[Doug Thompson]

I have always said that when I screw up I admit up and boy, I screwed up big time. Thanks for the Freepers who first brought this to my attention. I should have listened earlier.

Doug

[DoughtyOne]

Well Doug, you're the first person I've ever heard of this happening to. A long time associate took advantage of you, betrayed you and left you hanging high and dry.

I guess we could mention married couples with much more intimacy and trust than you two shared. I guess we could mention business partners who've experienced much more intimacy and trust than you two shared. I guess we could think up a bunch of relationships that should have had more intimacy and trust associated with them.

Sadly, trust is a fleeting thing. We are all vulnerable. Many of us find that we have been fools for decades. Welcome to the real world.

I know this won't comfort you much, since so much of your operation depends on folks being able to trust what you say is true. Those who have experienced life will understand that your current predicament goes with the territory, just like breathing, taxes and that long dirt nap.

Thank you for laying all on the table.

[JoeSixPack1]

Well Doug, you haven't answered a single response. Hit and run is for losers and/or columnists that can't handle rebuttle.

Which one are you?

[weegee]

Thanks for coming forward.

BTTT

[doug from upland]

Thanks for posting this, Doug.

[VOA]

I have always said that when I screw up I admit up and boy, I screwed up big time.

You could have really messed up...you could have married a fraud!

But seriously, given this life-event and the recent bilge over the Jayson Blair affair,
someone needs to compose a short "fact-checking" booklet or website.
With easy tips for spotting frauds like this guy...like maybe being "photo-shy" or other
little warning signs, etc.

[arete]

That's funny. You know someone for 20 years and use him as a credible source and you never do the simple stuff like checking to see if the guy is a fraud anywhere along the line. Now, after the fact, you find the guy doesn't exist. Geez, you interested in buying a bridge I have for sale?

Richard W.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

ping

[Bullish]

It will be a long time (and perhaps never) before I trust someone else who comes forward and offers inside information.

And it will even be a longer time, (if ever) before I believe anything written by Doug Thompson.

[amused]

While I may be reluctant to believe future stories from yourself, I still consider this apology and retraction to be an honorable thing to do.

Well at least you made DU's head explode with the retraction ;-)

Geez poor WillPitt first Statutory Scottie and now this.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

Come !

[aruanan]

"He's been around for years, claiming to have been in Special Forces, with the CIA, with NSA. He hasn't worked for any of them and his name is not Terrance Wilkinson."

Ha ha ha. Shouldn't this read:

"He's been around for years, claiming to have been in Special Forces, with the CIA, with NSA. He hasn't worked for any of them and his name is not Steven Segal."

[Grut]

I've spent the last two hours going through the database of Capitol Hill Blue stories and removing any that were based on information from Wilkinson (or whoever he is). I've also removed his name, quotes and claims from Tuesday's story about the White House and the uranium claims.

Mightn't it be better to leave the stories in place but with a warning? Just 'disappearing' them isn't going to make them go away; you need to have a solid denial of their authenticity that anyone can look up.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Perhaps the most productive thing you could do would be to track down what other news services and major stories have originated from this fraudulent person, and out anything else you can find out about him.

A difficult task, I know, but with so many bullcrap stories from the NY Times, et. al. attributed to anonymous sources, seems quite likely that some of these stories could have been false ones planted by this guy. There seems to have been more than one Greg Packer, and several with far more sinister agendas. Why would this guy do this? Perhaps its just an ego boosting con game, but I would certainly like to know if this guy has any connections to the McCauliffe/Mulholland wing of the Democrats.

Would be quite a redemptive story if your research forced the NY Times to retract major stories, or you outed a Democrat disinfo campaign.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

I told you this story was BS, read this thread.

[Right Wing Professor]

Just to say I emailed Japan Today with a link to your correction (probably lots of other people did too) and they seem to have taken the original story down.

[sarasmom]

Thanks for admitting it.
Intel cant and wont issue a public statement decrying the vast amount of BS that is currently making the rounds.
Suffice it to say, that any real Intel resource who talks to the press has an agenda, normally approved through official channels, more or less.Often more.
Dont feel too stupid.Many reporters are information mushrooms.Kept in the dark and spoon fed manure.
Reporters are predictably and incredibly succeptible to the allure of an "inside" source.
Dont play with the big dogs, if you cant piss in the tall grass!LOL!

[xm177e2]

Thank you for getting to the bottom of this quickly and in an honorable fashion.

[alnick]

Yesterday or the day before you publish an article with a blatant lie as the headline (White House admits Bush Lied).

Shortly thereafter some smart Freepers question that Terrance Wilkinson exists.

All of a sudden you coincidentally discover that lo and behold those Freepers were correct, there is no such person as Terrance Wilkinson.

You have a history of at least a couple of very suspicious single-source stories, according to some Freepers whose opinions I respect.

Several months ago you posted some sort of admission/apology about another hit piece you had done on GWB. My memory on exactly what this was about is sketchy.

I'm skeptical of your claim of having been had.

[Delmarksman]

bump

[norton]

(I'm late, I'm sorry, however...)

Dear Mister Thompson,
You got one real big problem here.
Hopefully, it will haunt you for years to come, maybe 20+?

The problem is that now that you've made your mia culpa (which took some courage & for which we are appreciative), everything is just fine EXCEPT that the story is out there, all of them are out there, and NOTHING said will ever erase their voracity with the left.

No amount of explaning will deter the democrats and socialists out there from harping on GW Bush as the liar president. They have got to do it because they might have to admit to WJC otherwise, because they might have a slight chance of defeating President Bush if enough un-thinking morons listen and do not bother to read.

Thanks Doug, both in a nice way and a very not nice one.