Mike Emanuel ignores his own network's role in forwarding dubious Nelson rumor

As we've been documenting, the conservative outrage du jour stems from Weekly Standard writer Michael Goldfarb's so-called scoop that the White House is threatening to close Nebraska's Offutt Air Force in an attempt to force Sen. Nelson to vote for the current version of the Senate health care bill. As usual, this latest blockbuster story doesn't pass the smell test.

On the one hand, we have the two parties involved in the story on the record vehemently denying it. On the other, we have Michael Goldfarb saying we should “believe” his story due to his purported "perfect track record." Rock-solid reporting by the conservative media, as usual.

Posting the most recent statement from the White House on the dubious rumor, Fox News contributing editor Mike Emanuel writes:

Some blogs have been posting rumors about Democratic Senator Ben Nelson from Nebraska and that his vote on the health care bill could threaten Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base.

Statement from WH Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer: “This rumor is absolutely false, as the people spreading it well know. This is nothing but a cynical, crass political game that is designed to maintain the status quo. Let's be clear: the people spreading these falsehoods think nothing is wrong with a system under which families and businesses continue to bear the brunt of skyrocketing costs, insurance companies are allowed to discriminate and drop at will, and thousands of Americans lose their coverage every single day.”

While it is certainly true that “some blogs” ran with the story, Emanuel conveniently ignores his own network's role in promoting it. Here's Fox News' website Fox Nation:

Another outlet that picked it up was Glenn Beck's cutting edge video blog that airs every night on Fox News from 5-6:

“Some blogs” can be pretty irresponsible.