National Football League

Upon further review: The word on Rush

Published Oct. 22, 2009 4:44 p.m. ET

Jason Whitlock

Let me first apologize to Rush Limbaugh.

Last week in explaining why NFL commissioner Roger Goodell needed to put an end to Limbaugh's latest publicity stunt, I attributed racially insensitive quotes to Limbaugh that I read in two Missouri newspapers, saw on CNN and confirmed through a Google search. Prior to posting the article, I never found a denial of these quotes by Limbaugh, and had no reason to believe those statements were not true.

It was unfair to Limbaugh. And I regret that. I've commented on some of his earlier controversies. I've long been an admirer of his broadcasting skills.

For the most part, I've never taken his political commentary all that seriously. There are virtually no modern-day political figures that I take seriously. Politics and politicians are too dishonest and too controlled by financial influences for my taste. I've never participated in American politics. I've never voted.

downlevel descriptionThis video requires the Adobe Flash Player. Download a free version of the player.

I am not right wing or left wing, Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative. I'm not beholden to any political agenda. An examination of my work at FOXSports.com, the Kansas City Star and/or any of the places I've worked previously would reveal a free-thinking, hardcore independent.

I dislike and distrust everybody equally.

The proof is in my work. As sports columnist, I went down to Jena, Louisiana on my own dime because I wanted to understand the Jena Six controversy. The way the "mainstream" media and Al Sharpton told the story made little sense to me. My suspicions were confirmed after visiting Jena. I wrote a long column for the Kansas City Star explaining how a little-known white minister -- Alan Bean -- crafted the Jena Six narrative, spoon-fed it to specific, liberal-leaning media members/outlets and watched from the sidelines as his totally one-sided, inaccurate narrative became accepted as fact by virtually all major media organizations.

I pay a price for my independence. I know what it feels like to be unfairly called a racist. It happens to me almost every week after one of my columns. Depending on the topic or the conclusion I reach, black and white people take turns arguing that I hate black or white people.

My point is some days I'm sympathetic to Limbaugh's plight. He's a push-the-envelope entertainer. His parody song "Barack The Magic Negro" is one of the funniest things I've ever heard on radio. It's not racist. It's genius.

But on most days I see Limbaugh for exactly what he is: America's most successful race hustler.

He delights in labeling Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as "race hustlers," but not surprisingly Limbaugh fails to inform his massive radio audience that he hustles the same game as Jesse and Al, just on the white side of the fence.