Irony Alert: TNR Claims Weekly Standard's Anonymous Sourcing For Beauchamp Retraction Is Weak

Ah. I see. Because the Weekly Standard was told this by one source who really, technically, shouldn't have been talking about it at all, that means it must be untrue.

Scott Beauchamp is under a different set of rules, of course.

We've talked to military personnel directly involved in the events that Scott Thomas Beauchamp described, and they corroborated his account as detailed in our statement. When we called Army spokesman Major Steven F. Lamb and asked about an anonymously sourced allegation that Beauchamp had recanted his articles in a sworn statement, he told us, "I have no knowledge of that." He added, "If someone is speaking anonymously [to The Weekly Standard], they are on their own." When we pressed Lamb for details on the Army investigation, he told us, "We don't go into the details of how we conduct our investigations."

First of all, "they" didn't corroborate anything. "They" is plural. You had one soldier claiming to directly corroborate each of Scott Beauchamp's tales; you just said "one soldier corroborated the first story," "one soldier corroborated the second story," and "one soldier corroborated the third story."

This was not three soldiers corroborating one story each. This was the same "one soldier" corroborating all three.

How do I know? Doesn't take a genius -- TNR larded up its "corroboration" piece with as many bodies as possible, citing mutliple confirmations for bits of the story which are undisputed (i.e. that a cemetery was dug up by Beuachamp's unit). Since TNR was struggling mightily to present as many "corroborating" soldiers as possible, if its three key, quoted corroborations came from three different people they would have expressly said so.

They did not. In all three cases, "one soldier" was cited. They never claimed that the "one soldier" corroborating the Melted Woman account was a different person than the "one soldier" corroborating the Skull Beanie story, nor a different person from the "one solder" corroborating the Bradley Canine Slalom tale. Ergo, given TNR's obvious interest in multiplying corroborations to the extent possible, there was never a corroboration by a "they."

There was only a corroboration by a "he" -- most likely Beauchamp's bosom pal, the guy he likes to swap disfigured woman stories with.

TNR trumpets this as if it's a denial. It's not a denial, of course. It's the military saying "We are under orders not to discuss this and we decline to do so with you."

Ironically enough, TNR's defense now relies exclusively upon claiming you can't trust a single, anonymous source who is, according to military rules, not supposed to be talking to the press.

Had they held that position earlier, they wouldn't be in the mess they're in now.

Graphic courtesy of the good folks at Jessica's Well, recipients (they think) of the world's first MSM hat-tip to a blog.

Fox Confirms That Army Has Determined Beauchamp's Claims "To Be False:" Video alert.

Stay classy, TNR.

Do these guys realize how much trouble they're in?

I don't think so. They're doubling down. There is no other pathway out except to lie and distort further. They lost their opportunity to save themselves, a la Chuck Lane, a week and a half ago.

That option is now foreclosed to them. This is the best they have. They will stonewall and lie and selectively quote and just hope their liberal readership stays with them (as liberals stayed with Clinton during his scandal, just to take a contrary position to conservatives).

It's all they have left. And it's not a bad strategy. Because it can't get any worse.

Except, of course, that it can.

And I think it will.

posted by Ace at 03:24 PM

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