Glenn Greenwald's comments without Be-Bop-O : Grateful Dead without Jerry : an Autumn rain without fragrance : etc., etc.. If you relax and let the art flow over you, you may find you can't do without him.

She don't know nothin' 'bout correctin' no "errors."

To add to Robertogreen's "guaranteed" list: The "Time" people will also claim that the letters and phone calls were rabid and full of awful language, and thus dismiss the vast majority of the inquiries that were intelligently and politely written.

It's worth doing anyway. It's great to see them being called out for their lies and smears. Thank you.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-rush-holt/whats-really-in-the-rest_b_74309.html

Mr. Klein is correct that Republicans will try to misrepresent the RESTORE Act as "civil rights for terrorists." They have already used these scare tactics and will continue to make false, hyperbolic statements about the bill. However, protecting Americans is too important for Democrats to allow such scurrilous attacks to lead them to sacrifice legislation that adheres to the principles that are necessary to protect Americans.

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Klein had no GOP "source" on this at all. Was one really needed? It is pretty obvious Klein was just writing the standard "Dems weak on National Security" narritive. Did he need to get an actual source on this? I don't think he did. I don't think there is a source.

We do not want the government involved in vetting news stories and deciding what is true or not

I have to second that. I think that the ownership structure of media companies deserves some scrutiny but trying to regulate content would only exacerbate the problem.

“I have to say that Glenn's columns and commenters here are of a much higher caliber on subjects that I am interested in than almost anywhere else.

That said, can Salon's editors add a radio button on the top that says "view all comments except bebop-o's"? I get interested in a story, start reading through the comments, get into the discussion, then walk head on into Salon's most underemployed serial nonsense poster. Man, does he like to see his name on the screen.

Bebop-o, you are not adding anything to the discussion. There is a time and a place- this is not it.”

Welcome to UT. Most readers here, obviously share your opinion about the caliber of subjects and commentary. However, many here (including myself) enjoy reading what Bebop-o has to say. I think if you get to spend some time here and fully consider what he says you may also come to appreciate his contributions.

Meanwhile, the scroll button should be just as useful as an ad-hoc radio button for Bebop-o.

A lot of regular commenters like Bebop-o’s style. I cannot say that I agree with them. But they are well-educated, highly intelligent people. I have to assume they are 1) more sensitive, 2) more poetic, 3) more well-educated, or 4) all of the above and thus are able to appreciate his style more than I do (and you apparently as well).

Let me be clear – from what I’ve been able to understand, Bebop-o is a very sensitive, decent person who is highly intelligent. He also served in Vietnam, and anyone who did that and didn’t become a heartless monster deserves all the benefit of the doubt I’m capable of. I would not deprive some of our more erudite commenters the pleasure of Bebop-o’s company just as a result of my personal opinions.

Semiodd, I would simply skip his posts if you don’t like them. I recommend not stirring that particular pot.

I would also recommend skipping ones by Shooter242, Elephantman, The Canadian, nabalzbbfr, and a few others, but for much different reasons – instead of poetry, you get neocon and/or conspiracy nutjob Kool-Aid. And not particularly intelligent formulations of it, either.

Cheers,

We should not be surprised that Time, and specifically Mr. Klein will offer (maybe) a tepid retraction or correction as pointed out by Glenn. The Beltway MSM is more interested in having Access to Power, than actually reporting a story. For them modern political journalism is about Access. Period. They want to hang out with the cool kids. Then they can go on any nonsense talking head show and talk about their "sources."

These are dark days for the American Dream, and it is slowly, and inexorably away. Without the post-New Journalism of the blogosphere to keep the traditional media honest we might not ever know the truth about anything. Ever.

Looks like Dutch's old quip, "Trust, but verify" must now be applied to a new group of treacherous prevaricators.

The Punditocracy has no clothes.

You've latched on to these people and you're not letting go. Keep it up.

Glenn thanks for turning the spotlight on this inaccurate reporting. Jane over at FDL doing the same. Have tried to call the Time editors mailbox is full.

My only objection is that when bloggers like Jane shake their fingers at reporters like Klein. Jane should turn that shaking finger around at herself and her own blog and examine the type of very serious censorship taking place at Firedoglake. I know you progressive bloggers stick together not unlike the right wing zealots no matter what. Will never forget Janes blog slamming Elizabeth Edwards for speaking out about the Petraeus add. Jane was like a zealot demanding that no one ever question the progressive stance. It was very similar to Fox strategies. Worrisome

To grow and really be progressive one needs to be willing to examine oneself and that is not taking place at Firedoglake.

Anonymous speech and sourcing is essential to democracy. It should always be legally protected.

However, I wouldn't mind if a bunch of well-placed folks started sourcing some complete baloney to folks like Klein, they clearly swallow anything, and maybe a few well-placed embarrassing screw-ups would make these reporters start paying attention to whether or not what they report is factual.

In "The Producers", Mel Brooks epitomizes what propaganda is by having Joseph Goebbels tell Hitler that he just told the people "we invaded England" and that "I told 'em we beat them!", to which Hitler rejoins "That's my Joey, I love my Little Joe!"

Maybe if concepts of "responsibility" and "ethics" don't get through to TIME, TIME's editors and TIME's writers, the idea of abject humiliation and derision might.

Glenn, your invaluable exposition of the fundamental dishonesty of this Klein/TIME hatchet job is, as your work so often is, magnificent and compelling. But as we collectively bemoan the likely absence of anything resembling "alarm" coming from the "mainstream" or the "Beltway" or the "Serious" folk, how about we start using, in bold type, the one word that everybody understands and nobody purports to like: "propaganda." THAT'S WHAT THIS EPISODE EPITOMIZES. THAT'S A MONIKER THAT NOT EVEN TIME MAGAZINE SAFELY CAN IGNORE. Isn't it? How can an author, confronted with the abject falsity of the cornerstone of his political tome, respond that he has neither the expertise nor the time to understand what he has written (and an editor subsequently back him) without the piece being recognized as pure, unadulterated and intentional propaganda? Who could do that? It cries out to be the butt of Mel Brooks' jokes, not just (though, certainly, also) anger and scorn.