Powerline ( KvM) Caught Making It Up

Powerline attacked Harry Reid for divulging state secrets after the Senate Minority Leader repeated something he had heard on NPR.

The Mark Kennedy campaign blog (Kennedy vs. machine) also ran a post entitled "Loose Lips."

Will we hear a retraction out of Powerline?

It's not looking good. Powerline was one of the very first blogs to delete its comments section. KvM also unceremoniously deleted all comments from its blog. It's easier to make misstatements when nobody can call you on them.

From the non-partisan National Journal...

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2005/11/greatly_exagger.html

November 30, 2005
Greatly Exaggerated

In the WSJ's subscriber-only "Political Diary" yesterday afternoon, John Fund reported that Senate Min. Leader Harry Reid had told Reno's NBC affiliate: "I heard that Osama bin Laden died in the earthquake, and if that's the case, I certainly wouldn't wish anyone harm, but if that's the case, that's good for the world."

That section was soon made available to the public on the RNC's website, and conservative bloggers jumped right on it. As the 5/17 Blogometer records, they had already jumped on him for mentioning the FBI file of then-Bush jud. nominee Henry Saad.)

* Power Line posted a reader letter asking: "What does Harry Reid know that we don't? If there is something to this, why is Harry Reid leaking sensitive national security information before our intelligence agencies have anything to say? If there isn't, why is Harry Reid spreading falsehoods and hearsay?"
* NC-based schoolteacher Betsy Newmark was quicker to judge: "If senators can't be trusted with top secret information, they won't be able to perform their Constitutional obligations to oversight of the Executive branch. They must be trusted to keep their big yaps shut. And this guy goes off blabbing to the local news station!"
* And so was Varifrank, who posted images of a few "loose lips sink ships" type WWII-era posters.

However...

NV columnist Jon Ralston noted in his subscriber-only Flash Report later that evening: "By the way, all the senator said was that NPR had been reporting that Bin Laden may be dead and if so..." Among the few bloggers to get it about right was DC-based left-libertarian Dave Weigel: "Am I missing something? A lot of people were speculating that bin Laden died in the Pakistan earthquake. If you hear Reid's entire quote, it sounds like he was going off those speculations -- he actually said 'I heard today' that he may have died, which is a little less loaded than the 'had been informed just that day' James Bond spin John Fund takes on it."

To see the interview for yourself, KRNV has the video.

For more buzz from the political blogosphere, make sure to check out today's edition of the Blogometer.

Posted at 03:14 PM

Hah! Hear a retraction, correction or even a hint that one of our moronic right-wing blogs here in Minnesota is ever wrong? Don't hold your breath. Those that do allow comments aren't above altering comments without telling readers or authors of the comments, allowing imposters to post comments under someone else's name and other lapses of ethics. Mitch Berg is one of the worst for this, but he's got plenty of company among his little cadre of toy soldiers, Powerline not the least of them.

But then, since when are lies and deception out of the ordinary for these people?

Why tell the truth when leaving these false posts up is so much easier?