The New Republic Tries to Come Clean on Beauchamp Scandal
I couldn’t help but wonder why this magazine couldn’t find a way to actually visit the location and do some real reporting.
It’s expensive, but if you’re going to report about an exotic location and then have some serious questions about the veracity of the stories, it makes a lot of sense to send someone out there rather than rely on the author’s wife and a few fleeting phone calls and emails.
As for the failure to understand the handling characteristics of the Bradley, that’s just another symptom of the cause of this whole, sad story. The people who write for magazines are “journalists” and thus not very smart.
The problem is that there is almost no impact to a journalist or publisher that prints irresponsible and untrue and misleading articles. We’ve seen it with Dan Rather, Stephen Glass, CNN and Saddam, and so many others. They get their advertising, they make their impact on the voters, and they go on their merry way.
The first amendment is a great thing, but there should be some responsibility for the truth.
I suspect that the court this coming term will rule that the second amendment is an individual right, but they’re sure to allow it to be infringed for any number of reasons. I see no reason why the first amendment can’t be curtailed if the speaker or writer spreads lies intended to defraud citizens. Until we can hit these liars and idiots in their bank accounts, there will be no reason for them to change their ways.
