Federal agents' visit was a hoax .. Student admits he lied about Mao book

The Standard Times ^ | Dec 14, 2005 | AARON NICODEMUS

[kittymyrib]

But Ted "The Swimmer" Kennedy's spokesperson still insisted that though it was a fake story, it was an accurate example of Pres. Bush's abuse of power. Dan Rather lives...

[Lurking in Kansas]

My favorite line in the story:

...faced with the truth,[he] broke down and cried.

Ah, a common reaction by moonbats.

[Skip Ripley]

Maybe Cindy Sheehan will adopt him....

[MediaAnalyst]

This fabrication is a case study on why a large majority of Americans, and even a good number of Democrats (note the separation between the two groups) hold the MSM in TOTAL CONTEMPT.

It is up to the MSM to come clean completely regarding this story. They need to name this 'student', and then they need to publicly re-assess their standards on choosing what to publish. They also need to publicly, once and for all, disavow what Mary Mapes stated in an interview (regarding the forged documents), which was that the burden of proof is on the accused to prove the documents are fake (or, in this case, that NSA hadn't visited), rather than on the accuser to prove the documents are real (this still blows my mind).

Anyway, we all know that the MSM will move on to their next fabricated story, so I'm only dreaming with the above paragraph.

[Always Right]

The best part about it is that the lefty bloggers fell for it .. and it was the Professor who called in the media! The DailyKos bought it hook, line and sinker. Democratic Underground used the Dartmouth story in its story on "How Bush Abolished the Constitution"

Don't forget Teddy Kenedy still using it to attack the President, even after it was proven false. And Molly Ivins, who wrote an entire syndicated column on this. '100% false, but accurate' is here to stay.

[sport]

He will pobably run for office as a Democrat.

And because of the intelligence of the average American voter, stand a good chance of being elected.

[Thombo2]

I'm inclined to agree with you.He's certainly established his bonifides.

[Always Right]

Anyway, we all know that the MSM will move on to their next fabricated story, so I'm only dreaming with the above paragraph.

The problem is, the MSM believes things like this happened, so the only story that comes along to back up their belief they run with, and don't bother to check it out because they know it is 'true'. It does not seem to bother the media when their biases are shown. When Drudge runs with a story like this, the MSM jumps all over Drudge for his lack of journalistic principles. The MSM has adopted lower standards for stories which attack conservatives.

[Dustbunny]

"When I came back, like wow, there's this circus coming on. I saw my cell phone, and I see like, wow, I have something like 75 messages and like something like 87 missed calls," he said. "Wow, I was popular. I usually get one or probably two a week and that's about it, and I usually pick them up."

Could this be the reason he came up with such an outlandish story or could it be that the UMass Dartmouth Professors have revved up their liberal bias in the classroom and the boy thought it would be good for brownie points.

[MediaAnalyst]

"The problem is, the MSM believes things like this happened"

It is true that the MSM believes in this garbage, so they don't check it out, but it is still in their financial interest to show some degree of objectivity.

Maybe we take this as a Christmas present that the MSM has just tossed away another chunk of credibility. While they may have no credibility on this site, they still have some with the general public - now it is further reduced, as we grow stronger.

[Always Right]

Maybe we take this as a Christmas present that the MSM has just tossed away another chunk of credibility. While they may have no credibility on this site, they still have some with the general public - now it is further reduced, as we grow stronger. Yes, but the MSM approval numbers are probably similar to Bush's when he slumped this summer and fall. I would like to the funds to do a weekly poll on that, and get it widely reported every week. And then write stories about why the MSM is doing so poorly this week.

[paltz]

FREEPERS SUSPECTED HOAX LONG BEFORE HOAX WAS REPORTED

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Ted Kennedy bought it, too and his staff wrote a scathing press release blaming Bush. Perfect flaming bag of sh*t to step in.

[wildbill]

I fear your take on this hoax is too kind to the perpetrator and too pollyannish as to its results.

The hoax WAS political, not personal. He meant to defame the Bush administration by showing the Patriot Act in a bad light, pandering to the fears of the libs.

Secondly, the initial publicity went all over the country. Few people, other than the activists like us who follow such things, ever read the retraction on p34.

[CometBaby]

I fear your take on this hoax is too kind to the perpetrator and too pollyannish as to its results.

You could be right .. but I'm not ready to become that paranoid over his motives.

The hoax WAS political, not personal. He meant to defame the Bush administration by showing the Patriot Act in a bad light, pandering to the fears of the libs.

I suspect the Professor's motives were political and maybe the kid's were too. But it's all speculation. It may not be that complicated for this kid who was so desperate for attention he was apparently willing to say just about anything.

Secondly, the initial publicity went all over the country. Few people, other than the activists like us who follow such things, ever read the retraction on p34.

I have to agree with you 100% on this one.

[CometBaby]

Ted Kennedy bought it, too and his staff wrote a scathing press release blaming Bush.

Hah .. I've been reading here that Fat Teddy stepped in this one. Unfortunately he doesn't have enough class to be embarassed by it.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

You can't embarrass a class of people who eat their young.

[Chickensoup]

At the request of the two professors and the university, The Standard-Times has agreed to withhold his name.
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Why are they withholding the liar's name? He is 22 years old and needs to stand up to his crime.

[FairOpinion]

There was never any doubt that this was a hoax.

Only avid Bush haters would believe that the government would do such things.

As for the student's motive, now he says it was not political, well he/she lied before, what makes you he/she is telling the truth now.

I bet it was political -- a junior Cindy Sheehan.

Another reason to be very sceptical of anything we read as news or "facts" that makes the Bush adminstration look bad. It most likely never happened, or if it did, it didn't happen quite that way.

[Fido969]

I have had some contact with the reporter here, and to his credit, he stuck to this and chased down the early skepticism about this story. I have a lot of respect for that.