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Monday, Nov 23, 2009
Often returning to the topic on-air, Limbaugh appears stung by the criticism over American Forces Radio as well as by the heat he has taken for his commentary about Abu Ghraib and the first photos seen of the abuse. He recently told Time magazine that his comments were "totally misinterpreted and taken out of context." Here are some of those comments in their original context:
Last week, while attacking Harkin's American Forces Radio amendment, Limbaugh opted for misinformation, telling listeners the senator's proposal was designed to "to get this program stripped from that network." Yet in his Congressional Record statement, Harkin specifically noted: "I am not calling for American Forces Radio to pull Rush Limbaugh's commentaries from their talk radio service."
That Limbaugh would misrepresent Harkin's public statements is not surprising in view of his many other deceits. For instance, on June 17, he told radio listeners that the 9/11 commission had found "that [Sept. 11 mastermind] Mohammed Atta did meet with an Iraqi intelligence agency, or agent, in Prague on April 9th of 2001." In fact, the commission found the exact opposite: "We have examined the allegation that Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague on April 9. We do not believe that such a meeting occurred."
More puzzling, though, was Limbaugh's apparent decision to fabricate a story involving Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the powerful chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Discussing American Forces Radio during his June 18 program, Limbaugh told listeners, "He [Stevens] sent me a fax today with a revised [Harkin] amendment. They've gone in and they fixed the amendment. They -- they've watered this thing down. Whatever the Harkin amendment was, it now doesn't mention my name."
According to Stevens' spokeswoman, Courtney Schikora, the senator did call Limbaugh and fax him a copy of the Harkin amendment. But neither Stevens nor anybody in his office sent the host a "revised" amendment, "watered" it down or removed Limbaugh's name. The last part would have been impossible, in any case, because Harkin's proposal never mentioned Limbaugh. Schikora adds that Stevens does not oppose or want to alter Harkin's amendment, since it simply reaffirms the network's existing mission, specifically regarding fairness and balance.
Nonetheless, on June 18 Limbaugh seemed to relish recounting the now-disputed encounter with Stevens: "I called him and because Ted Stevens is the senator from Alaska. Stevens did something yesterday to revise this and he sent me the -- well, the -- the -- the -- the new amendment. And he said, 'Is this OK?' He said, 'Do you have any objections to this?' [laughter] And I -- I looked at it and said, 'Am I allowed?' [laughter] 'Am I allowed to object to an amendment to the defense appropriations bill when I'm not a senator?' I mean, I can as a -- as a citizen, obviously, but, I mean, any citizen could object. Doesn't matter."
Even some of Limbaugh's closest watchers were struck by the strange tale. "It's an extremely curious thing," says Media Matters' Brock, the author of "The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy." "We've documented a lot of things Limbaugh has said that are false and wrong. But this seems to be on a slightly higher level: making up a story about a sitting, powerful Republican senator, and one that makes him look bad. That's asking for trouble. Of course somebody's going to check it out."
After the July 4 congressional recess, Harkin is set to meet with Pentagon officials to discuss his broadcast concerns. His spokeswoman says preliminary talks with American Forces Radio have been "very friendly," with officials expressing a willingness to resolve the issue. Perhaps the network will soon make room for a liberal voice.
