Dj Steckelberg

Houston, we have a problem.

I may be taking a huge leap of faith here, but I am pretty sure that anyone who is reading this right now is actually capable of reading. I know I shouldn’t make sweeping generalities like that, but, really, if you break it all down, that’s what I do.

Rush Limbaugh does this as well … but not as well. Good ol’ Rushie resigned from ESPN NFL Sunday Countdown last Wednesday. I’m sure some of you had no idea that Rush Limbaugh was on ESPN, or knew anything about football. Well you might have been at least halfway on the mark there. He seemingly didn’t know anything about football. But that’s not the problem. He also doesn’t know when to keep his trap shut. That also is not the problem.

Many of you may think that Rush is a big fat idiot. If that is indeed the case I urge you to read Al Franken’s book by the same name, just so you can feel better by reading something that you agree with.

Many of you may feel that Rush is great. For you I encourage you to read anything by him so that you, too, may feel better.

I don’t care what you feelings of Rush are. He shouldn’t have had to resign his position for making his feelings known.

If you don’t already know what happened, here it is in a nut shell. He said that Donovan McNabb wasn’t that great of a quarterback and that the media, wanting a black quarterback to make it, created an image around him that just wasn’t true. That’s it. In the greater scheme of things that really isn’t so bad.

I know it was stupid. McNabb is that good. I know it was asinine. Race shouldn’t be an issue any more. It was dumb, and just off base. But it was his opinion. Now he is going to only do radio, where the people that listen to him want to hear what he has to say. I would rather have him try and back up his remarks this season while McNabb is racking up huge stats. But that ain’t going to happen. That’s the problem.

Go up the cable dial a few notches from ESPN and tune into Comedy Central. On their prank phone call show Crank Yankers, they tout a character that is mentally challenged. They make fun of a stereotype all they want. A group of people who are not as able to defend themselves or retaliate. That’s the problem.

You see, Americans love to prove how they are not in the least racist by attacking anything that may have even an inkling of a racist flavor. People of other races are human. But where is the outcry against Comedy Central? Are the mentally challenged not equally deserving of our rage against unfair or stupid remarks? No, that issue makes us uncomfortable, so we can just ignore that. They aren’t really people after all.

Last week the collegian quoted Doofus McFreshman who said in reference to the draft: “I think it’s gay”. Did he mean that the draft is a really happy place like Bedrock? Or did he mean that forced government service in the armed forces is as disturbing to him as a homosexual? Go ahead and make your own conclusion on this one. I bet ol’ Doofus calls things retarded as well. Meaning slow to learn, i.e. him.

When are we going to get our priorities straight? When are we going to make a conscientious effort to either protect everyone under our protective wing, or let people say what they want to say and judge them on their own idiocy or brilliance?

Is Rush Limbaugh an idiot? You bet. If by idiot you mean to make more money than a crooked senator by saying what you want and delivering controversy to boost your ratings and thus getting paid more every time you outrage a public that has no idea what should make them mad. If that’s what you mean, then yes, he is an idiot.

But, maybe, just maybe it could be us; the massive flock of Pavlovian drones who have been conditioned to respond to certain flagged words while ignoring other more deserving violations of our oh so important collective conscience.

DJ Steckelberg inserts words like “doofus’ into every tirade. Reach him at [email protected].