And since that piece was written, the above mentioned have all been treated much the same as other players, regardless of race -- until Limbaugh's unfortunate comments Sunday. McNair, Culpepper and McNabb are still with the same teams (a combined 8-3 record). Some others now start for new teams (Blake, Stewart), others are backups with different clubs. Moon and Cunningham have retired. Quincy Carter leads "America's Team," the Dallas Cowboys. Byron Leftwich is a rookie starting for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Perhaps the most exciting player in the league is the now-injured Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons.

The point is that black quarterbacks aren't novel enough for the media to engage in some sort of social cheering to single one out. Thus, Limbaugh's basic argument was ludicrously antiquated.

Besides, hardly anything annoys conservatives more than when liberals introduce race into an issue when it has no place. And that's exactly what Limbaugh did.

Is McNabb "overrated"? Different people can come to different conclusions. But the same thing can be said about Denver Broncos signal-caller Jake Plummer. Initially hyped by San Francisco's Hall of Fame coach-turned-exec Bill Walsh as the second coming of Joe Montana, Plummer showed flashes of brilliance with the Arizona Cardinals. Six years later, his flashes of brilliance were overshadowed by a hail of interceptions and sacks. Yet, as his contract ended with Arizona last year, he signed a fat new one with Denver. The Broncos are 4-0 this year, with Plummer playing atrociously in the first two games and very well in the second two.

Given his statistics over the last several seasons, one could charge that he was "overrated." Similarly, one could argue either way that McNabb is "overrated." But with Plummer, the debate just centers on statistics -- as most good sports arguments should. Yet Rush did what he hates in liberals. Instead of the typical liberal argument -- "The man would get his real due if he were white" -- we got Rush's view, "He's barely criticized because he's black."

And so, Limbaugh's analysis failed factually and ideologically. Unfortunately, in the one area where it succeeded -- injecting controversy on ESPN's pre-game set -- it introduced a particularly corrosive line of thought.

It articulated the double standard that blacks fear underlies much of American society: The successes and failures of white individuals belong to the individual ("Plummer's a bum!" "Plummer's great!"), whereas the success and failure of a black person belongs to the race. One week ago, after a poor start to the season, McNabb was being analyzed on his football skills. Today, he is analyzed on his race.

So Limbaugh managed to do in one moment what the media has actually refrained from doing in recent years. Removing their individuality, he has effectively "adjectivized" McNabb, McNair, et al. After succeeding on their own merits, they are once again black quarterbacks for however long the media chooses to continue with this story.

Rush didn't help by initially dismissing the criticism as more p.c. blather: "All this has become the tempest that it is because I must have been right about something," he said. "If I wasn't right there wouldn't be this cacophony of outrage that has sprung up in the sportswriter community."

Such a self-serving statement suggests that Rush has never heard the adage that a stopped clock is right at least once a day.

Yet, ironically, Rush's fall may provide another lesson. It actually underscores the similarities in the way that blacks and conservatives have, as subcultures, often been misrepresented in the dominant culture: Blacks are stereotypically portrayed as less intelligent, buffoonish and often criminal. Conservatives are stereotypically portrayed as selfish, mean and venal.

The black person and the conservative person feel like outsiders, both distrusting and envying the mainstream.

Each group needs to see its reality reflected in the dominant culture.

Each group creates its own media and ancillary organizations to support and amplify its unique experience and point of view.

Each group cheers when one of its own appears to become accepted by the mainstream and excels. It's never enough to be successful just within the context of one's own community.

Then, as the individual representative appears to fail in the mainstream culture, a sense of shame and disgrace envelops the entire group.

Rush Limbaugh, meet Jayson Blair.

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