Once again some members of the media have taken to branding Rush Limbaugh a racist, offering backhanded compliments and genuine surprise that a black woman could have won the Miss America contest whilst he served as judge.
As Boyce Watkins lamented in his Black Voices article, (emphasis mine throughout):
"This week, Rush Limbaugh was standing in front of a talented black woman who was trying to become Miss America. I am not sure if Rush voted for her or not, but the black woman was able to win. Caressa Cameron, a 22-year old from Virginia Commonwealth University, was crowned Saturday night as the winner of the 2010 Miss America pageant."
Watkins, himself a fervent anti-conservative from the Al Sharpton School of race baiting, was merely voicing what many in the media are thinking - a black woman won despite the presence of Limbaugh.
Take NBC Washington for example, who explains that Rush was indeed charmed by Ms. Cameron, saying that she won simply because she:
"...has it all. Extraordinarily good conversationalist, amazing presence, unique and classic beauty, glamour... and the girl can sing!"
NBC couldn't contain their amazement however, as the full paragraph actually read:
The 22-year-old was even able to wow pageant judge Rush Limbaugh. The controversial conservative radio host told the Washington Post that Cameron won simply because she "has it all. Extraordinarily good conversationalist, amazing presence, unique and classic beauty, glamour... and the girl can sing!"
Was there no surprise that she was able to wow the likes of Vivica Fox, or Shawn Johnson? Nay. Therefore, it is safe to assume that Limbaugh was singled out specifically.
Another Web site, HipHopWired.com, pulls no punches in their assessment that the odds were stacked against her because of Limbaugh's presence:
"Her win came as a surprise to some considering that Rush Limbaugh was judging the competition."
To no one's surprise, this thorough piece of journalism failed to provide sources for the aforementioned ‘some' people. Perhaps they interviewed citizens from the land of lollipops and unicorns, but it's difficult to tell.
Despite the allusions to Miss America overcoming the allegedly racist Limbaugh, a majority of the media remains enamored with Rush's dance moves at the pageant, as was reported here by Noel Sheppard.
For example, Joy Behar, whose IQ matches the number of candles on her birthday cake, was enamored with the radio host's dance moves, discussing the event with Arianna Huffington and Candy Crowley on her show. In the segment below, Behar attempts to belittle Rush, pointing to the ‘boos' reigning down from the crowd. Except, well, there aren't really any audible jeers.
Behar leads viewers into the clip saying:
"Now some people actually booed Limbaugh when Gretchen Carlson introduced him."
Problem being, the clip shows Limbaugh being introduced, followed by rousing cheers and clearly visible applause from the crowd around him.
To further emphasize that - no really, there are boos coming from the crowd -Behar then goes on to state:
"Okay, they're booing him. Has he lost his mojo with these audiences, Candy?"
Huffington and Behar then move go on to criticizing Limbaugh as a person living in a fantasy world, ‘making stuff up', which prompts Behar to deliver this shot:
"So their stupid speech... then we can counteract it with what we say, isn't that how it works?"
Behar, a personification of the phrase ‘stupid speech', apparently has decided to call the kettle black.
Then again, that would be racist.