Joe Klein: Accuracy??? We don't need no stinkin' accuracy!
By Nicole Belle Monday Nov 26, 2007 2:02pmGlenn Greenwald has been following Time Magazine's Joe Klein and his increasingly bizarre (and demonstrably false) assertions on FISA and the Democratic majority.
Salon (watch ad for site pass):
Joe Klein has just posted yet again about his FISA confusion, and it has now moved well beyond farce into an almost pity-inducing realm. If Time has any dignity at all, someone there will intervene and put a stop to this. It's actually difficult to watch.
In the last five days alone, Klein has now written five separate times about his FISA debacle, and is further away than ever from having any idea what he's even talking about -- first was the column itself; second was the Swampland post the same day in which he emphatically defended the accuracy of what he wrote in response to my post; third was the post yesterday in which Klein said he "may have made a mistake in [his] column this week about the FISA legislation" -- the understatement of the year; fourth was an Update he added to that post this morning claiming that he did speak to a Democrat but "may have misinterpreted a Democratic source's point" and "if [he] did, a correction will appear in the print magazine next week"; and now, his fifth effort in tonight's post, actually worse than all the others, in which he still professes confusion after "spen[ding] the past few days nosing around in the ongoing dispute about what the House FISA Reform bill actually says."
The result of all this "nosing around": "I've reached no conclusions." And he then unleashes this:
I have neither the time nor legal background to figure out who's right.
Yeah, Joe. God forbid you do some research before smearing a political party falsely. But wait, there's more. FDL's Jane Hamsher then wanted to check which editor at Time let untrue and unresearched assertions go out under Time's flagship banner multiple times, and guess what the editor's response was?
I finally confirmed that the editor was Priscilla Painton, and called her and identified myself. I asked her what the editing process was, and how a piece with so many errors made it into print.
"That assumes that there are errors," she said. And hung up on me.
Nice. And not the first time that Painton has had this response. Rep. Rush Holt thinks that Time and Joe Klein got some 'splaining to do.
So again, the question must be asked: why would anyone give any credibility to Joe Klein or Time Magazine when reporting factual and researched stories are so patently unimportant to them?
UPDATE: Glenn has more...
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1mpeach!
The only advise I can offer to prepare for the next five years is to remember the old saying in order to make a living you'll have to work.
Unless you have a healthy inheritance or cash is growing on trees in your backyard.
I have neither the time nor legal background to figure out who’s right.
Joe Klein -- is he one of those "real" journalists who complain about the blogger?
I have to admit a guilty pleasure in watching G.G. dismantle Joe Klein, but, with every response, Klein becomes so much more pathetic that I'm almost feeling guilty for enjoying it. Doesn't mean I'm not enjoying it, just feeling like I should feel guilty about something. Hehehe.
Look, TWO missing white girls!
Goddamned librul media!
The MSM is a disgrace.
I gave up on Time Magazine a long time ago. If they don't care what they print, right or wrong, then why should I buy their product.
If he didn't have the time nor legal background to figure out who's right, why the hell did he take up the subject? Was this an article or an editorial? Which ever it was he should be able to back up his position. On blogs you can't get away with that sort of posting, so why should a "professional"?
Sue J @ 3:
Company kind of guy. I'll say whatever you want Boss.
You're a sorry excuse for a reporter, Klein.
Time magazine... who buys that rag any longer?! Who reads it?? They lost credibility a very long time ago with me and I haven't read one in many years.
rekroc @ 7:
The Media Consolidation Act was claimed to foster competition. Instead, it continued the historic industry consolidation begun by Reagan, whose actions reduced the number of major media companies from around 50 in 1983 to 10 in 1996, reducing the 10 in 1996 to 6 in 2005.
Forget it. It's history
Klein, Kline, we seemed to have a theme here.
With this high quality of reporting, Time must be looking to be bought by Fox.
L.A. Confidential @ 12:
Kind of like NAFTA was supposed to reduce illegal immigration and create more higher paying jobs and opportunities in America.
If you go to the link "effort in tonight's post" and scroll down there are some very good comments there. His readers aren't letting him off on his bs about not having time or legal background.
OneWithEverything @ 14:
You mean the suits who own Time are looking to be bought by Fox for a fat fee that will ensure a luxurious retirement while everyone else swings a shovel rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure.
He doesn't have the time.
To busy raking in the money and exercising stock options rather then presenting professional and ethical mainstream journalism.
OneWithEverything @ 14:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLzgiW5sFe0
Oh wow I noticed Wonkette finally busted through the glass ceiling.
So much for her integrity
VOICE YOUR DISGUST!!!
letters@time.com
L.A. Confidential @ 20:
Shouldn't expect people who's secret goal is isolating themselves above the common fodder to remain one.
He should have taken into consideration his lack of time and expertise before writing the column.
Now he's just flailing in the quicksand.
What is this "Print Media" that you speak of?
Responsible jounalism in the United States of America? Ha!!!! It doesn't exist! Bought to you by 'Corporations r us". We own the information and we will twist it to suit us--not you.
ONLY YOU, THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER, CAN FORCE CONGRESS TO IMPEACH THE VICE PRESIDENT AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Call Nancy Pelosi @1-202-225-0100 and DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.
(call often, spread it around)
pissed off patricia @ 8:
My sentiments exactly. Joe Klein and William Kristol are two of the reasons I canceled my subscription to Time.
what makes these people so inKleined to lie?
This begs the question - Did Priscilla graduate from Liberty U?!
hmmmmm. Me thinks yes is the answer.
catapulting the propaganda.
All this dodging and weaving is just symptomatic of what happens when right-wing enablers find themselves losing an argument -- they close their eyes and hope it goes away. Joe Klein's problem is, he can't hang up on his readers like Rush Limbaugh.
