AFF's Doublethink

As I’ve said before, I don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh or any other conservative talk-show hosts. Nothing I know about Rush & Co. has inspired any particular respect or fondness on my part. Yet I remain deeply suspicious of those who rely on criticism of Rush & Co. to advertise their own alleged commitment to civility, facts and the reality-based community.

This brings us, of course, to the recent admissions by CNN, the HuffPo and ThinkProgress that all of them falsely attributed to Rush some vicious racist remarks, namely, that slavery was good, that the Medal of Honor should be awarded to the man who killed Martin Luther King and that “all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson.”

I’m inclined to agree with John McCormack this kind of false attribution is exactly what is meant by a “smear”. Usually, CNN, ThinkProgress, and the Huff Po demand severe atonement from smear artists, not just limp apologies of questionable sincerity.

Could it be that such an intense concern with Rush Limbaugh’s many shortcomings has led certain critics to develop the same nasty habits they condemn on Rush’s part?