I fooled 'em all, ex-Times scribe crows

New York Daily News ^ | 5/21/03 | BILL HUTCHINSON

[kattracks]

Scandalous scribe Jayson Blair says he "couldn't stop laughing" at The New York Times' Sunday opus on his wrongdoings at the paper and bragged about fooling "the most brilliant people in journalism."

In an interview to be published today in The New York Observer, the 27-year-old Blair seemed to even get a kick out of The Times' lengthy investigative report into his fraudulent reporting.

Referring to The Times' account of a deceptive story he wrote about rescued POW Pvt. Jessica Lynch, Blair told The Observer, "That's my favorite, just because the description was so far off from the reality."

Blair wrote that the Lynch family home overlooked "tobacco fields and cattle pastures." The porch overlooks no such thing.

"And the way they described it in The Times story - someone read a portion of it to me - I couldn't stop laughing," said Blair, who resigned from The Times in disgrace.

He also boasted to the weekly that he "fooled some of the most brilliant people in journalism" with his faked reports.

Blair, who has signed with a literary agent in hopes of landing a book and movie deal for his story, blamed unspecified personal problems for his in-print deceptions.

"I was either going to kill myself or I was going to kill the journalist persona," he told The Observer. "So Jayson Blair the human being could live, Jayson Blair the journalist had to die."

Originally published on May 21, 2003

[TaxRelief]

Evil personified.

[TankerKC]

I hope this guy understands he's no longer employable...

He'll be rolling in dough.

[ThanhPhero]

Actually, Jayson Blair has done the nation a service, and while commendations are not in order, a gentle smirk is appropriate.

[Lee'sGhost]

"Actually, Jayson Blair has done the nation a service, "

Unintentionally, but yes, he has.

What I find funny is that the believes he "fooled" the so called brilliant journalists. They weren't fooled, they saw right through him and he still got away with it. This guy can't even report his own story correctly.

[Nick Danger]

As Monica Lewinsky has demonstrated by becoming hostess of a televivion show, our society now treats fame and infamy as essentially the same commodity. The message in this to young people is, "get famous, however one can, and worry about the book and movie rights later."

I'm reasonably confident that Mr. Blair here will have his Andy Warhol moment and then mercifully disappear from our lives. But imagine how heady it must be to find one's name plastered all over the front page of the New York Times, the cover of Newsweek, and so on.

He seems to think that this means he has now arrived. He is a celebrity. He's going to write a book. Maybe he'll get a TV show. Hopefully he won't start his own line of handbags like Monica did, but with men from the Times' newsroom, this is not out of the question.

Put me in the 'no' pile on guys like this. Let's have more Olympic heroes and fewer middle-aged weapons inspectors who like to meet teenaged girls at Burger King. Somewhere in Iraq right now there is a young Marine whose deeds are going unmentioned, while Jayson Blair is negotiating book rights. I don't think it's healthy to award riches and fame to people for being especially noticeable sleazebags. That will only ensure that we get more of them.

[Drango]

He'll be rolling in dough.

Ironic isn't it? The more odious the behavior, the more you can sell your book telling others about it. ~sigh

[InvisibleChurch]

rush limbaugh said this would happen

[ladtx]

The really scary part of this whole mess is that it makes one wonder how many other "Jayson Blairs" are out there, as yet uncovered.

[Jhensy]

Well, there goes any sympathy angle for this dumbass. And don't kid yourselves about any riches coming his way, there ain't none.

By the way, I hear his the manuscript of his upcoming book begins "Call me Ishmael."

[N. Theknow]

Jayson Blair wins the Chicken $hit Prize for Journalism.

What's it called?

It's a Pullet, Sir.

[searchandrecovery]

Yeah, I wonder which works of fiction will he plagiarize for his "book"?

He could start with: "It was the worst of times, it was the best of times."

[Savage Beast]

"he 'couldn't stop laughing"

"he 'fooled some of the most brilliant people in journalism' with his faked reports."

I get a kick out of it too--though just how "brilliant" these people are is highly debatable.

The funniest thing about this is the fools he made of all those subscribers to the New York Times, who read that silly publication and actually believe what it prints, whose thinking is actually influenced by it--all those politicians and "Liberals" and so-called "journalists" who swear by that rag--all those who appeal to its authority as a useful fallacy of logic--all those fools who bought that (obviously absurd) "newspaper of record" baloney!

Blair exposed them all as the fools they are!

He's right! He outsmarted the entire "Liberal" establishment, exposed them for the fools and frauds that they are, demonstrated his contempt for them, and exposed their vacuousness before history and all the world.

"Newspaper of record" indeed!!!

He deserves a good laugh!

[Moosilauke]

Blair, who has signed with a literary agent in hopes of landing a book and movie deal for his story...

