The Snitchens Chronology

Eagle-eye reader Steve Smith points out in the Comments section that Snitch has his facts and timeline all wrong.

Said the Snitchens, in The Atlantic:

"Not long ago in this magazine David Brooks mapped a political sociology elaborating on the notion that the country was in theory divisible between heartland "red" districts and more coastal "blue" ones, the colors showing (rather counterintuitively, perhaps) a respective difference between Republican and Democratic areas. Soon afterward one of Bill Clinton's reliable yes-men, Paul Begala, issued a response, asserting that it was in "red" districts that gay men like Matthew Shepard were lynched, or black men like James Byrd were dragged behind pickup trucks until they died."

In truth, Begala was responding to a commentary by Mike Barnicle on MSNBC. He did so in November 2000. (See this wingnut site for confirmation of both the date and Barnicle references.) The "Red v. Blue" Brooks column to which Begala purportedly "issued a response" was published in The Atlantic a full year later, in the December 2001 issue. So much for fact checking at The Atlantic.

Does this matter? Well, yes and no. Hitch is no doubt proud to be in the company of Peggy Noonan, Jeff Jacoby and Reed Irvine's Accuracy in Media (sic), all of whom repeated Kelly's smear. And if Chris and The Atlantic can't be bothered with facts, there's no reason for anyone to bother with Chris and The Atlantic. But Snitchens himself argues we can't trust someone who gets his facts wrong. Certainly he would insist that he be held to the same standard.