Politico’s Ben Smith Gets Fooled Again

Published November 27, 2007 in The Politico.

Now Ben Smith gets fooled by a parody site. This isn’t the first time Smith has gotten something wrong or just stupid.

And it likely won’t be the last. The urge to get things out to Drudge and Co. trumps the need to actually practice journalism.

21 Responses to “Politico’s Ben Smith Gets Fooled Again”

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1 Jay Tea
Nov 27th, 2007 at 5:10 pm

Funny, Oliver, I don’t recall you saying anything beyond “looks like it may be a hoax” when you got fooled by something when you should have known better…

If you need a reminder, here’s the link:
http://www.oliverwillis.com/archives/2006/01/30/cant-help-themselves-1/

J.
2 Quaker in a Basement
Nov 27th, 2007 at 5:25 pm

Right, Jay Tea. It’s totally ridiculous to think Republicans might do anything racist at a party for a laugh.
3 Jay Tea
Nov 27th, 2007 at 6:06 pm

You’re right, Quaker. As long as one Republican does something that some call racist once, any and all allegations of racism are guilty of racism until proven innocent.

Whoops, that’s not right. Guilty of racism EVEN IF PROVEN INNOCENT.

So it’s bad for Ben Smith to be fooled and admit it, but just fine for Oliver to be fooled and say that “it might be a hoax,” then never say anything else about the matter ever again?

Darn, I just can’t keep up with the subtle nuances…

J.
4 Nimrod Gently
Nov 27th, 2007 at 6:58 pm

The point is, the hoax in Oliver’s example is patently ridiculous, whereas the one in your example was juuuuuuust plausible enough given the amount of racism in the GOP.

Of course, you’re being deliberately obtuse as usual, so there’s no pointing in my typing anything at all really.
5 Jay Tea
Nov 27th, 2007 at 7:07 pm

OK, I get it. IOKIYAR - It’s OK If You’re Attacking Republicans. Otherwise, it’s known as “lying.”

Thanks for clearing that up for me, folks.

J.
6 Jay
Nov 27th, 2007 at 8:07 pm

The point is, the hoax in Oliver’s example is patently ridiculous,

Yeah, so “patently ridiculous” that a Kos diarist thought it was real as did TechPresident.

And Nimrod, your accusations of people being “obtuse” is lame. Especially so considering you don’t seem to know what the word means.
7 C.S.Strowbridge
Nov 27th, 2007 at 8:17 pm

“Thanks for clearing that up for me, folks.”

Don’t start acting like the other Jay.

Extraordinary proof requires extraordinary evidence. Finding a Republican that’s doing something racist isn’t extraordinary, it’s commonplace.

This is the party that has used the South Strategy, which is incredibly racist. In fact, Mehlman apologized for the Southern Strategy, and then apologized for apologizing, which just shows how incredibly racist the party is.
8 Jay Tea
Nov 27th, 2007 at 8:50 pm

If it’s so commonplace, CSS, then why do people need to make shit up?

Fascinating concept. Put together your conclusion, then find facts, partial facts, and absolute fiction as all equally-valid reinforcements of that conclusion. And anyone who questions the validity of any of the supporting evidence — even and especially the stuff that is an admitted utter crock — needs to be attacked and denounced.

I find myself looking around for some ruby slippers to click together so I can find my way back to the real world…

J.
9 C.S.Strowbridge
Nov 27th, 2007 at 9:16 pm

“If it’s so commonplace, CSS, then why do people need to make shit up?”

Cause taking it to the extreme is funnier.

“Fascinating concept. Put together your conclusion, then find facts, partial facts, and absolute fiction as all equally-valid reinforcements of that conclusion. And anyone who questions the validity of any of the supporting evidence — even and especially the stuff that is an admitted utter crock — needs to be attacked and denounced.”

… Okay, if you want to be part of the group…

Fuck off, Jay Tea.

Act like a little shit and you’ll get treated just like I treat the rest of your sub-human brethren.

I didn’t conclude Republicans were racist and then look for evidence. I looked at the evidence, and the evidence is clear. The Republicans used, and continue to use racism as a political strategy.

If you can’t tell the difference, you need to shut the fuck up while the adults talk. Maybe then you would learn something.
10 midderpidge
Nov 27th, 2007 at 9:43 pm

Very nice and concise summary of the Bush administration’s publicity campaign in the lead up to the Iraq invasion Jay Tea.
11 Jay
Nov 27th, 2007 at 9:52 pm

Jay Tea, don’t waste your time with CS. The “Fuck you”, “Fuck off”, “Shut the fuck up”, “Fuck yourself” nonsense actually pushes the limits of intelligent thought for him.
12 C.S.Strowbridge
Nov 27th, 2007 at 10:09 pm

“Jay Tea, don’t waste your time with CS. The ‘Fuck you’, ‘Fuck off’, ‘Shut the fuck up’, ‘Fuck yourself’ nonsense actually pushes the limits of intelligent thought for him.”

Jay Tea lies about what I said, which is clear to anyone who can read, and you defend him. That makes perfect sense, given your past performances here.

