Rush Limbaugh, Cincinnati, Sherrod Brown, Daryn Kagan

FLASH: RUSH ERRS

Media In Heaven Over Mistake




That liberals have so quickly pounced on Rush Limbaugh over a relatively minor on-air error, could it be a sign his accuracy rate is actually rather high?

Otherwise, would the mainstream media's obvious glee be quite so pronounced? After all, opponents are monitoring every broadcast, waiting in hope for moments like this.

So what was Limbaugh's Colossal Error Of The Century? He incorrectly believed Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was black.

Stop the presses!

Dog bites man, nobody's perfect. Is this really a big story?

The end result: found to be without merit was his theory about the Democrat's US Senate electoral strategy in Ohio. A single error, is this a big deal for a guy paid to make assertions 15 hours a week?

According to the media, yes. Pouncing on this are newspapers that normally would never cover Limbaugh's political commentary. Wherever they can take a shot, in this case they're adding snide comments and irrelevant comparisons.

That Limbaugh has already admitted his mistake is noted, but doesn't seem to halt the nastiness.

Want examples? We have 'em, first from the Contra Costa (CA) Times:

RUSH MAKES ERROR OVER CANDIDATE: Brown is black in the eyes of Rush Limbaugh.

When Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett was forced out of the Democratic primary in the U.S. Senate race in Ohio, the conservative commentator criticized the New York Times for not saying that the Democrats' preferred candidate is black.

Limbaugh later found out from e-mails to his nationally syndicated radio show that the candidate, Rep. Sherrod Brown, is, in fact, white.

"Uh, Sherrod Brown's a white guy? Then I'm confusing him with somebody. OK, I'm sorry," Limbaugh said this week.

Brown is a seven-term congressman and former Ohio secretary of state who is running against GOP Sen. Mike DeWine.

"Rush Limbaugh obviously knows as much about me as the Republicans know about balancing the budget," Brown told the Chronicle-Telegram of Elyria, Ohio, for an article published Friday.

Later in his show, Limbaugh said he kept getting e-mails. "We have corrected this, and I, you know, I'm not gonna apologize because I don't think it's an insult to be black," he said.

In 2003, Limbaugh was pushed off ESPN's NFL preview show after he said quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed.

What, pray tell, does that last paragraph have to do with the price of bread? Other than as another instance of Rush talking about ethnicity, it seems irrelevant, doesn't it?

From the Cincinnati Enquirer, note the snide end comment:

NAME, NOT RACE

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh criticized the New York Times for its story last week that the Democratic Party pushed Paul Hackett out of the race to take on Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio. Limbaugh chided the Times for not saying the Dems dumped Hackett because they preferred a black candidate.

Actually party leaders preferred Brown to Hackett, as in Sherrod Brown, a veteran congressman from Northern Ohio. Brown also happens to be white.

Limbaugh corrected himself after his show received several e-mails from people who know a lot more about Ohio politics than he does.

Hey, Jerry Springer knows a great deal about Ohio politics, does that mean we want to listen to him?

Here's the AP story, without the anti-Rush editorial. The Kansas City Star, as well as a number of other papers, ran the version with the McNabb paragraph.

Note the Washington Post's tone:

Rushed Judgment

Color commentary just might not be Rush Limbaugh's forte. When Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett was forced out of the Democratic primary in the Senate race in Ohio last week, Limbaugh criticized the New York Times for not saying that the party's preferred candidate is black.

Limbaugh later discovered through listener e-mails to his radio show that the candidate, Rep. Sherrod Brown , is, oops, actually Caucasian.

"Uh, Sherrod Brown's a white guy? Then I'm confusing him with somebody. Okay, I'm sorry," Limbaugh admitted later.

When looking for reasons to pound Limbaugh, if this is the best they can do, I'd say he's still in good shape.


For good measure, the New York Daily News throws in a bit of Limbaugh/Kagan gossip:

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS First the bad news: I hear that right-wing radio guy Rush Limbaugh and CNN daytime anchor Daryn Kagan — who've been dating for nearly two years — are finally kaput. The good news, of course, is that the fabulous Kagan is back on the market.

With this development, perhaps Kagan will now have an easier time functioning at CNN.

Thanks for your continued Radio Equalizer support, via Amazon orders that begin with clicks here, regardless of what you ultimately order! In the spotlight: Robert Ferrigno's exciting new thriller Prayers for the Assassin: A Novel. Read the transcript of Hugh Hewitt's interview with Ferrigno here.

First Limbaugh picture: AP, Springer: Dave Abel, Ottawa Sun