The New Republic's "Shock Troops" story has clearly turned from Scott Beauchamp to the lack of responsibility at TNR. First stonewalling, now talking about non-issues, TNR refuses to address any of the article's disputed points. Next week's tactic may be for the magazine to enter rehab to garner it some sympathy.
Hot Air is not buying the latest bait-and-switch tactics at TNR.
The rehabilitation of Scott Thomas Beauchamp may have been premature.
We are now to believe that two weeks after Scott Thomas Beauchamp issued the Mother of All No Comments to his editors at The New Republic on tape, he rang up Franklin Foer and told him that he still stood by all of his articles (minus the one little detail about shifting the melted woman story from the battlefield DFAC in Iraq to the rear echelon DFAC in Kuwait, and prior to Beauchamp’s entry in the war, details which render the story nonsense). We’re not supposed to notice that. We’re also not supposed to remember how TNR’s fact-checkers manipulated their Bradley subject matter expert with vague and misleading questions designed to lead the witness toward their point of view, rather than the facts, and we’re also not supposed to notice that to date TNR hasn’t responded to that allegation at all. Put that out of your mind.
No compass bearings can be obtained in the Sargasso Sea. The USS TNR also has trouble with its bearings as this latest chapter in the Scott Beauchamp story has been released to the general blogging public. As Bryan at Hot Air succinctly points out: in order to find believable TNR’s latest version of the Truth about Scott Beauchamp’s “Shock Troops”, one has to check their memory at their keyboard. The earlier chapters in this Epic Saga of Deniability and Credibility still need answers.
When will TNR admit that they failed to fact check Scott Beauchamp. If they had done so at the very beginning,they could have presented their case without the “Army refuses to cooperate with us” cover.
At this juncture, our failure to believe Scott Beauchamp has morphed into a failure to believe TNR. Past TNR performance in the believability department is not helping. If they continue to stand by their man, without addressing the issues, TNR risks losing any remaining shreds of credibility.
If they haven't already done so.
by Little Baby Ginn
notes by mondoreb
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