Editorial: Rush and the Rams

Rush Limbaugh has a right to spend his money on an NFL franchise if he so chooses, in spite of the contradictions it raises.

The conservative talk-radio king is part of a group that wants to buy the St. Louis Rams. The players' union opposes his bid. And the Rev. Al Sharpton has asked NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to bar Limbaugh from ownership, arguing that he is "divisive."

There's no question about that. For example, in 2003 Limbaugh said during an ESPN broadcast that Donovan McNabb was getting too much credit for the Eagles' success because he's African American. "The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well," Limbaugh said. Under pressure, he subsequently quit as a football commentator.

Limbaugh also said recently that the NFL was starting to look like a gang fight between the Crips and Bloods "without the weapons."

Limbaugh has made a lot of money stoking racist views, and now he wants to spend that money on a business where roughly two-thirds of the players are African American. That's obnoxious, but there's no law in America against being repugnant.

What's also remarkable is that the free-market-loving Limbaugh wants to invest in the NFL, which is a highly controlled oligarchy.

The NFL has the strictest salary cap in professional sports, artificially limiting the earning potential of nearly everyone who works there. Not that football players are crying poverty, but there are arbitrary rules restricting how much they can be paid for their unique skills.

Even team owners don't get to keep all of their profits. They are required to share their revenue with less profitable teams - perhaps even a team like the Rams. Limbaugh could end up receiving the NFL's version of "welfare" from more profitable franchises. Why, it almost borders on socialism. You know, for the good of all.

Limbaugh is a believer in the free market's creating winners and losers. But one of the operating principles of the NFL is "parity," which is an imposed effort to make sure no team succeeds or fails too often.

The team that wins the Super Bowl gets the lowest draft picks the next year. The NFL punishes success and rewards failure. It's hardly the free-market utopia that Limbaugh preaches.

And if a team owner exercises his right to free speech by speaking out against revenue sharing, for example, the league can fine him more than $100,000. It happened to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones last month.

But the value of most NFL franchises does keep climbing annually. And that's something the freedom-loving Limbaugh can embrace, in spite of all the regulations, gag rules, and gang fights.