The Phony "Phony Soldiers" Controversy

The wacky antiwar left took a bit hit recently when it accused a four-star general of betraying his country. The repercussions of that are still echoing around the media.

The lefties thought they were given an opportunity to slam back at the conservatives and have used an out-of-context quote from Rush Limbaugh to do it. They even got John F'ing Kerry to feign outrage on the Senate floor as detailed in this account by Peter Wehner:

In the latest effort to target Rush Limbaugh, the left-leaning group Media Matters has manufactured yet one more false — and by now yet one more tiresome — controversy. This one has to do with Limbaugh’s use of the phrase “phony soldiers.” According to the Media Matters narrative, on his September 26 program Limbaugh accused troops who want to withdraw from Iraq of being “phony soldiers.” Once Media Matters published this charge, key Democrats dutiful echoed it. In a public statement, Senator John Kerry said this: “This disgusting attack from Rush Limbaugh, cheerleader for the Chicken Hawk wing of the far right, is an insult to American troops. In a single moment on his show, Limbaugh managed to question the patriotism of men and women in uniform who have put their lives on the line and many who died for his right to sit safely in his air conditioned studio peddling hate. On August 19th, The New York Times published an op-ed by seven members of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division critical of George Bush’s Iraq policy. Two of those soldiers were killed earlier this month in Baghdad. Does Mr. Limbaugh dare assert that these heroes were ‘phony soldiers’? Mr. Limbaugh owes an apology to everyone who has ever worn the uniform of our country, and an apology to the families of every soldier buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He is an embarrassment to his Party, and I expect the Republicans who flock to his microphone will now condemn this indefensible statement.”

More is sure to follow.

What’s missing from the Media Matters account is one important thing: context — and without context, you get a completely false account of what happened. But perhaps that’s the intent.

When Rush mentioned "phony soldiers" he had one particular guy in mind - "Corporal" Jesse MacBeth, a supposed Army Ranger with a Purple Heart who claimed to participate in any number of atrocities against innocent citizens. One big problem, though. MacBeth was not a corporal, not an Army Ranger, had no Purple Heart, and in fact had been kicked out of basic training after only 44 days. The guy was a total fraud, but given the lust for evil soldiers among the antiwar lefties, they bought his story hook, line and sinker and trotted him out as an example of all that was wrong with the military and the war. You can read more about this phony soldier here.

This allegation against Rush was so quickly put down that everyone, including and especially John F'ing Kerry, look pretty silly right about now. It will take the mainstream media a bit of time to finally admit this has no merit, but they'll have to come along eventually. If you'd like to hear Rush's own explanation, you can view a YouTube video from yesterday's show here.

Nice try, lefties, but you're dealing with the adults here and you'll have to do a lot better than that.

UPDATE: More info on phony soldiers here.

UPDATE 2: Harry Reid and Dick Durbin frag themselves over the phony soldiers issue. What morons.

UPDATE 3: This is looking more and more like a planned hit.

UPDATE 4: Just How Stupid is Harry Reid Anyway?

UPDATE 5: 41 Dems Go On Record Against Free Speech

UPDATE 6: It's Over - Rush Wins by a Knockout