RUSH: Montezuma, Iowa. This is Kenny. Kenny, thanks for calling, and welcome. It’s great to have you here with us.

CALLER: Thanks for taking my call.

RUSH: Yes, sir.

CALLER: Well, you hear all this stuff, like Al Sharpton and everybody out there causing all this trouble, and you know it’s job security for them but, you know, they come up with all these cute little slogans and everything. I keep hearing this “Hands up, don’t shoot,” that just drives me nuts. That’s got nothing to do with reality in this situation. I think the chant ought to be, “Pants up, don’t loot.”

RUSH: Yeah, well, who’s gonna say that?

CALLER: Apparently nobody.

RUSH: “Hands up, don’t loot.”

CALLER: No, “Pants up, don’t loot.”

RUSH: You are failing to exhibit the proper sensitivity and understanding of the tension that is felt by the looters and by the rioters, and your insensitivity is only feeding the problem, and you calling here and making insensitive, smart-ass comments like that is only going to make the situation worse. What do you mean, “hands up, don’t loot.” Don’t you know that the problem here is the cops?

CALLER: That’s “Pants up, don’t loot.”

RUSH: “Pants up, don’t loot.”

CALLER: Yeah, “Pants up, don’t loot.” That’s the reality. They need to have a little more respect for themselves and for where they live.

RUSH: So now you’re making fun of fashion choices in addition to everything else. See, people like you are the problem.

CALLER: I’m so ashamed.

RUSH: I’ll bet you listen to talk radio all the time and get these cockamamie ideas there, don’t you?

CALLER: As a matter of fact, I do, Rush.

RUSH: (laughing).

CALLER: (laughing).

RUSH: These people are so easily predictable. The sad thing is, that’s the way they look at it. Hey, Kenny, I appreciate the call.

CALLER: Thanks, Rush.

RUSH: Really do. By the way, folks, this Rams business, this whole “hands up” thing, I haven’t spent probably the time I should spend on this in terms of sharing with you my concerns. I really think this is gonna have blowback that nobody’s contemplating yet within the NFL. I don’t even know how far I want to go in explaining this yet. I’ll give you some idea. Yeah, within the NFL. I mean, they’re gonna have some business problems with this. They’re gonna lose some sponsors. Look, I have to take a break now. I’m come back and I’ll explain what I mean in just a second.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Let’s get back to St. Louis and Ferguson and the Rams. Let’s see, did we find the appropriate…? Yeah, there’s two stories and we’ve got a couple of sound bites on this, maybe three. The first story is from last night, late last night USA Today. This ran about 11:30. “A Rams executive apologized to St. Louis County law enforcement Monday for the ‘hands up, don’t shoot’ gesture performed by five of the team’s players before Sunday’s game at the Edward Jones Dome against the [hapless] Oakland Raiders.

“St. Louis County police sergeant Shawn McGuire confirmed to USA Today Sports on Monday night that Kevin Demoff, the Rams executive vice president of football operations and COO, apologized for the players’ actions. This is according to the St. Louis County police sergeant, Shawn McGuire. The apology was first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.”

And, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “County Police Chief John Belmar sent his staff a memo in which he detailed a call from Kevin Demoff,” who, by the way, is the son of the great agent Marvin Demoff. Not that that matters; I just want you to know. Kevin Demoff, COO of Rams, is son Marvin Demoff. Anyway the police chief, John Belmar read a memo in which he detailed a call from Demoff in which Belmar said he “‘regretted that any members of the Rams organization would act in a way that minimized the outstanding work the police officers and departments carry out each and every day.'”

“Earlier Monday, the head coach of the Rams, Jeff Fisher, told reports that Kevin Demoff had met with St. Louis law enforcement but directed any questions about the Rams’ response to the players’ gesture to Demoff, who at that time had not been named available for interviews.” Okay, so that’s USA Today last night. The AP later — same time frame, a little later — put out: “Rams Police Differ on Ferguson Protest Apology.”

Uh-oh. It looks like USA Today jumped the gun. Uh, looks like USA Today may have gotten it wrong. “A St. Louis Rams official and a county police chief differed Monday about whether the team had apologized for the actions of five players who raised their hands during pregame festivities in a show of solidarity with Ferguson protesters. Kevin Demoff, the executive vice president of football operations for the Rams, denied in an email to the Associated Press that he’d apologized.

“‘I expressed regret for any perceived disrespect of law enforcement,’ Demoff said. ‘Our players’ goal was to show support for positive change in our community. I do believe that supporting our players’ First Amendment rights and supporting local law enforcement are not mutually exclusive.'” Now, Mr. Demoff has been trained well, folks, because he’s got the Democrat-style apology down pat.

If anyone was offended, I’m sorry. It’s your fault for being too dumb to understand the nuance. It’s your fault for not understanding the nuance.

Do Rams players have the First Amendment right to pray on the field? Do Rams players have the right to do the slit-the-throat gesture after a sack or tackle? No. Do Rams players have the right to celebrate two players at the same time in the end zone after a touchdown? No. It is verboten. One guy can celebrate, but if another player or series of players joins the other player celebrating, it’s a flag.

