Posted 11:16 PM by Scoobie Davis

Rush Limbaugh: Racist

double whammy n. a twofold blow or setback.

On Tuesday, when a caller to Rush Limbaugh’s radio show suggested that Trent Lott should not only step down as Senate Majority Leader but perhaps should even resign his seat in the Senate, Limbaugh warned the caller about the problems with this scenario:

The Democrats in Mississippi look to be ready to nominate Mike Espy, the former agriculture secretary, to be the new senator from Mississippi that would replace Lott. That'd be a double whammy, to get a Democrat plus an African-American in there to take Trent Lott's seat. That takes the Senate back to 50-50, with Dick Cheney breaking tie votes.

Certainly, if one is a Republican, it would be a setback to have a Democrat replace a Republican in the Senate. No problem so far. Let’s look at the other half of Limbaugh’s “double whammy”: Espy’s race. Most people don’t see it as a problem for an African-American to replace a white person in the Senate—unless, of course, they’re racists. Limbaugh has a right to view Espy’s race as the other half of a double whammy—and I have a right to call him a racist. Jeff Cohen and Steve Rendell raised questions about Limbaugh’s views on race when he was being considered for a spot on ABC’s Monday Night Football. What Limbaugh has said in the past is consistent with his recent comment about Espy.

12/19 UPDATE: On today's show, Limbaugh accused Democrats of using"race-baiting rhetoric" and referred to former President Clinton's comments that he made yesterday as "an assault on the whole South."

Erratum:I originally wrote that the conversation occurred on Monday. It was Tuesday.