Tue, Jul 6, 2004 11:59am ET

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Taranto, Limbaugh, and Goldberg distorted Teresa Heinz Kerry's comments about late husband

In the July 1 edition of The Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.com, editor James Taranto, in his "Best of the Web" column, reported a June 29 Associated Press quotation of Teresa Heinz Kerry expressing grief over the loss of her first husband, Senator John Heinz (R-PA). Taranto used the quote as an opportunity to criticize Heinz Kerry and her relationship with husband Senator John Kerry (D-MA).

From Taranto's July 1 edition of "Best of the Web":

Here's a somewhat creepy Associated Press dispatch from Des Moines, Iowa:

Teresa Heinz Kerry, who inherited a vast family fortune and heads a billion-dollar foundation, said Tuesday she would give up the money to have her first husband back.

"It was a very sad day when that happened," Heinz Kerry said, speaking of Sen. John Heinz, heir to the Heinz food fortune, who was killed in a 1991 plane crash. "I'd rather have my husband alive than that money."

One can't fault Mrs. Heinz Kerry for feeling this way, but for her to say so in public is awfully inconsiderate of her current husband. And if John Kerry is willing to put up with abuse like this from his wife, how can we expect him as president to stand up to al Qaeda, much less the French?

On the June 30 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh interpreted Heinz Kerry's remarks as an insult to Senator John Kerry:

She wants her husband back. Now, you have to respect that. I'm not lampooning that. Dooon't misunderstand, folks. Far be it from me to intercede in the hearts and the affairs and the desires of other people. But if I'm John Kerry and I read this, if I'm married to her now, and she's out there saying, "I wish I had my husband back," and I would give up all this money for it? (Chuckles.) Well, let's just say it would not make my day.

Also on June 30, Lucianne Goldberg's right-wing website Lucianne.com ran Teresa Heinz Kerry's quote as the "Quote of the day," attributing the quote to "Teresa Heinz Kerry, who now has a husband and the money."

—S.M.

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