Zimmerman And Koch

John Hinderaker of Powerline has a bad news/bad news post indicating that the insanity of our national media has taken a quantum leap upwards.

I wrote here about MSNBC’s campaign to tie the Koch brothers to George Zimmerman’s shooting of Trayvon Martin. That effort was, it is fair to say, insane, but it apparently inspired one or more liberals to take MSNBC’s theories a step farther. Someone wrote–I think it was on Facebook–that Koch Industries had paid for Zimmerman’s legal defense and/or put up his bail money. Other liberals happily repeated the claim, to the point where Snopes deemed it a rumor worth addressing.

The bad news is that CBS News wanted to recycle that allegation; the good news is that they troubled themselves to check with Koch Industries, leading to an email exchange reproduced by John.

His close:

Do you think that if I started an analogous, equally groundless rumor about Barack Obama on my Facebook page, CBS News would be on the phone to the White House, looking for confirmation so they can use my rumor in their broadcast? No, I don’t think so either.

That suggests an interesting question - does anyone have recent (or not-so-recent) examples of rumors that emerged from the right and eventually went mainstream?

Off-hand, the Swift-boating of Kerry percolated for months before it caught fire.  Jeremiah Wright was mentioned (by the Times!) a year before he became a national issue (at which point the Times went into the tank), and one might argue that it was only to resuscitate Team Hillary that Wright eventually got traction. Bill Ayers has received petulant, 'we're sorry to sully ourselves by reporting it and you by presenting it' coverage at best.

Is there anything from the right the media really leaped on with gusto? [A clarification - the PowerChallenge clearly speculated about "an analogous, equally groundless rumor"; the example sI suggested are hardly groundless, so I was making the gloomier point that even rumors with a good foundation get ignored.]

HOW SOON THEY FORGET!  myiq2xu and his memory is exponentially better as well - Anthony's weiner.

A CAUTIONARY TALE: Here is a minor example contradicting John - the lesson is that the media loves daffy right wing rumors it can easily debunk. Its the grounded ones that can't find traction.

Comments

[AliceH]

I need a list of acceptable sources for "the right" in rumor generators - or at least an exclusion list. Otherwise we land in the 'no true Scotsman' argument. We're looking for right-wing equivalents of MSNBC? I'm stumped.

[toot]

meh

[Exurban]

200 posts too late maybe, but what about Silky Pony's love child? That one kicked around the blogosphere for a long time and was totally ignored by MSM until the tabloids blew it open.

Of course it was true story, I get that, but it was basically rumor for a long time. BTW, a bizarre factoid for connoisseurs - Rielle Hunter's original name was Lisa Druck, and while she was still Lisa Druck she was portrayed in fiction in two (!) best-selling novels, Story of My Life by Jay McInerney and Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis. Talk about weirdness overdrive. Edwards really, really was unfit for any position of responsibility.

[Frau Ohne Schatten]

*Kim has the biggest BS detector in every known sector. (When it swings, it rings...)

*Kim has *never* embedded lies or indulged in douchebaggery. ("Hockey puckey" is for AGW.)

*Cleo's lies are continuous and his vulgarian abuses legend. Who cares who is sez he is today,yesterday or tomorrow?
Pfui, Teifi!

[Frau Ohne Schatten]

"Edwards really, really was unfit for any position of responsibility."

Many of my neighbors felt he fit the bill perfectly and signed on early.

[Frau Ohne Schatten]

AliceH - how about the early story, kicked about on the right, about a tape with Michelle talking about "Whitey"? Of course, it could have been started by the Chicago PR group.

[Clarice]

I think the story that Obama was born in Kenya fits the tab--and there's some phony African paper that printed up that and similar Nativity tales.

I'm not sure about the rest of the Obama birth story but that one is not likely to be true nor that "newspaper" legit.

[Danube of Thought]

For my part, I just wanna hear bubu on the broken nose.

[Danube of Thought]

From the AP:

"Orlando, Fla. - The Sanford city commission rejected the resignation of the police chief harshly criticized for his handling of the Trayvon Martin case. The commissioners voted 3-2 Monday to reject the resignation of Bill Lee. The majority blamed the uproar surrounding Martin's death on outsiders."

[Clarice]

Great news about Lee!

I don't know if it's been posted yet but GZ's arraignment has been set for May 8.

[DebinNC]

i"m so glad to hear that about Bill Lee.

[daddy]

Yay.

Hope the Sanford City Commissioners each have concealed carry permits.

[Danube of Thought]

"i"m so glad to hear that about Bill Lee."

A community just says "no" to lynch mobs.

[narciso]

I got a glance at the new Latell book, which
apparently started as a debunking exercise,
but actually refined the argument,

http://www.washingtondecoded.com/site/2009/01/concocting-the-dots.html?cid=6a00d834523b6869e2010536d354c6970b

[Danube of Thought]

Nice gem: Earth Day rally in D.C. Draws a throng estimated to be between 40 and several hundred.

[AliceH]

Frau - I don't think I knew that one. In fact, I have an amazing ability to be blithely unaware of all sorts of rumors, gossip, and innuendo. At my old job, the rule was "If Alice has heard it, it's not a rumor it's a fact".

[narciso]

These aren't the droids you're looking for;

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/wh-comms-agency-drawn-secret-service-scandal/496626

[narciso]

'we really dodged a bullet'

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/headline/which-of-the-57-states-are-the-ever-gators-in-again/