For all his promises of being different than Washington insiders, McCain is just like any other politician. When the Times runs an unflattering story about him, he gets mad.
McCain officials told Politico—which was also going after the story—twice the campaign will “go to war” against the Times. How a war is fought against a newspaper is unclear, but McCain experience as a POW will no doubt help.
McCain camp is also claiming that a piece in the upcoming issue of The New Republic by Gabe Sherman pushed the Times to publish the story. TNR "can't yet confirm that," which we find unnecessarily confusing wording.
Sherman’s piece about the “the Times' foot-dragging on the McCain” article is expected to go up today. Look for our story on TNR’s story on the Times’s story in a few hours.
Oh, by the by, we just checked, and our belly button is still there.
What we wear, what we buy, who we like and what we’re like, duh, it’s all controlled by the media. And politics is no different.
So if you’re the kind of person who likes to gamble on the future of our nation, Barack Obama and John McCain winning the primary today in New Hampshire seems like a good bet. Because as some outlets are admitting, the media has a huge crush on both of them. CONTINUED »
• Lindsay Lohan is having trouble staying sober. Let's all judge her regression, making staying clean even more difficult for her.
• The New Republic can't decide which Democratic candidate to support. All 14 of its subscribers in Iowa remain perplexed about whom to caucus for tonight.
CONTINUED »
Yesterday, Franklin Foer kept it real with himself and New Republic readers and admitted that the Baghdad Diarist was on the Stephen Glass side of truth.
And it wouldn’t be a real media controversy without Jack Shafer weighing in. His opinion? The New Republic took a chance on a young, embedded reporter, BFD:
The take-home lesson of Beauchamp isn't that young or novice writers should never be given a chance. … Experienced writers whose lengthy résumés include awards and credentials can swindle their editors every bit as fast as a kid.
Just goes to shows that Jack Shafer is unafraid of taking risks or using bold. That’s just the kind of editor he is.
So The New Republic is willing to admit what the Weekly Standard knew along. No, not that trickle down economics works, but that the Baghdad Diarist is not real.
After a long investigation, and an even longer editor’s letter, Franklin Foer says that Baghdad Diarist Scott Thomas Beauchamp is filled with the same stuff as promises from the US Army : CONTINUED »
For your reading/procrastinating pleasure, here's a brief synopsis of how The New Yorker (finally!) succeeded in luring renowned* literary critic James Wood away from The New Republic. It's meant to be read—or, preferably, sung loudly—to the tune of "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse.
They tried to make him go to The New Yorker, he said "No, no, no."
Yes, he was a star, over at TNR, it was so, so, so
Now James Wood, he's no quitter
But New Republic's in the shitter
They tried to make him go to The New Yorker, he said "Yes! For the love of God, yes! I'll go, go, go."
Did The New Republic enlist Scott Thomas Beauchamp to write "Baghdad Diarist" because they wanted Iraq war "reporting" that fit their political agenda? Who cares — when there's this gossip point: Beauchamp "is married to a reporter-researcher at the New Republic, Elspeth Reeve."
Editorial Director
