...or will newspapers be safe as long as the world needs birdcage liners?

Things you missed or saw but ignored:

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Rush Limbaugh, consummate showman and antagonist extraordinaire has withdrawn/been pushed out of a bid by Dave Checketts to purchase the St. Louis Rams football team. Limbaugh was to have been a silent partner (Insert snarky comment here!). Limbaugh was painted as a "distraction" by the Checketts group. That's code for " Limbaugh's seemingly racist comments over the years made him radioactive to the NFL and its players, 70% of whom are black". Few tears will be shed for Rush who has made the "love him or hate him" numbers of Howard Cossell look like Mahatma Gandhi.

Nevertheless, there is a principal involved and it's the sort of principal that keeps the ACLU in business. (The prospect of the ACLU defending Rush Limbaugh is enough to cause Glen Beck and Chris Mathews to have a simultaneous orgasm.) Why should Mr. Limbaugh be prohibited from owning a football team purchased with the revenues from his radio programs? You might not like his opinions but his popularity among his many fans is unquestioned. Should he be denied the opportunity to flush millions of dollars down an NFL toilet merely because we don't like his politics?

Let's remember the NFL comes by its probity somewhat recently. Tim Mara, former owner of the NY Football Giants and founding member of the NFL, was a bookmaker by trade. Edward DeBartolo, former owner of the San Francisco 49er's, once pled guilty in connection to a fraud and bribery case involving Edwin Edwards of Louisiana. If likability was a prerequisite for membership, few owners would make the grade. Everyone except Texans thinks that Jerry Jones is a loud-mouth jerk. Dan Snider, owner of the Redskins, is a guy with too many dollars and too little football sense. Rush Limbaugh should fit right in.

There is, however, a certain irony to a situation in which a man who refuses to acknowledge the existence of racism and prejudice should become one of its victims. Perhaps the next time Rush launches into one of his rants about the politically correct society in which we live, he might pause to reflect on how it feels to be excluded from a club for reasons other than merit.
When pigskins fly!
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Admit it! It hurts to look at Olympia Snowe. If that bun were any tighter, she'd look like an astronaut in a 5G simulator.
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...and while we're on the subject, please explain why our healthcare legislation is being decided by Blue-dog senators from states with fewer actual people than attend an Ohio State football game on Saturday? The offenders include: Max Baucus, Montana; Tom Carper, Delaware; Kent Conrad, North Dakota; Mary Landrieu, Louisiana; Blanche Lincoln, Arkansas; the aforementioned Ms. Snowe of Maine and everyone's favorite pain-in-the-ass, Joe Lieberman, Connecticut. Do the math. These seven states represent 13.7 million citizens or 4% of the population. Even if you include Bill Nelson of Florida, you only get to 10%. I don't know about you but I prefer my legislation to be crafted by legislators who have some skin in the game. Montana mountain goats don't need much health care. Louisiana gators have almost no use for a public option. And for leadership we turn to Harry Reid, Nevada, pop. 2.6 million. Let's just have the whole healthcare bill drafted by Eni Fa'aua'a Hunkin Faleomavaega, Jr., non-voting delegate from American Samoa; population 65,000. Now we're cookin'.