A couple of days ago, Rush Limbaugh welcomed Chinese president Hu Jintao to the United States with a mock repetition of Hu's speech in which Limbaugh barked out over the airwaves a series of sharp “changs” and “chongs” meant to represent Mandarin Chinese. He did it twice, in fact, with the explanation that “when I hear Chinese or Japanese, it sounds like all the same word.”

Yesterday, in the face of denunciations from journalists and elected officials, Limbaugh steadfastly defended himself, claiming that he was just doing what comedian Sid Caesar, “who was called a comedic genius,” has done in the past.

I listened to this and what immediately popped to mind was an early episode of NBC's The Office, in which Steve Carell's character, Michael Scott, is forced to undergo diversity training after repeating in the workplace a Chris Rock routine that makes frequent use of the n-word. Michael asks incredulously: “How come Chris Rock can do a routine and everyone finds it hilarious and groundbreaking, and then I go and do the exact same routine, same comedic timing, and people file a complaint to corporate?”

The joke, of course, is that Carell's character is so oblivious to notions of context and propriety that he doesn't understand why something a comedian says on stage would not be appropriate in an office setting. And yet, this is the excuse Rush employed to defend himself.

So congratulations, Rush. You've brought to life the self-absorbed ignorance of one of television's great buffoons. Quite a feat.