Fact Checking Bob Schieffer's Call For Better Fact Checking

Bob Schieffer of CBS News 'Face The Nation' is irrationally exuberant over the Shirley Sherrod debacle; he calls on the New Media to adopt the rigorous fact checking of our diligent Old Media but delivers this baffler:

Here's one way: Old Media makes its share of mistakes, but not if we can help it. We still call people involved in a story to get their side; editors fact check; and we never publish or broadcast anything unless we think it's true.

Last week, we saw what can happen when it's done the other way.

A partisan blogger with an agenda - not a journalist - put the heavily edited, totally out of context, now infamous sound bite of Shirley Sherrod on the Internet. Some of the cable folk picked up the story, and demanded the woman's ouster.

No calls to those involved, no checking of any kind - just throw it out there and leave it to the woman to defend herself.

Even worse, an administration so anxious to wash its hands of the controversy before the evening news came on didn't check, either, and fired her.

The "cable folk... demanded the woman's ouster"?  Who is he throwing under the bus here, Jim Carrey?

Media Matters, hardly apologists for the cable folk at Fox News, prepared this timeline of the flow of the Breitbart story on Monday, July 19, which gives the cable folk a pass.

Breitbart posted his video at 11:18 AM. Around noon, the cable folk at Fox News posted a story at highlighting the Breitbart video and declaring they were seeking comment from the USDA and the NAACP; no demands for an ouster there.

Some bloggers are mentioned by Media Matters, and then we return to Fox News:

1:40 p.m. (approximately): Fox Nation accuses Sherrod of "discrimination caught on tape" before she resigned. Fox Nation linked to Breitbart's Big Government piece and posted the deceptively cropped clips of Sherrod's speech at the NAACP in a post titled, "Caught on Tape: Obama Official Discriminates Against White Farmer":

They say "posted", not "broadcast", and no mention is made of a call for her resignation.  The story seems to have been dramatically re-edited, so that link is no longer helpful.

Media Matters delivers props to the Anchoress, so I will too (again.)

3:31 p.m.: Elizabeth Scalia of the blog The Anchoress raises questions about the editing of Breitbart's video. In her post, Scalia wrote, "I am uncomfortable with this 'get' by Breitbart." Scalia further questioned Breitbart's selectively edited video of Sherrod's comments (emphasis in the original):

Finally, a non-Fox broadcaster gets involved:

4:01 p.m. Ace of Spades reports that CBS' NYC affiliate picked up Sherrod story, declares, "Breitbart gets results." "Ace" wrote that a "CBS Affiliate Picks Up Breitbart's Vid of Sherrod's Racist Attitude" and that "Breitbart gets results."

I assume the affiliate did not interrupt their local programming to broadcast anything at 4 PM, nor does Media Matters mention a call for Sherrod's resignation by CBS NYC.

Soon enough Sherrod resigns, and Media Matters reports on the aftermath.

Well.  In Bob Schieffer's carefully fact-checked world, the "cable folk" "demanded the woman's ouster".

Media Matters missed that, perhaps, which is a bad job by them.  Or maybe Bob Schieffer needs to enhance his careful fact-checking and rejoin us in the 21st century.

FWIW:  If Bob Schieffer can't trust Media Matters, here is Howard Kurtz of the Old Media:

But for all the chatter -- some of it from Sherrod herself -- that she was done in by Fox News, the network didn't touch the story until her forced resignation was made public Monday evening, with the exception of brief comments by O'Reilly. After a news meeting Monday afternoon, an e-mail directive was sent to the news staff in which Fox Senior Vice President Michael Clemente said: "Let's take our time and get the facts straight on this story. Can we get confirmation and comments from Sherrod before going on-air. Let's make sure we do this right."

Sherrod may be the only official ever dismissed because of the fear that Fox host Glenn Beck might go after her. As Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack tried to pressure her into resigning, Sherrod says Deputy Undersecretary Cheryl Cook called her Monday to say "do it, because you're going to be on 'Glenn Beck' tonight." And for all the focus on Fox, much of the mainstream media ran with a fragmentary story that painted an obscure 62-year-old Georgian as an unrepentant racist.

Here is David Carr of the NY Times:

After the video was published last Monday by Mr. Breitbart on the Web, she was asked to resign before the cable news channels had broadcast a word about the tape. It was a coup for what Mr. Breitbart calls the “undermedia.”

And Brian Stelter of the NY Times:

Fox’s newscasts did not cover the edited Sherrod video last Monday, nor did Mr. Beck, but the opinion host Bill O’Reilly did call on her to resign.