“The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said county chief Jon Belmar told his staff by email Monday night that Demoff had apologized.” So we have a conflict here. The cops wanted an apology. They thought they got one. When they announced they got one the Rams said (summarized), “Oh, no, no, no! We did not apologize for our players. Our players have First Amendment rights. Our players wanted to show support for positive change in the community.

“They came out and raised their hands in the ‘hands up, don’t shoot,’ gesture,” except that that didn’t happen. Do the players even know that? Do the players know that that didn’t happen? If they don’t know it didn’t happen, then… Well, that may not be the most effective way of looking at it. Do the players not know that the Gentle Giant did not raise his hands and did not surrender? Do the players know that?

If they do know that and came out and did it anyway, that’s not something that would support the community. It’d rip it apart. If the players do not know that that didn’t happen, well, then, where are they getting their information? The bottom line is they came out and the Rams executives said, “Well, they just want to show their support. Support for positive change in the community.”

Well, it didn’t happen, though. The Gentle Giant did not surrender, did not raise his hands. He was not shot while trying to surrender. None of that happened. Supporting that version of events doesn’t seem that it would equal “positive support for the community.” Maybe part of the community. Maybe that’s what is going on. Anyway, the NFL said there will be no discipline for the players whatsoever on this.

I don’t want say too much ’cause I don’t a want self-fulfilling prophecy. There are certain things that happen that I get a gut feeling on, and we know that beneath the surface there is a lot of tension in this country about a lot of things. We know that it’s effervescing, and we know that sometimes it boils over. We know there’s a lot of pent-up rage and anger that does get tamped down. But it doesn’t take much to release it.

We’ll just keep a sharp eye on this weekend’s games and others to see if this act inspires similar behavior, ’cause after all, these guys got on the news, and that’s half the objective of young people today is to get on TV. They got on the news, and they’re being talked about the media. By the way, this is a hell of a lot easier than being involved in a rock ’em sock ’em tackle where you might get hurt in order to get on a highlight reel on ESPN.

If all you have to do to get on TV and then on Facebook and then on Twitter is to come out in uniform with your number plainly visible — even though you’re wearing a helmet and nobody can see your face, people know who you are ’cause your number — and raise your hands and shout, “Don’t shoot,” and you make the news and you get on TV? If you’re 24, 25, you get on TV. You get on the news, get on Twitter, get on Facebook.

Hey, pretty cool.

And then the league says, “Hey, it’s fine with us.”

Well, they don’t say “fine with us,” but they say, “There will be no discipline.” I think this is not gonna sit well with some ticket holders in St. Louis. It’s not gonna sit well with some corporate sponsors. I’m just guessing. I don’t know anything. I just have a feel. But I maybe shouldn’t continue. That’s enough. I shouldn’t go any further on that ’cause I really don’t know.

I just think there’s…This is not isolated. One sound bite and then we’ll come back and complete this. Here’s the coach, Jeff Fisher, last night in St. Louis. It’s a Rams press conference and the coach, Jeff Fisher, spoke about the “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture made by five players.

FISHER: (whispering) It’s my personal opinion, I firmly believe that, uh, it’s important that I keep sports and politics separate.

RUSH: Right.

FISHER: I’m a head coach. I’m not a politician, an activist. I have not talked to the five players that made the choice, uh, to exercise their free speech yesterday.

RUSH: Politics.

FISHER: I’ve not talked to them as of yet.

RUSH: Politics.

FISHER: I will.

RUSH: Politics.

FISHER: As far as the choice that the players made, no; they’re exercising their right to free speech.

RUSH: Politics.

FISHER: They will not be disciplined —

RUSH: Nope. Nope.

FISHER: — by the club.

RUSH: No.

FISHER: Nor will they be disciplined by the National Football League, as it was released today. That’s all I’m gonna say.

RUSH: And we’ll be back. Don’t go away.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: By the way, if you think I’m off the mark on this Rams business with these five guys coming out “hands up, don’t shoot,” you just need to know CNN is showing that practically on a never-ending loop and they’re calling it one of the most courageous things since Rosa Parks. Somebody on CNN referred to it that way. Not everybody is, but it’s being touted, that intro, those five players for the Rams, they’re being heralded. I mean, it is what a lot of young people aspire to, to end up on TV and be talked about.

Speaking of CNN, Rachel Nichols used to be at ESPN. She’s now over at CNN. Host Don Lemon spoke with her last night and said — she’s a sports babe expert — Lemon said, “Do you think this is a rift between the players and the team? Are we likely to hear more about it or do you think this is in the end they’re not gonna talk about it anymore, Rachel?”

NICHOLS: I wouldn’t think that it is a huge rift. I think that all of us having conversations about Ferguson are finding some differences of opinion with the people that we talk to. Some of the people who run the team might have a difference of opinion of some of the people who play on the team. So, you know, the line moves a little bit in the fact that the organization as a whole has apologized. But, again, I personally would be surprised to see any players apologize. We’ll have to see what happens over the next couple days. And, you know, we all think a lot of very different things about this. It’s a nuanced and complex issue.

