[AHerald]

All the business cards and telephone records in the world won't answer the obvious question (among many) of why the author didn't pick up the phone and call the White House to corroborate ANYONE'S claim to have sat in on presidential intel briefing--not to mention someone claiming to have witnessed the president committing a potentially impeachable offense.

The story was so blatantly dubious from the get-go that I would have fact-checked even my own father (and he's a retired FBI agent) before publishing the damn thing.

[Miss Marple]

You make an excellent point. Someone who has been around Washington all this time should have done that, shouldn't he?

I mean, if my brother0in-law, who was a Marine officer in Viet Nam, and whom I trust implicitly, came to me with a story like this, I would call the White House and check it out. I am only a Midwestern housewife, not a Washington reporter, but even I would check my own brother0in-law!

[Mo1]

All the business cards and telephone records in the world won't answer the obvious question (among many) of why the author didn't pick up the phone and call the White House to corroborate ANYONE'S claim to have sat in on presidential intel briefing--not to mention someone claiming to have witnessed the president committing a potentially impeachable offense.

Exactly .. you don't go and print a story AND THEN verify the facts