She resigned between the time Mr. O’Reilly taped his show and when that show was broadcast.

Mr. O’Reilly apologized two nights later, and another Fox News host, Shepard Smith, asked, “What in the world has happened to our industry and the White House?”

To answer Mr. Smith, I would not draw deep lessons about the media from the fact that Bill O'Reilly, on tape, jumped the gun.  The real question is, why did the White House and the NAACP over-react without doing any research? 

If Ms. Sherrod had not been fired on Monday and instead the NAACP had calmly released the tape, the pushback on Tuesday would have ensured that the initial Breitbart allegations would have gotten as much play as, well, the New Black Panther case, or the ACORN tapes.  Which is to say, roughly zero.  Some of that pushback would have come from the right, since the Anchoress (linked by Glenn Reynolds and seconded by AllahPundit) wanted to see the full tape.  And no one would be drawing any more lessons about New Media than they are drawing from this story about this invasion of Texas by Mexican cartel gunmen last weekend (which was widely, and apparently properly, ignored).

This Sherrod story is only getting attention because the White House over-reacted. But inevitably, our left-leaning media wants to seize the opportunity to remind everyone how important it is to ignore the right right wing media.

Comments

[Jane]

Good Morning everyone. I heard from Soylent who was in Kuwait yesterday and expected to fly out to Afghanistan last night.

He says both the weather and the mustard in Kuwait were brutally hot.

He gave us a hint - he needs chapstick and lotion.

[BR]

Ha, see how easily they fall.

Obama to resign -- there's a video of him giving a racist speech coming out on Fox.

[BR]

Actually, it's much bigger. His resignation will nullify
every single law and executive order he ever signed.

[He promised.]

Nope, not before he invades Pakistan.
====================

[Extraneus]

No calls to those involved, no checking of any kind - just throw it out there and leave it to the woman to defend herself.

Good thing nobody handled the John Lewis n-word thing that way.

[narciso the harpoon]

Well Schieffer is kind of the old school traditional liberal, who should have the Perky's chair, failing that have Lara Logan
there, yes she's kind of a lefty and a foreigner, but you want ratings.

The "800 pound Grizzly in the room," is how they all lent their good offices, yadda, yadda

[fdcol63]

I used to respect Schieffer, but no more. Now, he's just another biased and lying liberal journalist.

It's pointless to detail the time-line in this affair or any other to liberals.

They don't care, and they will simply continue to spin things their way.

[fdcol63]

" ... much of the mainstream media ran with a fragmentary story that painted an obscure 62-year-old Georgian as an unrepentant racist ... "

I've heard nothing coming out of Sherrod's mouth since that disputes this.

[Chubby (formerly Parking Lot)]

I don't accept as a certainty that the first tape Breitbart released hid the full context of her remarks. Below is Breitbart's commentary off Big Government that appears to have accompanied the release; what is unclear is whether the commentary was tweaked or edited after the poo hit the fan.

Aside: name one single news outlet that doesn't release edited tapes in news productions.

(Hope the html tags that I attempted to bold the the money quote work).

((((11:18 a.m.*: Breitbart posts Sherrod video:

We are in possession of a video from in which Shirley Sherrod, USDA Georgia Director of Rural Development, speaks at the NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in Georgia. In her meandering speech to what appears to be an all-black audience, this federally appointed executive bureaucrat lays out in stark detail, that her federal duties are managed through the prism of race and class distinctions.

In the first video, Sherrod describes how she racially discriminates against a white farmer. She describes how she is torn over how much she will choose to help him. And, she admits that she doesn't do everything she can for him, because he is white. Eventually, her basic humanity informs that this white man is poor and needs help. But she decides that he should get help from "one of his own kind". She refers him to a white lawyer.

Sherrod's racist tale is received by the NAACP audience with nodding approval and murmurs of recognition and agreement. Hardly the behavior of the group now holding itself up as the supreme judge of another groups' racial tolerance. """))

BUT I THINK WHAT WE REALLY NEED TO BE TALKING ABOUT IS JOBS

[A most impressive liar, this most powerful person in the world. Danger Will Robinson.]

Easy explanation for the kneejerk by the NAACP and the Administration--a guilty conscience. And this is the clue to why she is disappearing down the memory hole with only a whiff of racebaiting left. She, and her schtick should be fact-checked to a fare thee well, and the results may well appall taxpayers.

