York falsely claimed that Limbaugh discussed MacBeth "in the same exchange" in which he used "phony soldiers"
In his October 5 column in The Hill, discussing Rush Limbaugh's September 26 comments in which he characterized service members who advocate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq as "phony soldiers," Byron York asserted that "Limbaugh discussed [Jesse] Macbeth, unbidden, in the same exchange with a listener in which he used the 'phony soldier' phrase." York continued: "A fair-minded reviewer would likely conclude that yes, Limbaugh was referring to Macbeth. After all, he said it at the time." In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, Limbaugh did not discuss MacBeth "in the same exchange" with the caller. After Limbaugh used the phrase "phony soldiers," the caller went on to discuss the purported presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, with Limbaugh responding. Limbaugh then thanked the caller for calling, and the caller is not heard again on the broadcast. Only after this did Limbaugh bring up MacBeth on his September 26 radio show, 1 minute and 50 seconds after making his "phony soldiers" comment. MacBeth pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for pretending to be an injured Iraq war veteran.
As Media Matters noted, in an October 3 National Review column, York claimed Limbaugh "played a tape of the original September 26 program [and] cut some extraneous material out -- 'for space and relevance reasons, not to hide anything,' he told me." In fact, Limbaugh said that he was airing "the entire transcript, in context, that led to this so-called controversy" and gave no indication that he cropped the audio or the transcript.
From York's October 5 column:
It's payback time for Democrats still smarting over the MoveOn.org "General Betray Us?" controversy. But so far, payback hasn't been terribly sweet.
[...]
The "General Betray Us?" ad was a single-page, big-type statement with the world's most provocative headline. It said what it said. You could read the whole thing in a few seconds and judge for yourself.
Limbaugh's comment wasn't quite the same. It wasn't just a two-word statement, despite what his critics say. To get what Limbaugh was saying, you had to listen to a full exchange -- something that requires a few minutes' investment, which is more than some of Limbaugh's most determined adversaries have been willing to make.
And then you had to think about it all. Limbaugh says he had news reports of an actual phony soldier, Jesse Macbeth, in mind when he made his comments.
And sure enough, Limbaugh discussed Macbeth, unbidden, in the same exchange with a listener in which he used the "phony soldier" phrase.
A fair-minded reviewer would likely conclude that yes, Limbaugh was referring to Macbeth. After all, he said it at the time.
None of that has been enough, however, for Limbaugh's critics, particularly in the blogosphere.
So who again is playing this out day after day? It isn't the main stream media, whatever that is...
Reminds me of the end of "the sentinal" where Meredith Baxter tells his dark minions to crawl back to hell. The rushbots will be following in kind soon...
Onward, phony soldiers, marching as to war, with the words of Limbaugh going on before. Brock, the media Master, leads against the foe; forward into battle he just won't let go!
Hello ditto heads, my legions
I've come to preach to you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
And thus my screams, for vengance
So to the airwaves I must go
You narrow minded redneck ho's
'Neath the halo of my pimple butt
I spew forth until I bust a nut
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a liberal truth
That bore fresh fruit
And woke my cries, for vengance
And in the light of truth I saw
Ten million people, maybe more
People able to think for themselves
People hearing and debating
People compromising and dreaming of better things,
And no one cared
To fear my screams, of vengance
"Fools", said I, "You do not know
My power cannot be overthrown
Hear my screams that I might save you
Join my legions that I might own you"
But my words, were drowned out in laughter
And pierced
My thin veils, of vengance
And my legions bowed and prayed
To the image that I made
And they sallied forth with my warning
To fight the truth that I saw forming
And legions said, "The words of the bushbots are written to be obeyed,
And our course stayed"
But now my power, is silent
Exceedingly well done...thank you!
So I'm just some dumb redneck now, am I?
I'll wear that banner with pride when it comes form the likes of you, you narrow-minded fool.
The original comment came on the morning update, on the 25th of September. Check out those transcripts. That, for those of you educated liberals, would be the day before this article cites Limbaugh's comment.
By the way... I'm an officer in the United States Army. I made it through basic training, and officer candidate school. If I'm LUCKY, I might get the chance to be a Ranger.
Sleep well, and continue to dream your dreams. I live in reality, where bad people want to do harm for you. When I'm bleeding in Baghdad, because I have the guts to fight for what I believe in, you can thank me again.
Do not fear the truth... face it head-on. I am a real soldier. Some loser who can't make it past 9 weeks of basic isn't, and deserves to be called what he is.
Jeter you keep saying this is no fun. I'd call that pretty inspired. I might quibble about the first line, but not to much. Snoopy below is maybe better, but thats because its rock and roll and I like it.
