Just Look at the Transcript

Here is the transcript of Rush Limbaugh's discussion of "phony soldiers." As anyone can tell from reading the transcript, this is a phony controversy that has been created by the left for political purposes. And it doesn't speak well of the Democrats that they are willing to run with lies and smears in order to score cheap points at the expense of America's military.

But the other entity that hasn't covered itself with glory is the MSM. When the story is reported, only a portion of the quote has been used -- one that doesn't make the context of the quote clear. That's obviously what the left has been counting on in starting this controversy . . . that the MSM would report it in a sort of "agnostic" fashion: "Here's what the left says, here's what Rush said," while leaving the quote incomplete.

This kind of smear strategy would never work if it were directed against a member of the liberal elite, because the MSM would fall all over itself to clarify the context and then condemn those who tried it for playing dirty. As Example 1, remember how the MSM jumped to clarify the Barack Obama attended a madrassa story? They should have, because the story was inaccurate. But they should also set this straight, because it's just as inaccurate. The only difference is that the controversy damages Rush Limbaugh (whose power and influence are the envy of all media) rather than Barack Obama.

That being said, the strategy would have succeeded much more brilliantly in an era when all Americans got their news from the big city dailies, the NY Times, and Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw. Thankfully, today, there is talk radio, the blogosphere, and Fox News to help set the record straight.