Is Talk Radio Racist?

Rush Limbaugh, on his program today, was talking about the fact that Obama never misses a chance to commemorate Muslim holidays, but apparently never gave out an Easter proclamation:

RUSH: Obama, March 20th of this year had a video message to the Iranian people for the Muslim holiday in Nowruz.

OBAMA: Today I want to extend my very best wishes to all who are celebrating Nowruz around the world. With the coming of a new season, we're reminded of this precious humanity that we all share, and we can once again call upon this spirit as we seek the promise of a new beginning. Thank you, and (speaking Arabic).

RUSH: (trying to speak Arabic) No, Mubarak's gone, you dispatched him. But there is something about Nowruz. Here was Obama, a Nowruz message for the Iranians. So this afternoon in the White House, the press secretary Jay Carney held a daily press briefing. An unidentified female infobabe said, "Hey, quick question. You guys traditionally put out statements or proclamations on various religious holidays. I don't think I saw one from the president on Easter yesterday. And I was just wondering if there was any reason that the president didn't have an Easter proclamation yesterday."

CARNEY: You know, the president went to church yesterday. It was well covered. I'm not sure if we put out a statement or not, but he obviously personally celebrated Easter with his family and went to church to celebrate that and --

TAPPER: It's the highest Christian holiday and you don't know if he put out a statement? Come on, Jay, come on.

CARNEY: I'm glad you're asking me key important questions, guys. The fact is the president took his family to church in a very high-profile way to celebrate Easter. I think it was highly visible to most Americans. And as a devoted Christian, he believes it's a very important holiday for him personally, for his family and for Christians around the country.

RUSH: Wow. Did you hear the press guy say, "Jay, come on, Jay, the highest Christian holiday and you don't know if he put out a statement? You're in the press office, Jay, come on." "I'm glad you guys are asking me these key questions." Carney is clearly ticked off here. So, yeah, the president went to church.

He then points out that Obama's new pastor compared Talk Radio to the KKK:

I got The Blaze website story wrong. Obama's minister did not mention me in yesterday's Easter sermon as a modern equivalent of the KKK. That was back in January of 2010, and Cookie has the bite. She's editing it now. I don't know if we'll have it before the program comes to a screeching halt.

Now, while this blog is entitled Rush Limbaugh Rebuttal, I don't think he is a racist.

If you listen to his program on a regular basis - he wants everyone - blacks, latinos, whites - to do well. It is his belief that they can best do well by standing on their own two feet and eschewing government welfare, government affirmative action, etc. He points out that welfare has destroyed the black family - well, hasn't it? He's against abortion - and apparently more black women than white have abortions. What's racist about that, therefore?

He despises people on welfare - not those that need to be on welfare, but those who are on it because it's easier to let the government take care of them then for them to take care of themselves. The Democrats, according to Limbaugh, want everone dependent on them, whereas Republicans want people to be successful on their own.

Limbaugh has a fundamental philosophical difference to what the Democrats have, but that in itself doesn't make him racist.