizen. All he'd have to do is show a birth certificate.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/10/09, 7/20/09, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh Suggests Obama Would Not Have Acted On Somali Pirates If He'd Known They Were “Actually Young, Black Muslim Teenagers.” On April 14, 2009, Limbaugh suggested the “correct” way to look at a situation in which Obama sent the military to retrieve American hostages from Somali pirates was that “if only President Obama had known that the three Somali community organizers were actually young, black Muslim teenagers, I'm sure he wouldn't have given the order to shoot.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 4/14/09, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh Suggests Democrats, Media Believe “You Can't Criticize The Little Black Man-Child.” Referring to GOP presidential campaign ads comparing Obama to Britney Spears on August 20, 2008, Limbaugh said: “It's -- you know, it's just -- it's just we can't hit the girl. I don't care how far feminism's saying, you can't hit the girl, and you can't -- you can't criticize the little black man-child. You just can't do it, 'cause it's just not right, It's not fair. He's such a victim.” The previous day, Limbaugh had said that “it is striking how unqualified Obama is and, and how this whole thing came about with, within the Democrat Party. I think it really goes back to the fact that nobody had the guts to stand up and say no to a black guy.” Limbaugh went on to say, “I think this is a classic illustration here where affirmative action has reared its ugly head against them.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 8/20/08, 8/19/08, via Media Matters]

FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA

Limbaugh: Michelle Obama Was Booed At NASCAR Event Because She Has Exhibited “Uppity-Ism.” On November 21, 2011, Limbaugh said:

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. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 11/21/11, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh “Speculate[d]” That Michelle Obama Didn't Attend Sen. Byrd's Funeral Because Of Her “Authentic Slave Blood.” On his July 2, 2010 show, while discussing Sen. Robert Byrd's funeral, Limbaugh said that “as has been said by several black civil rights leaders, Obama does not have authentic slave blood. But Michelle does, and maybe that's why” she didn't attend the funeral. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 7/2/10, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh On Michelle Obama Addressing “Angry Black Woman” Stereotype: “Imagine That. She's Mad At Somebody For Portraying Her As Mad.” Discussing Michelle Obama's comments to CBS that she has been painted as “some kind of angry black woman,” Limbaugh said:

LIMBAUGH: Yes, I see Michelle Obama's mad while saying she's not. She's tired of the angry black woman image that she's got. She's mad at the New York Times reporter for stereotyping her as an angry black woman. Imagine that. She's mad at somebody for portraying her as mad. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1/11/12, via Media Matters]

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

Limbaugh: “Race Riots” Are Part Of The Obama Administration's Plan; “I'm Not Predicting It, But If It Happens Don't Count Me As One Who's Surprised.” On the October 17, 2011 edition of his radio show, Limbaugh said:

LIMBAUGH: Now Snerdley's in there yelling at me: “If you do what you just suggested, what Paul suggested, there would be rioting in the streets.” There's rioting in the streets now. And there's going to be more rioting in the streets, because that's part of the program here. And next up there are going to be race riots. I guarantee. And the race riots are part of the plan that this regime has. That's next. You'll note that everybody's talking about white organize Wall Street is. Well, didn't take long for them to do the Martin Luther King thing yesterday. You just watch and wait until these two things get melded, which they will. The more chaos and instability, the better. I'm not predicting it, but if it happens just don't count me as one who's surprised, is what I'm saying here. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 10/17/11, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh Called Obama Administration A “Racist” “Regime.” During the April 26, 2010, edition of his radio show, Limbaugh discussed Arizona's controversial immigration law and claimed that “not everybody thinks that civil rights are the end-all and be-all of every single issue.” Limbaugh then cited a video in which Obama discussed voter turnout, including that among minorities and women, and said, “This is the regime at its racist best.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 4/26/10, via Media Matters]

OTHER RACE-BAITING ATTACKS

Limbaugh: Politico Story “Is About Blacks ... Getting Too Uppity.” On his website, Limbaugh featured the transcript of a radio show segment in which he defended then-presidential candidate Herman Cain using the title: “We Should Not be Surprised by the Left's Racist Hit Job on Herman Cain.” On his radio show, he stated:

LIMBAUGH: It really is about blacks and Hispanics getting too uppity. That's what this is. You don't achieve in American politics as a Republican, as a self-reliant individual or conservative. You don't do it. You try it and we're going to destroy you -- Washington Post and Marco Rubio last week and the week before. Today, Herman Cain.

