Harry Reid along with some other Democratic politicians decided to make even bigger fools of themselves than they already had made of themselves, when they jumped on the Media Matters distortion of what Rush Limbaugh said, and then they wrote to whine to Rush's boss at Clear Channel.
Reids goal was to Try to further perpetuate the original lies that Media Matters reported by showing only partial transcripts and portions of the video/audio of a discussion that Rush Limbaugh was having about "phony soliders" like Jesse MacBeth, who was sentenced for fraud after being embraced as the the darling of the anti-military crowd, until they discovered all his horror stories were outright lies.
Media Matters distortion was that Rush was talking about "any" soldier that disagreed with our action in Iraq was a phony soldier. The full transcript shows the truth and the context in which the term "phony soldiers" was used, which had Media Matters shown the full thing everyone would have seen and heard that 35 seconds after those comments with his caller, he made sure to reference Jesse Macbeth.
Instead they led the Democratic politicians right off the cliff.
The whole transcript of what Rush said can be found here.
Rush challenged Reid here and a soldier had some words which is posted as an update at that last link and all links related to this controversy.
From the comments section:
I am a soldier in the U.S. Army. I served for a year in Iraq. Senator Reid, where are these "thousands" of soldiers who oppose the war? I didn't meet them in uniform. I submit, Senator Reid, that they are a product of your putrid imagination -- phantom, phony soldiers indeed.
Senator Reid, the thing about this war that frustrates us soldiers more than anything else are the intentional, malicious and subversive efforts by you and your cronies to undercut our mission. You, Senator Reid, are a far more virulent enemy of the United States than anything we have confronted in Iraq. We can deal directly with the enemies we face in combat. Be thankful that we have to deal with you through more civil means. (John Breland)
Now that we have recapped, Harry then sent a letter to Clear Channel CEO, Mark Mays, to whine about Rush Limbaugh and further perpetuate the lie.
Mark Mays, CEO of Clear Channel, sent a very, very, respectful letter back, basically telling Reid to pound sand.
Mays, letter to Harry Reid: (I typed this from the PDF file, so any spelling errors are mine and not Mr. Mays)
October 2, 2007PDF of letter from Politico found here.
The Honorable Harry Reid
S-221 United States Capitol
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Majority Leader Reid:
I want to thank you and your Senate Democratic colleagues for sharing your concern over recent comments made by Rush Limbaugh on his daily radio program. First let me say that the men and women who wear the uniform in defense of our country deserve the utmost respect and gratitude from each and every one of us whom they serve to protect. I assure you that I fully agree with your statement that "not a single one of our sons, daughters, neighbors and friends serving overseas is a phony soldier." As a grateful American citizen, I would reject anyone's contention to the contrary.
Mr. Limbaugh's comments last week have stirred a lot of emotion, and I have carefully read the transcript from the episode in question. I hope you will appreciate that I cannot speak with authority as to whom exactly Mr. Limbaugh's comment were directed, or what was his intent. Only Mr. Limbaugh can speak to those issues, which he has done.
I can say, however, that over the years Mr. Limbaugh has repeatedly praised the dedication and valor of our brave men and women in uniform. Given Mr. Limbaugh' history of support for our soldiers, it would be unfair of me to assume his statement were intended to personally indict combat soldiers simply because they didn't share his own beliefs regarding the war in Iraq. However, if Mr. Limbaugh's intention was to classify any soldier opposed to the war in Iraq as a "phony soldier," which he denies, then I, along with most Americans, would be deeply offended by such a statement.
While I do not agree with everything Mr. Limbaugh says on every topic, I do believe that he, along with every American, has the right to voice his or her opinion in the manner they choose. The First Amendment gives every American the right to voice his or her opinion, no matter how unpopular. That right isone that I am sure you agree must be cherished and protected.
End Page #1
The Honorable Harry Reid
October 2, 2007
Page Two
As the Chief Executive Officer of clear Channel, I support each of our on-air talent's right to express his or herself freely, as long as they do it within the confines of the laws set forth by Congress. For this reason, I have not and will not impose my own views upon any of our on-air talent. Doing so would, quite frankly, undermine the integrity of the broadcast, undercut the trust with our listeners that they are receiving the true and honest opinions of the radio host, and more importantly fly directly in the face of the right to free speech that we hold so dear.
Each and every day, Clear Channel airs a broad diversity of viewpoints from Rush Limbaugh on the right to Air America on the left of the political spectrum. It is inevitable, with so many different perspectives, that an on-air personality will challenge or even offend another segment of the public. I too an sometimes offended by words that are directed at me or a particular belief I hold. However, as a broadcaster and leader of this company, I will always defend the right of our employees and contracted talent to voice their opinions under the protections provided by the First Amendment.
I want to thank you and your colleagues for writing me regarding this matter. Again, I regret that you and others were offended by Mr. Limbaugh's statement, regardless of what its intended meaning may have been. I hope that you understand and support my position that while I certainly do not agree with all views voiced on our stations, I will not condemn our talent for exercising their right to voice them.
Sincerely,
Mark P. Mays
Chief Executive Officer
Harry boys original letter can be found at The Swamp.
As we showed you earlier, Hillary Clinton claims to have helped start or sponsor Media Matters, (Video of her saying it at that link)which might explain their perpensity for distortions and lies.
Since the MoveOn.org attack ad against General Petraeus, the Democrats have been desperate to "create" a firestorm about anything that would distract people from the negativity that has been associated with the Democratic politicians because of that attempt to smear the General which backfired horribly against MoveOn and the Democrats as well as having failed to snatch defeat from jaws of success and progress that is being seen in Iraq.
Grasping at straws and failing miserably at that also.
More from Malkin about the Fairness Doctrine and Hot Air mentions the ten Democratic politicians that saw the cliff and instead of jumping over it, carefully backed away.
[Update] Others talking about this:
NYT, NRO, Fox and The Radio Equalizer.
Catch who is blogging about this at memeorandum.
Tracked back by:
Clear Channel defends Rush from Stix Blog...
Clear Channel Defends Rush from Grizzly Groundswell...
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