Limbaugh infantilizes Obama

Following up on his comments during the campaign, Rush Limbaugh is invoking ugly cultural stereotypes that infantilize black men in his comments about President Obama, who Limbaugh has repeatedly described as a "boy" and as a "man-child":

Limbaugh calls Obama "this little boy, this little man-child president." While discussing what he characterized as Obama's "attacks" on Fox News and "ambush" of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Limbaugh said: "People are finally standing up to this little boy, this little man-child president, whose primary -- I think his primary job, if you will, in life has been leisure." [Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show, 10/27/09]

Limbaugh on college "thesis" he said Obama wrote: "[T]his little boy in college" had "disdain" for Constitution. During discussion of a report about a "college thesis" Obama had purportedly written, which later was revealed to have been fake, Limbaugh claimed: "And this little boy in college, writing about [the Constitution] with utter disdain, and he still shares those same feelings." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 10/23/09]

Limbaugh says that with digitized health records, "little man-child" Obama would be able to "blackmail you" and "deny you treatment." Warning that the digitization of medical records would let the government "blackmail" patients and deny them treatment, Limbaugh asserted, "Every day, this little man-child reaches out and grabs something else." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/18/09]

On Beck, Limbaugh calls Obama a "full-fledged man-child narcissist." Appearing on Fox News' Glenn Beck, Limbaugh stated of Obama: "The man's a pure, full-fledged man-child narcissist who has to make everything about him. And while he's talking about protecting us and defending us and so forth, the Federal Reserve yesterday came out and said the economic forecast for the rest of the year is even worse." [Glenn Beck, 5/21/09]

Limbaugh: "[T]he little boy president went out there and did something absolutely ignorant and stupid." Referring to Senate Democrats' plan to block funding for the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention center until a decision was made about where to put the detainees, Limbaugh stated: "I tell ya, this is cover for Obama, 'cause the little boy president went out there and did something absolutely ignorant and stupid, and he's got to be covered for it now." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 5/20/09]

Discussing Obama, Limbaugh suggests Dems, media believe "you can't criticize the little black man-child." On his radio show, Limbaugh asserted of attacks by Sen. John McCain against then-Sen. Barack Obama: "[S]ee, there are Democrats -- the drive-bys" -- a term Limbaugh uses to denote the national media -- "are just so upset with these so-called 'ferocious attacks.' These have been benign. Even the Britney Spears/Paris Hilton ad was funny. It was benign." He later added: "It's -- you know, it's just -- it's just we can't hit the girl. I don't care how far feminism's saying, you can't hit the girl, and you can't -- you can't criticize the little black man-child. You just can't do it, 'cause it's just not right. It's not fair. He's such a victim." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, 8/20/08]

These statements are part of a long history of racially inflammatory remarks by Limbaugh, who nonetheless is embraced by many conservative elites and treated respectfully by numerous prominent media figures.

Comments

[David]

Rush Limbaugh asserted that one cannot criticize Obama without being called a racist. Brendan's post proves that Limbaugh was correct.

Seriously, there's nothing in the Limbaugh quote that wouldn't have been said about a political figure of any race. In an odd way Limbaugh is less racist than his critics: he practices equal opportunity smearing.

[Tom Anderson]

David: it would be useful if you backed that claim up with similar evidence of Limbaugh using the same language against, say, a white person (or people).

[MartyB]

Brendan - Using MediaMatters as your source seriously damages your argument.

I followed the links and in nearly all the cases I listened to, it appears that if Rush simply mentions the fact that Obama is black while criticizing him, MM qualifies it as "racially inflammatory".

I would think this would be another of your posts decrying "mind reading", as any racial discrimination explicit in the Rush quotes I listened to is non-existent.

I say this as no fan of Rush's. He can be too flippant in his comments, as are many entertainers, both left and right and his analysis is very one-sided and shallow.

Besides, even if MM correctly documents Rush's intentions, why is infantilizing President Obama any different from the many times liberal commentators and entertainers described GWB as stupid or "chimpy" or "shrub".

[David]

Tom Anderson, you have a point, I don't listen to Rush very much, but I cannot recall him describing any non-black person as a "man-child". OTOH I never heard him refer to any other black person that way either. It seems to be the way Obama strikes him.

Also, he has used harsher language for some white people, e.g., repeatedly calling Hillary a liar and calling some women feminazis. (BTW isn't it strange to defend Limbaugh by pointing out the awful things he has said.)

The bottom line is, I think Limbaugh might have called a non-black Dem President who behaved as Obama does a "man-child", but I can't prove it. Should I have to? As MartyB pointed out, Limbaugh has been more polite to Obama than many Dems were to Bush. Can you imagine the excitement if Limbaugh copied the Democrats and called President Obama "chimpy"?

[David]

Incidentally, the AP quoted Limbaugh from Fox News Sunday:

Limbaugh often calls Obama a "man-child president" on his syndicated radio show. "That description is simply a way to cut through the noise and say he's immature, inexperienced, in over his head," he said in the TV interview.

[David]

You can get a pretty good picture of Rush Limbaugh's beliefs and personality by watching yesterday's FNC interview at http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2009/11/limbaugh-in-proactive-push-against.html

Scroll down a bit and click on the interview.

[JB]

I grew up in Alabama, and I don't remember any of those cultural stereotypes. I've found that most "cultural stereotypes" are invented by, and particularly galling to, race-obsessed liberals. Rush routinely refers to race because the Left and the MSM (but I repeat myself) are obsessed with it.

"Boy," in this case, is equivalent to "man-child." How else to highlight Obambi's naivete, lack of experience, overweening self-regard, etc? And I don't recall man-child as a term of denigration towards blacks in particular. (Is is OK to say "blacks" or should I say "African-Americans" or "New World Africans"?)

Don't reach. It'll ruin your credibility.

[dubiousraves]

You commenters defending Limbaugh are embarrassing yourselves. How many examples of blatant racism do you need before you call this blowhard what he is? Why the need to defend the indefensible?

Brendan, you've done a service by pointing out an ugly reality -- that Limbaugh and people like him are accepted by and given credence and routine platforms by major government and media figures.

How many people who called Bush "chimpy" or a "Nazi" were invited onto news shows, or embraced by elected officials? Far-right viewpoints, blatant lies and hate-speech have been mainstreamed into our discourse, a fact proven by Limbaugh and his high-profile colleagues.

Considering all that, it's impressive half the country, or more, continues to embraces classically liberal positions.

[David]

I'm a senior citizen. Some parts of my cultural heritage may not be familiar to younger folks. It's obvious to me that Limbaugh used the term "manchild" because of the noted book "Manchild in the Promised Land" It's an autobiographical novel written by Claude Brown. It tells about the author's coming of age amidst poverty and violence in Harlem during the 1940s and 1950s.

Since Limbaugh copied the usage from a black man, it ought to be clear that the use of that term isn't racist. Obviously Claude Brown wasn't a racist.

dubiousraves, as you point out, people who called Bush "chimpy" or a "Nazi" were generally not invited onto news shows, or embraced by elected officials. However, it's equally true that people who called Obama "chimpy" or a "Nazi" have not been invited onto news shows or embraced by elected officials. In fact, there are no such people. So, what's your point?

[David]

dubiousraves, also some leading Dems said terrible things about Bush and were invited onto TV. They were not only embraced by elected officials, they were elected officials. E.g., Harry Reid called Bush a traitor, saying
President Bush is a liar. He betrayed Nevada and he betrayed the country.