A LITTLE MORE ON SLOTS BENNETT

Digby actually saw Slots on The Situation Room and like Fats Limbaugh, he's also apparently on the verge of losing it:

I just watched Bill Bennett quivering with outrage that Media Matters has "smeared" Rush Limbaugh; according to him Rush didn't actually say that soldiers who spoke out against the war were "phony soldiers." Wolf, uninformed about the details as usual, looked taken aback and somewhat frightened by Bennett's wild-eyed defense, and left it up to Donna Brazile to present the facts. (She did quite well although she would have been better if armed with the details on this one.) What was interesting is that Bennett then more or less issued a veiled threat that they'd better be careful not to push this thing too far or the "betrayus" thing would haunt the Democrats forever. He was more animated than I've seen him in years.

I bet he was animated because part of his livelihood is at stake. If Fats goes down, he knows his ratings will slump and he may even be taken off the air. Now, he has other sources of wingnut welfare money but this would at least hurt his inflated ego.

Here's the relevant transcript from CNN:

BENNETT: I'm willing to criticize Republicans and conservatives when they have it wrong. You've heard me do it on the show a number of times. Not this time. When you shoot at a king, and he is the king of talk radio, you better get him. They didn't get him here. The argument was that he used the phrase "phony soldiers." He was talking about a phony soldier. The A.P. ran a story called "phony soldiers." ABC three days before rush's comments ran a story called "Phony Soldiers." He was talking about a guy who was lying. He was not a corporal in the Army and didn't get a Purple Heart. That's the guy Rush was talking about. Media Matters left that out. I have been savaged by Media Matters unfairly. They did it this time. There is plenty to disagree with Rush if you are on the left. This isn't -- this was not fair. Let me tell you why. The Petraeus thing has really hurt the Democrats. They say it doesn't and it was all fair. But this thing is not going away. This is a soldier, commander in the field. And it really stung and they are looking for revenge.

BENNETT: He took on Jack Murtha. He did not call Jack Murtha a phony soldier. He took Jack Murtha on on the merits of the argument. That's an entirely different case. He can take on Rush Limbaugh, he can take on George Bush, take on Jack Murtha. Name calling was about a phony soldier.

BENNETT: All you have to do is listen to the show. And it is perfectly clear. Crystal clear. Couldn't be clearer who he is talking about.