Botched Limbaugh Slam

LEFTY SCREW-UP

Half-Baked Limbaugh Attack Backfires



After a sloppy attack on conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh and CNN's Daryn Kagan, a liberal "media watchdog" site has taken a major credibility hit.

Gossipy and conspiratorial in nature, the October 6 story at David Brock's Media Matters For America falsely suggested Kagan was sending Limbaugh love notes after a speech by President Bush. Worse, it suggested her relationship with Rush was adversely affecting on-air news judgement.

At least that's how the allegations appear to the Radio Equalizer. It's not entirely clear and we can't seem to find our secret decoder ring. Could swear it was around here somewhere.

Nonetheless, here's an excerpt from the ill-fated Media Matters piece:


On the October 6 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh read a "note" that, he said, came from his "mistress in Georgia," an apparent reference to CNN anchor Daryn Kagan.

According to Limbaugh, his "mistress" said of President Bush's October 6 speech on the war on terror, "This is great. This sounds like you wrote this speech. This sounds like you giving this speech." Limbaugh said he agreed: "And I was going, 'Rah, rah. That's exactly right.' "

In his September 3, 2004, "Reliable Source" column in The Washington Post, Richard Leiby reported that a spokesman for Limbaugh confirmed that he "is dating CNN anchor Daryn Kagan."

And a February 21 article in People magazine noted that "Kagan's romance with ... Limbaugh is getting serious."

Kagan, who is based at CNN's headquarters in Atlanta, is the anchor of CNN Live Today, a news show that airs weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET and that carried Bush's speech live.

Shortly after Bush concluded his speech, Kagan introduced CNN national security correspondent David Ensor, whom she called "our CNN fact-checker."

While noting that Bush "had promised some unprecedented details," which, she suggested, he did not provide, she then made a statement in Bush's defense when Ensor suggested that reporters would be looking for corroboration of Bush's assertion that "the United States and our partners have disrupted at least 10 serious Al Qaeda terrorist plots since September 11th, including three Al Qaeda plots to attack inside the United States"


Rambling on from here, one expects a black helicopter to appear at any moment.

After seeing the piece, CNN issued a statement, alerting Media Matters to their foul-up: Limbaugh's "mistress" comments were part of an ongoing series of gags, where a lover is safely tucked away in each state.

While the site did note CNN's objection, it stopped well short of admitting a mistake. Funnier were the responses from tinfoil hat-wearing comment posters.

And TVNewser felt Brock's site had "jumped the gun".

The left's vindictiveness is no surprise to those of us who cover their moves on a regular basis. Killing the messenger is all in a day's work. Now, Kagan is on the target list, simply for associating with Limbaugh.

In addition, CNN for the first time becomes suspect for lefties, simply because of politically incorrect dating decisions.

Isn't it hilarious to see the same liberals who regularly attack conservative-cited sources using People Magazine to make their case? Recently, other lefties have been singing the praises of sleazy tabloids that assert Bush has resumed consuming alcohol.

Especially alarming for Media Matters: with a surprisingly large staff on board, there wasn't anybody around to check the facts before running with it. Or, perhaps they simply don't care about credibility?


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