A Half-Point To Howie the Putz

Below, I wondered aloud whether any wingnuts would raise the issue of Charles Krauthammer's smear of Howard Dean. Well, one has, sort of.

In today's online chit-chat, Howie Kurtz actually permitted a participant to criticize Quackhammer's misrepresentation of Howard Dean's words. (See below.) Typically, however, Kurtz followed up with a weaselly non-response: It "would have been better" if Krauthammer hadn't lied. So kudos to Raleigh, N.C. (and Bob Somerby, who first raised the issue), and half-kudos to Howie.

(Of course, Howie then loses his half-point by suggesting that John Kerry was pandering to Rolling Stone readers by saying fuck.)

Raleigh, N.C.: Charles Krauthammer recently wrote in a column,

"Chris Matthews: Would you break up Fox?
Howard Dean: On ideological grounds, absolutely yes, but...I don�t want to answer whether I would break up Fox or not...what I�m going to do is appoint people to the FCC that believe democracy depends on getting information from all portions of the political spectrum, not just one."

This looks pretty awful, but those of us aware of the mendacity in modern journalism are drawn to the ellipsis. So we go to the online transcript and find,

MATTHEWS: Would you break up Fox?
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: I�m serious.
DEAN: I�m keeping a...
MATTHEWS: Would you break it up? Rupert Murdoch has �The Weekly Standard.� It has got a lot of other interests. It has got �The New York Post.� Would you break it up?
DEAN: On ideological grounds, absolutely yes, but...
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: No, seriously. As a public policy, would you bring industrial policy to bear and break up these conglomerations of power?
DEAN: I don�t want to answer whether I would break up Fox or not, because, obviously
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: Well, how about large media enterprises?
DEAN: Let me-yes, let me get...
(LAUGHTER)
DEAN: The answer to that is yes.
I would say that there is too much penetration by single corporations in media markets all over this country. We need locally-owned radio stations. There are only two or three radio stations left in the state of Vermont where you can get local news anymore. The rest of it is read and ripped from the AP.
MATTHEWS: So what are you going to do about it? You�re going to be president of the United States, what are you going to do?
DEAN: What I�m going to do is appoint people to the FCC that believe democracy depends on getting information from all portions of the political spectrum, not just one.

Now, when an op-ed writer uses the ellipsis to completely change the meaning of an exchange and (unintentionally ironically) calls into question someone else's mental stability, can you tell my why I should ever trust the writer again? Or why a presumably reputable paper (why, look here, WaPo Writer's Group!!) would employ him?

I just don't think should be my responsibility, as a reader, to fact check on that level.

Howard Kurtz: Some ellipses are justified, but it probably would have been better if the joking nature of the break-up-Fox answer had been mentioned.

Meanwhile, Bob Somerby has more on the disgraceful doctor Quackhammer.