True Lies
THE SCRAPBOOK ITEM ON “The ‘Fake But Accurate’ Media” (Sept. 27) was more to the point of the Rathergate scandal than anything else I’ve seen.
CBS is taking what I call the “green cheese” view of Rathergate. It’s as if CBS has said: “We’ve heard for years that the moon is made of green cheese, but this is just talk. So we can’t go on the air with it.” Then a scientist steps forward with proof the moon is made of green cheese. CBS airs the story, but the research turns out to be bogus. CBS can claim, “The research is not authentic, but it doesn’t change what we are hearing. The moon is made of green cheese and these questions must be raised.”
In short, they have used the fake documents to gain entry and open dialogue on a story that would not exist without the documents.
Mark Puls
Detroit, MI
Blog-Day Afternoon
I ENJOYED JONATHAN V. LAST’S piece on how the Internet brought down CBS News (“What Blogs Have Wrought,” Sept. 27). Given how quickly the National Guard memos were shown to be forgeries, CBS clearly neglected basic reporting.
For example, the network didn’t confirm when Brig. Gen. Staudt retired. Nor did it compare the documents with others in Lt. Col. Killian’s official records.
The whole story is reminiscent of the fake Abu Ghraib photos. These photos, published by the Boston Globe, appeared to show American soldiers raping Iraqi women in the prison. But a few days later, the photos were revealed to be fraudulent. (They were actually downloads from a Hungarian porn site.) As in the CBS documents case, the Internet played a role in exposing the pictures as bogus.
The Globe ran a rather mealy-mouthed correction, in which it apologized for publishing the “inappropriate” photos. This prompted radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh to note that the photos weren’t just “inappropriate,” they were forgeries.
In each respective case, the Globe and CBS went forth with material that should have been regarded with much more skepticism. The only plausible explanation is that CBS trusted the dubious memos for the same reason the Globe trusted the dubious photos. Namely, they wanted them to be true.
Richard DiNardo
Stafford, VA
Johnny’s Got a Gun
IN KATHERINE MANGU-WARD’S article “Trigger Happy” (Sept. 27), I was greatly amused by the accompanying photograph of John Kerry trap shooting in Edinburg, Ohio. If Kerry were a true clay-pigeon duster, the self-proclaimed “hunter” and “gun owner” would have donned ear guards and eye protection before firing that shotgun. The renowned gun grabber was apparently preoccupied with the photo-op of his “French” profile and perfectly groomed coiffure. That Kodak moment with Kerry was likely the best shot taken that day at the trap range.
Stephen D. Austin
Salem, OR
Harvard’s Accused
JOSEPH BOTTUM repeats the false accusation against me of excessive dependence on an earlier book about Israel (THE STANDARD READER, Sept. 20). The Case For Israel being a brief, rather than a volume of original demographic research, of course depended on the research of others, especially the 7 pages (out of a total of 264) that dealt with century-old obscure demographic material.
That’s what briefs do. Every single word, phrase, sentence, and idea of other writers was quoted and footnoted. Even my biased accusers acknowledge this. Their preposterous claim is that I should have cited the quotes to the secondary source in which I found a handful of them, rather than to the primary source against which I checked them. I followed The Chicago Manual of Style and did exactly what I was supposed to do. That is why these false and politically motivated charges have been universally dismissed by objective scholars.
As to Charles Ogletree, I have had the pleasure of teaching and practicing with him over the decades and can attest to his scrupulous integrity, honesty, and fairness. His book is an absorbing memoir of Brown‘s impact on Ogletree’s life, and on the lives of all Americans.
When Charles was recommended for tenure, I enthusiastically supported him because in addition to being a serious scholar and excellent teacher, he brings unparalleled talents to our faculty as a practitioner. When he was invited to Harvard, it was because he had a deserved reputation as the best young public defender in America. Not the best black public defender, but the best period. Harvard Law School is a professional school that requires professional diversity. Granting tenure to a great trial lawyer who has become an extraordinary clinical professor adds to that diversity. I have long opposed racial quotas in hiring. With Ogletree, it’s about talent, not race.
Alan M. Dershowitz
Cambridge, MA