I think I've got to fire my navigator.
Oh lawdy lawdy lawdy .... Rush mentioned MacBeth a whole 1 minute and 50 seconds later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Um... so I guess that 1 minute and 30 seconds would have been OK? How about 1 minute? What is the time standard here that RL "violated"?
(Never mind that RL mentions MacBeth the day before this broadcast and was clearly referring to actual phony soldiers.)
Yeah, because Rush has to repeat the same thing every day so it will sink into his legions heads.
Try another rope, this one is worn out.
Now, was MacBeth one of those soldiers who signed up and knew they were going to Afghanistan or somewhere? You know, the ones he described immediately after the "phony soldiers" comment, but about 1 minute and 40 seconds before he mentioned MacBeth.
Billybob? Yooo hoooo...billybob... I need an answer on this so I can correctly interpret future limpaugh humor. Billybob? Where'd you go?
Now, was MacBeth one of those soldiers who signed up and knew they were going to Afghanistan or somewhere?
Who is MacBeth? (Besides being a hero to the left...)
Pretend soldier gets prison time for lies By Diane Saunders, Staff Writer Former Pima resident Jesse Macbeth, 23, who sought fame and notoriety by claiming to be a veteran of the Iraq war, was sentenced by a federal judge to five months in prison on one felony count of making a false statement.The sentence, handed down by Chief Judge Robert S. Lasnik of the United States District Court, Western District of Washington, on Sept. 21, includes three months custody in a halfway house, three years of supervised release and participation in mental health counseling. <!--<img src="http://images.townnews.com/eacourier.com/test2/img/300x250.gif">--> <!--Closes div id="artTools"-->Macbeth began his nearly four-year string of lies and misrepresentations in 2003 when he began telling his story to a variety of online news outlets and the mainstream press. In November 2003, while living in Pima, Macbeth interviewed with a Courier reporter and fabricated stories of combat injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder and watching fellow soldiers die.Subsequent to his interview with the Courier, Macbeth’s stories included tales of war crimes and a variety of atrocities.According to a plea agreement filed with the federal court, Macbeth’s stories began to unravel on or about Sept. 19, 2005, when he submitted altered documents to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in an effort to qualify for military compensation.On his application, Macbeth wrote that he was in active duty service with the U.S. Army from May 1, 2001, through June 13, 2004; he had achieved the rank of corporal and was an Army Ranger; he had been awarded a Purple Heart, a medal awarded to soldiers who are injured in combat; he had served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and he was discharged from the military for medical reasons, the plea agreement states.In actuality, Macbeth served only 44 days in the Army at Fort Benning, Ga., before he was discharged for “issues related to entry level performance and conduct prior to completion of basic training,” according to the plea agreement.
================================
Hope that this clears the story up for you!
No, no, no. I already knew WHO MacBeth is, I was asking if he was included among the soldiers that (geez, I hate repeating myself) "signed up" and knew they'd be going to Iraq, or "Afghanistan or something", as limpaugh put it.
Are you having comprehension problems? Is there a different language that you'd prefer? Smaller words, perhaps?
neondesert
Is it possible for a real soldier to enlist (or reenlist) without knowing that he is probably going to serve in Iraq?
Yes. Entirely.
But what's the point?
Well, let's see. If I were to enlist today, what's the possibility I'll end up in a war zone? Uh, high?
Find us more than two mainstream liberal sources (Kos, etc.) that propped this guy up and made him a "hero of the left."
I'm pretty well read, myself. I subscribe to over 50 political RSS feeds and have read every single entry daily for the last couple of years.
I never heard of this guy before Limbaugh.
Yeah, big lefty hero that nobody but Rush has heard of.
I see the new rule - if deeznuts never heard of something then it doesn't exist.
Neat rule, deeznuts.
I'd never heard of him either. Why don't you answer the challenge and show who exactly was propping this guy up?
Me either.
Arizona newspaper, pepper spray videos documentary (which, incidentally, was translated and distributed by propaganda groups throughout the middle east), and numerous public events sponsored by Iraq Vets Against the War.
He was debunked a while ago, but RL's point was that he got propped up despite the obvious nature of his being a fraud.
He's not the first that the left has done this with. Recently, the New York Times ran an article in their weekend magazine about women with PTSD. One of the women, who was the focus of the article, turned out to never have been to Iraq. Once again, a situation that could have been prevented with a simple fact-check.
Problem is, the left doesn't want to check their facts, just like how you guys don't care that the "phony soldiers" comment came out the day before MMFA claims it did.
Truth is real, but some people don't want you to find it.
