Our Modern Edward R. Murrow, Thrown Under the Bus(t) by White House

So last week White House Communications Director Dan Pfiefer wrote a post on the official White House Blog (assuming these people write their own posts at all) supposedly correcting Charles Krauthammer and others’ claim that the Obama administration returned a bust of Winston Churchill at the beginning of his presidency.  This included lines like this:

Lately, there’s been a rumor swirling around about the current location of the bust of Winston Churchill. Some have claimed that President Obama removed the bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office and sent it back to the British Embassy.

Now, normally we wouldn’t address a rumor that’s so patently false, but just this morning the Washington Post’s Charles Krauthammer repeated this ridiculous claim in his column.  He said President Obama “started his Presidency by returning to the British Embassy the bust of Winston Churchill that had graced the Oval Office.”

This is 100% false. The bust still in the White House. In the Residence. Outside the Treaty Room. 

Well, I first learned of that post, when I saw Keith Olbermann tweet this out:

Remember that bust of Churchill POTUS sent back to England? He didn't. He moved it nearer to his bedroom.http://m.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/07/27/fact-check-bust-winston-churchill … #tcot

He then went on to taunt and insult other journalists on the right, writing this for example:

So would the idea that the Cold War was won not by Reagan but by a Polish Union :) RT @bradstinks Don't tell @DLoesch It will ruin her day.

Which if you unpack that, it means that @bradstinks wrote “Don’t tell @DLoesch,”—who is Breitbart journalist Dana Loesch—“It will ruin her day.”  Olberman, quoting that tweet (“retweeting it”) then makes the bizarre joke that a Polish Union stopped the Soviets, which is just amazing ahistorical claptrap.

And he also tweeted this out:

1973 RT @SAR221977 @KeithOlbermann At what point does Conservative & journalist become oxymorons?

So this is @SAR221977 making the joke that “Conservative journalist” is an oxymoron and Olbermann quoting it—again the twitter term is retweeting it—and making a comment.  Now to be fair, it is very common to say “retweet does not equal endorsement” and that is certainly true in my case.  I retweet for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes it’s something I agree with, find funny, etc.  Sometimes I do it because it had an interesting link I wanted to read later.  Sometimes I do it because it’s makes an interesting point I might or might not agree with.  And sometimes I do it to highlight stupid, bigoted or otherwise wrong-headed behavior, often to give my followers some context when I reply to that person.  So yes, retweeting doesn’t automatically equal endorsement.  But in this case, it plainly does.

And yes, he is talking about this White House blog post, given that the tweet he was retweeting was in response to his tweet touting that post.

All of which seemed to just be premature.  So I tweeted in reply to Olbermann:

wow, investigative journalism @ it's finest... Reading the WH website and not checking at all... @KeithOlbermann

In that same tweet I included a screenshot of Olbermann’s tweet passing on the White House blog link and treating its claims as fact.  Olbermann never responded to that tweet but it’s plain that he saw it, responding when another twitterer compared Olbermann to Lenin’s useful idiots, Olbermann mentioning both of us to claim bizarrely that we were “bowing” to the USSR.

Next on Sunday, Krauthammer published a rebuttal to Pfeiffer post, doing his usual excellent job demolishing Pfeiffer’s post, which you can read here.  After that on Twitter Pfeiffer actually doubled down, and without either linking to Krauthammer’s excellent post or even informing Krauthammer that he was in essence calling him a liar, for which I called him out on Twitter.

And then finally we learn...  that Pfeiffer admitted he was wrong and apologized.  We even get this gracious acceptance from Krauthammer:

So will our modern Edward R. Murrow also issue an apology, for being a fool enough to denounce conservatives for getting their facts wrong, because a politician’s spokespersons said so?  Will he even admit that sometimes conservatives can be good journalists?

Right, and next you will tell me that we found the WMDs in Iraq that everyone said Bush was lying about, and what are the chances of that?

(Joking aside, do click on that last link.  It's a must-read.)

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My wife and I have lost our jobs due to the harassment of convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin, including an attempt to get us killed and to frame me for a crime carrying a sentence of up to ten years.  I know that claim sounds fantastic, but if you read starting here, you will see absolute proof of these claims using documentary and video evidence.  If you would like to donate and help my wife and I in this time of need, please go to this donation page.  And thank you.

Follow me at Twitter @aaronworthing, mostly for snark and site updates.  And you can purchase my book (or borrow it for free if you have Amazon Prime), Archangel: A Novel of Alternate, Recent History here.  And you can read a little more about my novel, here.

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Disclaimer:

I have accused some people, particularly Brett Kimberlin, of reprehensible conduct.  In some cases, the conduct is even criminal.  In all cases, the only justice I want is through the appropriate legal process—such as the criminal justice system.  I do not want to see vigilante violence against any person or any threat of such violence.  This kind of conduct is not only morally wrong, but it is counter-productive.

In the particular case of Brett Kimberlin, I do not want you to even contact him.  Do not call him.  Do not write him a letter.  Do not write him an email.  Do not text-message him.  Do not engage in any kind of directed communication.  I say this in part because under Maryland law, that can quickly become harassment and I don’t want that to happen to him.

And for that matter, don’t go on his property.  Don’t sneak around and try to photograph him.  Frankly try not to even be within his field of vision.  Your behavior could quickly cross the line into harassment in that way too (not to mention trespass and other concerns).

And do not contact his organizations, either.  And most of all, leave his family alone.

The only exception to all that is that if you are reporting on this, there is of course nothing wrong with contacting him for things like his official response to any stories you might report.  And even then if he tells you to stop contacting him, obey that request.  As you will see by the time I am done telling my story that this is a key element in making out a harassment claim under Maryland law—that a person asks you to stop and you refuse.

And let me say something else.  In my heart of hearts, I don’t believe that any person supporting me has done any of the above.  But if any of you have, stop it, and if you haven’t don’t start.