Rush should have stood his ground, if he could

In retrospect, Rush Limbaugh says he stands by his comments about Donovan McNabb, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, and if that's true, he should never have resigned from his job as a pregame commentator for ESPN.
If the network wanted to be rid of him, he should have forced the network to fire him. And if it had fired him, it would have been wrong.
Limbaugh's comments were apparently offensive and arguably shallow, but they weren't unfit for broadcast.
Here's what Limbaugh said about McNabb: "I don't think he's been that good from the get-go. I think what we have had here is a little social concern in the NFL. I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They are interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there's a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."
Wrong-headed. Probably. Worth discussing. Certainly.
No counterpunch
If Limbaugh's colleagues on "Sunday NFL Countdown" had had the presence of mind to rebut on the spot what Limbaugh was saying, it may have produced a lively discussion that would have faded away.
It became an embarrassment for the network largely because it went unchallenged by Chris Berman, who anchors the show, or Michael Irvin, Tom Johnson or Steve Young, three NFL veterans. Limbaugh says he thought about what he was going to say the night before, but even without fair warning the four broadcast professionals sharing the set could have done more than sit there like deer caught in klieg lights.
Of course, a week later, all four were pictures of indignant verbosity at Limbaugh and were gushingly apologetic for their own inadequate responses the day of the broadcast. They were a week late and a few dollars short.
Just curious
But one has to wonder: Had there been ground rules for how Limbaugh's colleagues were supposed to react to his remarks? Were they told to go easy on Limbaugh because he was brought in to boost ratings, especially with young, white male viewers? That might explain their silence.
It's not as if Limbaugh's remarks could have caught them completely off guard. What he said was perfectly in keeping with Limbaugh's radio persona, where he borders between arrogant and inflammatory, describing himself as broadcasting with half his brain tied behind his back, just to make it fair and with talent on loan from God.
Is it possible, just possible, that Limbaugh resigned because he knew that the kid-glove days were going to end? Because he knew that the next time he said something stupid, the other guys were going to make him look like an idiot?
Home turf
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a risk Limbaugh would not want to take. Much safer and easier to walk away quickly. To retreat to his own medium where no one can lay a glove on him. Why run the risk of having to go man to man against, say, Steve Young, when you could sit at a golden microphone, protected by call screeners, backed up by instantaneous e-mail rebuttals from lackeys and where you have the ultimate weapon: When things get tough, you can hang up on the caller and launch into a five-minute monologue in your own defense.
That's the arena in which Rush Limbaugh is comfortable. It's an arena where he can set the rules and define himself without fear of contradiction.
We all know bombastic bullies who deep down are insecure -- and for good reason. By failing to fight for what is right, for something he should hold as dear as life itself -- freedom of expression -- Limbaugh has given his fans reason to question his candor, his integrity and his courage.
Now, about his mealy-mouthed response to recent accusations that for years he has been a serial abuser of black market prescription drugs -- don't even get us started.