The main stream media has done it again. I was blogging at the Republican National Committee elections on Friday, and I asked newly elected Chairman Michael Steele if the RNC would stand behind Rush Limbaugh in the midst of the attacks the radio host was getting from Democrats. The Washington Post referred to my question and Steele's response. Here is what Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post wrote:
Asked about the controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh and his back and forth with President Barack Obama, Steele was careful not to wholly embrace the controversial conservative talk radio host. "Rush will says what Rush has to say, we will do what we have to do as a party," said Steele
Here is the actual full text question and response I had with Steele at the news presser: video
PICKET: The Democrats as well as Obama have been attacking Rush Limbaugh as well as other private citizens. Will the RNC now be standing behind private citizens such as Rush Limbaugh?
STEELE: Rush Limbaugh has a first amendment right to speak, and our party has always stood for honoring and protecting those rights. And so the fact that folks want to single out Rush Limbaugh... that’s between them and Rush Limbaugh, but this party will always stand for protecting the rights of individuals.
Rush Limbaugh is a conservative voice in this country that clearly people must pay attention to and clearly the Obama administration and others in the administration must be paying attention to.
So, Rush will say what Rush has to say. We will do what we have to do as a party to make sure that our message…our message the Republican party message, the state party messages are very clear and unambiguous about where we stand on all those issues that we have to deal with... from energy to healthcare and the like.
So, Rush can handle himself, and he’s seems to be doing pretty good at it right now.
Cillizza's analysis made it appear as if Steele was slapping Limbaugh down, when in fact, Steele was supporting Limbaugh's right to speak and espouse conservative views to his millions of listeners. This is just another attempt to try to polarize the conservative radio host by omitting information the new GOP chairman gave to reporters.
crossposted at picketlines.org
