In the past few days there have been two stunning examples of newspapers with egg on their faces, and writers they can’t seem to control. The odd contrast is that one writer is a ‘professional’ reporter, and the other is a soldier looking for his 15…

Although all-but-recanting is not exactly the same as actually recanting, it’s the next best thing….

Foer’s interview with the NY Observer indictates he wants some cheese with that ‘whine’. How dare the Army interfere with our efforts to censor and spin this story the way we see fit? How dare they leak documents that prove Beauchamp was the fraud everyone knew?

TNR has claimed throughout this sordid espisode that the Army forbid Beauchamp to comment or speak to the media. That, as evidenced by the transcripts, is an out and out lie. Beauchamp was free to talk, TNR knew this, but told him to keep quiet. Then they turn around and accuse the Army of gagging him.

Foer and company need to step back, take a breath and write a detailed apology for their journalistic malfeasance. Redactions have become nothing more than cover-ups and lame excuses instead of dignified, truthful explainations.

Foer, you’ve been Glass’d.

I missed that.

Foer really doesn’t understand anything about the military, does he.

While Beauchamp “didn’t stand by his stories in that conversation, he didn’t recant his stories,” Foer said in an interview. “He obviously was under considerable duress during that conversation, with his commanding officer in the room with him.”

A Squad Leader is NOT his Commanding Officer and in fact not an Officer at all.

Franklin Foer has perfected his impersonation of a gyroscope in a vacuum — he can’t stop spinning. The editor of The New Republic spoke with Howard Kurtz yesterday about the release of the transcript of his conversation with Scott Beauchamp……

While the discussion “was extremely frustrating and engendered doubts,” Foer said, Beauchamp defended his story in a subsequent conversation that was conducted with no superiors present.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

And that woman meant nothing to me honey… She was just flying around teh room naked, and fell on my *ahem*.

The scary thing is, the conversation he’s talking probably only happened in his head.

I’d be interested to talk to STB, and ask him myself what happened.