You’ll notice he posted about fifteen responses suggesting it wasn’t true, and it turned out to be true.

Huh? Reynolds broke the story. It was Reynolds who got the story the attention it needed to get investigated. He repeatedly gave the story credence. Does it bother you that in a single post he allowed other opinions space? That he admitted he didn’t know if it was true. No grandstanding, no conviction before the facts were in, just dogged coverage and networking to help get to the bottom of it. That is what we should do instead of just taking fabulists like Beauchamp as truth. You question the account. Had TNR done so they wouldn’t be sitting around with egg on their face.

It’s admirable that he brought it up again when the military charged some people, but if the military had decided not to charge anyone, it would have disappeared.

No, you obviously don’t read Glenn, or not at the time, or followed all the links just in those posts. Glenn posted on it repeatedly. he fretted about a coverup, he worked to get it investigated. He helped get Chief Wiggles to investigate. Your charge is just not only false, it is completely the opposite of how Glenn approached it.

If I found fifty links mocking civil-liberty advocates to the four or five patriot-act posts, what would you then say?

You would need more than that, since almost every post up there touches on aspects of civil liberties which are quite important. It also should be noted that mocking civil liberties advocates is fair game. It certainly does not justify the charge leveled, which is now shown to be false in this one exercise in several important ways. As the post points out, it isn’t an issue of disproving every charge of Sullivan’s, it is enough to show that on the easiest aspect Sullivan either doesn’t know what he is talking about, or was lying. In your case, you had to have it demonstrated. Obviously you do not understand Glenn’s thought, and thus have no business asserting what he does or does not care about based on obviously limited readings, mostly from other people’s characterizations, and links where he has been interpreted by dishonest hacks like Instaputz or Greenwald.

Nobody should have taken that critique seriously, that they did means either they were dishonest, or uninformed. I don’t mind people being uninformed, but then saying that you get to hold to a view over people who are informed, based on the evidence of liars and the uninformed is just a bit much for me to listen to.

As for the second comment, even if Glenn were on the other side of this issue, it wouldn’t change the falseness of all the other attacks. One doesn’t justify another, though that is exactly the kind of bootstrapping is done with Glenn all the time. I don’t agree on one issue, or he isn’t active enough, crusading as vigorously, so he is really Cheney in disguise (and of course Cheney isn’t what people think he is either.)

Time for luch. I’ll respond to the rest later.

But I strongly suspect he’s nowhere to be found. Democratic Senators are being heavily pressured: Republican Senators are getting a free ride. Glenn could change this singlehandedly. Where is he? Where is a genuine defender of civil liberties on this?

Or do you think that “retroactive legal immunity” is a concept that is anything other than fundamentally and completely reprehensible?

It makes me absolutely fuc*ing sick.

I don’t think you’ve convinced me that Glenn Reynolds doesn’t spend five times as much time mocking people worried about defending our civil liberties from encroachment, as he does defending said encroachments. Do you think you’ve demonstrated that? It’s nice that he linked approvingly to Russ Feingold, and all. If I found fifty links mocking civil-liberty advocates to the four or five patriot-act posts, what would you then say? Do you think I couldn’t win that bet?

I don’t really have time to follow through, but I’m curious.

It’s nice that he posted that story from Zeyad. You’ll notice he posted about fifteen responses suggesting it wasn’t true, and it turned out to be true. It’s admirable that he brought it up again when the military charged some people, but if the military had decided not to charge anyone, it would have disappeared. I don’t like journalism that relies upon the institution being investigated to be its own judge. I think you can understand that. It’s a bad system even if it occasionally works. It violates every institutional law of gravity.

Cheers.

sounds kinky!

Maybe Pogue will have an adult section on his website. Chocolate works, why not honey?

Second Hand Nectar

sounds kinky!

And I’ll pass along your compliments about the honey to the bees. Oh, and I’m planning on setting up a products page on my company website where you can order all the Pogue Honey you want. And I may even name a product line in your blog’s honor…

How about,

Second Hand Nectar

I like it.

Cheers.

THEY TOLD ME THAT IF GEORGE W. BUSH WERE RE-ELECTED, the morality police would be wielding a heavy hand. And they were right! “The Boston Globe reports that Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is trying to sneak a provision to criminalize online gambling. The bill, if passed, would make online gambling punishable by up to 2 years in prison and $25k in fines.”

But there’s more: “Ironically, the provision is buried deep within a bill to allow the construction of three new casinos in Massachusetts to bring more gambling revenue into the state.” As Rev. Lovejoy says, if the state does it, it’s not immoral!

Criminalize drugs, criminalize gambling, either way it is the same kind of thing. Same stupid result.

By the way Pogue, it is really good honey. We have relatives who actually ask for “Pogue honey.” In fact, we gave as a gift a honeycomb to my mother in law, and she wanted to know why she couldn’t have the “Pogue honeycomb.” I just ignored her.

I called him on it and said it would be a cold day in Hell before that blogger issued a correction.

You stated he would.

We bet on it.

You said you’d email him regarding the matter.

I hope you remember what it was ’cause I don’t. But if you remember, you should follow up on it. I already spent the ten bucks I was planning on winning from you.

Cheers.

TAX DOLLARS AT WORK — FOR JUSTICE!

The California Highway Patrol was recently forced to turn over the largely pre-written police reports officers use in DWI cases. The templates come already completed with boilerplate language like, “As I spoke with the driver I smelled the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his/her breath. I noticed that the driver had red watery eyes, as well as slow and slurred speech,” and “eyes showed lack of smooth pursuit, distinct nystagmus at the extremes and an onset prior to 45 degrees.”

Well, for higher DUI revenues, anyway.

I would include this:

EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT tortures blogger in prison:

Abdel Karim Soliman, famously now known as Karim Amer, who got jailed for “disdain for religion” and “insulting the president” on his blog, is reportedly getting tortured by the Prison authorities.

Contact information for the Egyptian embassy:

The Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
3521 International Ct. NW
Washington DC 20008
Phone (202) 895 5400
Fax (202) 244 5131
(202) 244 4319
Email: embassy@egyptembdc.org

And from yesterday:

THE UNITED NATIONS: Grabbing for the Internet, in Rio, according to Claudia Rosett.

And since the weaselly answer is that he cares only if it is about the UN (despite the extensive evidence above demonstrating that isn’t true) I also give this little link about Dick Cheney from yesterday. Glenn is hardly kind, if civil, to the weird legal theories espoused by him or on his behalf. Tasking a trimmer to executive power? He would never!

Lots more on the front page, but heck, these will do for now.