"Yeah, big lefty hero that nobody but Rush has heard of."
Actually, if you actually listened to Limbaugh, you would know that he got the MacBeth story from the mainstream media. So, obvious, if you were as well read as you claim, it's a bit of a surprise that you never heard of MacBeth.
BTW, if you get all your news from the sissies at MMFA, you're going to end up extemely ignorant.
He got the story about McBeath being a fraud from the MSM. Where'd he get the "story" about him being a "hero" to the left?
EECEE, that is the question that has been asked for over a week now. An army of Rush fans has been posting here, and not one has answered it. It sure is fun to see them try new ways to run away from it.
apparently, Rush said he got it from the MSM, and that's good enough for the Excrement in Broadcasting sucklings.
That clears it up for me, Billybob. Your whole fantasy about your hero Rush is based on the media's praise of these "phony soldiers". The only story you could come up with is one exposing and condemning him as a liar.
You've just surrendered again.
Lying again. I subscribe to THREE lefty periodicals. Before this topic I had never HEARD of MacBeth. Just because Rush gave that instruction to the Limborg hivemind in no way means it is not a lie. In fact it IS a lie. MacBeth is irrelevant to this point. The caller said real soldiers WANT to be in Iraq, Rush agreed. No way is that talking ONLY about Macbeth no matter WHAT your hivemind talking points are.
I made a similar argument a few days ago. MacBeth washed out of boot camp. He was trying to get into military service, but was unfit. So how does someone say he didn't want to be in Iraq, or that he wasn't willing to sacrifice? As I noted, it's quite possible he joined to be in Iraq, which is exactly how Rush described a "real soldier".
This is nonsense. If MacBeth washed out of basic training, he never earned the titlte "soldier." He then went on to claim that he served in Iraq and witnessed atrocities committed by our troops. The kid is nothing but a phony.
I never said he earned the title "soldier", did I? I know he's a phony. The point is that if he washed out of boot camp, he was trying to serve, to it's odd to say that he didn't want to be in Iraq or was unwilling to sacrifice.
Reading comprehension is for sissies, apparently.
Billybob, can I assume this is your latest act of surrender? (just you, everyone else has until Sunday, midnight)
I think it's entirely likely that we'll find Billybob on a deserted island some 20 years hence, cut off from civilization, unaware of the armistice, and still fighting this war.
So here's the sequence:
Rash calls caller 1 who opposes the war a fraud.
Rash says troops who testify against the war to the media are phony
Rash says self identified soldier who told kook story WMD is real.
Rush says soldiers who make anti-war statements for the left are phony.
Rush talks about Jesse MacBeth.
The man said in the same exchange. That is false he mentioned phony soldiers when talking to caller 2 and started the NEXT SEGMENT talking about MacBeth whom he clearly WASNT talking about earlier.
Billiybob: When Rush said "phony soldiers" he was still ticked off about "Mike from Chicago", whom Limbaugh reviled (remember, Limbaugh walks on the moon) and ridiculed as not being a real veteran or Republican. Why don't you people just admit that your great hero screwed up with his enormous ego? BTW, that's really pathetic to worship a fat pig like Rush Limbaugh who has not ounce of decency inside him. Oink-oink, Billiybob...
Please keep it up MM.
Continue to try to attack Rush with lies. It brings your corrupt organization out of the darkness and focuses a spotlight on it.
At this rate you'll have Hillary Clinton facing campaign finance charges well before the '08 election.
Bravo!
What a load of crap. Nobody ever even HEARD of MacBeth until the Pilonidal Pusbag needed a cover for his mouth-fart (most likely a desperate note from his staff 1:50 later.) He's a punk and his defenders are punks. Not one of'em will call a vet a "phony soldier" to his face. This reich-wing spin is pure yellowstain.
Nobody ever heard of him? Rush talked about him in a morning update 2 days before the broadcast you people are lying about. The ABC news story that mentioned him by name, days before Rush did, didn't happen? It's a flat out lie to say that nobody every hear of him until Rush needed "cover."
Keep it up. The lies coming from this site only hurt your cause. The American people aren't so stupid as to be fooled by the slanders coming from the left.
i would just like to ask the dittoheads this: will rush play in context the speeches of kerry, durbin and murtha? or will he continue to insist that murtha called all soldiers murderers, kerry called all soldiers dumb, and that durbin compared all soldiers to nazis, pol pot and the soviet regime. will rush continue to mistate what obama said in his speech?
will rush continue to insist that he supports all vets, no matter what their political affiliiation and beliefs, and yet have no problem attacking and smearing vote vets, paul hackett and max cleland?
can the wingnuts really get outraged at an attack against gen petraeus, when they themselves were using much worse language against a true hero like gen wesley clark, during the last election?
rush shows how tuff he is, by demanding that reid meet him face to face in his studio.
well prove you are really tuff rush. have a few of the members from vote vets come down to your show and debate them on the air. and please, call these soldiers "phonies" i beg you. they will rip your guts out and feed them to you for lunch.