Add this one to Time's Inaccuracy:
In the By the Numbers section of this week's issue, Time says Congress has raised the tobacco tax 78 times since 2000 (in reference to the plan to fund children's health care out of tax increases). In fact, the tobacco tax has been raised by Congress 6 or 7 times since its inception. The STATES have raised tobacco taxes 78 times since 2000.
I know what you mean right on! @ 11. I gave up on Time 33 yrs ago. The Steven King Q&A in this week's edition is worthy. He hands the MSM their ass. Sample snip:
"You guys are just covering — what do they call it — the scream of the peacock, and you're missing the whole fox hunt." Like waterboarding [or] where all the money went that we poured into Iraq. It just seems to disappear. And yet you get this coverage of who's gonna get custody of Britney's kids? Whether or not Lindsay drank at her twenty-first birthday party, and all this other shit. You know, this morning, the two big stories on CNN are Kanye West's mother, who died, apparently, after having some plastic surgery. The other big thing that's going on is whether or not this cop [Drew Peterson] killed his... wife. And meanwhile, you've got Pakistan in the midst of a real crisis, where these people have nuclear weapons that we helped them develop. You've got a guy in charge, who's basically declared himself the military strongman and is being supported by the Bush administration, whose raison d'etre for going into Iraq was to spread democracy in the world.
The Bush Administration is not accountable to anyone. What makes you think Time should be accountable for what they write? MSM was given the right to lay to you in the Fox News case and of course the Politicians have the right to lay…Courts say you can replace them next time.
Is Cheney's Heart Ailment Real - Or Could It Be a Pretext for His Resignation?
Replacing Cheney With A VP Who Can Run As the Incumbent May Be the GOP's Only Hope
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5360
ricky @ 24:
Exacti-mundo!
So Kline and Time are blithering (or blathering) idiot gossips.
Does anyone really care?
Kline and Time don't.
If I had a Kline for every time I've read Time, I wouldn't have enough to buy a nickel.
Big Dan @ 35:
I don't think there is any way our country would support another bush right now. Maybe in four years or eight they might consider it, but now, I just don't think so.
They might fall for something like Klein's bs writing, but they are pretty much up to here with the bush name.
Big Dan @ 35:
Cheney's heart ailment very well could be real--and it could also be a pretext for his resignation.
Piss on Klein!
Time Magazine, who would have guessed that the Foxification of Time would be so blantant; now which one of you finds this unexpected. Watch for more of the same.
It is happening in other media outlets.
***Check out the History channel, what an about face on facts. Revisionist History Right Wing Propaganda channel should be its new name.
Klein got fired pretty fast when it was discovered that he was the author of the book "Primary Colors", didn't he? (The author was initially "Anonymous")
So, why can't TIME magazine get out the hook just as fast?
::crickets chirping::
For an exercise in contrast I'll relate a recent exchange I had with the News Director of Michigan Radio, the local NPR affiliate.
I had a problem with the way the WGA strike was reported that morning and wrote the station. The reporter had read, "Writers want more money when TV shows and films are sold on the internet." Of course, they receive no money at the moment and I said so, requesting they do a better job of reporting on the issue.
I received a thoughtful reply today that expressed that I was indeed correct. He also noted the potential confusion with the proposed DVD internet sales formula, and would talk to the staff about being more precise. He even took the time to check the transcripts. How professional, and cool of him.
The News Director for WUOM is Vincent Duffy. They're lucky to have him.
Guess Joe Klein would rather be an opinionated lout than a journalist with a shred of integrity. No qualifications required for the former except lack of common sense and slavish devotion to a bankrupt ideology.
Cliches become cliches because they're usually right on. This one, from the 50s, is no exception:
Life - for people who can't read
Time - for people who can't think
Life may have bitten the dust years ago, but that stinker Time lingers on. Why would anyone waste their worthless dollars on this rag?
Lou Dobbs: "If we report it, it's a fact."
Priscilla Painton: “That assumes that there are errors,”
'why would anyone give any credibility to Joe Klein or Time Magazine...'
I wouldn't.
Why is the media so afraid of conservatives? Why is liberal a dirty word?
"As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality." -
-- George Washington
I have a feeling in the near future either the right wing will firmly be in control of the US or we will have to have another revolution. The time is coming, when all the poor who vote Republican realize they've been sold down the river and the middle class exterminated it's going to get ugly. This is why impeachment is so important, it's a bloodless revolution. Because a real uprising would be far from bloodless.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." -
-- Thomas Jefferson
Who reads or believes Time magazine any more? I mean, come on. They put Ann Coulter on their cover once. Does that give you a clue as to whether they are reporting news or really just selling soap??
What irks me is that Klein refuses to name his lying sources. Therefore, either he doesn’t care that his sources are liars or he’s in cahoots with liars. You decide.
that's just pathetic. When the NYT gets their stories wrong it's spalshed all over the media and people get lynched. Joe Klein should be seriously reprimanded for a transgression like this. If you want to be a partisan hack start a blog. If you want to be a real reporter then research has to be done. Q!@$#%
Joe Klein is ridiculous. Time Magazine is ridiculous. Joe is a silly, vain, little man. If I was a real reporter doing difficult and important work for Time Magazine(do they do that any more or is that too expensive?) and all my credibility was being ruined by some over-paid ass-clown like Klein, I would be pissed.
Time Magazine is just another cog in the machine.
When I was 18, and just developing my political sensibilities (Viet Nam war, and I was 1-A), I realized that Time was just the voice of the elite status quo.
It hasn't changed in 40 years.
How much do anyone want to bet a question about the FISA bill comes up at the debate and the Republican candidates repeat the lies about the new FISA bill and if challenged on their accuracy (as if that would ever happen) cite the Joe Klein article as their source.
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