The Right Repeats the Lie
...And so it goes.
By Brad Friedman on 10/12/2004, 6:08pm PT  

Matt Drudge, the Internet's top Smear Queen and disseminator of horseshit has been at it again all day. A testament, perhaps, to how much trouble they must feel like Bush is now in.

At the very top of the page, and with no attribution or link to follow up, Drudge has been screaming this all day with the mocking headline "BE HEALED":

Edwards Stem Cell Vision: 'We will stop juvenile diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases... When John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.' Edwards made the unprecedented campaign promises during 30-minute speech at Newton High School gym in Newton, Iowa...

I do not have access to Lexis/Nexis, which has a more complete archive of news articles, so I welcome anyone who does to look deeper into this, but so far, the only account I've been able to find on the net quotes Edwards very differently!

In "Central Iowa's Daily Newspaper" the Times/Republican Edwards is quoted saying this instead:

"We will do stem cell research," he vowed. "We will stop juvenile diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases. America just lost a great champion for this cause in Christopher Reeve. People like Chris Reeve will get out of their wheelchairs and walk again with stem cell research."

Now that quote is quite a bit different than the one Drudge uses, again, without any attribution whatsoever.

Of course, Rush and the Rightwing Bloggers have had their panties in a bunch all day repeating Drudge's version of the quote to millions of Americans. Haven't watched Hannity & Colmes yet tonight or listened to Hannity's radio program today, but anybody wanna bet our friend Hannity feels free to repeat the bullshit as many times as possible today?

Bush/Cheney '04: If you can't win honestly, just make shit up.

UPDATE: CNN has given credence to Drudge by repeating his version of the quote in a story headlined "Frist knocks Edwards over stem cell comment". Did CNN indepently verify the quote before they asked Frist about it? Or are they continuing their lazy track record of simply accepting whatever Drudge tells them?

UPDATE: As predicted, Hannity played the clip from Edwards' speech on Hannity & Colmes, and though it seems a bit closer to Drudge's quote, it was very tightly edited. Jumping in mid-sentence at both the front and back of Edwards' sentence. Hannity's quote:

{ABRUPT EDIT} ...the work that we will do, when John Kerry is President. People like Christopher Reeve are gonna get outta that wheelchair and walk again... {ABRUPT EDIT}

Still seeking a more complete, unedited, version of the speech. I've contacted Tom Owens, the reporter who wrote the Times/Republican piece to see if I can get further info. Will let you know what I hear back.

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