Brian Maloney has the low-down with video and a transcript: ABC News used the phrase “phony veterans” in a story about, what else but phony soldiers, in a story about the likes of Jesse MacBeth two days before the infamous Rush Limbaugh comment.

In fact, on Monday, 24 September, the network’s Charlie Gibson introduced a segment reported by Brian Ross regarding a number of “phony veterans” now under investigation for falsely claiming to have served in wartime. One of those mentioned in the story is none other than Jesse MacBeth, the same fake soldier referenced by Rush during the program in question.

So if the Democrats are all set to pass a stupid, pointless resolution condemning Rush, they ought to add ABC News to it. If they’re interested in more than just nailing Rush because they don’t like his politics, anyway. Because unlike the MoveOn “General Betray Us” ad, what Rush said actually had factual context. He was talking about actual phony soldiers.

No, I don’t think that there’s a connection between the ABC story and Rush’s comment, other than the obvious: There is a phony soldier phenomenon going on out there, and several phony soldiers have been touted by several leftwing anti-war groups over the past few years. That’s what ABC News was reporting on, and that’s what Rush was talking about.

Now, a word about all of this. Some liberals out there want Rush removed from Armed Forces Network broadcasts. They’re all drafting letters to send to Congress demanding Rush’s removal. That’s because they hate Rush, they always have, and they’re opportunistically seizing on this issue to get him removed from broadcasts meant mainly to entertain US troops serving overseas who don’t have access to Rush’s show otherwise. It’s not really about this particular comment; it’s about Rush’s long record of effectively countering leftwing politics.

But they’re not asking what military members actually want done. Are they offended by what Rush said? I doubt that they are, but no one is asking them, certainly not the liberals. And this is relevant, because Rush was added to AFN in the first place because military members wanted him added. They wanted him, they wrote in and asked to get him, and he was added. So if military members serving overseas want him removed, fine, remove him. But the liberals who claim to support the troops even while not supporting the war ought to do our fighting men and women the courtesy of actually asking them what they want done here, right? And they would, if this controversy was about more than blind Rush hatred.

And another word about this. Some of you conservatives who have jumped on the anti-Rush bandwagon really ought to get your facts together. You’ll claim superiority with the standard “I’m not really a fan of Rush” line and then go on to just ape what Media Matters says about him, or compare Rush to Rosie O or what have you. There is no comparison between a radio pundit who rain or shine supports the US and supports the troops and a former comedienne who hasn’t been funny in years and who constantly and consistently rails against the US no matter what it’s doing and no matter where it’s doing it. Rosie O doubted the confession of 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and is a hard core 9-11 Truther. She is blatantly anti-American. So get your facts straight and stop making idiotic, invalid comparisons between people who couldn’t be more dissimilar. This fratricidal tendency that we have on the right is not helpful and is foolish and will end up muzzling more and more effective spokesmen and women on the right. Media Matters will try to pick them off one by one. It didn’t start with Rush and it won’t end with Rush either.

Look at it this way: If you help Media Matters and their fellow travelers on the hard left take down Rush, do you think that bunch will be satisfied? Or will they just lay in wait for the next right side pundit to smear? The latter, of course. They tried nailing both Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh in one week. They would have gone after Michelle or Laura Ingraham or anyone else they could have if they had found a convenient quote to pull out of context and tar them with. And with Soros’ money behind them, Media Matters has a staff of people who are paid to do just that: Monitor broadcasts to find something that a commentator on the right says that they can pull out of context and feed to CNN and MSNBC to engineer a potentially career-ending smear. That’s the game. If you’re a conservative and you’re following along with it, I’m sorry but you’re being foolish. And you’re being used by dishonest people who are paid to stifle rightwing pundits ahead of next year’s elections.

So stop helping them. You’re just being taken along for a ride by people who’ll shut every single commentator on the right down if the opportunity arises.