CNN Reads Limbaugh's Denial of Alleged Slavery Quote, Doesn't Retract Use
By Matthew Balan
Created 2009-10-13 16:21
On Tuesdays Newsroom, CNNs Rick Sanchez read Rush Limbaughs denial that he ever made a quote attributed to him in which he praised antebellum slavery, but added that the denial that does not take away...that there are other quotes...which many people in...minority communities do find offensive [audio available here [1]]. Sanchez broadcast the quote yesterday without any source, and made no retraction of it.
Sanchez first indicated during a promo for a segment about the Limbaugh controversy that the talk show host is now setting us straight on a remark thats been wildly publicized about what he has said in the past. The segment came just before the bottom of the 3 pm Eastern hour, and after giving a brief synopsis of the controversy, read the dubious quote attributed to the conservative: One of the quotes that has been attributed to Rush Limbaugh is the one about him saying that slavery built the South, and Im not saying that we should bring it back.. Im just saying that it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.
The CNN anchor then admitted that among the news organizations that reported that
yesterday was our show, at 3 oclock [see the NewsBusters post here [1] on that segment]. He continued by reading Limbaughs formal denial: Limbaughs response to this is- and we want to be fair to Rush- he says, Weve gone back. We have looked at everything else, and there is not even an inkling that any of the words in that quote are accurate. It is outrageous. So Rush Limbaugh is denying that that quote has come from him.
Despite this denial, Sanchez continued by basically saying that this statement didnt matter: Obviously, that does not take away the fact that there are other quotes which have been attributed to Rush Limbaugh, which many people in the African-American community and many other minority communities do find offensive. Nonetheless, it is a major controversy, not only in sports, but its also entered the news arena.
Earlier on Tuesday, MRC President and NewsBusters Publisher Brent Bozell demanded that CNN, along with MSNBC, produce a source for the alleged quote [1]: CNN and MSNBC must immediately and publicly source when Limbaugh uttered this phrase. He has unequivocally denied it. Now it is up to the same news media that reported it as fact to prove that it was, indeed, stated....If they cant, then they are 100% guilty of character assassination.
After all, didnt CNN fact-check a SNL skit [1]? They can obviously make the effort to either find the source or issue a retraction.
Okay, Prove You Didn't Say It! [Mark Steyn]
For some reason, Rush Limbaugh's mooted purchase of a sports franchise has prompted CNN and others to distribute far and wide what appear to be entirely fabricated racist quotes by Rush. As Tim Blair points out:
Bizarrely, nobody running these career-killing quotes seems to question why they werent of previous interest.
Just so. What's the theory here? He said these things on the air in 2006 and nobody noticed? 2001? Maybe 1995, back when Clinton was blaming him for Oklahoma City? Hey, let's not get hung up on details. Just because nobody can find any evidence anywhere of Rush saying these "quotes" doesn't mean he didn't say 'em. As someone called Jason Whitlock says:
Limbaugh doesnt get the benefit of the doubt on racial matters.
Why not? He does his show every day with an off-mike black sidekick yakking in his ear (Mr. Snerdley) and he has a black guest-host (the great Walter Williams). More to the point, when I began guest-hosting for Rush, I was amazed to discover that George Soros pays a team of stenographers, many of them called Zachary, to work their tippy-tappy fingers to the bone for three hours transcribing everything Rush or his fill-ins say in the hope that their efforts will one day be rewarded and he will deliver the big career-detonating soundbite. Among the afficionados of this service are, as I discovered recently, America's "newspaper of record," which faithfully follows the George Soros typing pool and dutifully plasters any potentially damaging bon mot on page one.
And, aside from all that, 20 million people are out there listening.
So where are these racist soundbites? Where's the audio? Where's the transcript? Name the year. Heigh-ho, say CNN's Rick Sanchez and the rest of the basement-ratings crowd. Not our problem: It's for Limbaugh to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he's never said it. We're too busy fact-checking anti-Obama jokes to fact-check our own reporting . . .
chicagotribune.com
Not all Limbaugh critics are credible
Steve Rosenbloom A bit of the Rosenblog
October 14, 2009
Excuse me! This is either someone's sick, sick joke or someone's working on a massive evil plan!
Rev. Jesse Jackson joined Rev. Al Sharpton in sending a letter to the NFL that argues against Rush Limbaugh's attempt to become part of Rams ownership. Jackson said Limbaugh made his wealth "appealing to the fears of whites" with insults against blacks and other minorities. This from the man who used the "N" word last year -- two years after he called for a public ban on that word -- and said he wanted to cut off Barack Obama's testicles. Nice credibility, huh? ...
Jackson and Sharpton, by the way, quickly raced down to North Carolina to convict three members of the Duke lacrosse team of rape -- three white members -- as claimed by an African-American woman working for an adult dancing service. Charges were dropped and the players were declared innocent, but I don't recall Jackson and Sharpton racing down to North Carolina just as quickly to apologize. Nice credibility, huh? ...
And let's not forget when Jackson referred to Jews as "Hymies" and New York as "Hymietown" in a conversation with a Washington Post reporter. Before finally admitting his use of an anti-Semitic phrase, Jackson accused Jews of conspiring against him. Nice credibility, huh? ...
Raise your hand if you think Jackson and Sharpton are perhaps the only two people who could make Limbaugh look respectable.
