Sen. Harry Reid rumbled with Rush Limbaugh and got knocked out cold – Washington Times

OPINION:

When former Sen. Harry Reid gets laid to rest this weekend, hell be eulogized as a former boxer who fought for America. But Ill be thinking of the time the Nevada Democrat threw a cheap shot at the First Amendment, only to have Rush Limbaugh knock him out cold.In my interview with James Bo Snerdley Golden about his book, Rush on the Radio: A Tribute from His Sidekick for 30 Years, we marveled at our bosss ability to absorb dishonest blindsides without ever fighting dirty.

Limbaugh was Rocky; the haters were Ivan Drago growling, I must break you. But Limbaugh would not be broken. He was, as the big Soviet said of Balboa, like a piece of iron.

In October 2007, what became known as the Harry Reid Smear Letter presented the most powerful opponent of Limbaughs career. Forty-one Senate Democrats wrote his syndicator demanding they repudiate radios G.O.A.T. It was a violation of the First Amendments spirit, as chilling as a law abridging the freedom of speech.

Mr. Reids letter started with a lie, which as Edith Keeler told James T. Kirk, is a terrible way to say, Hello. Like his baseless claim that Sen. Mitt Romney hadnt paid taxes in 10 years, Mr. Reid charged that Rush had called troops who opposed the Iraq War phony soldiers.

Rush invited Mr. Reid on the show, challenging him, Say it to my face, but the senator feared stepping into the ring. He knew the long history of publicity seekers claiming to have served from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli. The odious David Duke lied about fighting in Vietnam. So did Sens. Tom Harkin (who signed the Smear Letter) and Dick Blumenthal, both Democrats.

Others wove tales of marching at Bull Run, charging San Juan Hill, or dog-fighting the Red Barron. Two years before the Smear Letter, CBS News reported that Stolen Valor author B.G. Burkett had exposed more than 1,000 phony vets, and the media had hyped more than one who ripped former President George W. Bushs Iraq policy. Everyone knew who Limbaugh meant, even Mr. Reid.

Rather than throw in the towel to whats now called cancel culture, Limbaugh came out swinging. As EIB strategist Brian Glicklich wrote in The Wall Street Journal, Rush auctioned their letter off in a show of gleeful brio matched the $2.1 million winning bid with his own funds and donated the money to scholarships for the children of fallen service members and police officers.

That charity, the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, doesnt ask a deceased loved ones political affiliation. That your mother or father died serving America is all that matters to them, and all that mattered to Limbaugh.

The issue appeared on Limbaughs radar for a Morning Update on Jesse MacBeth a fake Army Ranger that the media touted as an anti-war war hero and again with The New Republics debunked Baghdad Diaries. Those tales of U.S. atrocities read as so fictionalized, Pulitzer Prize-winner Peggy Noonan was immediately skeptical, thinking, Thats not Iraq. Thats a Vietnam War movie.

The phrase phony soldiers also aired when Limbaugh took a call from a Missouri mother lamenting, I have a son in Afghanistan, a son-in-law in Iraq, and these phony soldiers and by that, I mean these guys [like MacBeth] that were not men enough to cut basic or to get through basic they make me sick.

Six months earlier, Mr. Reid had declared, This war is lost, inspiring the enemies trying to kill our troops. Desperate to flip the script, he plucked the phony soldiers term out of context, dreaming itd drop Limbaugh to the canvas like Apollo Creed.

Instead, that auction raised $4.2 million, and Limbaugh challenged Democrats to match the amount. (They didnt.) The scheme collapsed. Mr. Reid was forced to crawl to the Senate floor and in a craven attempt to claim credit praise Limbaugh as if theyd funded those scholarships together.

As Washington Times opinion editor Charles Hurt said of the recent funeral of another senator, Bob Dole, In the cavernous halls of Washington, every occasion is an opportunity for politicians to celebrate themselves, and thats already the case with Harry Reid.

But we can hope that former President Bill Clintons sentiment eulogizing Richard Nixon will prevail: May the day of judging [him] on anything less than his entire life and career come to a close.

Rather than canonize Mr. Reid as a statesman, lets hope history considers his full legacy, including the bout with Limbaugh a fight where free speech prevailed, forcing the boxer-turned-party boss to cry, No mas, Rush! No mas!

Dean Karayanis @HistoryDean is a producer for the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, longtime Rush Limbaugh staffer and host of the History Author Show on iHeartRadio.

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Sen. Harry Reid rumbled with Rush Limbaugh and got knocked out cold - Washington Times