Not Your Sweetie

The Myth of the Liberal Media: R.I.P - Joe Conason's Eulogy


The legend of the liberal media is finally dead. When the mightiest
voices of the
mainstream gang up on Tom Daschle with Rush
Limbaugh, who can believe in that old myth any
more?

The historic rumble started after the Senate
Democratic
leader compared the shrill radio host to
foreign fanatics,
and complained that he and his family receive
threats
when Mr. Limbaugh airs a diatribe against him.
snip
It isn’t so far-fetched, however, that a loony or two or a dozen among
the millions who listen to Mr.
Limbaugh every day might threaten Mr. Daschle. Why? Because of what Mr.
Limbaugh has actually said
about Mr. Daschle—and because a serious physical threat has already
occurred at least once as a direct result
of irresponsible broadcasts by Mr. Limbaugh and others.

On May 11, 1999, Hardball host Chris Matthews coaxed Kathleen Willey
into naming Cody Shearer, a
longtime Clinton friend, as the man who had allegedly used threats to
silence her. That this was a wholly false
(and easily disproved) assertion didn’t matter to Mr. Limbaugh, who
repeated the inflammatory slander the
following day and even spelled out Mr. Shearer’s surname on the air.
Several days later, Mr. Shearer started
to receive death threats.

Then on a Sunday afternoon, Hank Buchanan, a brother of Pat and Bay,
decided to visit Mr. Shearer’s
Washington home. He broke into the garage, slashed the tires of two cars
and threatened three other people
with a handgun before fleeing. Hank Buchanan was apprehended and sent to
a mental institution. Mr.
Matthews made an on-air apology to Mr. Shearer and to his viewers. And
while that was the end of the
matter, the assault by the deranged Buchanan showed that ugly broadcasts
may have tragic consequences.