Christopher Ruddy
Tuesday, July 24, 2001

When Dan Rather makes a remark that clearly is racially insensitive – like calling his own CBS executives "Buckwheats" for demanding that he stop acting brain dead and report the Condit-Levy story – nothing happens.

The major media are silent. The Rev. Sharpton and the rent-a-crowd group are silent. CBS's executive staff is silent. The New York Times, the great bastion of political correctness, is silent.

NewsMax's Carl Limbacher reported yesterday that the New York Times and others widely covered and complained about the same comment made by Ed Tyll.

In 1987 Tyll was a radio host with Atlanta’s WGST when he compared a Congressman to "Buckwheat."

Buckwheat comes from the character by the same name in the "Little Rascals" comedy series. Since then the term has been used as a slur to stereotype a frightened black male.

For his Buckwheat comment, Tyll was not only suspended, but his comment merited coverage by the New York Times, the Gray Lady herself.

But now it's Dan Rather's turn in making a racially insensitive remark and the Times has yet to report the comment.

Why?

Well, the answer is simple. If you are a limousine liberal like Dan Rather, and you hobnob in Manhattan with other elitist limousine liberals, you get free passes.

These free passes include the right to make derogatory comments about others, including blacks and other minorities.

Jimmy the Greek was not a limousine liberal and that's why he had to pay the price for making racially insensitive remarks.

At the time of The Greek controversy, Dan Rather and fellow limousine liberals at CBS felt that was a big story worthy of coverage. Why? Because Jimmy the Greek was not one of them.

CBS has a history of such hypocrisy.

When CBS veteran Mike Wallace once got caught on video during an off-air break suggesting that blacks and Hispanics couldn’t fill out bank applications because they were too busy "eating watermelon and tacos" – Wallace never had to apologize, never had to be suspended, never had to be held to account for his very bigoted comment.

When he was confronted by Dick Carlson, the man who held a copy of the video, Wallace defended his comments by saying he made comments like this often and even referred to fellow Jews as "kikes."

The nagging question remains: Why is that when someone like Ed Tyll, Jimmy the Greek or John Rocker makes a remark deemed insensitive, it rates big news coverage and public opprobrium.

But when a bigot like Mike Wallace (I won't call Dan Rather one; I don't think he is, despite his comment) makes a racist remark, the major media and the New York Times have yet to cover it.

If Robert Novak or Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly had made such comments, this would be top headlines in the Times and maybe even on Dan Rather's "CBS Evening News." There is no doubt that Maxine Waters would be screaming from the top of her lungs. The Rev. Al would have the rent-a-crowd outside their offices. Their careers might be in jeopardy.

But this standard doesn't apply to Dan Rather or Mike Wallace, because they are limousine liberals.

So the lesson of this episode is simple and clear: What's good for the goose is good for the gander – unless the gander is a limousine liberal.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Dan Rather/CBS
Media Bias

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