Good, old-fashioned blacklisting

Posted: October 20, 2009
1:00 am Eastern
© 2009

To hear some people tell the story, back in the dark days of the Hollywood blacklist, actor, screenwriters and directors were kept from pursuing their dreams simply because of their political views.

Now, it just so happens I worked in Hollywood for a long time before fleeing the late great state of California for more prosperous and freer climes. But while I was there, I actually became something of a student of the so-called "blacklist era."

It wasn't anything like what you've been told.

In fact, the people who claimed to be "victims" of the blacklist were often the initiators of the practice. And they weren't innocent. They were hard-core, card-carrying members of an organization run by a totalitarian foreign power and pledged to overthrow the United States government and subvert the Constitution.

Nevertheless, many are still whining about the "blacklist era" and the notion that people would be deprived of their livelihood, their passion in life and their pursuit of happiness because of their political views.

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Interestingly, while that was never the case back then, it is indeed the case right now.

To what am I referring? Who is being blacklisted today because of his political views?

Actually, it's even worse than that. My friend Rush Limbaugh has already been blacklisted from being a part owner of an NFL football team because of lies told about what he believes.

Say what you will about Rush Limbaugh, his life is an open book. The man broadcasts the No. 1 radio show in the world three hours a day. He's funny. He's controversial. He's conservative. And he's a chatterbox. He scarcely even takes calls or does interviews because he has so much to say.

Given his verbosity and the fact that every program is recorded, archived, excerpted, transcribed, reviewed, commented upon and debated, you would think there'd be plenty of ammunition to hang the guy using his own words.

But Rush is actually a lovable little fuzzball. His words don't offend anyone who actually listens to him – unless they happen to disagree with his politics.

Well, plenty of people do disagree with his politics. And some of those people want to punish Rush Limbaugh for disagreeing with them. So they have made up all kinds of lies about what he has said in the last two decades of broadcasting.

They just make up quotes out of whole cloth. Ask them for a citation and they'll tell you they read it on the Internet. They read it in an e-mail they got. They overheard their neighbor tell the story. One thing they won't do is provide a date and time Rush said it.

This time they have not only slimed a man's character in a most vicious way, by accusing him of racism and bigotry, but they have also successfully deprived him of something he sought, something he wanted, something he desired.

Now, I know Rush Limbaugh is not going to miss any meals as a result of this blacklisting.

Let me tell you something. Dalton Trumbo didn't miss any meals either. Neither did any of the other Reds who actually started the blacklisting of anti-Communist actors, directors and screenwriters in the 1940s.

But we're still hearing the groaning and the gnashing of teeth over those "injustices."

Please tell me the quantitative or qualitative difference between that blacklisting and the blacklisting of Rush Limbaugh last week.

There is a difference. It is that Rush Limbaugh is a good American, who stands up for truth, liberty, justice, individual rights, the Constitution and the American way. Those guys in Hollywood were the polar opposite – Stalinists who hated America and excused mass murder and gulags on an unprecedented scale.

Maybe I missed it, but I haven't heard anyone else point out the hypocrisy of those who made it their business to deprive Rush Limbaugh of a stake in the St. Louis Rams.

I know there are graver injustices being inflicted all over the country and all over the world. I know Rush is not really suffering as a result of this abuse. I know he will continue to prosper and inspire.

Nevertheless, it's an interesting contrast – and one that needs to be made.

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