Posted on 07/26/2007 4:26:20 AM PDT by TomB
Non-newsy BTTT.
Here’s betting that Michael Moore will feature him in an upcoming crockumentary and Cindy Sheehan will use him to campaign against Nancy Pelosi. Maybe Professor Ward Chuchill needs a grad assistant at whatever loony-left college he lands at!
This jerk got this gig just like Joe Wilson did.
July 26, 2007
Source: TNR Is A Lot More Worried Than They're Letting On; Scott Thomas Got His Job For Plame-ish Reasons: "Frankln Foer Doesn't Want To Tell TNR Staffer Elspeth Reeve Her Husband Is A Liar"
Reorganized, Re-edited, Corrected Post. The actual quote was "Frank doesn't want to tell ___ her husband is a liar," offered up not by my source but by someone else. The blank has now been confirmed as TNR staffer Elspeth Reeve, and even though the quote was "husband," there's some question about that: Via the weddingchannel.coml says their wedding is coming in October. Though perhaps they had a quickie civil ceremony before his last deployment or something, with the ceremony to occur later.
Look, husband/fiancee, not sure it matters. It certainly seems that everyone in the TNR offices were under the impression they'd already been married.
I was going to let this slide and not report it but then TNR played the hard guys and fired the guy actually sharing information about this with people. Meanwhile Foer and Beuchamp are still drawing paychecks.
Needless to say, Elspeth Reeve has nothing in particular to do with this, other than, I guess, some guy who walked by in the hallway suggesting her husband for the Niger Iraq mission. Gracie's pretty firm on her innocence, and, even if he weren't, this was Foer's call, not hers.
Scott Thomas Beauchamp was not chosen for this job because he had some terrific amount of experience or credentials or integrity. He was picked for Plame-type reasons: He's married or engaged to someone at TNR.
As Gracie reported to me, this is openly discussed in the TNR offices. One representative quote: "Frank[lin Foer] doesn't want to call [woman's] husband a liar." That wasn't Gracie saying that, that was someone else in the office, explaining the inter-office politics of this.
Gracie: Okay: Although I'm 100% certain that the husband of a staff member is central to this, I'm only about 90% certain that the husband IS Scott Thomas -- the alternative possibility is that the husband is one of the soldiers vouching for Scott Thomas
me: okay. well I was going to stay off of that anyway. I was more asking about: 1) The fact it's an open secret in the office 2:30 AM 2) your opinion that "Scott Thomas" was chosen for poor reasons, having to do with personal familiarity, rather than obvious journalistic credentials 3) that it's your opinion foer is the real screw-up here.
Note: I'm including that to prove I wasn't super-eager to mention that Beauchamp only got the job through his engagement to a staffer. I was going to say merely that he got the job due more to personal familiarity and connections than any obvious qualifications.
I was going to hold off on that. Until they pissed me off.
It's all so Plame-ish. As Gracie wrote to me, of all the embeds and milbloggers and real journalists they could have picked for the job, they instead chose to go with a very partisan, very inexperienced blogger just out of "laziness." Just because they knew him. Just because it was easy.
I actually think part of the reason was that they knew Beauchamp's politics -- he having put them on display on his goofy blog -- and so, just like with Valerie Plame, they knew the report was going to come back the way they wanted it when they sent him. But Gracie says it's just Occam's razor: Laziness.
Still, he's just speculating on the reason (as am I).
BTW, I have long kinda-sorta wanted to embed in Iraq... if TNR wants to sponsor me, I am more than willing to do some light petting with Michelle Cottle, if need be.
Thanks to Libberlocky for nailing down confirmation of the marriage/engagement angle. I was up half the night googling that.
I really want to stress that I wasn't particularly psyched about reporting this part of the story. But honestly, the name's already out there anyway; I'm just the first to run with it. There would have been someone right behind me.
Plus, like I said, I think TNR is playing very dirty pool here.
Allah's Always Gotta Be A Dick Update: Allah is questioning whether my suggested timeline is right -- that Elspeth got Beauchamp the gig because they were engaged/married. Instead, he wonders: Did Beauchamp already get the gig, and then had a whirlwind courtship with Elspeth?
All I can say is that this would have had to have been a very quick courtship. The guy starts posting for TNR a couple of months ago and then he's married or engaged to a woman he couldn't possibly have met more than once or twice, owing to his overseas deployment?
Further, my information tells me they went to the same college together.
... Fired: I knew this, but wasn't sure if I was supposed to say anything about it.
TNR fired Gracie at 7:25 this morning with the non-explanation, "Your services are no longer required." This information is offered up by one of Gracie's psuedonyms ("near certainty" on that) at discarded lies.
Call Patrick Fitzgerald to investing the outing of Elspeth Reeve!
Political intimidation!
Are you still in the sandbox?
Bet this Scott guy is a piece of work. Must be real popular with his buddies.......
His name may be “Scott Thomas”, but he most certainly is a “John Thomas”.
What royally pisses me off is he is so defensive. He’s like how DARE these armchair generals at home QUESTION me? Then he blames the right wing blogosphere for his “troubles”. Hey jerk, if you lied about this then you should be completely disemboweled, and the leftwing press needs to go down hard. If you are telling the truth, then you’re an even bigger POS. What kind of dirtbag makes fun of a disfigured soldier? Why would he NOT report a mass grave of children, let alone turn in a cretin who thinks it’s funny to play with a childs skull? I understand gallows humor, and I know war is hell and we see crazy $hit, but no one thinks dead kids are funny. Ever.
Hi! Yep, I'm still here and it is HOT outside these days. ;-)
Bet this Scott guy is a piece of work. Must be real popular with his buddies.......
He's full of B.S. And as I read more, I see that he appears to have quite the liberal agenda.
I love that he is BUSTED.
Yah, doesn’t like Republicans — from his blog —
FRIDAY, JUNE 09, 2006
. . .
I miss political arguments. There seems to be a consensus with all the boys overseas...we laugh harder at CSPAN than comedy central. Silly republicans.
posted by Scott Thomas at 4:13 AM 1 COMMENTS
BUMP for later read...
Now, where have I heard that line before?
Oh, yeah, from CBS with the Bush National Guard story.
-PJ
As usual, the SCUM of the left hate any “whistleblower” who might be inconvenient to them. They worship leftist so-called whistleblowers who are (so often) merely rabid socialist hacks, but let a real whistleblower get onto their wrongdoings and all interest in “whistleblower protection” goes right out the window.
It’s obvious from a moment’s perusal of his blog comments that we have here a vicious, dishonest leftist wanker, of the Noam Chomsky acolyte variety.
Fighting only for the “riches of empire” — ah, yes, this guy is truly an honest, objective source on the happenings in Iraq........
“Gracie” is now a ticking time bomb. TNR had better come clean and soon.
Malkin, Mudville, and the blogosphere are just amazing. Hats off.
Speaks to motive: looks like he got demoted at some point, which, of course, likely just adds fuel to his literary fire.
[As a writer, he’s terrible: overwrought and self-centered. A typical lefty]
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