Rhodes fell, lied like hell (UPDATED)
Posted October 16th, 2007 at 4:42 PM by Jon HamLooney left-wing talker Randi Rhodes of Air America apparently claimed to friends this weekend that she had been mugged. Quicker than you could show solidarity with Hugo Chavez, her fellow host Jon Elliott hinted that right-wingers had attacked Ms. Rhodes because they felt threatened by her unlistened-to show on a bankrupt radio network:
“Is this an attempt by the right-wing, hate machine to silence one of our own?†he asked on the air, according to Talking Radio, a blog. “Are we threatening them? Are they afraid that we’re winning? Are they trying to silence intimidate us?â€
It turns out that Rhodes was a klutz rather than a victim. Rather than being assaulted by Rush Limbaugh fans, she fell while walking her dog, her lawyer and police now say. So, unless her dog is a German shepherd, it’s unlikely he was part of a vast right-wing conspiracy.
Rhodes’ lawyer told the Daily News she was injured in a fall while walking her dog. He said she’s not sure what happened, and only knows that she fell down and is in a lot of pain. The lawyer said Rhodes expects to be back on the air Thursday. He stressed there is no indication she was targeted or that she was the victim of a “hate crime.”
But why the confusion? Why did Elliott spring into conservative-bashing action on the air? Did Rhodes lie to them? That’s the only conclusion I can come to. If so, did she really think she could pull off her conspiracy scenario?
She’s supposed to be back on the air on Thursday, sans a few toofies.
UPDATE: Elliott has now apologized for going all conspiracy on this. Unexplained still, though, is where the notion of an assault came from. From the AP story it still seems the confusion/distortion started with Rhodes (my emphasis added):
Rhodes was injured after she was floored by someone _ or something _ as she strolled the streets of Manhattan’s Murray Hill district around 8 p.m., but wasn’t sure herself what sent her tumbling to the pavement.
“She hit her head on the street and was disoriented,” Gaulin said. “She’s not sure what happened. She didn’t see anything.” He added that she never reported the incident to police.
The question remains: What did she tell Elliott, or her friends who later spoke to Elliott, that made them assume an assault had been committed? Perhaps she’ll tell us on Thursday.
October 16th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
She lost some teeth? Good.
Normally I wouldn’t engage in schadenfreude when it comes to the subject of losing teeth, but since her jackass of a co-host decided to blame some imagined conservative conspiracy, any compunction I might have had regarding throwing a Muntzian “ha, ha!” in her direction is negated.
October 16th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
clayj, it remains to be seen who started the “mugging” story. I can’t imagine Elliott just springing to that conclusion based on hearing news that Rhodes was injured in some way. So I’m really on tenterhooks for Thursday to hear her explanation. If she says Elliott and all her colleagues just jumped to a wild conclusion, with no prompting from her, does that say more or less about lefty radio people? Not sure.
October 17th, 2007 at 8:05 am
So because her >cohost said something you don’t like, you’re happy she got her teeth knocked out? I guess she was asking for it, since she knew that later on her cohost would say something that clayj didn’t like. Classy. Hey, Ham, I hear some commenter used the ‘F’ word over at Daily Kos, so uncivilized over there, huh?
October 17th, 2007 at 8:05 am
I can’t imagine Elliott just springing to that conclusion based on hearing news that Rhodes was injured in some way.
You can’t? I certainly can. Call me a cynic, but I firmly believe that there is no depth to which media folks on the left won’t stoop. They lie, they embellish, they throw out wild accusations and innuendo that have no basis in fact. This has been going on forever.
October 17th, 2007 at 8:38 am
I never said she was “asking for it”.
But karma is a bitch, especially when you or your friends take advantage of your misfortune to lay the blame at the feet of someone who had nothing to do with it.
October 17th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
[...] An Air America source tells Fox News that talk-show host Randi Rhodes herself told Air America employees she had been attacked. That would explain where sub-host Jon Elliott got the idea she had been mugged by right-wingers: The source said that Rhodes contacted several employees at Air America on Tuesday, and had told them that she was attacked but had only suffered chipped teeth, and would be seeing a dentist. [...]
October 18th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Wow, this is all so filled with failure. clayj, do you know what Karma means? I’ll tell you what it doesn’t mean: It doesn’t mean that when someone I know does something clayj doesn’t like, it is then “good” that my teeth get knocked out.
Also, your update makes absolutely no sense, Mr. Ham. You have completely failed to explain how Randi Rhodes being unsure of who attacked her implies that she misled anyone about what happened. I guess it’s Clinton’s fault for lowering the standards of journalism, right? Wow.
October 18th, 2007 at 10:52 am
ZR, that’s the entire point. She told friends she had been attacked, then we are told she fell while walking her dog. So, clearly, someone misled/lied to someone. Meanwhile, the attack story is used by Air America to blame some shadowy right-wing conspiracy that is out to silence Randi Rhodes.
October 18th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
ZR, it has become obvious by now that Ms. Rhodes herself lied to her coworkers… so it’s not that any of them took the initiative to lie on her behalf. All they did was to repeat her lie (which in itself is still pretty scummy).
And yes, I do know what karma means. In this case, looks like her karmic payback came in advance of her sin of telling a hurtful lie and getting caught.
October 18th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Please go back to the hotair piece you linked to (with the words “apparently claimed to friends”) and show me where it says she claimed to be attacked. I will donate $100 to the John Locke Foundation if you can show me where it says she claimed she was attacked. Did you read it? It looks like Elliot was irresponsible in speculating that she was attacked, but I can’t see how you would conclude that Rhodes made any such accusation. Of course, that didn’t stop you from claiming she was the source of the “distortion” in your update.
ZR, it has become obvious by now that Ms. Rhodes herself lied to her coworkers… so it’s not that any of them took the initiative to lie on her behalf
What makes this so obvious?
October 18th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
ZR, here is the paragraph from the Fox News story I linked to in my second post on this issue (emphasis added):
“The source said that Rhodes contacted several employees at Air America on Tuesday, and had told them that she was attacked but had only suffered chipped teeth, and would be seeing a dentist.”
And, hey, quit confusing my words with people who post comments. If you want to address clayj, then make it clear to whom you are speaking.
October 18th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
I’m sorry, I didn’t see the fox news post. An anonymous source who wasn’t speaking on behalf of Air America (not an Air America Source) says that she said she was attacked. I didn’t realize there was newer information than the hotair post. That’s pretty damning proof that she ‘lied like hell’.
That was no attempt to confuse words, I thought since clayj’s comment immediately preceded mine it would be clear who I was addressing.