Don't Rush to Label Limbaugh a Racist

The editorial ``The Trouble With Talk,'' Dec. 24, could provoke hours of talk. Delegates to the last Democratic National Convention enjoyed poking fun at ``family values.'' Following the convention, a groundswell of participatory talk supported ``values'' as a foundation for our nation's families and strength. Recently even President Clinton has joined those talk show voices in connection with his programs for reducing crime and other inner city problems.

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh believes in and advocates ``values.'' The Monitor sees him as offering ``genial racism'' and potential ``division.'' But a reader of his latest book will discover a chapter entitled ``Conservatism and Race.'' That chapter ends: ``Americans can achieve if we can just overcome this nagging obsession with skin color and religious denominations and be mindful of the truism that all human beings are equal in the eyes of God.''

That from a racist? Ben Gage, Huntington Beach,Calif.

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