Limbaugh: Shepard Smith Didn't Have the "Guts" to Run the Sherrod Video

The bloviator-in-chief yesterday, from behind the golden microphone at the Excrement In Broadcasting Network:

"On his show Thursday, Limbaugh blasted [Fox News anchor Shepard] Smith for not showing the video, suggesting that Smith only showed restraint because he didn't have the "guts" to show it.

"Even Fox caved on this. Even poor old Shep Smith went down there and said that everybody's wrong on this, that Breitbart is wrong and so forth," Limbaugh said during his show.

"There are only a handful of us that have the guts to put this story straight," he said. "If we don't hammer back, nobody will. We got a bunch of cowards in the conservative media inside the Beltway which will not deal with this honestly."

Here was Smith's explanation for not airing Breitbart's garbage:

"We on Studio B did not run the video and did not reference the story in any way for many reasons," Smith said. "Among them: We didn't know who shot it, we didn't know when it was shot, we didn't know the context of the statement, and because the history of the videos on the site where it was posted. In short-we did not and do not trust the source."

It's called journalistic integrity, Rush. Something you wouldn't recognize if it swam up and bit you. It's someone who actually cares whether or not information is...you know...true, or comes from a reliable source before they broadcast it. I know that's a foreign concept to you, but ask around. And kudos to Shepard Smith. He's the only reason Fox can keep "News" in their name without being sued for false advertising.

Rush then went on to regurgitate the latest Breitbart defense:

"Limbaugh argued that it was "not about Shirley Sherrod" but rather the NAACP's recent accusation that the tea party is racist.

"This is about the continuing smearing of great patriotic Americans which is all the left has left to do," Limbaugh declared. "There's no racism in the Tea Party. They don't have racist signs."

Wrong on all counts, as usual, it was about Shirley Sherrod. Breitbart's original post led off with this:

"In this piece you will see video evidence of racism coming from a federal appointee and NAACP award recipient..."

And later added:

"Sherrod describes how she racially discriminates against a white farmer. She describes how she is torn over how much she will choose to help him. And, she admits that she doesn't do everything she can for him, because he is white. Eventually, her basic humanity informs that this white man is poor and needs help. But she decides that he should get help from "one of his own kind". She refers him to a white lawyer."

The NAACP resolution did not say the Tea Party movement as a whole was racist. It called for them to deal with "a racist element within the tea parties. Delegates said they wanted to make it clear, however, that the resolution wasn't indicting the entire tea party movement as racist."

No racist signs? Another good call, El Rushbo. I googled "tea party racist signs" and only came up with 947,000 results.  Signs, signs, everywhere are signs.