TNR's USS Beauchamp Sets Sail To Journalistic Sargasso Sea

The New Republic's "Shock Troops" story has clearly turned from Scott Beauchamp to the lack of responsibility at TNR. First stonewalling, now talking about non-issues, TNR refuses to address any of the article's disputed points. Next week's tactic may be for the magazine to enter rehab to garner it some sympathy.

Hot Air is not buying the latest bait-and-switch tactics at TNR.

The rehabilitation of Scott Thomas Beauchamp may have been premature.

We are now to believe that two weeks after Scott Thomas Beauchamp issued the Mother of All No Comments to his editors at The New Republic on tape, he rang up Franklin Foer and told him that he still stood by all of his articles (minus the one little detail about shifting the melted woman story from the battlefield DFAC in Iraq to the rear echelon DFAC in Kuwait, and prior to Beauchamp’s entry in the war, details which render the story nonsense). We’re not supposed to notice that. We’re also not supposed to remember how TNR’s fact-checkers manipulated their Bradley subject matter expert with vague and misleading questions designed to lead the witness toward their point of view, rather than the facts, and we’re also not supposed to notice that to date TNR hasn’t responded to that allegation at all. Put that out of your mind.

No compass bearings can be obtained in the Sargasso Sea. The USS TNR also has trouble with its bearings as this latest chapter in the Scott Beauchamp story has been released to the general blogging public. As Bryan at Hot Air succinctly points out: in order to find believable TNR’s latest version of the Truth about Scott Beauchamp’s “Shock Troops”, one has to check their memory at their keyboard. The earlier chapters in this Epic Saga of Deniability and Credibility still need answers.

When will TNR admit that they failed to fact check Scott Beauchamp. If they had done so at the very beginning,they could have presented their case without the “Army refuses to cooperate with us” cover.

At this juncture, our failure to believe Scott Beauchamp has morphed into a failure to believe TNR. Past TNR performance in the believability department is not helping. If they continue to stand by their man, without addressing the issues, TNR risks losing any remaining shreds of credibility.

If they haven't already done so.

by Little Baby Ginn
notes by mondoreb
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Beauchamp, TNR Take A Powder: 2 More Forgotten Brand Names

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by Mondoreb

When you're looking for succinct, usually-hilarious reaction to news, you could do worse than read Mark Steyn, the doomsday-slinging prophet of European demographic decline. The revelation that The New Republic knew that its crack war zone reporter was not what he was cracked up to be gets the once-over from Steyn at the Corner:

No disrespect, Kathryn, but count me among those who raised an eyebrow over your five o'clock Scott Thomas Beauchamp post. It's not about Beauchamp "confessing". Given the alarm bells Beauchamp's original piece set off among those familiar with the subject matter, and given that the anecdote on which the entire premise of the essay hangs has already been determined to have occurred in Kuwait rather than Iraq, all The New Republic had going for it were its editors' insistence that (a) Beauchamp was standing by his story, and (b) the military were preventing him from speaking to them.

It has now been revealed that (a) Beauchamp declined to stand by his story, and (b) the editors spoke with him and knew this weeks ago. Presumably The New Republic's readers are relatively relaxed about the editors colluding in slandering the troops at a time of war: only uptight squares get hung up on that sort of thing. But they ought surely to be concerned at the abuse of trust perpetrated by the magazine against its own readers.

Steyn goes on to relate some facts about TNR's ownership.

Few remember that back in the early 1960s, the best-selling beer in America was--Carling Black Label? CBL's "Hey Mabel--Black Label" was much more recognized among consumers than Budweiser's "When You've Said Bud, You've Said it All".

For consumers of news and the truth, The New Republic is soon to be consigned to the forgotten name brand remainder bin.
TNR will then join CBL.

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