US Media Dishonestly Says Limbaugh Apologized

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Dardedar
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US Media Dishonestly Says Limbaugh Apologized

Post by Dardedar »

Playing nice with Rush Limbaugh

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by Eric Boehlert

Question: When is an apology not an apology?

Answer: When the press corps is covering for Rush Limbaugh.

Last week's spectacle of right-wing talker Limbaugh mocking actor Michael J. Fox for allegedly faking the symptoms of his crippling Parkinson's disease while appearing in a Democratic-sponsored campaign ad was equaled only by the media spectacle of news outlets erroneously, and methodically, reporting that the talker quickly apologized for his outlandish smear. Things got so bad that at one point news consumers were better off reading the Canadian press to find out the actual facts of the American-based controversy. (Fox is a native of Edmonton, which explained the Canadian interest in the story.)

And it's not like the facts were complicated. Fox made a heartfelt plea urging voters in Missouri to support Democratic Senate candidate Claire McCaskill, who he stated "shares [his] hope for cures" through stem cell research. Limbaugh promptly belittled the actor, telling listeners the herky-jerky motions Fox was making during the commercial were a con; "purely an act" to elicit an emotional response. Limbaugh even uncorked spastic, in-studio gesticulations to mimic Fox's awkward appearance.

Limbaugh said if he was proven wrong he'd apologized. But the press took that for an apology itself. Days later, as the controversy raged, Limbaugh was even clearer, insisting, "I stand by what I said [about Fox]. I take back none of what I said. I wouldn't rephrase it any differently. It is what I believe. It is what I think. It is what I have found to be true."

That quote was key to understanding the radical, remorseless position Limbaugh had staked out for himself. And here, according to a search of the Nexis database, is a list of major Canadian papers that published the direct, "I stand by what I said" quote from Limbaugh:

The Edmonton Journal, The Gazette (Montreal), the Regina Leader-Post (Saskatchewan), the National Post, the Ottawa Citizen, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix (Saskatchewan), The Province (Vancouver, British Columbia), the Vancouver Sun (British Columbia), and the Windsor Star (Ontario)

Meanwhile, here's a list of major American newspapers that published the same revealing quote from Limbaugh:

(Crickets)

...SNIP...

"That's not an apology," John Aravosis correctly noted on his Americablog last week. "It's not even one of those lame 'I apologize if you were offended' apologies." Not matter. The media had their script -- Rush apologized! -- and they were sticking with it. That included news outlets such as CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Time, the Associated Press, The Kansas City Star, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the Houston Chronicle, and The Wall Street Journal, just to name a few.

Then midway through last week, Limbaugh, as if irked by the inaccurate press accounts of his so-called apology, defiantly announced "I stand by what I said." Yet even after he erased any doubt, the press refused to adjust its preferred narrative:

* "Limbaugh apologized for saying Fox was faking." [ABC News]

* "Limbaugh's remarks caused a furor this week and prompted him to issue a rare apology." [The Baltimore Sun]

* "Limbaugh apologized later in the broadcast." [AP]

* "Rush Limbaugh apologizes." ]National Public Radio]

* "Limbaugh, who was attacked for his comments about Fox, later apologized." [Newsday]

* "Limbaugh later apologized." [USA Today]

* "Mr. Limbaugh has since apologized." [The Washington Times]

* "Limbaugh later apologized." [Los Angeles Times]

Those press mentions of an apology all came within the 48 hours after Limbaugh pointedly refused to express any regret. Yet the media still clung to the quaint, naive notion that Limbaugh, seeing the error of his ways, said he was sorry for smearing a sick man suffering from a degenerative disease.

The press just can't bring itself to tell the truth about Rush Limbaugh.

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Barbara Fitzpatrick
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Post by Barbara Fitzpatrick »

There was another political cartoon on Slate - guy standing in front of a flag-draped coffin and saying, "Rush says he's faking". If anything was needed to prove the MSM isn't free and hasn't been for some time, their "Rush apologized" garbage does it.
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Betsy
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Post by Betsy »

And yet, just the other day on the Oprah show I mentioned in another thread, when Bill O'Really! was the guest, he repeated the mantra that there's a LIBERAL MEDIA -- which he apparently thinks is dragging this country straight to hell in a handbasket. GEESH!
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Post by Barbara Fitzpatrick »

Limbaugh and O'Reilly are both too well paid by faux news to pay attention to truth.
Barbara Fitzpatrick
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