Top Ten Most Outrageous Statements of 2004

From Media Matters for America

Here are the Top Ten most outrageous statements we have heard this year from members of the media. From anti-Semitic comments and attacks on women, gays, and lesbians to reprehensible acceptance of the Abu Ghraib prisoner torture, these statements are acutely representative of the conservative hate speech we found in the news media:

* Rush Limbaugh on the Abu Ghraib photos: "I'm talking about people having a good time, these people, you ever heard of emotional release? You ever heard of need to blow some steam off?"
* Ann Coulter: "[Senator John] Kerry will improve the economy in the emergency services and body bag industry."
* Tony Blankley called philanthropist George Soros "a Jew who figured out a way to survive the Holocaust."
* Michael Savage: "When you hear 'human rights,' think gays. ... [T]hink only one thing: someone who wants to rape your son."
* Oliver North: "Every terrorist out there is hoping John Kerry is the next president of the United States."
* Pat Robertson on gays and lesbians: "[S]elf-absorbed hedonists ... that want to impose their particular sexuality on the rest of America."
* Pat Buchanan: "[H]omosexuality is an affliction, like alcoholism."
* Bill O'Reilly to Jewish caller: "[I]f you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel."
* Bill Cunningham (Clear Channel radio host who appeared as a guest on The Sean Hannity Show): The election is over because "Elizabeth Edwards has now sung."
* Jerry Falwell: "And we're going to invite PETA [to "wild game night"] as our special guest, P-E-T-A -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. We want you to come, we're going to give you a top seat there, so you can sit there and suffer. This is one of my special groups, another one's the ACLU, another is the NOW -- the National Order of Witches [sic]. We've got -- I've got a lot of special groups."