It’s hard to know what influence Martin Peretz – the owner of The New Republic from 1975 until this year – has on his old magazine anymore. But the man whose writings I have known for many years, I would imagine would be hugely disturbed by the revelations about the magazine he lead for decades.
The Beauchamp Affair is far worse, in my view, than the Stephen Glass Scandal of “Shattered Glass” that besmirched TNR several years ago, though evidently did not improve their fact-checking capabilities. The Glass Scandal was about the pathetic ambitions of a neurotic young writer willing to do anything for his personal glory. Not pretty, but something out of Balzac with which we are all familiar. Beauchamp’s “Shock Troops” knowingly misrepresents the actions of the US military during time of war. Something on a truly different level.
I am wondering why Peretz is allowing the stonewalling on this matter to continue. If he thinks this about “conservative” blogs or some such, he is completely mistaken. This is about integrity and the validity of the magazine to which he gave so much of his life.
By the way, I wrote Franklin Foer, current editor of The New Republic, in advance of the publication of the PJM story today for a comment. I heard nothing.
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