Is it going to happen? I have no idea.
================

[DebinNC]

and we never publish or broadcast anything unless we think it's true

Sounds like his "we" refers to "Old Media" and not just Face the Nation. Even limiting the "we" to CBS isn't true, as Rathergate indisputably showed.

And what about presidential campaign ads which the "Old Media" Sunday Morning shows showed and discussed each week? When Obama's ad mocking McCain's lack of computer keyboard skills appeared, did "Old Media" factcheck it first and call each campaign before airing it on their shows... in order to provide "context" about how McCain's pow injuries limited the use of his arms?

[Clarice]

Maybe Bob was on vacation last week, too.

The notion that these taking heads do any research themselves is silly. between makeup and comb outs who has time to do more than read the front page of the NYT?

No, they get everything they know handed them by young, leftwing, none too smart producers of the Mary Mapes variety.

[narciso the harpoon]

Just when you think they couldn't go any lower, they did and proved their stupidity in the bargain, in the LUN

[Neo]

The one fact that seems to have been lost in all of this is that Obama was planning to sign the Financial Regulation Bill last week and the White House didn't want the public distracted with some unseemly news about a racist Administration official.
This was the motive for the quick dismissal of Sherrod.

[Jane]

Scheiffer also had on Abigail Thurston, the head of the civil rights commission (a Bush appointee - which he highlighted) who completely downplayed any importance of the Black Panthers scandal and said she thought J. Christian Adams was trying to bring down the Justice department. It's was a tough day on the Sunday talk shows.

[bunkerbuster]

Where's the evidence that the NAACP was nodding in agreement and laughing at Sherrod denying the farmer and not, rather, nodding in agreement and laughing at the dilemma and overall predicament of black people in positions of power, tables turned, on people who happen to be of the same race as their former oppressors? On the whole, though, it's great politics (for liberals) for the GOP and its Tea Party brand to stay focused on white power issues. It's a great distraction from the very serious problems in Afghanistan and the economy...Thanks white wingnuts!

[Rob Crawford]

Like I said in the other thread -- you're a dishonest twat, Bubu.

[Barry Dauphin]

and we never publish or broadcast anything unless we think it's true

I wonder that includes anything that's fake but accurate.

[narciso the harpoon]

Well the saving grace, is no one watches Schieffer, as opposed to Gregory or Snuffalapagus

[Pagar]

"ABOUT IS JOBS"

The assault on our freedoms continues 24/7 as shown Here.
The bill not only attacks our freedom of speech but works against the companies that provide jobs, in favor of unions, who of course, do not provide jobs except for their own employees. We need to protest this today.

[Jeff]

Bubu ...

so since Sherrod has had the chance to speack for herself what do you think ?
Has she shown herself to be free of racial animosity ?

[Rob Crawford]

Jeff, Bubu agrees with what Sherrod's said. He agrees with her idiotic statement about Breitbart wanting to return to slavery.

Why? Because they both hate anyone who fails to toe the "progressive" line. They're both simply screaming "RACIST RACIST RACIST" rather than actually trying to understand why people disagree with them.

[narciso the harpoon]

These folks really do show that 'Credentialled
Moron' is an aspiration for them, Donmoyer for one, shows he shouldn't be trusted with matches or small animals, he's Bloomberg's WH
correspondent

[narciso the harpoon]

Well that was the query Whoopi Goldberg asked of McCain, serves him right for going there

[Dave]

Jane, that's Abigail Thernstrom, not "Thurston."

[centralcal]

Go easy on Jane, Dave. She has been writing about Thurston Howell (oops, Kerry) and Lovey over at YouTooCongress - just a simple slip, I am sure.

Looks like our very busy President has found time to appear on The View this Wednesday. BaBa WaWa is even coming back early from her recent heart surgery, to kiss and hug him. Glad I am not near TV during the week.

[Fen]

"A partisan blogger with an agenda - not a journalist"

Because "partisan journalist with an agenda" would be redundant.

You would think that the network that tried to alter a presidential election with forged docs would have the grace to shut up about bias.

[Clarice]

Let's assume for the sake of argument that Thernstrom's point is valid, that the NBP case is insignificant and represents no more than a different perspective on the merits and meaning of the case, that the Civil Rights Division is making other decisions more questionable and worthy of public attention.

Why do you suppose the Dept has refused to allow its counsel to appear publicly and defend the positions has taken?

Do you suppose for a second that the NAACP and WH weren't involved in the decision to drop the case they'd already won? Do you suppose that would help or hurt the President if people knew that he'd interfered with the resolution of this incendiary case?

[JSchuler]

Here's one way: Old Media makes its share of mistakes, but not if we can help it. We still call people involved in a story to get their side; editors fact check; and we never publish or broadcast anything unless we think it's true.

Well Bob, here's the thing: The reason the blogosphere is better than your Old Media is because it doesn't do that. I know, I know, it's counter-intuitive, but the blogs realized early on that the best people to vet a story were the people. Their audience has a wealth of expertise that the news organizations couldn't hope to match at their zenith. Oh, there are some basic gut checks on the best blogs, but ultimately you have to look at the whole thing as being a work in progress.

In the end, more stories are pursued, and even if a lie does get out half-way round the world, in this system the truth hasn't just managed to put its shoes on, it's had breakfast, grabbed a taxi, gone through security, and waiting at the gate while the plane is pulled in. Meanwhile, you guys are still writing about plastic turkeys and phantom racial epithets.

The problem in this case, Bob, is with people like you who confuse the nature of blogs, who think they are looking at the finished product and not the beginnings of this digital organic research process, and figured "It's on the Int2ernet, so it must be true!" People in the executive branch decided to get ahead of the story by shooting first and asking questions later. That should be your focus, Bob; we have a White House that acts on a whim and throws procedure out the door when it's inconvenient. That's a much bigger story than what Brietbart thought he had with Sherrod, and it's a hell of a lot bigger than what you think you have by going after Brietbart.

[Captain Hate]

Like I said in the other thread -- you're a dishonest twat, Bubu.

Did the dishonest twat ever respond to TC's offer? Until that happens, even if it's to cowardly decline to participate, he should STFU. I'd suggest that TM use the tools that even this substandard software has and send DT packing, but the sun will rise in the west before that happens,

[Pagar]

"and we never publish"
How much leftist trash did we have to listen to telling us how evil the Bush team was for firing a bunch of useless DAs. Now we learn that the acts were legal. Wonder how many votes Obsama got because some conservatives believed the leftist lies?

[Chubby (formerly Parking Lot)]

his appearance on The View must be a campaign move to target the key feelyfem demographic

[Captain Hate]

I used to respect Schieffer, but no more. Now, he's just another biased and lying liberal journalist.

I used to regard him as an affable codger who probably was embarrassed for his profession when Rather was caught with the 'fake but accurate' documents. Not any more; all the MSM shills are guilty until proven otherwise.

[matt]

Hey, it's not nearly as bad as it could be. Obama told me. And oh yeah, blame Bush.....

[Captain Hate]

Btw what ever happened to the Michael Steele cooking the books story? That seems to have disappeared which makes me nervous

[Chubby (formerly Parking Lot)]

((we have a White House that acts on a whim ))

I pray to God there's no 2am phone call on his watch

being a good executive is all about making decisions and Obama has a bipolar decisionmaking disorder, he either votes present (takes forever) or rashly jumps the gun

being a guest on programs like The View is more his forte

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 19 at Raz today.

[Chubby (formerly Parking Lot)]

troll appearances are a good indicator of how hard their side has been hit

[Dave (in MA)]

The Daily Caller has an interesting peek inside the moonbat hive mind: 'Raw Journolist emails...'. I haven't read much of it yet, but my favorite part so far is the concern that they might end up looking kookier than the KOS kooks.

[hit and run]

Just words? Don't tell me words don't matter. Was it just words when Obama said, "we are the change we've been waiting for"? Was it just words when he said that "this is our moment,this is our time"? Just words? Was it just words when he told us, "Yes we can" and "fired up,ready to go"? Was it just words when he said the "Just words? Don't tell me words don't matter"?

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/07/26/obamateurism-of-the-day-321/>Why,yes...

Hundreds of activists and bloggers applauded warmly after the Obama video ended, but some were not appeased.

The video “doesn’t really change my views. I’m still waiting for action,” said Matthew Filipowicz, 33, a cartoonist and comedian from Chicago. “Words only do so much.”

Kids these days........

[Dave (in MA)]

Ha ha - in the link I posted above: "In the post-Rathergate era, journalists should be on their guard for Republican dirty tricks".
Yeah, in the aftermath of Democrat dirty tricks, watch out for those tricky little Repugnicans.

[LUN is where I need it.]

Help, earlier today I ran across an article about how those people submitting FOI requests to some agencies of this administration are being investigated and their status is being documented. Now I can't find the reference. Anybody else see it?
====================

[Dave (in MA)]

hit and run:

Was it just words when he said the "Just words? Don't tell me words don't matter"?

