She is a fighter. So glad you're back, Randi! My one source of truth every day.

Especially not the conclusion that this sort of hysteria is peculiar to the left........

because you've already jumped to the conclusion that the right would do exactly the same thing.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

How does that work? Your warning only counts when there are actually facts to get ahead of?

...but Bloody Marys were invented by Karl Rove.

it was reported that a couple of hoods had jumped Air America talk show host Randi Rhodes and knocked out some of her teeth, leftists and wobblies cried foul. "Right wing hate machine!" said John Elliot, a fellow host on AAR. Maybe there is one of those but Air America has retracted its claim that she was mugged at all. "On Sunday evening, October 14, Air America host Randi Rhodes experienced an unfortunate incident hindering her from hosting her show. The reports of a presumed hate crime are unfounded." Poor Randi! But maybe, suggests a reader, it was an alcohol crime?

Our own commenter GBH writes:

Randi Rhodes was no more assaulted by a right-wing fanatic on Monday than Dick Cheney was. She, in fact, fell down and injured her teeth outside of a Midtown Irish bar at around 6 o'clock Sunday evening after downing about fourteen Ketel One Bloody Marys. She was abusive to the barstaff and generally gross, crass, loud, and pretentious. I genuinely hope she has a speedy recovery. I never would've disclosed this (I believe that anyone should feel free to hang out at Irish pubs at any time and not be concerned about someone publishing their behavior) if Air America hadn't grossly interpreted a drunken indiscretion and allowed it to be morphed into some bullish rhetoric on air. Whatever journalistic integrity the station may have ever had is now completely compromised. The manipulation of the public diminishes any cause, whether just or fabricated.

Crazy interweb.

I suspect we'd have seen the same happen in reverse if Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity had been injured.

Nice dodge, lousy argument. Can you give us one example of such behavior?

Oh, and it won't do to dig up some random crackpot somewhere. Doubtless you can find one of those for any conspiracy theory at all. But that wasn't what happened here. The Daily News article you cited specifically notes that it was fellow host Jon Elliott who began the conspiracy theorizing and hate-mongering.

Elliott claimed on the liberal radio network that Rhodes had been mugged . . . said Rhodes lost several teeth . . waxed about a possible conspiracy.

"Is this an attempt by the right-wing, hate machine to silence one of our own?" he asked on the air

So, where's your parallel to that on the right?

James, didn't you know that all we care about is what happens at OTB?

;)

she says “she’s not sure what happened

Curse you Karl Rove and you evil mind control ray.

Any word on Rover yet?