The Albritton's new political rag has produced some awfully shoddy product in its short lifespan. And today it looks like another one of their stories isn't really based in reality. Of course that hasn't stopped the right-wing noise machine from taking it up - from Drudge to Tony Snow (who's suddenly more than happy to discuss hypotheticals).
Posted by armand at June 14, 2007 06:02 PM | TrackBack | Posted to MediaUm, speaking of "shoddy product", go read the "Update" on Kos (specifically the part where it turns out that Reid DID describe Pace as "incompetent" on the call) -- and next time, at least wait for Reid's office to deny it or something, okay?
Oops, and now Reid has responded -- confirming Politico's report.
Somebody was certainly makin' stuff up.
Posted by: jacflash at June 14, 2007 08:43 PM | PERMALINKOkay - so it turns out that The Politico story is sort of right.
Still, I don't think it's unreasonable that I responded the way I did since 1) they do have a history of lousy product and 2) no fewer than 5 people who were part of the call didn't hear that comment. That's a hell of a lot more sources than a lot of analysts and columnists rely on when asserting something to be true or not.
Plus of course it is worth pointing out that the Republican noise machine's spin on this is off base in that Reid's comments weren't about the war, but about the president's many lousy appointees (the comment arose in response to a question about Alberto Gonzalez).
Still, yes, Reid did label Pace as incompetent. And I suppose some would question the validity of that statement (though others would not).
Posted by: Armand at June 14, 2007 10:21 PM | PERMALINK"Too much"? You mean versus, oh, the spin here?
Give me a fucking break.
Posted by: jacflash at June 14, 2007 10:29 PM | PERMALINKOr you can just wait for jacflash's fact checking. :)
Posted by: binky at June 14, 2007 11:15 PM | PERMALINKHey, he probably does more fact checking than the Politico does. :)
Posted by: Armand at June 15, 2007 08:50 AM | PERMALINK