I'm prepared to accept that Rush Limbaugh himself may not be a racist person. But as an older white dude from the South, he sure does say a lot of racist things. And his followers, who I am certain are mostly racist, really eat that stuff up with a spoon. (Which is no doubt why he says them in the first place.)

 

This week while discussing the White House menorah-lighting ceremony Rush asked, "What do you think the odds are that Obama got confused between Hanukkah and Kwanzaa?"

 

Let me give you a tip: if you are a white guy from the South, being flippant about black people's religious beliefs and holiday traditions puts you on very thin ground indeed. 

 

So Rush's clever little jape hinges on the fact that Kwanzaa has a menorah, too; one with only seven candles. And for Kwanzaa, you light all of the candles at once. So when Obama lit all of the candles on the White House's Hanukkah menorah, "he probably thought it was Kwanzaa."

 

Because he's stupid, you see. Obama. He doesn't know the difference.

 

Also because he's black. Black people, all they know is Kwanzaa. (If you ask Rush Limbaugh.) He then immediately follows up by adding, "While talking about loyalty to Israel." So even he doesn't believe his own silly joke. Why even make it? It isn't funny. I mean, unless you're a racist white Southerner, I guess. In which case, ho ho ho!

 

It's frankly too bad that Rush went straight for the race baiting on this one, because the incident itself is a valid target of criticism. For the White House ceremony, Obama lit all of the Hanukkah candles, which is not exactly the way you are supposed to do things. He is taking a lot of heat for it, and rightfully so. But for some reason, Rush Limbaugh has to go straight for the racist stuff. 

 

Later in his rambling monologue he does take Obama to task for being I guess lazy. Stating that the reason he lit all the candles was that he was in a rush to get out of town, because the Obamas' family vacation begins on the 16th. Of course, never mind that George W. Bush took months and months of vacation time during HIS presidency. But hey, it's not like you listen to Rush Limbaugh expecting fair reporting, right?

 

I'm surprised he didn't manage to work the word "uppity" into his three minute long digression on Obama's Kwanzaa confusion.