THE REAL SCOOP

Jon Soltz, illustrating what's wrong with the media today, posts a column at the Puffington Host, "So I'm a 'Phony Soldier,' Rush?"

His hit piece starts with some bravado:

As Media Matters reported today, Rush Limbaugh, on his show said that those troops who come home and want to get America out of the middle of the religious civil war in Iraq are "phony soldiers." I'd love for you, Rush, to have me on your show and tell that to me to my face.

Problem is Rush did not say what 'Media Mad Hatters" claims he said. I'll give Mr. Soltz the benefit of the doubt and assume he trusted what the Mad Hatters reported .. a mistake for sure. The Mad Hatters will not get the same benefit. They know what they reported was not accurate.

He was talking about one soldier, one Jesse MacBeth. For those who do not who he is, or have forgotten, or are not interested enough to find out for yourselves, this is from Wikipedia:

Jesse Adam Macbeth (b. Jesse Adam Al-Zaid,^[1] in 1984) falsely claimed to be an Army Ranger and veteran of the Iraq War. He lied in alternative media interviews that he and his unit routinely committed war crimes in Iraq.^[2][3] Transcripts of the video were made in English and Arabic.^[4] According to the U.S. Army, there is no record of Macbeth being a Ranger,^[5][6] or serving in a combat unit: he was discharged from the service after having been declared unfit or unsuitable for the Army, or both,^[7] before he could complete basic training.^[8]

After his release from the Army in 2004, Macbeth purported himself to be a veteran, telling war stories and garnering attention from mainstream,^[9] alternative^[10] and student media outlets. He joined Iraq Veterans Against the War in January of 2006,^[11] and represented, or was scheduled to represent them publicly at various events throughout the country;^[12][13][14] the organization has since said it does not endorse Macbeth or his accounts of military service.^[11] Accounts in Macbeth's name appear on Military.com and Myspace.com, and both were used to post claims about military service in Iraq.^[15] On September 21, 2007 Macbeth admitted in federal court that he had faked his war record. U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sullivan declared that Macbeth had been in the Army for just 40 days and had been kicked out as unfit.^[16]

More can be read here:
Seattle Post Intelligencer: Poster Soldier for Anti-war Movement Was a Fake
and here:
AP: 8-month Sentence for Man Who Lied about Iraq Fighting

The transcript can be read here.
Video here: