The Reality-Based Community

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.

  • Home
  • About
  • BOTEC Analysis
You are here: Home / Timeline

Timeline

October 21, 2008 By Mark Kleiman @markarkleiman

The next time you hear a Republican politician denying a quote and wingnuts talking about how the press just Makes Sh*t Up, remember this sequence of events:

1. Republican Congressman at a McCain rally says something stupidly offensive about how liberals hate “real Americans.”

2. Local reporter picks it up.

3. ThinkProgress picks it up from the local reporter and Politico’s The Crypt picks it up from there.

4. Congressman denies saying it. Spokesgeek points out that the national press didn’t hear it.

5. Local reporter sticks by his story. Another reporter confirms. A third reporter points to a contemporaneous Twitter recording the quote. Spokesgeek keeps denying it, accuses The Crypt of “irresponsible journalism.”

6. Audiotape shows up. The quote is nearly word-for-word.

7. Congressman admits he said it, says he didn’t recall saying it and didn’t mean it the way it came out.

8. No one apologizes to the reporter.

I know this is hard for people to believe, but journalists are actual human beings. A reporter’s reputation for veracity is his stock in trade; without that, he’s unemployable. So the sort of routine dishonest denial that Rep. Hayes and Amanda Little offered in this case constitutes an attempt to destroy someone’s career. If I were covering this race, I would make this an appositive for both of them:

* “Rep. Hayes, who last week dishonestly denied having said something he’d been caught on tape saying, today claimed …”

* “Amanda Little, the press spokeman for Rep. Hayes who falsely accused reporter Josh Lanier of fabricating a quote from her boss, announced this afternoon …”

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Lying in politics

Blogroll

  • Balloon Juice
  • The Belgravia Dispatch
  • Brad DeLong
  • Cop in the ‘hood
  • Crooked Timber
  • Crooks and Liars
  • Echidne of the Snakes
  • Firedoglake
  • A Fistful of Euros
  • Healthinsurance.org Blog
  • Horizons
  • How Appealing
  • The Incidental Economist
  • Informed Comment — Juan Cole
  • Jonathan Bernstein
  • Kevin Drum
  • Marginal Revolution — Tyler Cowen
  • Marijuana Monitor
  • The Moderate Voice
  • Obsidian Wings
  • Patheos
  • Philosoraptor
  • Plato o Plomo — Alejandro Hope
  • Political Animal
  • Politics Upside Down
  • Progressive Blog Digest
  • Progressive Blue
  • Slacktivist
  • Snopes
  • Strange Doctrines
  • Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • The Volokh Conspiracy (Washington Post)
  • Vox Pop

Recent Posts

  • Percentages and the pastrami panic…
  • Do professors care whether college students are actually learning?
  • Cannabis News Round-Up
  • Emergency
  • Weekend Film Recommendation: Hangover Square

Archives

Topic Areas

Copyright © 2017 The Reality-Based Community  •  Designed & Developed by ReadyMadeWeb LLC