Now Clinton is laughing because he knows the media and the liberals are gonna treat a black conservative far different than how they would treat any Democrat. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 10/31/11]

Limbaugh On Diaz-Balart Questions At GOP Debate: “Why Not Bring Out Some Black Guy To Ask Questions About Race?” On the September 8, 2011 version of The Rush Limbaugh Show, Limbaugh mocked the debate questions after NBC chose Telemundo's Jose Diaz-Balart to ask a question on illegal immigration. Limbaugh wondered “why not bring out some black guy to ask questions about race and bring out a feminazi to ask questions about women? [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 9/8/11, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “For The First Time In His Life, Paterson Is Gonna Be A Massa.” During a discussion with a caller on March 9, 2010, about African-American New York Gov. David Paterson possibly appointing a replacement for former Rep. Eric Massa, Limbaugh said, “So, for the first time in his life, Paterson's gonna be a massa. Interesting, interesting.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 3/9/10, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh Declares Basketball “The Favorite Sport Of Gangs.” Discussing the government's attempts to curb violence, Limbaugh told a caller on October 7, 2009:

LIMBAUGH: It's not reasonable that you should understand the insanity that local and state and federal bureaucracies are doing. It's perfectly normal and understandable that none of what they do would make sense to you. My question -- OK, a 1 cent sales tax to fight gang violence. What do you spend the money on to fight gang violence? Afterschool program -- don't we already have afterschool programs? Don't we already have -- what do you call it, extracurricular events? Midnight basketball -- I mean, we've done it all. We've taken the favorite sport of gangs, and we put it at midnight to get them on the basketball court. We had 100,000 new cops with Clinton -- we've done it all. And the problem still is out of control. Liberalism doesn't work. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 10/7/09, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “The Government's Been Taking Care Of [Young Blacks] Their Whole Lives.” On February 1, 2007, Limbaugh responded to a Reuters report about a University of Chicago study that found that “a majority of young blacks feel alienated from today's government” by asserting, “Why would that be? The government's been taking care of them their whole lives.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 2/1/07, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “The Days Of [Minorities] Not Having Any Power Are Over, And They Are Angry.” On June 4, 2009, Limbaugh said:

LIMBAUGH: This has been the argument the Reverend Jackson has proffered throughout my life -- that it's impossible for minorities to be racist because they don't have any power. Well, president of the United States. We're talking now about a Supreme Court justice. The days of them not having any power are over, and they are angry. And they want to use their power as a means of retribution. That's what Obama's about, gang. He's angry; he's going to cut this country down to size. He's going to make it pay for all the multicultural mistakes that it has made -- its mistreatment of minorities. I know exactly what's going on here. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/4/09, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “The Media Has Been Very Desirous That A Black Quarterback Do Well.” In 2003, Limbaugh resigned from his job as an ESPN commentator after saying that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb hasn't “been that good from the get-go” and “got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve,” because "[t]he media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well." After the Eagles reached Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005, Limbaugh returned to making racial comments about McNabb, saying, “There's no question McNabb has improved and I'm happy to see it,” but that “when the defense ... was propping the Eagles up,” the media “were still giving McNabb credit -- because there's this social hope.” [ESPN.com, 10/1/03; Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1/24/05, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: “The NFL All Too Often Looks Like A Game Between The Bloods And The Crips.” On January 19, 2007, Limbaugh stated: “Look it, let me put it to you this way. The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There I said it.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1/19/07, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh On Survivor Series: “African-American Tribe” Worst Swimmers, Hispanics “Will Do Things Other People Won't Do.” On August 23, 2006, Limbaugh suggested that the competition in a season of CBS' Survivor, in which contestants were reportedly divided into competing “tribes” by ethnicity, “is not going to be fair if there's a lot of water events.” In support of this assertion, he cited a March 2, 2006, HealthDay article reporting that “young blacks -- especially males -- are much more likely to drown in pools than whites.” He later added that Hispanics have “probably shown the most survival tactics,” that they “have shown a remarkable ability to cross borders,” and that they can “do it without water for a long time, they don't get apprehended, and they will do things other people won't do.” On his September 29, 2006, show, Limbaugh claimed "[t]here can only be one reason" Survivor scrapped “segregated” competition after two episodes -- “the white tribe had to be winning.” [Media Matters, 10/13/09; Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 9/29/06, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh Said Democrats' Interest In Darfur Is Securing Black “Voting Bloc.” On August 21, 2007, Limbaugh claimed that Democrats “want to get us out of Iraq, but they can't wait to get us into Darfur.” He continued: “There are two reasons. What color is the skin of the people in Darfur? It's black. And who do the Democrats really need to keep voting for them? If they lose a significant percentage of this voting bloc, they're in trouble.” A caller responded, “The black population,” to which Limbaugh said, “Right.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 8/21/07, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh Called Civil Rights Leaders Al Sharpton And Jesse Jackson “Race Hustlers.” During the October 15, 2009, edition of his show, Limbaugh noted the fact that NFL Players Association director DeMaurice Smith had sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell objecting to Limbaugh's bid to become a partial owner of the St. Louis Rams. Limbaugh then said, “And then, of course, the two race hustlers, the Reverend Jackson and the Reverend Sharpton, got involved.” [Media Matters, 10/15/09]

For more of Rush Limbaugh's race-baiting attacks, click here.