Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[hap0206]

dems trying to recoup their moveon losses with dazzling bs -- huge LOL
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IN recent weeks we've seen how the MoveOn.org Democrats have aped the tactics of Joe McCarthy, including character assassination of military officials and childish wordplay on people's names ("Senator Half Bright"; "General Betray Us"). Fox News reports on the latest effort to imitate old Tailgunner Joe:

The owner of the company that airs Rush Limbaugh's show has come to his defense, telling Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that while he isn't certain to whom Limbaugh was referring when he used the term "phony soldiers," the radio talk show host has a long history of supporting U.S. troops.

Mark P. Mays, president of Clear Channel, the parent company of Limbaugh's broadcast, on Tuesday responded to a letter signed by 41 Democrats that called on the network "to publicly repudiate" comments made by Limbaugh "that call into question" the service and sacrifice of troops who oppose the war in Iraq.

As National Review's Byron York explains, when Limbaugh talked about "phony soldiers," he was referring to phony soldiers--that is, to men like Jesse Macbeth, an "antiwar" activist who claimed to have served in Iraq, received a Purple Heart and killed innocent civilians, when in fact the Army discharged him before he even completed basic training.

If Democrats want to support the phony troops, it is their right to do so. But when they try to interfere with Limbaugh's livelihood, that amounts to an effort at creating a McCarthy-style blacklist.

The Fox report says that 41 Democratic senators signed this letter, which means that 9 or 10 did not (depending on how you count Joe Lieberman). Will they speak out against their colleagues' intimidation efforts? And where are the Republicans in all this? With the Democratic Party increasingly in thrall to hate groups like MoveOn and Media Matters, America urgently needs politicians of either party with the courage to take a stand for decency.

JAMES TARANTO
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 2:45 p.m. EDT

http://opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110010685