Alexandria, VA - Today Media Research Center President Brent Bozell sent a letter [1] to the Associated Press' Washington bureau chief Ron Fournier, insisting that the Associated Press immediately correct a Friday evening story that used liberal propaganda to help demonize Rush Limbaugh by making him appear disrespectful for stating exactly what Democrats on the Hill have been suggesting for months: that a national health care bill would be named after Senator Ted Kennedy.
The story, titled "Democrats blast Limbaugh for comment on Kennedy [2]", appears to have pulled deceptive information straight from a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) blog posting that charged Limbaugh with making "outrageous and reprehensible" comments in suggesting that "a health care proposal will be named in memory of Senator Ted Kennedy who is battling brain cancer [3]"
"Except the story omits a key fact: it was Democrats themselves who first suggested this naming months ago, not Rush Limbaugh," Bozell pointed out in his letter and directed Fournier to the January 13, 2009 FoxNews.com piece that clearly reported, "A spokeswoman for one of the architects of a national health care bill said that any legislation that emerges would be named after Kennedy" [source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/13/senate-lion-kennedy-roars-national-healthcare/ [4]]
Bozell then questioned,
"Is this not extremely relevant to the story? And is there any reason it was omitted?"
He further commented, "The DCCC posted a deceptive blog and statement by Wolff on its website on Friday that accused Limbaugh of demonizing Sen. Kennedy. We're not surprised as it is the kind of tactic we've come to expect from the Democratic leadership. But if your bureau used this posting for content, as appears to be the case, you owe both an apology to Rush Limbaugh and an immediate update to correct the record."
In a blog posting [5] on the MRC's NewsBusters blog, Bozell also identified this as "nothing more than Phony Soldiers, Part II," explaining this as another left-wing, fraudulent attack against Rush that mimics the October 2007 smear campaign led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
UPDATE: Monday afternoon, AP's Ron Fournier sent the following response to Brent Bozell, which he asked to be put on the record:
Saying that a bill should be named after Sen. Kennedy is different from saying the bill will be named after the late Sen. Kennedy. (As Rush Limbaugh put it, "Before it's over, it'll be called the Ted Kennedy Memorial Health Care Bill.")