On the October 1 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, during a discussion of syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh's recent characterization of service members who advocate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq as “phony soldiers,” right-wing radio host and co-chairwoman of Move America Forward (MAF) Melanie Morgan asserted: “What's clear to me is that this is a manufactured controversy by Media Matters for America, an organization that has been determined to take down conservative talk-show hosts for many, many years now.” She added: “Rush Limbaugh is a man who is a truth-teller and one of the most effective communicators of our generation.” Later in the segment, following co-host Sean Hannity's assertions that “they know this is a phony issue” and "[t]hey know the context in which Rush was talking," Morgan asserted: “This is what [right-wing pundit] Michelle Malkin has been writing about at her blog for a long time now. A number of soldiers who are fake or who are embellishers or who are posers, who go out there -- or soldiers like Jon Soltz of VoteVet.org [sic], who go out there and use their far-left, anti-American agenda, political agenda to undermine the real mission of our troops, our heroes who are out there, who are fighting in a hot war, who are fighting for our lives and for our security and safety."

As Media Matters has documented, Morgan has attacked Soltz in the past. For example, on the May 8 edition of PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, correspondent Judy Woodruff hosted a segment titled "Grassroots Groups Seek to Influence Iraq Policy" featuring Soltz and Morgan. During the show, Morgan claimed that she would like to see Soltz “say to the troops in the field” “that they are failing, that they have failed, miserable performance, that they are losing.” She also said that Soltz was “shameful and really disrespectful to our troops.” In an August 17 column published on the conservative website WorldNetDaily, Morgan called Soltz a “hypocritical cockroach,” stating that "[h]e needs to be stomped on and neutralized before he and his ilk can silence military support for the mission in Iraq."

From the October 1 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

ALAN COLMES (co-host): Well, Democrats liken Limbaugh's comments to the [Gen. David] Petraeus-MoveOn.org ad and the heat some of them got for not condemning the advertisement. And with us now, radio talk-show host and author of the book American Mourning -- that's with a “u” in there -- Melanie Morgan. And radio talk show Stephanie Miller.

Now, Melanie, I just don't understand because we actually played the tape. He said “phony soldiers” -- plural. And then he claimed that he was talking about one soldier, but that particular soldier, his name didn't come up until about two minutes later. So it wasn't clear to me, at least, that he was talking about one soldier two minutes prior to that soldier's name coming up. Can you help me understand this?

MORGAN: What's clear to me is this is a manufactured controversy by Media Matters for America, an organization that has been determined to take down conservative talk-show hosts for many, many years now. Rush Limbaugh is a man who is a truth-teller and one of the most effective communicators of our generation. And that's why they are continuing.

COLMES: That doesn't answer my question, though.

MORGAN: They are continuing to attack him.

COLMES: I'm trying to understand the explanation.

[...]

SEAN HANNITY (co-host): Melanie, what they're trying to do here, they know this is a phony issue. They know the context in which Rush was talking about here. They know his history of supporting the military. But they're trying to distract from their positions on the war. And Harry Reid literally said on the Senate floor today -- he called Rush unpatriotic. Does that mean we can call him unpatriotic for sending kids to war and telling them they lost? Or John Murtha, who accused Marines of murder, and now many of them have been vindicated, and he hasn't apologized? Is he unpatriotic? Was Obama patriotic -- unpatriotic when he said our troops are air-raiding villages, when they don't do any such thing? Now are they going to open that door?

MORGAN: This is what Michelle Malkin has been writing about at her blog for a long time now. A number of soldiers who are fake or who are embellishers or who are posers, who go out there -- or soldiers like Jon Soltz of VoteVet.org [sic], who go out there and use their far-left, anti-American agenda, political agenda to undermine the real mission of our troops --

HANNITY: You know --

MORGAN: -- our heroes who are out there, who are fighting in a hot war --

HANNITY: You know something --

MORGAN: -- who are fighting for our lives --

HANNITY: Stephanie --

MORGAN: -- and for our security and safety.

HANNITY: The bottom line is these same Democrats that couldn't condemn the “General Betray Us” ad, these same guys that want to cut off funding -- bullets, armor, Humvees, and supplies --

MILLER: Oh, I'm sorry.

HANNITY: -- the same guys that accused them of murder and, as [Sen.] John Kerry [D-MA] said, being terrorists. You know what? Why don't we have a resolution for each and every one of them and their statements? Would that be fair?