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| Fifth Column |
| Documents from Scott Beauchamp affair leaked to Drudge |
| 2007-10-24 |
| The DRUDGE REPORT has optained internal documents from the investigation of THE NEW REPUBLIC'S "Baghdad Diarist", Scott Thomas Beauchamp, an Army private turned war correspondent who reported tales of military malfeasance from the Iraq War front. . . . Document 1: Beauchamp Refuses to Stand by Story (Beauchamp Transcript Part 1) . . . During the call, Beauchamp declines to stand by his stories, telling his editors that "I just want it to end. I'm not going to talk to anyone about anything really." The editors respond that "we just can't, in good conscience, continue to defend the piece" without an explanation, but Beauchamp responds only that he "doesn't care what the public thinks." "So that means we'll have to defend it in bad consience." "Works for me." "Yeah! Defend it, and then feel bad about it later." "Yep, that's the ticket." The editors then ask Beauchamp to cancel scheduled interviews with the WASHINGTON POST and NEWSWEEK. Document 2: Beauchamp Admits to "Gross Exaggerations and Inaccurate Allegations" (Beauchamp Transcript Part 2) The DRUDGE REPORT has also obtained a signed "Memorandum for Record" in which Beauchamp recants his stories and concedes the facts of the Army's investigation &0151; that his stories contained "gross exaggerations and inaccurate allegations of misconduct" by his fellow soldiers. Document 3: Army Investigation: Tales "Completely Fabricated," Beauchamp Wanted to be Hemingway . . . The report concludes that "Private Beauchamp takes small bits of truth and twists and exaggerates them into fictional accounts that he puts forth as the whole truth for public consumption." Not exactly "news" if you've been following the story, but it's nice to see it in print in an official document. Developing... |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #12 Makes you think the shortest book in the library is not ethics for defense lawyers but Ethical Behaviour for Journalists. This is sickening. The problem is that it is now almost urban legend. The story ran front page for way too long and then when it unraveled, the press quietly moved it to page 37 next to the receipes and The New Republic never really admitted until their face was rubbed in by the Army that their hot shot insider was a lying little piece of crap. Too bad someone can't figure out a way to class action sue the New Republic for slandering an entire organization like the Army. Could we give the New Republic's address to Hamas and tell them it is a front for the Protocols of Zion? |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2007-10-24 23:34 |
| #11 Frank Foer was caught with his pants down in a Minnesota bathroom and humiliated for all the world to see. What's not to love? |
| Posted by: Unutle McGurque8861 2007-10-24 22:01 |
| #10 All the late night comedians read Drudge, as I understand it, and so do the gossip shows, to see what everybody else knows so they can talk about it, too. I missed my morning nap, so I'm going to fall asleep early tonight, but if y'all see anything as you're flipping past to HGTV or the cage matches or National Geographic, drop by the O Club to mention it -- unless there's another article tomorrow -- and have a drink on my tab. Thanks lots!! Oh, and it doesn't count as repentence in my book unless he works to fix the damage. Feeling sorry he was caught isn't enough. I disagree with SteveS that he's just an innocent fiction writer caught up in a mess he didn't intend. In my opinion he's a guilty fiction writer who thought the mess he created wouldn't get big enough to ruin lives. But he enlisted in the Army in order to buttress his future literary reputation, much like Mr. Hemingway's tall tales about his own wartime valour; he used personal connections to peddle his nasty fiction to one of the premier monthly magazines putatively on the left of the center-left; and he has never once apologized for the destruction he caused. He's a small-time Winter Soldier wannabe with literary pretentions, but that's exactly what he worked to create. Let him sit in what he shat. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-10-24 21:41 |
| #9 The only acceptable recourse would be if he personlly dennied his stories every time they appear somewhere in any form, for the rest of his life. Agreed. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-10-24 20:53 |
| #8 I'm halfway through the first .pdf (Drudge took them down, but LGF still has them), and boy is this sickening. What a bunch of weasels... |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2007-10-24 19:07 |
| #7 or Owens.....yeeeesh |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-10-24 18:21 |
| #6 Bob Ownes at Confederate Yankee has owned this story. Drudge just stole this at the end. Franklin Foer is toast.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-10-24 18:20 |
| #5 The impression I get from reading the .pdfs (after following the story) is that the whole thing simply spiraled out of control. The guy wanted to be a writer, the next Hemingway or Palahniuk. He made up some stories, the kind that usually start "This is no BS...". The stories ended up getting published by TNR who had their own agenda. At that point, the whole thing became unstoppable. If bad journalism was a crime, TNR would get 3-5, easy. Beauchamp has *bleep*ed his unit, his wife who works at TNR and his career. I'd bet dollars to donuts he would rewind the entire scenario right now if he could. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-10-24 18:09 |
| #4 Mike, repentence is all nice, but the damage is done, no mater how he would declense "I am sorry". In some years when people would forgotten the backgroud, tis crap would get cited by moonbaticae as memetic examples. The only acceptable recourse would be if he personlly dennied his stories every time they appear somewhere in any form, for the rest of his life. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-10-24 18:04 |
| #3 The problem wasn't story telling, it was failing to properly label the product as 'story telling'. I think a case could be made of fraud committed in interstate commerce and conspiracy to do so. Not a first amendment issue, rather one in "truth in labeling" business practice. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-10-24 17:53 |
| #2 Maybe, OP, maybe, but if the boy is truly repentant (seems from the documents that he might be), Luke 15:7 applies. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-10-24 17:41 |
| #1 If there was ever a POS that needed to experience a blanket-party, Scott Thomas Beauchamp qualifies with "honors". He's being watched too closely right now, but then, vengence is best served cold - and unexpected. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-10-24 17:25 |