NYT Report Randi Rhodes Accident (Strange to say the Least)

Air America Host Injured

The Air America radio host Randi Rhodes has taken a leave of absence from her show after suffering an injury while walking her dog in Manhattan on Sunday night. Her lawyer, Robert Gaulin, said she “fell hard to the ground” and sustained facial injuries while walking near her apartment on Park Avenue. On Monday evening, her fellow Air America host Jon Elliott reported that Ms. Rhodes, a staunch liberal known for her fiery antiwar rhetoric, had been “assaulted” and wondered aloud whether she was attacked by “the right-wing hate machine.” Yesterday, Air America said “the reports of a presumed hate crime are unfounded.” Mr. Elliott later released a statement apologizing for jumping to conclusions “based on hearsay.” It was unclear whether Ms. Rhodes was intentionally injured. Mr. Gaulin would not comment on what caused Ms. Rhodes to fall. Several people were near her at the time, but none have come forward to describe what they saw, he added. BRIAN STELTER

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/arts/17arts.html?ref=arts

WPost has this:

But before they could launch a counterattack, the story changed. Air America yesterday said there was no evidence of a hate crime, just an "unfortunate incident." Rhodes's lawyer said all they know for sure is Rhodes (now in a doctor's care) fell while walking her dog -- unclear even if a perp was involved. "It's all been politicized," Robert Gaulin told us, pooh-poohing the conspiracy talk: "I think Rush has better things to do."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101602411.html

Puppy pulled me forward and I fell and broke bones in my foot. I really don't know why I didn't land on my face.

To fall that hard -- without a push -- on your face no less, I think you'd have to be unconscious.

I just wonder -- I mean why take the whole week off if you just tripped on a crack in the sidewalk -- you just get your teeth fixed and move on, right?

Well, I shouldn't speculate. I just hope she's ok. Maybe she did trip and she so swollen it's hard to talk or something.

Simple fall can lead to some quite serious injuries. Then there is this from Fox News. I'm only posting because they say her lawyer said this:

Randi Rhodes, whose program airs on Air America weekdays from 3-6 p.m. ET, claims she was walking down the street near her Manhattan home around 8 p.m. when she was struck and found herself face down on the pavement, her lawyer, Robert Gaulin, told FOXNews.com.

"We don't know whether there was a deliberate intention aimed at her or whether it was an accident... she was pretty much, she was hurt badly when she fell and her face hit the ground," Gaulin said, adding that people on the street came to her aid.

And to the veracity of this in same article - I haven't a clue.

An Air America employee, who was not authorized to speak to the media and declined to be identified, confirmed the reports that Rhodes had been attacked, and said "it was not a hate crime."

The source said that Rhodes had been in contact with several employees at Air America, and Rhodes told them she had suffered chipped teeth from the attack, and would be seeing a dentist.

Rhodes was not hospitalized. The source said the attack was not sexual in nature. It was not clear if Rhodes had been robbed by her attacker.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,302316,00.html

hmmm

hmmm

hmmm

and I will leave it at that

Maybe some guy she WAS dating can't accept the break-up or something?

But I was thinking the same thing, domestic. First you have one story, then that story falls apart and you get another and no police report on any of it.

I don't know how much of that is just schtick. But she is certainly not married now.

also from the wapo piece:

Elliott called us with the mea culpa he planned to read on-air last night. "I shouldn't have speculated based on hearsay," he said. Still, he added: "Nobody really knows . . . "
________________

These reports are very strange. Are they TRYING to be unclear? I look forward to hearing from Randi herself.

The ones the sidewalk vendors sell could choke a president.

but I imagine that more information will give a clearer picture.

"Gee, I don't know enough to draw a conclusion." is a sentence not heard much these days. While some 'conspiracies' are true, many are false and writing crime/spy novels in our heads may be entertaining but it's no substitute for the truth.

I shall await more evidence before drawing any conclusion here.

in why wild speculation is counter-productive. Many will not learn it.

SSDD...people still don't get it...more or less the same info as yesterday and now there's speculation that she might have MS, or that she's an abused wife...

that she was drunk. :mad:

just pointing out possible fodder to be prepared for. No offense.

not Randi.

she had been throwing back a few adult beverages prior to the "incident" at a local Irish pub in NYC.

she may have lost consciousness briefly, and really doesn't know or remember exactly how it happened.

Teri Garr has described the first symptom she experienced. While jogging, it was as though someone stuck out their foot to trip her. She began falling for no reason at all.

was playing on the playground with their kids, running around and chasing them. He tripped and fell.

Separated shoulder and torn achille's tendon.

Shit Happens. She could have tripped and landed hard.

that sounds like the abused wife who says she fell down a flight of stairs.

Rhodes appeared to have a cut lip when she was ushered to a car in front of her ritzy Park Ave. building Tuesday. She did not answer a reporter's questions.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/17/2007-10-17_air_america_host_denies_being_the_victim.html

And looks like the NY Post was trying it's damndest to dig up the dirt by canvassing Irish Bars in the area.

An anonymous contributor to Gawker.com said Rhodes fell after drinking 14 Bloody Mary's at a Midtown Irish pub.

Gaulin said, "I have no response to that. We have not discussed it."

A canvass of half a dozen Irish bars in the area turned up nothing.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10172007/news/regionalnews/randi_radio_daze.htm