Goodell said he would find it inappropriate for the owner of an NFL team to make public remarks such as those attributed to Limbaugh in the past.

"I've said many times before we're all held to a high standard here, and I think divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about," Goodell said at an NFL owners meeting here. "I would not want to see those comments coming from people who are in a responsible position in the NFL, absolutely not."

Limbaugh has acknowledged being part of a group bidding for the Rams....

But any franchise sale would have to be approved by three-quarters of the owners, and comments Tuesday by Goodell and Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay signaled that Limbaugh's bid, if accepted by the Rams, could be met by significant opposition.

Irsay said he would not vote to approve Limbaugh as an owner.

"I would not be in favor of voting for him," Irsay said. "I could ask Tony Dungy, Jim Caldwell, Dwight Freeney and consult with them, but there have been comments that have been made that have been inappropriate, incendiary and insensitive. It's bigger than football. We have to watch the words that we say. . . . Sometimes privileges in life do get lost."

I wonder what he means by that?

Irsay: "I would not feel comfortable."

I know what he means by that.

"I've met Rush only once, and he seemed like a nice guy. But when you see the comments that are out there,

Still totally vague.

I would not be comfortable.

What is this guy -- on the hot seat (yes)?

I myself couldn't be in favor of voting for him. . . . We've got to watch our words in this world and our thoughts because they can do damage."

So, sticks and stones are out. The story goes on:

The Rev. Al Sharpton reportedly sent a letter to Goodell on Monday urging the NFL to reject Limbaugh's ownership bid. Jesse Jackson also expressed public opposition to Limbaugh's bid.

"The Rev." Al Sharpton? Jesse Jackson? How did they get into this? Fact is, if there's a race-hustle going down, these two charlatans are always there -- "Zelig-like," as somebody or other once noted, ready to support the "dictatorship enforced by charge of racism." Before leaving this perfect state of moral corruption, let's dwell a moment on "words doing damage" and Sharpton. Remember Freddy's Fashion Mart, where in 1995 eight people died in what the Wall Street Journal tagged "a murderous rampage inspired by Mr. Sharpton"?

From the Wall Street Journal in 2003:

Mr. Sharpton is best-known for the Tawana Brawley hoax, in which he insisted that a 15-year-old black girl had been abducted and raped by a band of white men practicing Irish Republican Army rituals. In fact she had made up the story to protect herself from her violent stepfather.

But at Freddy's, Mr. Sharpton was even more malevolent. He turned a landlord-tenant dispute between the Jewish owner of Freddy's and a black subtenant into a theater of hatred. Picketers from Mr. Sharpton's National Action Network, sometimes joined by "the Rev." himself, marched daily outside the store, screaming about "bloodsucking Jews" and "Jew bastards" and threatening to burn the building down.

After weeks of increasingly violent rhetoric, one of the protesters, Roland Smith, took Mr. Sharpton's words about ousting the "white interloper" to heart. He ran into the store shouting, "It's on!" He shot and wounded three whites and a Pakistani, whom he apparently mistook for a Jew. Then he set the fire, which killed five Hispanics, one Guyanese and one African-American--a security guard whom protesters had taunted as a "cracker lover." Smith then fatally shot himself.

Eight people died, and so evidently did the conscience of liberal Democrats. It was Al Sharpton who had the honor of asking the first question at last week's [2003 Democratic presidential] debate, held within hailing distance of the Freddy's massacre.

And what about the "conscience" of NFL owners? If the league commissioner has his way, the NFL, too, will have been Sharptonized. And at a heavy price. Free thinking and free speaking.