Yep, now he's famous. There will be book deals, movie deals, appearance deals. Baba and Katie will be fighting to see who gets the first big TV special out of this. He's going to have to find vices more expensive than drugs because money is not going to be a problem any longer for Mr. Blair. Given that he's not hung up on moral scruples, there really is no downside for him, is there? Before the firing, he was just another name at the top of a newspaper column. Even in NY, not one person in 20 knew who he was. Now he has greater name recognition than any of the democrat candidates, with the possible exception of HRC.

[Savage Beast]

I think Jayson Blair should get an award! He outdid Matt Drudge (something very hard to do) in exposing the utter bankrupcy of not only American "journalism" and the "mainstream newsmedia" but the entire "Liberal" establishment.

Clio--the Muse of History--is laughing even harder than Jayson is!

[Kevin Curry]

Why is he dispicable? 'cause he showed how lax and assuming the press is, much less the New York Times?

Right. In the same way Osama bin Laden showed how easy it was to hijack four US airliners and turn them into weapons of mass destruction.

I guess bin Laden wasn't despicable after all. He was just doing us a much-needed favor.< /sarcasm off>

But the NYT is despicable. Blair is also despicable. They are well-suited to one another.

[Hildy]

Why doesn't the Times press charges against him? Didn't he fake receipts and stuff for reimbursement? If they've make the decision to let it go, I think they're making a big mistake. If he writes that book, he's going to go after everyone. How sad that somebody can be that morally bankrupts, and then go on to make millions of dollars off of it.

[longtermmemmory]

the NYT is trying to say the credibility problem of the leftist media is all blair. WRONG. The had a credibility problem and the way they are scapegoating this scandal is proof they do not get it.

alas, NYT rest in peace.

close the doors, they no loger have gravitas.

[TaxRelief]

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Jayson Blair debacle illustrates the dangers of misguided altruism

"A good person freely gives!" and "We must help the downtrodden!" cries the modern-day, political altruist, believing in himself completely as he bandies his lofty mottoes, offering the unsuspecting the opportunity to experience his warm, inner glow of satisfaction.

Whether the motivation is to earn a place in heaven or to impress their peers, the Jayson Blair debacle is a fine example of how truly misguided their social programs are. Like a spoiled brat, who has had everything handed to him, the young man has laughed and continues to laugh in the face of the many handouts that have come his way. He has cleverly played the "pity me" card to avoid completing his education and has used it to land a job for himself at (what some consider) one of the most respected institutes of journalism in the world: the New York Times.

The blame for his downfall can be placed squarely upon the shoulders of the tunnel visioned philanthropists at the New York Times. They gave freely and then freely gave again, apparently oblivious to the fact that monsters, like Mr. Blair, are easily created and fostered. It is extremely unfortunate and not very likely that they will ever see where the fault lies.

Mean-spirited and selfish, they repeatedly proclaim while editorializing about conservatives. Self-responsibility is unrealistic, they say, shooting another barb.

Is it not surprising that their deprecating words are a shock to productive, upstanding citizens? "Self-responsibility is unrealistic?" we ponder. Is it wrong to believe in the abilities of human nature? Is it wrong to expect every man to 'ask not what his country can do for him, but what he can do for his country'?"

Great cliches cannot themselves change reality. Chronic do-gooders deceive themselves and their children when they declare that it is possible to be selfless. They forget a simple fact:

In order to give, someone must take, and forcing or convincing someone to take is not a selfless act.

And conservatives know a sad little secret: The act of taking that which has not been earned, corrupts human nature, and ultimately drives the taker further from 'all that is good'. It creates a dependency that shatters pride and perpetuates a subclass from generation to generation. Every nursing home attendant knows that even old people crave the opportunity to give in return for what they must receive.

This cannot be interpreted to mean that conservatives are content to abdicate all responsibility. On the contrary, they care very deeply and believe that the poor and underprivileged can be helped, but not with handouts, and not with artificial "job opportunities" or favored "college admissions" that are just thinly disguised charity.

Raising their own children has taught conservatives that the "disadvantaged" are best helped when they are exposed to a culture that values success, applauds achievement and evenly rewards productivity. Everyone must be surrounded by a morality that treasures life, guards property rights (so that rewards are not taken away) and despises the random use of force.

Children and adults rise to the occasion when the bar is set to an appropriate, consistent level and when each individual is expected to be the best that he or she can be.

The New York Times would do much more to help society if the board made a decision to revert back to the policies, typical of the 1950s, that hired and fired based on ability and education. The company would of course have to make one minor revision: Managers should now be expected to "judge people, not by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character."

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-TR.............

Copyright 2003

[biblewonk]

It's people like Jayson Blair that make some people refer to other people as "those people".