That was one of the most ignorant posts I have ever read.
Do you skip yours, SissyKevin?
Here is what is going on...
Our side will not budge... No compromises...
Your side will not budge... No compromises...
We ALL lose...
Rush, Ann, Sean and others on my side are WRONG...
Hilary, Reid, Murtha and others are WRONG on your side...
We ALL lose again...
As long as my side AND your side continue to throw insults at each other instead of hammering out VERY HARD compromises to the War (that I support & some of you don't) or the Socilized Health Care (that some of you support and I do not), then we are just ALL stuck.
Your side says that WE CONSERVATIVES are to blame for all that is WRONG with America, hey we ARE part of America too...
Our side says that YOU LIBS are to blame for all that is WRONG with America, hey you ARE Americans too...
How will this EVER end, you here at MM can not really believe that you can have it ALL your way, we Conservatives that listen to Rush can NOT think we can have everything our way...
But when I read the post here throughout all of the recent threads I only see stubborn hatered of the "OTHER" side. Hell, all of my posts up till now have been FULL OF SLURS, HATE, MY SIDE IS RIGHT, YOUR COMMIES and other stuff that I am not very proud of now. But wait, the responces to me and other Consevatives on this site have NOT been kind either, calling us NAZIS, RADICAL CHRISTIANS, POOR HATERS, RACISTS, ect.
When will both side (yes, me too) learn that we are ALL in this together, like it or not. We prove right here in these forums that America is DIVIDED, slit down the middle with BOTH sides feeling that they are the ONLY ones that have rights, feelings, thoughts and opinions.
We will we ALL stop name calling and just see IF, and I know it's a HUGE If, but if we can find ANY common ground, any place to compromise.
But just look back at these threads over the last 10 days or so. It really does not look like there is ANY uniting factor ANYWHERE other then our dislikes for each other.
I really do not know what to do anymore. I will NOT change my basic beliefs that American has far too many that want the United States to actualy LOSE a war, a poll showed that 1 in 5 Dems want the US to Lose, think it would be better for the World. Sorry, but that scares me. I can not give up my thought that calling a 25 year old in a family that makes around $80k a year is poor and needs MY money for Health Insurance.
The list could go on and on...
And from you side you would say that you will not drop your opinions that there should be Universal Health Care for all Americans, Socilized womb to tomb hand outs of all kinds, Increased taxes on "the rich", an END to the illeagle war...
See ? Where do we start to compromise ? What can we do ?
You folks of BOTH parties just watch how bad this post gets hammered... Watch the hate come out. Even here we will find NO civility, no compromises, so how do we expect to get along with each other and survive. My side is NOT going away, we are getting louder and stronger and pushing back against what we feel like is the decline of America, your side is NOT going away, it is ALSO getting STRONGER and LOUDER.
How does this end ?
A thoughtful post MG, and appreciated. There are some issues on deffinitions and reality here. I'll not list them.
For all of the enthusiasms of the Site Side posters, I've seen little out an out hate. Shock is usually used to shake up the wingnut to get him/her/it out of the usual mental grooves.
Second. though you may not have picked up on it. There are a sizable population of concervative posters that are regulars here. They make points, they goof up, like most of us here. They are welcome here and so are you. If your postings are mostly talking points, expect to be called out for it. An original argument is to be treasured.
Thanks you kind words are refreshing, but it won't buy you and i a cup of coffee and a real dialog. Like I said, I did it too, I flamed, name called, got all pissy, acted like i was 5 years old and whined when I lost.
But seems like all we do is go around in circles.
Discorse is of course fantastic for ALL Americans, Left, Right, Mid, but if it only leads to name calling and lying to each other then it is not worth our time.
Tex is a great LIB here, Mary25, she is nice, we fight, we discuss, but yet neither has convinced the other to open up a bit more, look at both sides, we are all still stuck in the muck thrown by Limbaugh, Sean, Hilary, Reid, Murtha...
I forgot to mention passion. It exsists here.
Yes some conversations go round and round. Tommy and some others could give post graduate classes on how to deflect an conversation.
Check out the archives, run a few threads. The regulars of any stripe are very bright. This is turf, we defend it in our own and/or comon way. Yes Tex is A team, I can't list all I like here as five minutes after I post I'll remember five I missed. Its a good group to be with.