As I linked last night, Media Matters has the audio of Rush Limbaugh's exchange with a caller on his radio show during which he refers to members of the military who oppose the war as "phony soldiers." Limbaugh's lame (and completely false) defense is that he was talking about one actual phony soldier (Crooks and Liars has it.) Vote Vets, whose John Soltz has an eloquent piece at HuffPo asking "So, I'm A Phony Soldier?" has released this ad, which plays what Limbaugh actually said followed by a list of names and ranks of real soldiers who are in favor of redeployment out of Iraq (and of course slams Limbaugh for being a chickenhawk):

Congressional Democrats, including veterans Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Patrick Murphy, released statements demanding an apology from Limbaugh. Kerry's statement concludes:

Mr. Limbaugh owes an apology to everyone who has ever worn the uniform of our country, and an apology to the families of every soldier buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He is an embarrassment to his Party, and I expect the Republicans who flock to his microphone will now condemn this indefensible statement."

Surprisingly, today, both John McCain and Mitt Romney have taken the opportunity to distance themselves from Rush and ingratiate themselves with the sane portion of the electorate they'll presumably need in the general election next year.

TPM also has video of Dana Perino, Bush's press secretary, distancing the president from Limbaugh's remarks. Not that there will ever be the same outrage over Limbaugh as there was over MoveOn's ad, despite the fact that the latter was factually based and the former was merely a cheap smear. Greg Sargent puts it well:

...because Republicans aren't vulnerable to charges that they're anti-military, this doesn't give Dems as clear an opportunity to score political points by demanding that Repubs condemn him. Therefore, it isn't as newsworthy. Yes, the Limbaugh story is getting some traction today. But it will get nowhere near the attention that the GOP attack on Dems over the MoveOn ad got.

And it's all because one party is presumed by many in the media to be vulnerable to charges of being anti-military, and the other isn't.

It's not stopping the Democratic Senate leadership from trying though. Check out this letter they're circulating on the Hill to get senators to sign on to call for an apology from both Clear Channel and Limbaugh. The GOP, in the minority, forces the entire congress to condemn an ad and we circulate a letter. Classic.

Update [2007-9-28 18:1:22 by Todd Beeton]: Now this is more like it. Via e-mail, on Monday Rep. Mark Udall will be introducing a resolution that condemns Limbaugh.

Dear Colleague:

On September 26, 2007 the broadcaster Rush Limbaugh told a nationwide radio audience that members of the Armed Forces who have expressed disagreement with current policies of the United States regarding military activities in Iraq are "phony soldiers."

On Monday I will introduce a resolution honoring all Americans serving in the Armed Forces and condemning this unwarranted attack on the integrity and professionalism of those in the Armed Forces who choose to exercise their constitutional right to express their opinions regarding U.S. military action in Iraq.

Sincerely,

Mark Udall

Update [2007-9-28 19:31:30 by Todd Beeton]:Trapper John takes the high road and makes a good point:

As I see it, the point of this exercise is: 1) to highlight the hypocrisy of those Republicans who would vote to condemn the speech of MoveOn, but not that of America's Favorite Chickenhawk -- even as he smeared rank-and-file service members -- and 2) to make sure that those Democrats who saw fit to publicly condemn their ally on the floor of Congress are willing to do the same to a man who despises them and the Democratic Party. In light of those goals, I hope that all of us in the netroots will honor and respect the decision of those Democrats who choose to vote against both the MoveOn and Limbaugh resolutions. They're taking a responsible, ethical, and consistent position. As for Democrats who voted for the MoveOn resolution, but vote against the Limbaugh resolution? Well, let's just hope that there aren't any.