Conason: There He Goes Again! (Drudge back in Dems' pants)

[kskiska]

Matt Drudge and the GOP smear machine are back in the Democrats' pants.

Is American politics suddenly returning to the bad old days, when Washington journalism became frenzied with sheet sniffing and keyhole peeping? That seems to be the default program of the right-wing media machine whenever Republican poll numbers sink into the red zone.

Late Thursday morning -- with George W. Bush's credibility damaged on several fronts as reporters demanded answers to questions about his National Guard service that should have been asked years ago -- the Drudge Report defamed his leading Democratic challenger with a "world exclusive" smudge of personal dirt.

(snip)

Vague and unsourced but hyped to the maximum by Drudge, the brief item sounded disturbingly familiar. The Internet gossip accused John Kerry of "recent alleged infidelity" with "a woman who recently fled the country," adding that a "close friend of the woman recently approached a reporter with fantastic stories." The same item ran an "off the record" comment attributed to retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who was quoted as saying, "Kerry will implode over an intern issue." Major news organizations from ABC News to the Associated Press, warned Drudge, were all over the story.

By evening, however, no major news organization had run with it, though many were chasing it. Perhaps frustrated, Drudge put up an additional item eight hours later, with a few more details about the alleged relationship. "Unlike the Monica Lewinsky drama, which first played out publicly in this space, with audio tapes, cigar and a dress, the Kerry situation has posed a challenge to reporters investigating the claims," his later item explained. Drudge also quoted a "top source" as saying: "There is no lawsuit testimony this time . It is hard to prove."

more…
http://salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/02/13/drudge/index.html

[David Dunham]

1. Outstanding Article. It's Time for Dems to Sue Drudge.

[displacedvermoter]

2. Joe Conason always brings sanity and clarity to things

I think he's right that Drudge's ramblings about how challenging this story is going to be to cover is telling.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Excellent piece by Conason

This is like a headline I read in the supermarket checkout line. It's salacious enough to get my attention, but I don't necessarily believe anything I read in such places and don't really care if it's true or not.

So Rush picks it up. Figures. And the Wall Street Journal's Opinion website. Electronic fish wrap.

As Conason points out, we may never have enough to judge this one. It will make something for Rove's manure slingers to toss about, but may never be more than that. For now, it will be believed only by those who want to believe it.

[BeyondGeography]

4. Lehane's not having any part of it

As a Clark supporter (whether he's running or not, I still support him), that 's reassuring.

[Adelante]

5. Now THIS is interesting - Which "rival campaign"?

"I can only verify that Chris Lehane's rivals in other Democratic campaigns made these claims and I have found no independent source to confirm it."

Oh, right, it must be the Kucinich campaign :eyes:

The Drudge item blaming Lehane quoted Craig Crawford, a former Democratic operative who now works as a consultant and columnist for MSNBC. Within 10 minutes after Drudge posted the Kerry intern item, Crawford sent a memo to his superiors that said the story was "something Chris Lehane (clark press secy) has shopped around for a long time." According to Crawford, someone at MSNBC promptly leaked his memo to Drudge. But when Lehane called Crawford with a loudly indignant denial, the MSNBC columnist quickly issued a public retraction. He said:

"The comments attributed to me are from a private email to television news associates based on conversations with Democratic campaign operatives. I did not consider any of it confirmed enough to report or publish. I can only verify that Chris Lehane's rivals in other Democratic campaigns made these claims and I have found no independent source to confirm it. Which is why we did not go with the story. But then someone sent my email to others, which is the only reason it got into the public domain." In other words, there is no proof that Lehane circulated the rumor, let alone that the rumor has any basis in reality.

Source: Salon 2/13/04

[Beetwasher]

6. This Story Should be The Last Word on This Bullshit

'nuff said.