Yeah, it was. He was just recycling a Deval Patrick speech that Axelrod loaded up on ol' Prompty for him.

[inspectorudy]

Oh God, what if Obama and his staff read on the blogs that a missle attack was inflight towards America coming from the direction of Russia? Where is the outrage against this administration? This is an example of the shallowness of Obama and his gang of thugs. Can anyone really believe that Obama did not have a hand in this? This shows that he has no ability to think things through and use the resources that any President has available.

[Clarice]

Schuler, what an interesting observation.

[Clarice]

Excellent, Hit.

I wish I had the demographics for "The View". I find it hard to imagine that people who would sit thru this drivel can make it to the polls unassisted by carertakers.

[Rob Crawford]

Ha ha - in the link I posted above: "In the post-Rathergate era, journalists should be on their guard for Republican dirty tricks".
Yeah, in the aftermath of Democrat dirty tricks, watch out for those tricky little Repugnicans.

ISTR that a certain subset of moonbat believed the entire Rathergate episode to have been a plot by Karl Rove.

[jimmyk]

editors fact check; and we never publish or broadcast anything unless we thinkhope it's true.

Fixed that for ya, Bob.

[Pagar]

" FOI requests to some agencies of this administration are being investigated and their status is being documented"

It was the DHS, according to I believe an AP Article. The article explained how the the political appointees had to review everything. In other words, the dept was ran the same way as all Communist organizations with the political czar controlling all actions. AP seemed to think the order had been cancelled. Based on the White House response on the Sherrod affair, I think it is safe to say the order has not been cancelled and is in effect throughout the Obama admin. I did not book mark the article.

[Rob Crawford]

Dear God -- they're hashing out the Trig Truther crap in that email dump.

If someone has the stomach to go through the entire thing, tell me they finally agree it's an insane idea. If they decide it's believable but not worthwhile, then, well, we're worse off than I thought.

[narciso the harpoon]

Mr. Sherrod seems to have lost much of his luster said to say, in the LUN

[narciso the harpoon]

Katha Pollitt shows a tiny trace of integrity at the end, 'In the kingdom of the Blind. . ."

[Clarice]

Dan Riehl has evidence that the Sherrod corporation didn't get funding because of racism--they didn't get it because they were a 6k corporation--and Charles Sherrod is a black Marxist in the mold of rev Wright;Here's Charles Sherrod expounding his views and the history of the Sherrod farm.
http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2010/07/sherrod-we-must-stop-the-white-man-and-his-uncle-toms-.html>This is why Shirley's not on the Sunday shows

[soccer dad]

If you'll pardon the self promotion, How did Bob Schieffer get his job anyway?

A partisan journalist with an agenda - not a blogger - put the heavily edited, totally out of context, now infamous document on "60 minutes." Some of the news organizations picked up the story, and demanded the President's ouster.
No significant checking of any kind - just throw it out there and leave it to the bloggers to reveal the truth.

[hit and run]

earlier today I ran across an article about how those people submitting FOI requests to some agencies of this administration are being investigated and their status is being documented.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38350993/ns/politics-more_politics/>Playing politics with public records requests

[Rob Crawford]

Let's give credit to the AP for uncovering the FOI request games. They actually did some reporting on that story.

[Captain Hate]

Wow, great post by Dan Riehl doing the investigating that the MFM can't be bothered with. Right, Schieffer?

[narciso the harpoon]

That was very dissappointing Clarice, in the course of the perfunctory research I had conducted, I had really come to admire him, it's a shame that he turned to such a leftist

[Jane]

Jane, that's Abigail Thernstrom, not "Thurston."

Sorry.

[Clarice]

**Should be 6k acre corporate farm..***

[Thomas Collins]

Who says public sector work is easy. See LUN (via Newsalert via Instapundit) for a report on Massachusetts public sector workers taking additional sick time. I think OSHA needs to investigate the working conditions that are making the Bay State's public sector workers sick!

[Yep, Manchurian, born and bred. It's on his birth certificate.]

Thank you very much, h&r, for that reference to the perversion of FOIA requests.

I find it very interesting that Van Jones and Shirley Sherrod were both whacked in seconds by the Obama White House. I've said they have a guilty conscience, and since Jones and Sherrod were such Communists, then I suspect that Obama's guilty secret is communist sympathies.

Show me it ain't so.
===========

[Pagar]

No where is lack of fact checking, and the leftist desire to eliminate jobs and private companies shown better thanHere

"Not only that but some 32,000 people — patients/residents and healthcare workers alike — would lose their heatlhcare facilities and jobs if this award were enforced."

