You are right about Monday morning quarterbacking :) But it is so illustrative of the way we are here and why I love this place so much. We just can't stand it when pieces don't hang together, when the parts don't fit, when there is that intellectual disonance. And we keep poking a stick at whatever it is until we are satisfied that we have the best and clearest idea of just what really happened and why.
The stick we poke with is the great research done here on FR.
It is used by many and acknowledged by few. However, over at http://justoneminute.typepad.com, Clarice Feldman and others do acknowledge the contribution of FR researchers and archivists, and refer others to their work.
Clarice Feldman's article on the PlameGame is up at the Weekly Standard site and will be in print Monday. You can watch the construction of her article, fact by fact, with the help of fellow journalists and regular readers at http://justoneminute.typepad.com.
It is interesting to note the integrity of the process by Clarice, et al., and also the raging threats by one poster who may be a Jason Leopold sock-puppet.