More on the quality of information to be heard on the loyal radio opposition, Air America. Our Al Franken Listener (OAFL) Rick has been checking the fact checkers over there and finds them to be wanting:
As you know, Al Franken likes to play gotcha, catching conservatives in "lies". I overheard the following recently on the Al Franken show. Al had a clip where he claimed Rush Limbaugh was making things up. The following transcript comes from Alan Skorski:
Limbaugh clip: "You know, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is more extreme than any of these nominees that Bush has brought up. I went through this list of things she actually believes in, that came out in her testimony, such as getting rid of Mother's Day and Father's Day and replacing it with Parents' Day."
Franken to Mark Luther: "She never actually said anything about Mother's Day and Father?s Day for Parents' Day anywhere."
Mark Luther: "So you think he is just fabricating this completely?"
Franken: "I think it's an urban myth from conservatives. We got this from Thomas E. Mann, a Brookings Institute Senior Fellow on Government Studies. He told us - I now have it on the highest and closest authority that Ruth Bader Ginsburg has never, in any setting, proposed doing anything with Mother's Day."
Thanks to Ed Whelan, who writes on the new, excellent NRO Blog Bench Memos, we know what a Senior fellow of the Brookings Institute does not. Quoting page 133 of "Report of Columbia Law School Equal Rights Advocacy Project: The Legal Status of Women under Federal Law," co-authored by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Brenda Feigen Fasteau in September 1974:
Replacing "Mother's Day" and "Father's Day" with a "Parents' Day" should be considered, as an observance more consistent with a policy of minimizing traditional sex-based differences in parental roles.
Maybe instead of relying on the Prestigious Brookings institute, Al should go back to getting information on his own research staff. Of course, I don't expect to hear a retraction from Al Franken anytime soon.
Incidentally, Alan Skorski is writing a book on Franken, called "Pants on Fire" due out in October 2005. He might make a terrific guest for NARN!
It is the nature of modern, informal discourse to get the facts wrong. Because of the availability of oceans of information on every conceivable topic and the break away fire hose of the media blasting it at us from every direction, most conversations are now littered with things half-heard, half-remembered and half-understood. Throw in a couple of generations of hearsay and innuendo and manipulation and idiocy and it's a wonder that we can even properly understand what happened in the Twins game last night, let alone what Ruth Bader Ginsberg's position on Mother's Day is based on a line item in a ponderous, unread, academic exercise in self gratification from 31 years ago.
Point being, of course Limbaugh makes mistakes. Everybody does. The human brain and life cycle isn't equipped to produce perfection. Although Limbaugh has such a strong work ethic, pride in the quality his output, and sense of responsibility to his influential position, that he takes pains to get things right.
But when he does occasionally slip up, the attempt to brand him a "LIAR!" is nothing more than childish name calling. And an attempt at preemptive demonization to undermine his future influence, all for the benefit of an opposing political party seeking power. This strategy is enough to make a media star out of Franken, although there is no evidence to suggest it is effective in actually changing minds or voting behavior (those who made him a star need no evidence to demonize Limbaugh or other conservatives, they've got their minds made up already).
I suppose Franken deserves the same slack given to Limbaugh, to occasionally make mistakes. But when your entire shtick is exposing people as LIARS! it would be nice if you had your own facts straight. And worked a little harder to prove your allegations than merely relying on what someone else told you on the "highest and closest authority." Which sounds like another way of saying you're just another link in the chain of hearsay, innuendo, manipulation, and idiocy.
PS: If any of the facts reported to me by our heretofore unimpeachable source OAFL Rick prove to be LIES! -- never mind.
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