the quotes attributed to rush are contained in a published book (jack huberman). why has not sued that author?
Because up till now there's been nothing close to a legitimate case that it somehow "damaged" him in any wya.
I think this goes on alot. One place makes a claim about something that gets carried initially in some news source. Any further reporting using Lexus, and they find the first, inaccurate report, and the innacurracies get embedded in the system. James Carvelle claimed that was how some of the poor reporting of the Whitewater story developed. The first, breaking news article was in error, and that same article was used as a reference for all the later reporting, or articles based on the first one. Take the source and the story for what it is worth, I make no claims as to veracity of it, and point to it as an example of how it works only.
True. But there's a difference.
In one case, people were citing and actual news story from a legitimate news source. A source that you're supposed to be able to assume is unbaised and factual.
This one?
Most are citing a political activist blog or that blogs source directly, which is this book "101 People Who Are Really Screwing America”.
Now if that’s not a title that screams “unbiased source of factual information” I don’t know what does. Lets go further and look at its description.
“Perhaps one of the most ridiculous phenomena of recent years is Bernard Goldberg’s right-wing and unforgivably successful 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America. The vast majority of his targets are no different from the picks of any hyperventilating fan of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly: feminists, academics, media moguls, newspaper columnists, liberals, and a few obscure cartoonists and painters. But it's thin on the right wing politicos, their media and corporate echochamber who have landed us in the mess we're in.
Jack Huberman provides us with an entertaining and informative bestiary of the real crooks, liars and cheats who are screwing up America. These are not just the people making asses of themselves or getting more media attention than they deserve. Huberman restores the likes of Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, James A. Baker III, Gary Bauer Brent Bozell, Ann Coulter, Karen Hughes, Karl Rove, Leo Strauss and Ralph Reed to their rightful place in the national hall of shame, along with such oozing pustules of cultural putrefaction as the Olson Twins, Mel Gibson, William Bennett, Katie Couric, Matt Drudge, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura, Oprah Winfrey, Teletubbies, the Simpson sisters, and God.“
Hmm, so being made specifically to counter a conservative book he didn’t like. Yep, its shaping up to be amazingly good SOURCE material. Lets continue on to an editorial review from Publishers Weekly:
“More than a mere hit list of America's most despicable individuals, corporations, affinity groups and think tanks, this droll and acerbic refresher course on the issues confronting the 21st-century United States marks Huberman's (The Bush-Hater's Handbook) latest foray into the dark side. Starting with the premise that right-wing pundit Ann Coulter is an evil alien manipulated by crypto-fascist Scientologists, he occasionally gets carried away with his modus operandi, becoming just as inanely self-righteous as the reactionaries he's decrying. Entry 67, about SUV buyers, offers some chilling statistics about the vehicles. But to argue that all SUV owners are antisocial misfits meriting utter contempt, when many a suburban soccer mom is simply trying to protect her family from being obliterated by a three-ton behemoth on the way to Disney World, is self-defeating. Though Huberman takes his readers' sympathies for granted, the unabashedly left-wing bias and sheer breadth of this frontal assault on Republican politics and culture are factually convincing. Some early entries (J.K. Rowling, Dan Brown, Candace Bushnell) may raise a few eyebrows, but overall Huberman serves up a frothy indictment to warm liberal innards. (July)”
That’s right. They’re quoting as a legitimate source a book that starts with the notion that Ann Coulter is an alien.
This isn’t so much a case of someone picking up a news story that turns out to have been based on false information. Its people picking up information from a biased source, who got his information (and links to it) to a source that is obviously biased AND borderline satirical in nature.