Beware of using Wikipedia, CNN and MSNBC should be sorry they used it

At about 1:20 into the clip CNN's Rick Sanchez falsely claims that Rush Limbaugh said: "Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back; I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark." Of course, CNN uses a picture of Rush at what must have been his highest weight level ever, assuming that the picture wasn't also doctored.



At the very end of this clip, Rachel Maddow makes this claim when talking about Rush Limbaugh. Most of this clip is attacking Newt Gingrinch for his comments on Sonya Sotomayor saying that "a wise Latina woman with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white man." Maddow doesn't give a very good discussion of Newt's statement.

MADDOW: When you get called racist by the guy who says the assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr. should get the Medal of Honor, consider yourself honored. Also, nauseated.

The above clip from MSNBC contains such statements as:

Rush Limbaugh is an unreconstructed racist. They don't want an owner who has said that slavery was a good thing because it made the streets safer.

[Limbaugh's] open publicly stated contempt for people with dark skin.

The media's source for these quotes? Wikipedia. The original posting has been corrected, but James Taranto has pointed to this site which recorded them.

African Americans

I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.[3/14/03]

Now this just blows me away

Was there any excrement, any shamelessness in any form, above all in cultural life, in which at least one African-American would not have been involved? As soon as one even carefully cut into such an abscess, one found, like maggots in a decaying body, often blinded by the sudden light, an African-American. [2/21/03]

James Earl Ray is the man who killed Martin Luther King Jr.

You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray. We miss you, James. Godspeed. [4/23/98]

Arabs

As I said yesterday, truce is an old Arabic word. Goes way, way back in Islamic-Arabic culture, and it means, “We will get you later.” [4/16/04]

If Limbaugh were to sue CNN and MSNBC, his removal from the St. Louis Rams bid would let him claim some damages. Others who have attacked Rush over these false quotes include the Atlantic (here and here)

Kerry Picket posted this next video and text over at the Washington Times Water Cooler.



BILL O'REILLY: The reason that Limbaugh is not going to be able to buy into the NFL is because a bunch of made-up stuff became legend, and he got hammered.

WARREN BALLANTINE: OK, we won't look at the made-up stuff. Let's look at him playing "Barack The Magic Negro", and we're going to say that's just funny, that's just a joke, that's not racial either. It is racial to real black people.

JUAN WILLIAMS: Hey Warren, you were saying my argument was a red herring. Maybe you should do some research, go back and find out that it was an article written by a black person, headlined "Barack The Magic Negro."

BALLANTINE: He made it a song and played it on his show.

WILLIAMS: So what? He was making fun of it.

BALLANTINE: You can go back to the porch, Juan. You can go back. It's OK.

O'REILLY: All right guys: good debate, good-spirited debate.

UPDATE: MSNBC Admits: ‘Unable to Verify’ False Limbaugh Quote; No Retraction or Apology