June 01, 2004
Alex Polier speaks
Finally, we hear from the victim. She's a pretty good reporter, but it's a pretty depressing story.
February 19, 2004
Virginia Postrel gets it right
Since I've been pretty free with my denunciations of bad bloggic behavior in the Kerry intern hoax (my sister once remarked on my tendency to "go into Jonathan Edwards mode") it's only fair to mention that Virginia Postrel got it exactly right as soon as the story hit, and (like John Ellis) did so across ideological lines....
Kerry (non) intern post-mortem
In case you're interested in the anatomy of a smear, I have a long post up on The American Street. I can only hope that reading it is less depressing than writing it was. The depth of depravity displayed by those who hyped this scandal and then refused -- still refuse -- to retract makes the behavior of the ordinary...
February 18, 2004
Scandal and the ethics of blogging
I've had email exchanges with two right-wing bloggers who helped hype the Kerry intern hoax and have done nothing to inform their readers that it has proven to be false in every particular. Neither wanted to be quoted by name, but they made more or less identical points: 1. I'm only a blogger, not a journalist. If I tell my...
Mud-slinging works
Chris Suellentrop thinks that the rumor, which despite the blackout by the decent media was all over the airwaves, probably accounted for Kerry's worse-than-expected finish in Wisconsin. Throw enough mud, some of it will stick. Meanwhile, Ryan Lizza, who was there when Wesley Clark discussed the potential Kerry scandal off the record with a bunch of reporters, says that Matt...
February 16, 2004
Kerry's non-affair with the non-intern
Well, I'll be damned! The entire story blew up. She says it didn't happen, and her parents (previously quoted in one of the Murdoch rags as saying that Kerry was a sleaze) report that they plan to vote for Kerry for President. My previous reaction was that just making Kerry deny the whole business was already a success for the...
February 14, 2004
The Kerry scandalette, R.I.P
The Kerry intern scandalette seems to be fading. The woman has been identified and isn't saying anything. Her parents think that Kerry is a "sleaze" but deny any affair. She apparently never worked for him and is now 24. John Ellis, not a Kerry-lover, reports a detail everyone else seems to have missed: What is known about the source of...
February 12, 2004
The Drudge sludge hits Kerry
I would have preferred to ignore the latest Drudge sludge/National Enquirer/Rush Limbaugh slime, at least until someone had some idea what was actually going on. But since Dan Drezner had what I think was the extreme bad taste to report this third-hand sleaze and draw inferences from it, mentioning me by name, I suppose I can't pretend I don't know...
