Tag Archives: The New Republic

How they lied

Posted on August 9, 2007 | Comments Off on How they lied

Most newspaper libraries I’ve been in stock a current copy of the liberal Nation and, in their minds, to "balance" things out, a current copy of The New Republic, which is mainly liberal but pretends to objectivity. I have never seen current or even outdated copies of National Review, The Weekly Standard, or any other blatantly conservative mag. Don’t want impressionable young reporter minds polluted with contrary ideas, you know. Now the Confederate Yankee blog has figured out one of TNR’s anonymous confirming sources on the Beauchamp fiasco–very surprisingly, a normally very public public relations man for BAE Systems, the maker of the Bradley IFV, named Doug Coffey–and discovered that he was not asked to verify what Beauchamp reported, only some general queries. Now that he knows what the actual issue was, he is calling BS on Beauchamp’s report. Pretty slick TNR. You almost got away with it.

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Posted in The War, Troops

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Lies a soldier told

Posted on August 3, 2007 | Comments Off on Lies a soldier told

The New Republic’s "Baghdad Diarist" admits he erred (or, as Power Line says, the actual word is lied) about one of his three controversial reports. The others he’s apparently sticking to, and TNR claims (not very convincingly) to have anonymous sources corroborating them. Ah, those everpresent anonymous sources the MSM loves so much. So handy. His chain of command, meanwhile, says they can find no proof of the other two incidents, either. No word yet on Beauchamp’s fate. Ah, the wages of ambition.

UPDATE  The Army makes it official. They can find no evidence, etc., for the truth of any of it. TNR is sticking to its anonymous sources. Standoff, I guess you could say, except that Mr. Beauchamp is sans laptop and cellphone and, henceforth, is incommunicado. 

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Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops

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Dishonorable discharge?

Posted on July 29, 2007 | Comments Off on Dishonorable discharge?

Jack Kelly, a veteran himself, has got it right. The New Republic’s "Baghdad Diarist" has been outed and now his journalistic and military "careers" are on the line, as well they should be:

"Now that they’ve demonstrated their diarist is a real soldier, the New Republic’s editors feel vindicated. But the issue is not whether Pvt. [Scott Thomas] Beauchamp is a soldier. It’s whether he’s telling the truth or not. And his story stinks to high heaven."

As Kelly says, if he’s lying, then he and his liberal editors are exposed as the partisan fools they are. If he’s telling the truth, then he and everybody in his chain of command is headed for judicial punishment. Either way, Chuck, you’re toast.

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Posted in Troops

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TNR’s ace in the hole

Posted on July 20, 2007 | Comments Off on TNR’s ace in the hole

When your aim in journalism is to shock, you run the risk of going too far, becoming tempted to make things up to fit your narrative theme, like a latter-day Chuck Tatum massaging the details of the "grieving widow" device in Billy Wilder’s cult classic "Ace In The Hole." Cynicism and ambition run amuck. So it seems to be with Scott Thomas, the pseudonym of an alleged private whose "Baghdad Diarist," for the credulous liberals of The New Republic, is attracting the attention of a growing number of milbloggers–like Matt Sanchez–who are hot on his trail.

"His latest entries are making the rounds and, have raised a lot of doubts," Sanchez writes. "Those who have served in Baghdad are questioning how true these stories are…I don’t want to know who this guy is, I just want to fact check his stories."

Shockers like a baby’s skull some Neanderthal supposedly digs up and uses for a crown under his Kevlar helmet; the bored Bradley driver who goes out of his way to run over a dog; and the insensitive jerks who mock a disfigured woman in a Camp Falcon mess hall, where Sanchez, too, just happens to dine. So far the Bradley tale is getting the most workout, here in The Weekly Standard, where Bradley veterans explain how they know it’s fiction. Tatum (Kirk Douglas in the 1951 film) would do anything for fame. Thomas seems to be following his lead, and the military-hating libs are, naturally enough, sucking it up. As for TNR, well, like the minor league newspaper editor in "Ace In The Hole," they’re not looking too close at their good thing.

UPDATE The flak (information officer) at FOB Falcon weighs in, shooting down the baby skull item, and questioning the ones about the disfigured woman and the Bradley.

MORE Then the magazine’s editor says it is investigating the accuracy of the articles.

STILL MORE The chickens are coming home to roost as the 1st SGT in the Diarist’s unit says he "has other underlying issues" and his writings are "fairy tales." No surprise there. And, finally, Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette sums it all up.

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Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops

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