Filed under this is insane!

[Clarice]

excellent reminder, soccer dad.

[Pagar]

Thomas, That lun is another good find. The key part of that report is the private industry job killing act that the Legislature is looking to pass.

"Legislature is set to take up a controversial first-in-the-nation sick-time policy for the private sector.

State Rep. Kay Khan said the clock is ticking on her bill mandating seven paid sick days for everyone."

They ought to be able to put every single small business in the state out of business with that law.

[Gabriel Sutherland]

hit & run: I can't help but ask if the AP had just listed their political party as "Democrat", their FOIA requests would have been expedited at the Department of Homeland Security.

Perhaps "Constitution Party" would help. Last three love interests? Favorite television show? Oooh. Top five Obama speeches!

But seriously, Michele Bachmann wants to hold hearings on these Homeland Security tactics. That makes her a bad bad woman.

[Chubby (formerly Parking Lot)]

Tom,

((Who says public sector work is easy))

North Dakota is trying to get rid of property taxes. One of the facts cited in the movement's literature:

((Taxpayers fund 100% of 11,000+ state employee health care policies ($9,911.64 annually for each employee whether a single, single with dependent or family). While we respect and appreciate the work and services of our state employees how they are paid and the benefits they receive need to be carefully examined.

The average private sector employee has 50% or less of his/her health premium covered by his/her employer. It is reasonable the same should be the case for state workers, particularly when the average state employee’s overall compensation package more than 25% higher than the compensation package of the taxpayers who pay for their salary and benefit package.))

[MarkO]

I read Schieffer as continuing to promote Old Media as reliable, trustworthy and objective. His compare and contrast exposition was intended to highlight the reliability of his media, but not with specific examples, only with his assurance that they would never, oh Lord, never air anything they did not believe to be true. By implication, then, those who posted or ran the facts as they existed at the time about Sherrod did so without the essence of journalism for Schieffer, a firm belief in their own judgment.

Schuler reaffirms what serious people on this site know, learning the accuracy of facts is not for the indolent. There is no single source of information that will provide it. The Internet gives us a wonderful flow of information and, to use a word I like, impeachment. But, it is not as easy as watching a Sunday news cast and believing what is reported. Or, for that matter watching Fox, or MSNBC or reading Drudge.
I like to watch Fox mostly because it is like reading the opposition brief to a motion. You get the argument from one side and then the other take on it. But, that's not nearly enough, if you care.
Then, you can go to sites on the Internet and, bless your heart, the original source documents or video clips or transcripts.
But, that's a lot of effort and not many are willing to put out that effort. More now than before, but not enough.
Schieffer's pitch is the old one of the flim-flam artist: trust me; I would never lie to you. Whenever someone tells me they wouldn't lie to me, I know that very statement is the first one.
Schieffer has lost, however, and the Sherrod case is exhibit A.

[Ignatz]

I had Scheiffer's number several years ago when, after some election or congressional vote didn't go the left's way, he let loose with a comment at least as loathsome as Peter Jennings' "temper tantrum" remark.
Can't remember exactly what he said and have never been able to dredge it up since then, but it was quite amazing to hear him blow his affable, non partisan cover.
No doubt it's lurking on the web somewhere for anyone diligent enough to find it.

[narciso the harpoon]

Maybe this is one what you meant, Ignatz, although he'a a one note samba on the subject, in the LUN

[A M Lale]

It isn't true, but it is accurate. I think that is how these things are supposed to work. BTW, is it just me, or are the right just as guilty as the left of misrepresenting Brietbarts post?
The post was about racism in the NAACP- not about Shirley Sherrod. His focus was on the crowds response to her so-called 'tale of redemption' from racism to marxism; not the tale itself. When Sherrod told about not helping the white farmer the crowd yell and clap with glee. That is what this story is about.

[Clarice]

markO, Nicely put. Fits in with Schuler's comment as well

The problem if there is one is that there is so much great work online but it often deals with just bits of a story and snapshots and very often is not drawn together into a coherent picture for those too busy to spend a lot of time tracking down and watching a story.

For example, Steve Gilbert had day by day eroded the govt's claims in the Haditha case but only if you read him daily could you see it. Fortunately, he gave me permission to put his stuff together which I did along with some excellent work by other bloggers.

We cannot be as effective as we should be if we do not have more people tying this stuff up for average ,busy people IMO.

