UPDATED: Now with illustration! (Another update. Notice anything over at Memeorandum? Not one, not a single one, of the lefty blogs that pooh poohed the right for questioning TNR has posted a thing on this as of this update. Not one.)
(Click for full size)
The New Republic has, at last, retracted the Scott Thomas Beauchamp stories. It takes Franklin Foer fourteen long pages to do so, waffling and tapdancing the whole time.
When I last spoke with Beauchamp in early November, he continued to stand by his stories. Unfortunately, the standards of this magazine require more than that. And, in light of the evidence available to us, after months of intensive re-reporting, we cannot be confident that the events in his pieces occurred in exactly the manner that he described them. Without that essential confidence, we cannot stand by these stories.
He blames a lot of people, including Beauchamp's wife (does she still work there, one wonders). But in the end he has tried to shuffle blame away to no avail. How long until Foer "leaves to pursue other opportunities?"
Others: Patterico: I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the fallout. In fact, I think it may be just beginning.
Glenn Reynolds: AMIDST A CLOUD OF INK, TNR RETRACTS AND FLEES THE SCENE. (Winner: Best One Liner) (And inspiration for the illustration.)
Bob Owens: Stay tuned. I'll have much more later, including why Franklin Foer said nothing to justify keeping his job. (Ed Note: Yeah, I bet he will have. Get the asbestos underwear, Foer.)
Michelle Malkin: Buh-bye, Franklin Foer.
I'm quite sure there will be many, many more as word spreads.
UPDATE: Bob Owens, as expected, delivers a scorching analysis of Foer's "explanation" over at Pajamas Media. Need any burn ointment, Franklin?
Captain's Quarters: Iraq and a hard place.
Redstate sings a little song.
I'm just going to go to links here instead of quoting each. The post is getting too long. The Jawa Report, protein wisdom, Riehl World View, Sweetness & Light, The American Pundit, Winds of Change, Right Voices, Macsmind, BitsBlog, AMERICAN DIGEST, QandO, BLACKFIVE, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Power Line, A Blog For All, Dean's World, Jules Crittenden, GINA COBB, Six Meat Buffet, Right Wing Nut House, 4 Borders Pundit: The Fog of Foer. (Funny)






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Foer writes in the agonised style of the Oprah Winfrey show, it’s almost unreadable. Maybe that’s what he was counting on. I had to stop after just a few sentences, I am counting on someone else to read this tripe for me.
It’s all about feelings. Hot Air has a good deconstruction.
I am curious about one topic. How many editors after Foer will TNR have before it collapses entirely and forever? None? One? Two? Fifty-seven?
As to the wife, the lovely Elspeth was quietly dropped from the masthead some time ago. She was later (retroactively) demoted to “intern who’s time was up” and no explanation of her being on the masthead was ever offered. Pretty raw work, you ask me.
dianainsa, I read it all. It reminded me of the quotation (I forget the source) about a man who “could concentrate fewer ideas into more words” than anyone I’ve seen lately.
The whole thing reminded me of an extended version of John Belushi’s bit in “Blues Brothers” where, as Jake Blues, he tries to explain to his ex-fiance why he left her at the altar. Foer was, believe me, every bit as convincing as Jake was (at least to outside viewers — I’m guessing that Foer’s work was also aimed at someone he believes loves him, the typical Lefty TNR reader).
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Well, that story’s getting around! I put up my little bit as well:
http://americanpowerblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-republic-recants-libelous-beauchamp.html
I’m not surprised no lefties are writing on this. We’re seeing a real turning point here. The war’s gettting good marks in public opinion:
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=373
And some even expect President Bush to surge in 2008:
http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071130/COMMENTARY/111300014/1012
Keep it up!
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