Overnight Open Thread (12-7-2014) - Inglorious Edition

Quote of the Day I - Future Journalists of America Edition

"Ultimately, though, from where I sit in Charlottesville, to let fact checking define the narrative would be a huge mistake."

-Julia Horowitz, "assistant managing editor at The Cavalier Daily, the University of Virginia's student newspaper," writing in the Politico, in a piece titled "Why We Believed Jackie's Rape Story."

Quote of the Day II

It really does astound me that the national Democratic apparatus apparently thought that they could defecate on an entire section of the country for fifty years and still get that section to vote for them at the end of it.  What did they think Southerners are, hard Left progressives or something? Folks below the Mason-Dixon line have basic self-respect and dignity, is what I'm saying. Try to heap scorn on their heads, and they'll vote with their feet.

-- Moe Lane in Democrats still confused as to why the South has given up on them.

Sabrina Erdely seems to have a history when it comes to questionable rape stories. Before the UVA rape story she wrote about two other rape case articles for Rolling Stone. One from 2011 fell apart when the (male) accuser's story was investigated and a recent one from late 2013 about the rape of a female sailor has details that seem highly questionable. All of these were written for Rolling Stone so it's not like they can plead ignorance about her journalistic practices.

Rolling Stone Quietly Changes Its Rape Story Apology

"A note that initially said the magazine "misplaced" its trust in an alleged gang rape victim was edited Saturday to say the 'mistakes are on Rolling Stone.'"

As Insty notes this is something you might do when you think you may have to defend against a libel suit and need the help of your source. Also by expressing skepticism about Jackie's story at any point Rolling Stone is now a rape apologist.

Volokh on Libel law and the Rolling Stone /UVA Alleged Gang Rape Story

Normally the members of Phi Kappa Psi would have a hard time making a successful libel claim against RS and Jackie but given the explicit claims about rape being a initiation ritual of the fraternity (and hence implying that all the members are gang rapists) and the journalistic malpractice of Rolling Stone, that probably is no longer the case.

Remember This Guy From the AOSHQ Front Page from like 2007-2011?

Well you ain't gonna be hearing about him no more.

Gawker-Trained New Republic Editor Won't Even Print Next Issue

Well I'm not in the publishing world but how can they not have a back-up issue made up of ever-green stories and best-of compilation already in the can and ready to go? Don't they have contractual obligations to advertisers?

But maybe things are so effed up that the new management doesn't even know where these files are kept.

Ebola Czar Ron Klain Returning to Private Sector in 2015

So two months of czaring has resulted in what exactly?

Did the Kennedy Administration Try to Drive Reagan Off the Air?

[A] few months after [subpoenaing Reagan before a grand jury], Kennedy tried to get him fired from General Electric Theater. Or, at least, that's what Reagan believed. "Dad told us he had just lost his job with GE," Reed recalls Reagan son Michael Reagan telling him. "He said [GE President] Ralph Cordiner had called him earlier to report that he [Cordiner] had been contacted by Bobby Kennedy, who had said: 'If you want government contracts, get Reagan off the air.'"

Reagan got a bit of revenge when he debated (and by consensus destroyed) RFK in this debate on Vietnam in 1967

Scottish Commercials

For Irn-Bru. Remember that these are supposedly in English but sometime even sub-titles don't help.

"Steamy windys in heelys? Nyke shrug mum. So hodensay cheese toast in here?"

Weekly Commenter Standings

Pixy's commenter server is acting up so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out...

The group. Never heard of it.

Where it's at - the Twitter

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posted by Maetenloch at 10:46 PM

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