Pot. Kettle. Black.
Posted on 05/21/2006 4:11:10 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
A week after proclaiming that Karl Rove has already been indicted on charges of perjury and lying to federal investigators, Truthout has issued a rather inscrutable partial apology.
"The time has now come. . . to issue a partial apology to our readership for this story," Truthout Executive Director Marc Ash said in a post on the site Friday. "While we paid very careful attention to the sourcing on this story, we erred in getting too far out in front of the news cycle. In moving as quickly as we did, we caused more confusion than clarity. And that was a disservice to our readership and we regret it. As such, we will be taking the wait-and-see approach for the time being. We will keep you posted."
An apology for "getting too far out in front of the news cycle"? How's that again? Where we come from, reporters try to get out in front of the news cycle. It's called aggressive reporting, breaking some news, a scoop. And it's not the sort of thing that warrants an apology -- unless, of course, you've gotten the story wrong.
So is Truthout saying that Jason Leopold's reporting was wrong? We put that question to Ash this morning, and his answer seemed to be a pretty unequivocal no. Although Rove's lawyer and his spokesman have both said that Leopold's story was false, Ash said that Truthout still believes that Patrick Fitzgerald, Karl Rove and Rove lawyer Robert Luskin participated in a 15-hour plea-negotiation session at Patton Boggs last Friday; that Fitzgerald gave Rove's lawyers a copy of an indictment charging Rove with perjury and lying to investigators; and that Fitzgerald told Rove's lawyers that their client had 24 hours -- or 24 business hours -- to get his affairs in order.
So why apologize for the story? Leopold's story quoted "sources close to the case" who predicted an indictment announcement last week, and Ash told us this morning that Truthout "hoped and felt strongly" that Fitzgerald would announce Rove's indictment on Friday. That it didn't happen was a cause for concern, Ash said.
In addition, Ash said that he's uncertain about some of the events leading up to and following the meeting that supposedly happened last Friday at Patton Boggs. Ash said he isn't sure now when the grand jury voted to indict Rove, although he said he remains confident that it did so before last Friday. He said that he isn't sure what's going on now to warrant keeping the alleged indictment under wraps, although he suggested that it must mean that Rove's team is cooperating with Fitzgerald somehow.
Finally, Ash said that "there are people whose life was made inconvenient by our story," and that "not all of them are Karl Rove or people beholden to Karl Rove." Who are they? "I can't tell you any more than that," Ash said. Is one of them Leopold? "You're making my life complicated now," Ash said.
Of course, good stories often inconvenience people and complicate lives, and they seldom contain every last fact about the steps that led up to or might follow the developments they report. If that's all that's "wrong" about Leopold's reporting, there's no need for Truthout to apologize for anything.
So, once again, why the "partial apology" now?
Ash said that Truthout needs to "cool down the reactor a little bit" as it tries to learn more about the "cycle" on which Fitzgerald's legal team is working. "We're not in a position to continue on without an official confirmation," he said. "Unless we get some official confirmation, we're going to look stupider and stupider."
Those were his words, not ours.
His use of the English language confirms this has already happened. No such word exists.
Stupid is as Stupid does.
Pot. Kettle. Black.
If he can't find the editor who approved the story, then his hands may be tied.
Its a bunch of junk anyway.. Witch hunt sponsored by Dems out to get the Bush administration... They lobbed out Bush Lied in the 04 election basing it on this entire affair... Mostly it stuck and public opinion has been downhill ever since, mainly due to bad PR by the White House. In other words, No crime commited she was not covert, No crime commited, maybe people testifying did forget some details of exactly who said a name and when howerver the bottom line is these are trumped up charges of perjury and obstruction (of What) obstruction of justice to no crime. In point of fact all anybody did was go to the press to try and rebutt Joe Wilson partial truths about a trip to Niger that was sponsored by the CIA endorsed by Valerie Plame Wilson. \
Does now ~ after all, this situation is so stressed out normal, pre-existing words are simply inadequate.
The best way to deal with this person is to wait until Scooter's trial begins -- then file suit for millions.
This is another incident Bush & Co mishandled. The fact is that most of the country thinks that a documented liar like Joe Wilson is a noble whistleblower is a disgrace.
Plus, Fitz wants to indict Rove, he really does. It's a weak case, but Fitz believes the media will continue to cover for him.
Robert Luskin's cat figures into this story. On May 12, when Luskin (Rove's attorney) was supposedly meeting with Patrick Fitzgerald in a locked down floor of Patton Boggs for 15 hours, he was actually at the vet with his sick cat as he claimed. Jason Leopold then said he was going to call every vet within about a 20 mile radius of D.C. to disprove that story. Oh, and Robert Luskin said he subsequently checked his cat's stools and they are now fine.
A page from the Dan Rather playbook. Worked great for him.
Leopold promised to reveal his sources if the indictment did not happen within the "24 business hours" timeframe. Apparently, Truthout (or is it Truthnot?), is giving him a pass on this. If the blogger had any integrity (ah, but he is a dem, so he doesn't) he would ban Leopold from ever posting at his site. Instead, Ash continues to make excuses and cover for his liar friend. Oh well, it is what we expect from the left.
Oh so that is the backstory! Thanks!
I asked myself ... Self, why would anyone bother to believe what anyone had to say about anything after reading STUPIDER in a sentence? Not once, but twice.
Self replied he wouldn't.
That's good enough for me.
Sounds like he's taking his cues from Dan Rather: "Well, if Dan can do it and make headlines for a loooong time over something that's a bald-face lie, so can I", he said.
Ya know, Have you people, that have this attitude, ever thought you don't know JackS***!
I will lay odds of 100% there are things going on by "BUSH & Co" (A DU term if I ever saw one) that YOU and your ilk have no clue exist. Maybe, the WH doesn't counter these things DIRECTLY for more serious reasons that BB's like you just don't get!
Get over yourselves!
Nice to see Salon's stock in the pink-sheets. A precursor, no doubt, to what we'll see in the future with NY Times stock as it tracks toward single digits. Stock price is ultimately a great credibility meter.
DUmber and DUmberer.
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