And you though the Moveon.Org ad was something. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. There is no hole so deep that the modern left considers it unnecessary to keep digging. In other words, the demonization of David Petraeus has just begun.
The lefties at the Daily Kos and Think Progress are both giving a lot of play to the following quote that Admiral William Fallon allegedly (much more on that in a bit) made about his underling David Petraeus during their first meeting in Baghdad last March. The Daily Kos and Think Progress report Fallon called Petraeus “an ass-kissing little chicken-sh*t.”
I know what you’re thinking. For reputable outfits like the Daily Kos and Think Progress to report such an incendiary comment, the remark must be impeccably sourced. Well…
The original report of the comment, the scoop if you will, came in something called the “Inter Press Service News Agency,” or “IPS” as the organization bills itself. What? You’ve never heard of this IPS and find yourself curious about who and what it is? IPS describes itself this way on its website: “IPS, civil society's leading news agency, is an independent voice from the South and for development, delving into globalisation for the stories underneath. Another communication is possible.” I don’t know what any of that means either, but I figure I’d share it with you and put it our there for deconstruction.
A couple of things about this IPS “scoop”. IPS reported the alleged exchange on September 12, or yesterday to you and me. The alleged exchange occurred back in March. You also might wonder how IPS got this juicy nugget. Did Admiral Fallon put a call into the news agency renowned for “delving into globalization”? Hardly. IPS got the story from “Pentagon sources familiar with reports of the meeting.” Mind you, IPS didn’t just use just anonymous Pentagon source who might have seen the exchange. IPS relied on sources who not only didn’t witness the exchange, but didn’t even talk to people who witnessed the exchange. They were just “familiar with reports of the meeting.” Allegedly.
Here’s the kicker. Both Think Progress and the Daily Kos report IPS’s “scoop” like it’s a fact. Think Progress qualifies its reportage of Fallon’s comment merely by saying, “Inter-Press Service suggests animosity between the two might be one reason for Fallon’s absence” and then hits its readers with the quote. Think Progress does not bother to note the flimsiness of IPS’s reporting, nor does it bother to say exactly who and what IPS is. Maybe IPS is a household name where “delving into globalisation” is de rigueur, but I doubt it.
The Daily Kos does even worse. In happily relating Fallon’s alleged comment, Daily Kos front pager BarbinMD doesn’t even mention IPS. She doesn’t even link to IPS, a tacit admission of what a pile of hooey their report is. Instead, Dr. Barbin oddly chose to link back to Think Progress’s report on the matter.
And thus in the modern left’s eyes, a Four Star General who has served his country for decades becomes “an ass-kissing little chickensh*t.” And once again, the rest of the country is left to wonder about our nation’s far left: Have they no decency?
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