Topic: Media Research Center
The Media Research Center's reflexive response is to protect right-wing icons like Rush Limbaugh at all costs -- even when its agenda runs counter to his.
This compulsion has shown up again in the MRC's response to a California state senator, Leland Yee, who said he had received death threats after Limbaugh dismissed his call for an apology Limbaugh's on-air mocking of Chinese speech and culture.
Tim Graham was first to join the Limbaugh brigade, squealing in a Jan. 27 NewsBusters post that "the media" was "trolling for proof that conservatives are racist and violent" and deriding Yee as "a liberal state senator running for Mayor of San Francisco."
Then, MRC chief Brent Bozell ratcheted things up by issuing a press release baselessly suggesting that Yee is a liar:
"This is part of a systematic, coordinated campaign designed to smear Rush Limbaugh. We've seen it before, over and over. The media helped propel the bogus story about the "phony soldier" by twisting Rush’s comments into an attack on U.S. troops. They validated the completely bogus quote alleging that Rush endorsed the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – which was later proven to be a complete fabrication. And the list goes on.
"This fax smells to high heaven. Before Yee attacked him, Limbaugh had never spoken about him. Limbaugh has no reason to want to attack him. Limbaugh has nothing to do with this. But the Yee camp sure has a lot to gain – especially from all the free publicity this gimmick is giving them and his political ambitions running for Mayor this year.
"So let's see if the so-called 'news' media, which are so obsessed with talk radio, will investigate and expose who is behind these smears, instead of doing the Left's dirty work and spreading smears against a talk radio giant who has never uttered a word of malice against Senator Yee. It reeks to high heaven. Let's see who has the decency to investigate this."
Of course, Bozell offers no proof to support his assertion that Yee is lying, even though he operates a news service that one would think is capable of investigating it. Bozell is also silent about the mocking behavior by Limbaugh that led to Yee's complaint, even though it's central to the issue.
The press release offers a link to an MRC "special report," called "The Left's Character Assassination Campaign Against Rush Limbaugh." But as we detailed, the report deceptively blurred the line between apparently false racially charged statements attributed to Limbaugh and the undeniably true things Limbaugh actually did say.
Of course, being honest about the issue would involve actual media research -- something Bozell and his crew have demonstrated they have no interesting in doing. He's too busy defending Limbaugh to tell the truth.
