O'REILLY: So what's the evidence that Limbaugh is a race-baiter? We investigated the statements that are being tossed about. The first one allegedly has Mr. Limbaugh praising James Earl Ray, convicted of assassinating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There's no evidence that Rush Limbaugh ever did that. The accusation comes from a far-left guy named Jack Huberman, who provided no evidence to back up the claim. Huberman is also the source for Limbaugh's alleged quote saying slavery was not entirely bad. Again, Huberman provided no backup. The allegation was also published on Wikipedia without any sourcing whatsoever. Mr. Limbaugh denies making both comments.
Finally, a Kansas City Star columnist named James Fussell quoted Limbaugh as saying bad things about the NAACP. The quote came from a newsletter called “Flush Rush.” But so far, there's no confirmation the disparaging remarks, again, were ever made.
So what we have here are accusations without merit. But in our hypermedia age, that's enough to paint someone as a racist.
Now, I've been through this. A couple years ago, I said on the radio that having dinner in Harlem at Sylvia's Restaurant was the same as having dinner anywhere in America. The context was my grandmother, who was very afraid of blacks, even though she never even met a black person. Her fear was irrational. And I made that point quite clearly.
But the vicious website Media Matters put forth I was denigrating a black-owned restaurant. And some people actually believed it without even listening to the radio broadcast, which I posted on billoreilly.com so everybody could hear it. Well, there goes my NFL career.
Fair-minded Americans know that playing the race card is easy and hateful. The only thing we can find about Rush Limbaugh is that he thinks quarterback Donovan McNabb is overrated by some people who want black quarterbacks to succeed. Mr. McNabb resented the remark, as he should have. He's a good player, and his color has nothing to do with his performance. I think Limbaugh made a mistake with that analysis.
But that doesn't make him a racist and should not disqualify him from owning part of a team. We've got to stop the racial witch-hunting in America.