Kansas City News Blog

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Jason Whitlock and friends

​Kansas City Star and Fox Sports columnist and noted fitness expert and master gardener Jason Whitlock apologized to Rush Limbaugh for last week's column in which he used a couple of unsourced quotes attributed to Limbaugh by Jack Huberman in his book 101 People Who Are Really Screwing America. These two to be exact:

• "You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray (Dr. King's assassin). We miss you, James. Godspeed."

• "Let's face it, we didn't have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back. I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark."

Limbaugh denies saying either.  And now Whitlock is sorry for using the unverified quotes. As I pointed out, there's a volume of work for Whitlock to pull from. He didn't have to use these quotes. And he knows it.

What really irritates me about my column last week is that I certainly didn't need the quotes to make my point.

He's right. Even though he apologized, Whitlock didn't back down from his stand that a man with Limbaugh's cache --  a man with the reputation of a little-blue-pill-popping sex tourist -- doesn't belong among the NFL's owners.

The word from Whitlock:

I'd write the exact same column if [Al] Sharpton and [Jesse] Jackson tried to buy a piece of the Chicago Bears.

It doesn't matter that many of the owners enjoy Limbaugh's hustle or agree with his politics. They earned or inherited their money legitimately, and they don't spend three hours a day on the radio trying to stir up racial animosity.

If that's not clear enough, think of it this way: Steve Hirsch, the founder of Vivid Entertainment, is wealthy enough to buy a piece of an NFL franchise. Porn is legal, enjoyed by many football fans and probably a few owners. No one would think twice if the NFL declined to associate its brand with Hirsch. No one would think it unusual or unfair if feminists and sportswriters objected to Hirsch purchasing an NFL franchise.

Solid point. Now can we get back to writing about "strange tang," already? Steve Phillips' sex scandal is calling your name, Whitlock.