In 1988 Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder lost his job for saying blacks have a genetic advantage over whites athletically. Al Campanis, an L.A. Dodgers executive, suggested that blacks don't have the "necessities" to make good managers. Those guys lost their jobs, their careers and their reputations.

But just last summer, Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker said blacks and Latinos have genetic advantages that make it easier for them to play in the heat. Because Baker is black, his comments did not make Howard Dean angry and they didn't make the NAACP's fax machines hum with outrage.

Limbaugh knew all this. So, one could argue, to leap to a racial analysis when there were other more plausible explanations wasn't a smart move.

On the other hand, he's Rush Limbaugh for Pete's sake. Moreover, Limbaugh's comments rate a 0.0 on the racism-o-meter when compared with the remarks of Campanis, Snyder and Baker. He was referring to the biases of the media, not to the innate abilities or disabilities of McNabb or any other blacks.

Indeed, if this had happened in a discussion about politics instead of sports, nobody would have cared. Here's a demonstration: Let me declare here and now that one of the reasons the media like Colin Powell is that he is black. Let me also declare that if Jesse Jackson were white, he would either A) be fixing refrigerators right now or B) he'd be laughed at as a charlatan.

And didn't we all just spend six months talking about whether Jayson Blair's problems at The New York Times were the result of liberal whites giving him a free pass?

Such comments can be right or wrong, rude or fair, but they aren't necessarily racist. I don't know if Limbaugh's right about McNabb. To be honest, I don't really care. But nobody on the show with him thought the remarks were racist. Indeed, fellow panelist Michael Irvin, who is black, said "Rush has a point" in response to Limbaugh's comments. Should he resign, too?

Ultimately, I'm disappointed with ESPN for creating this mess. I'm disappointed in Limbaugh for not standing his ground. I'm disappointed with the owner of the Eagles for buying some cheap grace. And, I'm disappointed in Dean, Clark and Sharpton just for being them.