Think Progress Ambushed by Facts

The Center for American Progress's Amanda Terkel issues this apology for writing that Rush Limbaugh praised slavery and wanted Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassin to get a posthumous Medal of Honor:

The quotes attributed to Limbaugh of him praising slavery have not been substantiated. We have amended the post to strike through that claim, and we apologize for the error.

Also, a CNN staffer emailed this morning to say that "Rick Sanchez had planned to make an on-air apology during his show at 3pm yesterday, but due to breaking news it was pre-empted." On Twitter last night, Sanchez said it was "our bad" for not confirming the Rush-loved-slavery quote.

Here is the statement the Sanchez read on air today:

"Earlier this week we provided quotes attributed to Limbaugh to illustrate why some people and players felt that Rush Limbaugh was too divisive to be an NFL owner. One of these quotes, which was in a column in the St. Louis Post Dispatch and in a book largely about conservatives, was refuted by Limbaugh. We have been unable to independently confirm that quote. We should not have reported it and for that, I apologize. I feel it is important to hold folks accountable when they make mistakes, and that should include myself and my team."

Update: Note the odd line sourcing the quote to a "book largely about conservatives." That's technically true. It was found in a book that trashes conservatives: 101 People Who Are Really Screwing Up America by left-winger Jack Huberman. It was not found in conservative Bernard Goldberg's 110 People Who Are Screwing Up America, as CNN claimed today.