XDA

This story keeps evolving. After Air America host Jon Elliot jumped to the conclusion that Randi Rhodes was assaulted and immediately blamed "the right wing hate machine" it was revealed that Ms. Rhodes merely fell down and was not assaulted at all. So Mr. Elliot apologized but used the same words.

I shouldn't have speculated based on hearsay that Randi Rhodes had been mugged and that it may have been an attack from a right wing hate machine. I apologize for jumping to conclusions based on an emotional reaction. (Emphasis added).

If it was an assault, wouldn't it have had to have been a person? I mean does Mr. Elliot think that the Republicans have robots which obey their every evil wish?

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this report at Ace of Spades but it gives off a strong whiff of plausibility.

Randi Rhodes was no more assaulted by a right-wing fanatic on Monday than Dick Cheney was. She, in fact, fell down and injured her teeth outside of a Midtown Irish bar at around 6 o'clock Sunday evening after downing about fourteen Ketel One Bloody Marys. She was abusive to the barstaff and generally gross, crass, loud, and pretentious. I genuinely hope she has a speedy recovery. I never would've disclosed this (I believe that anyone should feel free to hang out at Irish pubs at any time and not be concerned about someone publishing their behavior) if Air America hadn't grossly interpreted a drunken indiscretion and allowed it to be morphed into some bullish rhetoric on air. Whatever journalistic integrity the station may have ever had is now completely compromised. The manipulation of the public diminishes any cause, whether just or fabricated.

The T-shirt is at Michelle Malkin's excellent site.

When the left accuses the right of hate, all I can think of is projection. Beam in your eye, bro.

Labels: Air America

My desire to keep up with what's going on with the left in America does not extend to listening to Air America, the corrupt, bankrupt, failed, zombie liberal talk radio network. Hardly anyone can stand to listen to that stuff. However, when the rest of the media was doing their best to make Air America successful a few years ago, I did watch the HBO infomercial/documentary on the network's start-up, Left of the Dial. One of the few things I really remember about it is Randi Rhodes giving it to Ralph Nader for running for President and providing George Bush with his sheer margin of victory in Florida in 2000. At least she said what she felt and she actually seemed to know what she was doing in front of a radio microphone. (I believe she is one of the few original hosts still on the air). She also seemed a little miffed throughout the thing that she was never given the build up her talent and experience deserved, while untried Janeane Garofolo and Al Franken were constantly overpraised. I can still see her trying to blank out her face and that's always fun to watch.


So it was a little shocking to read that she had been assaulted, beaten (mugged?) in NYC this past Sunday. Of course, the left immediately blamed the right--[Fellow lefty broadcaster Jon]Elliott was extremely agitated when he reported on the incident.
He opened his show by saying "it is with sadness that tonight I inform you that my Air America colleague Randi Rhodes was assaulted last night while walking her dog near her New York City home."
Pointing out that Rhodes was wearing a jogging suit and displayed no purse or jewelry, Elliott speculated that "this does not appear to me to be a standard grab the money and run mugging."
"Is this an attempt by the right wing hate machine to silence one of our own," he asked. "Are we threatening them. Are they afraid that we're winning. Are they trying to silence intimidate us."
Some of blog posters also expressed concerns that the attack on Rhodes was hate crime. (Emphasis added).


Now Air America is backing off that calumny but it's hard to tell what they are saying happened. They just say it was an unfortunate incident. OK. Like most of the right wing bloggers who have noticed this episode, I wish Ms. Rhodes a speedy and complete recovery and swift, harsh justice for her assaulter.


UPDATE: Now the report is that she wasn't assaulted at all, she fell down. Oh...well, I guess there's no right wing conspiracy to silence her after all.

UPDATE II: Local first tier blogger Stephen Green at Vodkapundit has the best last Onion like word:

CORRECTION: It has come to our attention that had Rhodes been mugged, the savage act would have been committed by a pack of drooling reactionaries. So while the original story was fake, it remains, and shall remain, accurate. We regret the error.

Labels: Air America