Now shut the fuck up, you sub-human waste.
13 Oliver Willis
Nov 27th, 2007 at 11:20 pm

Yes, because God knows there are no examples of Republican racism to make anything plausible. Also, I’m one guy with a blog and not a major news organization. The standards should probably be a little higher.
14 Jay Tea
Nov 28th, 2007 at 4:19 am

Oliver, you posted this article at 12:39. Dare I speculate where you were located when you wrote it? Say, in the (very nice) offices of a “media watchdog organization?”

But let’s run with this for a minute. Robert Byrd, a former Ku Klux Klan official who only a few years ago talked about “white niggers” in an interview, is the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. That puts him third in line for the presidency, behind Dick Cheney and Nancy Pelosi — as elected by the Democrats in the Senate. Does that mean, by extension, the Democrats in the Senate are racists? And, by not denouncing Byrd and demanding his resignation, the other Democrats are racists too?

That actually might explain quite a bit…

And look, I didn’t have to make up a single thing here.

There’s a term, Strowbridge, for someone who knowingly and willingly uses fabricated incidents and information to back their arguments. In fact, there are several, but “lying sack of shit” is probably my favorite. “Delusional” is a kinder one, but that implies that you simply aren’t capable of distinguishing what is real with what you wish was real.

You show you don’t care one bit for the truth, only what serves your agenda. And Oliver freely endorses that position. Guess that shows his qualifications for “fact-checking” the media right there…

J.
15 Oliver Willis
Nov 28th, 2007 at 8:11 am

Oh my God, again with the time stalking. You’re really obsessed in a sad sad way. Byrd was wrong to say what he said, but the way in which cons like you respond to the repeated pattern of Republican racism by saying “Robert Byrd!!!!” is just as ridiculous as you coming to my place of work. The Republican party has a long history of racism, for a plausible story to tap into that is not far afield from the truth. Heck, a Republican in Florida said fear of black men prompted him to seek gay sex in a public restroom.

You’re just an idiot and you fail, time and time again.
16 Enlightened Liberal
Nov 28th, 2007 at 8:24 am

With all the lies JT’s blog traffics in, he shows an amazing lack of self awareness.

He always brings up your job, I guess his $8/hr job at McDonald’s doesn’t allow him to use the Internet on his breaks. How sad does a conservative blogger have to be to not get any wingnut welfare?
17 Jay Tea
Nov 28th, 2007 at 8:30 am

Yes, Oliver, I visited it once. And it was a very nice office, and you were a cordial host — especially for a surprise visitor. Thank you.

EL, I make a bit more than that, but no — I don’t blog from work. When I’m working, I work. For me to blog on the clock would be stealing from my employer.

Oh, and I hear that McDonald’s starts people at around $9-10/hour now. At least, that’s what the signs they have outside say. What happened to that horrible economy, when even burger-flippers start out making that much more than minimum wage?

Thanks so much, Oliver and EL, for making ME the focus of your arguments. It’s very flattering.

Unless, of course, it’s intended to change the subject away from how the only real evidence presented to support the “Republicans are racists” are made-up shit, and the best defense of that is to toss profanities and other crude insults. Real enlightened liberalism on display here…

J.
18 Nimrod Gently
Nov 28th, 2007 at 9:00 am

“And Nimrod, your accusations of people being “obtuse” is lame. Especially so considering you don’t seem to know what the word means.”

Shorter:

“SO’S YOUR MOTHER ROFFLECOPTERZ ME = WIN”
19 Oliver Willis
Nov 28th, 2007 at 2:20 pm

I answered your question, but you’re the one who tried to make me the issue from your first comment. You don’t know where the heck I am when I blog. You don’t know when I go to work, when I’m not at work, not a thing, yet this hasn’t prevented you from posting thousands of words on this subject to this point - almost all of them wrong, but I will concede mighty amusing to my fellow workers at Media Matters.

In your world, some guy with a website is supposed to be as much a fact checker as a major news organization. Nevermind that my track record is better over the last 7 years than The Politico has been over the last 1 year.

Secondly, the Republican party and the conservative movement has a serious problem with race. I’m not saying there’s racial absolution for the Democratic party, but nothing of the strategic and endemic racism that is hand in hand with conservative politics.

I admit that the conservative elements of the Democratic party up until the 1960s were bad. But it was also a Democrat who signed the Civil Rights Act, it is the left who supported civil rights, it is the Democratic party who embraces blacks and hispanics, and it is the right who has been on the wrong side of history on this time and time again and will remain so if people like you keep pretending away history and the present.
20 Quaker in a Basement
Nov 28th, 2007 at 2:45 pm

Wait, let me see if I understand what you’re saying, Jay Tea:

So what if Ben Smith is a dupe…ROBERT BYRD!!!

Nope. Sorry.
21 C.S.Strowbridge
Nov 28th, 2007 at 8:07 pm

“Does that mean, by extension, the Democrats in the Senate are racists?”

Good god, are you trying to be this fucking stupid?

You are comparing one man to a political strategy used by the party leadership.

If you can’t figure out the difference, you are too stupid to debate with.

“Oliver, you posted this article at 12:39. Dare I speculate where you were located when you wrote it? Say, in the (very nice) offices of a ‘media watchdog organization?’”

Shut the fuck up, Jay Tea!

Why does it fucking matter where he was when he posted the god damn message?

Do you really have nothing legitimate to add to this debate?

Don’t bother answering, we already know the truth.