Everybody panic! I think the conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh is not telling the truth about something.

By Rachel Maddow

 - 

Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:56 PM EDT

 

Dear Mr. Limbaugh:

Here's what you said yesterday, for which we made fun of you last night on MSNBC:

Have you heard this new movie, the Batman movie, what is it, The Dark Knight Lights Up or whatever the name is? That's right, Dark Knight Rises. Lights Up, same thing. Do you know the name of the villain in this movie? Bane. The villain in The Dark Knight Rises is named Bane, B-a-n-e. What is the name of the venture capital firm that Romney ran and around which there's now this make-believe controversy? Bain. The movie has been in the works for a long time. The release date's been known, summer 2012, for a long time.  Do you think that it is accidental that the name of the really vicious, fire-breathing, four-eyed whatever-it-is villain in this movie is named Bane?

Here's how you responded today to criticism of your remarks :

Everybody's out there running around saying I got this giant conspiracy theory that the Batman people, the creators, the comic book creators, created this thing to campaign against Romney. I never said that. I didn't say there was a conspiracy. I said the Democrats were going to use it. . . .

Mr. Limbaugh, actually, you did say it was a conspiracy.  You did so when you asked your rhetorical question ("Do you think that is is accidental?") about whether it could conceivably be an accident that this new Batman movie has a villain in it with a name that sounds like Mitt Romney's former firm.
Was that not a rhetorical question? When you asked "Do you think it's accidental?" did you actually mean to imply that you do think it really was an accident, it really was a coincidence?
I think we were factually accurate when we made fun of you for trafficking in one of the stupidest right-wing conspiracy theories of all time.  You are contesting our characterization of your remarks, but we didn't mischaracterize what you said.  And now I think you're just lying about what you said in order to avoid the embarrassment of having been so wrong. 
We'll correct the record if we need to, but I don't think we need to.
All best wishes,
Rachel Maddow