Lefty Bloggers Punk'd By False Air America Story

Early reports that Air America "personality" Randi Rhodes was brutally attacked and mugged near her Manhattan apartment.

Eh, turns out she just "fell" while walking her dog. But that didn't stop the immediate swirl of speculation that Rhodes was ambushed by some right-wing nut. Capt. Ed sums the situation up nicely:

So what are we to make of this?

1. Air America lies, even when stories involve their own personnel. No one thought to give Randi a call to see how she was doing before Elliot decided to air his report? And no one thought to do so afterwards? The police ended up calling to see why no one reported the incident to them. That's just marvelous journalistic ethics.

2. Anyone who thinks that bigotry has no place in the liberal mindset has -- once again -- just received a material lesson to the contrary. Even without knowing anything about the attacker, several bloggers just decided that it had to be a politically motivated assault by a conservative. That's not leaping to conclusions, that's flying at jet speed to Paranoialand.

3. How long do you think it will take for these same bloggers to offer an apology -- one not accompanied by a litany of rationalizations about how mean conservatives are, and how it was impossible not to convict an entire class of people for an imaginary crime? Longer than the next time they trot out an argument for innocent-until-proven-guilty for the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, I'd bet.

ALTERNATIVE HEADLINE YIPS from Steve-O:

Come on, someone had to say it:

Air America Personality Pwnd By Coworker's Dog Defends Journalistic Credibility: The Bitch Set Me Up!