[Danube of Thought]

I wholeheartedly agree with Schuler. Some thoughtful soul laid out the whole idea in the aftermath of Rathergate in a way that really opened my eyes.

The Old Media--CBS--was constrained, above all, by the need for a "scoop," the need to keep a lid on its story until it published. Its "fact-checking" was done by a left-wing zany of a producer, Mary Mapes. When a blogger spotted the obvious use of Microsoft Word in the creation of the document, CBS had to go out and find an "expert" who would come to its defense, however half-heartedly. By contrast, experts of every kind came to the blogs; no one had to go out and search for them. There were experts on every conceivable facet of 1970's-era typewriters; on the formats of the documents in the TANG; on the development of word processing; you name it. That was the first time I heard the term "open-source journalism," and "work in progress" seems a very apt term for it.

At this point Schieffer strikes me as something of a doddering old fool. One of those dinosaurs who sit around and tell stories of the glory days of Murrow and Cronkite. They loved those days; when a reader or viewer spotted a gross error in the NY Times or on 60 Minutes, the best he could do was write an irate letter and hope it got selected for publication (fat chance). And he could be sure that if it were read on the air at the end of the program, it would be followed immediately by "60 Minutes stands by its story," and that would be that.

No wonder they're upset by these impudent whippersnappers.

[Neo]

By this sort of logic, the hockey team’s claims of catastrophic global warming justifies shutting down the entire global coal and oil industries no matter what the economic impact.

[Chubby (formerly Parking Lot)]

((and we never publish or broadcast anything unless we think it's true. ))

Weasel words because so much of what they think is true just ain't so.

They are supposed to dig up FACTS and then objectively publish FACTS whether pro or con what they "think is true."

[Ignatz]

Thanks for looking narciso but that's not it.
It was a comment to the camera and it was far worse than that link shows.
My memory is pretty sketchy but his point was essentially that the electorate was a bunch of spoiled brats and idiots for whatever they had done.
I remember kicking myself for not archiving it.

[narciso the harpoon]

It's the refrain at the end of every episode of Scoobie Due 'I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for you troublesome kids"

[John McCain (RINO-AZ)]

My friends, it pains me that my good friend Bob is having his unimpeachable good name dragged through the mud. If you embrace the MFM, as I have, you can feel free to stab people in the back and still get an endorsement; at least some of the time.

I'd like to discuss this with you further but I'm meeting Mega for brunch, and if she gets hungry things become unpleasant quickly. Remember, I'll look out for your interests as long as I can use them for my advantage. And one of these days I'll name names.

[Ignatz]

Interesting article by John Tamny from Forbes and Realclearmarkets, about how the market might have and might still solve our banking sector problems. Especially interesting to me is his take of the creation of the Fed.
Considering what happened with my 'what Bush did wrong' link a couple of days ago, let me disclaim that while I find the article interesting and thought provoking I do not necessarily endorse any comment made by Mr. Tamny and I am neither a paid or unpaid spokesman for either of Mr. Tamny's employers.
And while W is not mentioned by name let me say, I sincerely think George W Bush is a good Christian, always did what he thought was in the best interests of the country and I bet he's a lot of fun at a BBQ.

[Pagar]

" eroded the govt's claims in the Haditha case"

Clarice, did you see This.

So many great American lives destroyed by the leftists over Haditha and other incidents in these wars.

[centralcal]

Hhhmmm - looks like Schieffer is gonna get more attention. Mediaite (definitely not rightwing) has a prominent post about how wrong he got it and his own lack of fact checking. Krakauer, the author of the post, is usually fair and I applaud him for being so, since most of his compatriots there are decidedly not.

Anyway, I am pretty sure all of the media folks read these sites daily to stroke their own egos, so I am glad to see one reporting honestly and fairly.

[Kathy]

Has anyone else noticed the terms "folk" "folks" being used to describe those of us the elite has determined are beneath them?

It's getting to be like the term "gravitas". I'd love to see the Journolist e-mails on this driven agenda!

[Laurence]

Talking about context... remember when Charlie Gibson took a quote by Sarah Palin out of context by truncating a sentence and then asked her to defend the statement she never made. She corrected him and denied saying she had said it before giving a well reasoned answer which included a quote from Lincoln.

Or take this quote from the Washington Post:

... "Why can't Arizona be as inhospitable as they wish to people who have entered or remained in the United States?" U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton asked...

They dropped her last word which was either illegally or unlawfully depending on the source. Kinda sorta changes the context.

[Sue]

Charles Sherrod: "We must stop the white man and his Uncle Toms from stealing our elections."

