If there was any doubt about what side of the aisle the mainstream media prefer, it was made abundantly clear in the case of Rush Limbaugh and his bid to be an owner in the NFL. Even if you hate Rush you should be terribly concerned about what just happened.
Likely you know the story, at least part of it. A group wanting to make a bid on a team contacts Limbaugh to join in. Shortly after he says yes, this info is “leaked” to the press.
Well, it doesn’t take long for the controversy to kick off. And, lo and behold, Rush is declared divisive and unacceptable to the pristine NFL. As if almost every coach and a good percentage of players, let alone some owners, aren’t divisive themselves. And, as I believe Rush pointed out, anyone having an opinion can be called divisive by those who disagree.
But the worst part of this episode was the claim that Rush said some things kind to slavery and in support of Martin Luther King’s assassin. For the zealot left-wingers, these “quotes” were accepted as fact. Compounding this was the mainstream media taking the quotes and running with them as if they were said by Rush.
What was soon found out by people who care about truth, and what you might not be as aware of, is that the quotes were phony. Rush didn’t say them.
And when those who reported the quotes found out they were false, tepid words were all they could say or type: Well, they essentially said, if Rush said he didn’t say them OK. But you know he is a conservative and we all know about them….
One of the greatest concerns (or at least it is supposed to be) in the world of reporting is quoting people accurately. Even if a reporter slants a story to his point of view, at least if the quotes are accurate the judicious and fair reader will have the subject’s actual words to weigh.
To misquote someone — especially in a matter of such importance – and then act as if it’s no big deal is astounding. Not only should the transgressors be falling over themselves to apologize, they should be severely reprimanded, if not fired.
What good is a journalist or journalism that is unreliable? Absolutely worthless.
And those tough guys in the NFL? They backed away. The players can take a physical pounding each week; the owners can negotiate great deals that keep them in the money. But when it comes to the truth, they can’t handle the truth. In the truth, these “tough” guys met their match and lost.
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The NFL doesn’t need people like Mr. Limbaugh. He’s not into dog fighting.