First, let us forever dismiss in the Kindergarten of social inquiry the preposterous notion that PC is about being Liberal. That is simply not true. Second, we must dismiss the misguided theory that PC is about avoiding offending anyone. Third, let us also dismiss, with some consideration, the idea that PC is about establishing a fascist-enforced liberal orthodoxy of speech and thought. That was almost true for a time during the early 1990s.
No folks, PC is not about any of those things. Rather, it is about outright intellectual dishonesty. It is about not saying what you think. It is about not dropping a card which can be used against you at a later time; ostensibly when you are running for office, or when you need a favor. It is about making ambiguous statements that people can interpret as they please, without clarity. This allows you to become all things to all people. That is something most politicians want to do.
Did Roger Goodell say he would oppose Rush Limbaugh as an NFL owner? Nope. You read that into his statements. You had some help. Remember PC is about outright intellectual dishonesty, and making unclear statements that people can read as they will. Did Jim Irsay say that he was a liberal and would never allow a conservative to buy an NFL franchise? Nope. You may have interpreted it that way, but you would be wrong.
No folks, what these two gentlemen said was more like this: "We of the NFL market a product. We want to sell to everybody. We have a lot of Black customers. Right or wrong, Black folks tend to hate Rush. Ergo, we just can't allow him in the organization because he just might spoil one segment of the market. We don't want that."
When you strip the unclarity from Roger's statements, he basically said that the NFL cannot afford to have a highly political owner of any type. That's all he said. Any highly political dude is going to be controversial with some segment of the vast NFL market. Ergo any highly political owner would polarize the NFL market. This cannot be allowed. It would be bad for marketing.
Let's do three bits of truth telling while we are at this. I hate PC with all my heart and soul, so let me be brutally honest with you.
- Reports of Rush Limbaugh's racism are vastly over-stated. Regrettably, the Black community--or at least certain bad leaders like Jessie Jackson--have had a tendency to pull the race card against any guy who might oppose social welfare policy or affirmative action. Any opposition to these two planks gets you blacklisted as a racist immediately. There is a massive logical fallacy in this reasoning, but this has always been the argument.
- Reports of the NFL's anti-racism are fairly exaggerated. If you could really see inside the minds of some NFL owners, you would find a degree of racism there that would dwarf anything inside the mind of Rush Limbaugh.
- Owners are going to be required to be a-political for marketing reasons, not for any egalitarian reasons. It's a financial thing. It has nothing to do with ideology.
So what about the famous Donovan McNab statements made by Limbaugh? Truth be told, he was absolutely and completely right. Those statements were made in the run up to the 2004 Super Bowl which featured the Eagles and the Patriots. Donovan's horrendous performance in the 4th quarter sure justified everything Rush said about Donovan. Donovan made Rush look great in that terrible 4th Quarter.
Do you remember the game? Did you watch the game? Did you actually really watch the game? I saw the Eagle defense absolutely hammering the Patriot offense by the 4th quarter. The Patriots were on the Ropes. The Eagle offense had ample opportunity to win that game in the 4th quarter. They did not. Terrible passing and horrendous clock management by McNabb lost the game for the Eagles. It was one of the most pitiful performances I have ever seen by a QB in the clutch moments of a game.
I am not the only one who knows this to be the fact of the matter. Why don't you consult Terrel Owens about this question. He sure felt that way, and with good reason. Donovan fucked it up. Instead of admitting that Donovan fucked up the Super Bowl, the NFL powers that be label Terrel a big trouble maker, they throw Rush off of ESPN, and they deride all the Philly fans who know that Donovan fucked the game up.
To this day, many Eagle fans know they cannot win the Super Bowl with McNabb at the helm. They know this because of that terrible Super Bowl performance. Both ESPN and the NFL Network continue to beat Philly fans for expressing themselves on this subject.
You know why? Because it messes up the marketing campaign, that's why.
