C-SPAN2 Today Will Air the MRC's 20th Anniversary Gala with 'DisHonors' and Limbaugh

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Today, Wednesday, July 4 at 3:21pm EDT (2:21pm CDT, 1:21pm MDT, 12:21pm PDT), C-SPAN2 is scheduled to carry the MRC's March 29 "2007 DisHonors Awards: Roasting the Most Outrageously Biased Liberal Reporters of 2006" -- the showcase of the MRC's 20th Anniversary Gala -- which was followed by Rush Limbaugh accepting the MRC's first annual "William F. Buckley Award for Media Excellence."

A rundown of the evening's events and winners, with a lot of pictures, as well as Real and Windows Media clips (or see text below).

The C-SPAN schedule page for Wednesday lists the exact start time at 3:21pm EDT, but it may be updated. Check it for any time change.

C-SPAN2 is also scheduled to re-run the MRC's gala at about 3:20am EDT on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. Schedule page for Thursday.

The program will run for two hours and 54 minutes.

A rundown of what you'll see:

Cal Thomas, Neal Boortz, Herman Cain, Mary Matalin, Michael Steele, G. Gordon Liddy, Pat Sajak, Ward Connerly and "Osama bin Laden" highlighted the presentations and acceptances of the MRC's "2007 DisHonors Awards: Roasting the Most Outrageously Biased Liberal Reporters of 2006" -- the showcase of the MRC's 20th Anniversary Gala -- presented on Thursday night, March 29, before an audience of more than 1,000 packed into the Independence Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt hotel in Washington, D.C.

Following the presentation of the DisHonors Awards videos in five categories, a look at some "funny clips" from 2006, a highlight reel of past galas and the audience picking the "Quote of the Year," the evening was topped off with Rush Limbaugh accepting the MRC's first annual "William F. Buckley Award for Media Excellence."

DisHonors Awards winners were selected by a distinguished panel of 13 leading media observers, including Limbaugh, Tony Blankley, Ann Coulter, Steve Forbes, Mark Levin, Robert Novak, Walter E. Williams and Thomas S. Winter, who served as judges.

Cal Thomas, a syndicated columnist and panelist on FNC's Fox News Watch, served as Master of Ceremonies and explained how illness prevented scheduled presenters Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter from attending. Syndicated radio talk show host Neal Boortz presented the first two awards, followed by business leader Herman Cain who set up the funny clips and presented the third award. Mary Matalin, a former adviser to President Bush and Vice President Cheney, handled the fourth and fifth awards.

In place of the journalist who won each award, a conservative accepted it in jest. Those standing in for the winners: Former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, radio talk show host G. Gordon Liddy, game show host Pat Sajak and Ward Connerly, President of the American Civil Rights Institute. Plus, "Osama bin Laden" accepted an award via video from a cave in Pakistan.

The evening began with welcoming remarks from Cal Thomas, an invocation by Father John Hopkins and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Rear Admiral James J. Carey (Retired). Between the fifth award and the "Quote of the Year" competition, Cain and Dick Eckburg, the Chairman of the MRC Board Trustees, honored MRC President L. Brent Bozell with a Steven Penley painting of Bozell and conservative opinion leaders integral in the MRC's 20-year history.