RUSH: Right. It is. And if people who run the Rams have a difference of opinion with the people who play on the Rams, so what? As the coach, Jeff Fisher, said (paraphrasing), “Hey, you know, keep sports and politics separate. I’m head coach. I’m not a politician. I’m not an activist. They were exercising their free speech rights.” Well, NFL restricts a lot of so-called free speech. But here’s the commissioner, Roger Goodell. This is October 13, 2009, in Boston at a NFL owners meeting. This is only 12 seconds. It’s gonna go by fast. See if you remember what this was about.

GOODELL: Divisive comments are not what the NFL’s all about. And so, you know, I would not want to see those kind of comments from people who are in a responsible position within the NFL, no, absolutely not.

RUSH: Okay, so that was, what, five years ago? Yeah, it was about the Rams. Interestingly enough, Snerdley, you’re right, it was about Rams. It was an ownership controversy, exactly right. But five years ago the commissioner of the NFL said that divisive comments, that’s not what we do here, and we don’t want to see those kind of comments from people who are in a responsible position the NFL. So is “hands up, don’t shoot,” is that divisive or not? I don’t know. Depends on your perspective.

But I have further questions on this. I’ve been observing games for a long time. You know what I’ve observed? That 73% of the league, 75%, is African-American. Most of the officials, or the cops, are white. And I wonder, white NFL referees seem to throw more flags against black players than they do against white players in the NFL. Am I making too much of that? Yeah, there are more black players. So what? Prima facie racism here. The white refs are throwing more flags on black players than white players and eventually that’s gonna rear its head, too.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: No, I’m just wondering, shouldn’t the NFL have to have black officials proportionate to black players to ensure the integrity of the game, penalties being passed out. I mean, really. I’m trying to learn lessons from what’s happening in the core of society and extrapolating.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Here’s John in Shelbyville, Kentucky. It’s great to have you on the program, sir. Hi.

CALLER: It’s such an honor to speak with you Rush.

RUSH: Thank you very much.

CALLER: My father turned me on to your show in the early nineties, and I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve meant to my education.

RUSH: Well, thank you, sir, very much.

CALLER: I have a couple questions for you regarding the narratives in Ferguson and the media’s implications. The first is the media and the talking heads are constantly saying, “It does no good to burn down your own neighborhood,” or asking, “Why are you burning down your own neighborhood?” Is it the media’s implication that it would be okay or helpful to burn down someone else’s neighborhood?

RUSH: Maybe inadvertently. It is a legitimate question: Why are you burning down your own neighborhood?

CALLER: The second one is regarding the racial makeup of the police forces. They’re constantly talking about this. Is the media and talking head implication that perhaps a black officer would not have shot Mr. Brown?

RUSH: That’s right. Oh, exactly.

CALLER: Would not have stopped him?

RUSH: Exactly right.

CALLER: Okay. Okay. Well, I just was curious about that. I appreciate your taking my call.

RUSH: That’s the assumption that they’re making. Absolutely, yeah. A black cop would let ’em get away with it. Absolutely. No way a black cop pulls the trigger. (interruption) No. Well, no. A black cop would have never been in the position because the Gentle Giant would have never been threatened by him, so would never have tried to get his gun, so would never have accosted him in his own car.

It’s the white cop that was the problem. With a black cop, none of this would ever happened. (interruption) Well, they might. Black cops might go after bad guys, but that’s not a factor in this case. I mean, he’s asking a legitimate question. The media’s trying to say, “With a black cop, none of this would have happened.” Well, that’s why I’m saying we need more black referees in the NFL.

I’m telling you, we got all white refs — and not just white refs, not just referees, but umpires, side judges, field judges. It’s a 75% black league and all these officials are white throwing flags on black guys. It’s not proportionate. It isn’t fair. Civil rights violations occur every Sunday in the NFL, and nobody’s talking about it yet. I’m trying to be on the forerunner on this like I was on KOOKS: Keep Our Own Kids Safe, the dangers of soccer.

I mean, I was decades ahead of that. I’m… (interruption) No, no. But… (interruption) No. No, no. No. The theory is that if the cop had been black, the Gentle Giant would not have felt threatened and therefore would not have made any aggressive behaviors toward the cop, and therefore the cop would have not had to draw the gun. (interruption) Oh, wait. Wait. (interruption) No evidence of what? (interruption)

We’re not talking about reality here! This is my point. For the purposes of the media, they’re constructing an alternative reality that the white cop was the problem because just the presence of the white cop was provocative enough to cause the Gentle Giant to do things he wouldn’t have done if the cop had been black. He would have felt threatened with a black cop. Therefore he would have not acted aggressively and therefore no gun would have been drawn.

No trigger would have been pulled and no bullet would have been fired and no cigarillos would have had to be returned. I don’t know. (interruption) “The storekeeper wasn’t black, so why was he robbed?” But nothing was done about that. See, there was no problem. They let the Gentle Giant run out with his cigarillos rather than confronting him on it, so there were no injuries in the Quick Mart or whatever it is. (interruption) You’re treating me like I’m advocating. I’m just telling you what they are saying about this.