I'm tellin' ya', hold off on making this woman and her family victims. They are victims in the same sense Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are victims. The quote from Mr. Sherrod was a year after Obama won the election.

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2010/07/sherrod-we-must-stop-the-white-man-and-his-uncle-toms-.html>Source

[anduril]

Does anyone here actually give a sh*t that Iran is helping Iraqi insurgents to target and kill US troops? Yes? How about the fact that another radical Islamist power--a far more populous one than Iran and one that really DOES have nuclear weapons and a delivery system--is helping the Taliban kill US soldiers, yet is considered by one and all to be our ally? Yeah, Pakistan. Here's Spengler today: Murder on the Khyber Pass express. And an excerpt:

The 92,000 American classified military documents released by WikiLeaks add to the evidence that Pakistan's intelligence service backs the Taliban, to the point of helping the Taliban plan assassinations of American and Afghan officials.

This raises the question: Who covered up a scandalous arrangement known to everyone with a casual acquaintance of the situation? The answer is the same as in Agatha Christie's 1934 mystery about murder on the Orient Express, that is, everybody: former United States president George W Bush and vice president Dick Cheney, current US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, India, China and Iran. They are all terrified of facing a failed state with nuclear weapons, and prefer a functioning but treacherous one.

[Captain Hate]

Iggy, one of the most impressive things about
GWB to me was how, with no publicity, he would meet with university history profs about how contemporary issues had been handled in the past. He did it during his second term so there's no way the Koslings could state "OMG; he's trying to maintain this 'regular guy' facade for the NASCAR watching cousin-marrying retards that vote for him". Although they'd probably say it anyway.

[Clarice]

I hadn't seen that, pagar. It's my belief that the Haditha story McGirk reported was Baathist propaganda along by Time to embarrass Administration and the DoD had some folks high up (particularly in JAG and the investigative services) willing to throw these guys to the wolves to save their asses.

We know who the propagandists were.
We know how Murtha worked with them.
We may never know the names of those in the military who played ball with them.But they know who they are and they have to live with their perfidy in secret shame until the day we find them and expose them.

[caro]

Seventeen minutes until Rush mentions Clarice's wonderful summary yesterday. You do it so well!

At the DC Tea Party Breitbart spoke movingly about his transition from liberal to conservatve. It was all about the Clarence Thomas hearings.

[narciso the harpoon]

It is precisely because of the Pakistani nucleat experience, that it is criminally stupid to let Iran have the bomb

[Ignatz]

CH,
GWB, like Reagan, was the great beneficiary of his enemies not only portraying him as, but also mistakenly believing him to be a dunce.

[narciso the harpoon]

"Taliban Tim" really deserves the fate, Captain awards too many on occasion

[Gabriel Sutherland]

Musharraf, Zardari. Does it even matter with whom we deal?

The Pakistani government has little control over its own borders.

[Clarice]

Thanks caro--I don't expect him to do that. I haven't seen him quote anything from AT for a long time.

[Jane]

Just to be sure, there was no editing of Breitbart of the clip he published correct? He didn't publish the entire speech because he didn't have it, but no editing of the clip he had was done. Am I correct?

[Porchlight]

Yes, Jane, that is his story. He published the clip as he received it - it had already been edited.

[Captain Hate]

Jane, from what I understand he played an incomplete version that he'd been given from which he made no changes as in modified words which were said. Over at AoS they were going through some advanced navel-gazing by stating that abridging something *is* editing and, when used that way, anything other than showing a clip which shows the entire meeting is editing.

[Danube of Thought]

I believe that's correct, Jane. I am most eager to learn who gave him the tape and who did the editing. Someone here recently surmised that all this may stem from some internal squabble within the NAACP or USDA.

I certainly do hope that someone brings the Krakauer shredding to Schieffer's attention.

[Porchlight]

At the DC Tea Party Breitbart spoke movingly about his transition from liberal to conservatve. It was all about the Clarence Thomas hearings.

I would love to see that speech, or read a transcript of it. As a former Dem voter I am always fascinated by conversion stories. IIRC Breitbart and I are the same age and I started moving right (or rather, figuring out that I was conservative) at about the same time.

[Seixon]

Tom, thats just one of the false talking points. The whole fabrication about Breitbart 'heavily edited' the tape. Please point out this lie.

[gmax]

He has alluded to the tape coming from a source very concern about the attention he would receive ( death threats etc ). He did say Georgia I believe. Andrew is not going to throw this guy to the wolves, so dont look to ever know the name of the source.