Laura Ingraham filled in for Bill O'Reilly last night, and demonstrated that she might actually have some of O'Reilly's chops. For instance, just like O'Reilly, she was able to look in the camera and flat-out lie with a straight face. That's quite a gift.
Indeed, she delivered her a defense of her recent unkind remarks about Meghan McCain with a certain frozen-mask bravado -- by nakedly claiming she didn't actually say what everyone can hear her saying:
Ingraham: Let the record show: I never called Meghan McCain fat! She isn't! And as I have repeatedly said on my radio show and on Fox, she is an attractive young woman. If that throwaway comic line highlighted anything, it was Hollywood's obsession with stick-figure women!
Hmmm. Well, here's the transcript from her radio show:
MCCAIN (on MSNBC): And I think there's an extreme on both parties and I hate extreme. I don't understand. I have friends that are the most radically conservative and radically liberal people possibly ever and we all get along. We can find a middle ground.
INGRAHAM (mocking): OK, I was really hoping that I was going to get that role in the Real World, but then I realized that, well, they don't like plus-sized models. They only like the women who look a certain way. And on this 50th anniversary of Barbie, I really have something to say.
It's all part of a left-wing conspiracy to silence Ingraham, you see. That's what it's about:
Ingraham: The Obama attack dogs can twist my words, engage in emotional exploitation, and distort my intentions. But they will never, ever, silence me.
Later on the program, she had on John Gibson, who plumped up her vast-liberal-media-conspiracy by assuring her that the "attacks" on her were a result of Obamabots looking for something to distract from the boss's failures. Snigger.
Along with Gibson was poor Julie Menin, the day's designated liberal pinata. (Why anyone agrees to go on these shows and face these kinds of setups is beyond me.) Ingraham goes off on her:
Menin: Listen, I think she got this spot because you targeted her weight. And you can say that it was --
Ingraham: No no no no no no no. Out of order. Out of order. You've gotta get the facts right. A lot's been distorted in the last week and I'm not gonna let it happen on this show. She wrote a column criticizing Ann Coulter, saying the Republican Party needed to go moderate to attract women. OK, that's what she did. She got invited on the Rachel Maddow Show. I then did a riff on how cable bookers are desperate for guests and just keep recycling the same guests -- taking her on Rachel Maddow. Then I did a satirical bit -- which I do a lot on talk radio. And that is what happened. This diversion about -- 'Oh, it's about her weight' -- My point was that she has no real world political experience to make the case for moderation.
Ai yi yi. That is one lame rationalization. I bet she tried the same thing with her professors when she turned in her papers late: Those damned evil liberals made her do it.
And Laura? Really, no one's trying to silence you. Honest. Please, keep talking.
