Take the time machine back three years when the highly popular radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger got into hot water for her use of the “n” word on the air by simply using it in a non-name calling way to make a point about how much black comedians use it. There was a huge controversy and she later apologized to those who were offended and jumped to XM Radio once her contract went out. She remains highly popular. Now Rush Limbaugh has done almost the same thing. But don’t hold your breath for any consquences for Rush:
Rush Limbaugh crowed on Tuesday that, after hearing an interview with Trayvon Martin’s friend Rachel Jeantel, he was now allowed to use the word “n—a.” He then used the word.
Jeantel, who was on the phone with Martin just before he was killed by George Zimmerman, told Piers Morgan that she thought “n—a” was a non-racist term that could be applied to any man, whereas “n—-r” was. This view is, to say the least, not universally shared, but Limbaugh happily dove in.
“So, n—a with an a on the end,” he said, before adding, “I think I can now. Isn’t that the point? Because it’s not racist! I could be talking about a male.”
That’s akin to Dr. Laura’s more serious comment. But a)the bar on what passes for “political discussion” is being constantly lowered so what sparked an outcry three years ago almost fizzles now, and b)despite losing advertisers, Rush faces little prospect of facing consequences.
I’ll state it again: even 10 years ago we would NOT hear something like this on the radio unless it was a fringe station. This is why our politics has become enmeshed in snark, anger, and insult. People get paid very big bucks for it and it gets audiences for advertisers (which is what matters). They are rewarded.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.