Kristol issues a correction: ‘I regret the error.’
Kristol issues a correction: ‘I regret the error.’
In his New York Times column today, Bill Kristol asserted that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) “was in fact in the pews” when pastor Jeremiah Wright blamed the “arrogance” of the “United States of White America” for much of the world’s suffering. As Marc Ambinder pointed out, this claim was false; Obama was on his way to campaign in Miami. Kristol has now printed a (misspelled) correction in the online version of his column:
In this column, I cite a report that Sen. Obama had attended services at Trinity Church on July 22, 2007. The Obama camapaign [sic] has provided information showing that Sen. Obama did not attend Trinity that day. I regret the error.
This is the second time that Kristol has had to issue a correction to his NYT column since it began in early January.
UPDATE: Jay Ackroyd received a response from the New York Times public editor, who confirmed that Kristol was “wrong”:
Dear Reader,
Thank you for writing. Mr. Kristol has affixed to the top of his column a correction on this issue. You are correct, he was wrong.
Sincerely,
Michael McElroy
Office of the Public Editor
The New York Times
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62 Responses to “Kristol issues a correction: ‘I regret the error.’”
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....after the cow has left the barn.
_AIO_
March 17th, 2008 at 12:51 pmGee, I thought the NYT was about journalism--you know, checking and being sure of your facts.
"Liberal media" indeed.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:51 pmThis is the second time that Kristol has had to issue a correction to his NYT column since it began in early January.
Only the second? Why, that almost makes him an honest journalist....
As for the N.Y. Times, I have some commentary on their editorial policy here on my blog. There's an occasional good editorial, but how do they pick the trash they publish from "contributors"?
Cheers,
March 17th, 2008 at 12:53 pmOr, to put it another way, "since there is proof that what I said was false, I admit it. Damn it. If no one provided such proof, I would have been free to continue in my false assertion, since I don't need to prove any damn thing I say."
March 17th, 2008 at 12:55 pmNow, when will the NYT issue a "correction" and let us know that they did not, in fact, hire a right wing ideologue to use their newspaper as a platform for his vitriol and spin?
March 17th, 2008 at 12:55 pmLiberal media, indeed.....
March 17th, 2008 at 12:57 pmTo be honest, I didn't hear anything that Reverend Wright said that was incorrect. I think America should hear his message.
Why did Obama throw him under the bus?
_AIO_
March 17th, 2008 at 12:57 pmY'know, Billy, if you really "regret the error", perhaps you ought to consider amending your article, since its entire premise (Obama as standard, calculating politician as evidenced by this instance of dissembling) is built on this false assertion.
Billy?
Billy?
(crickets)
March 17th, 2008 at 1:00 pmI agree ...Wright was Right. But I don't think Obama threw "him" under the bus...just tossed some of those comments out in the street.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:00 pmThe Times will print a "correction" tomorrow, buried somewhere under a bunch of ads and nowhere near the prominence given Billy's column.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:03 pmThere it is -- the word "regret". The words "regret" and "regrettable" have come to mean "this isn't an apology, or any admission of wrongdoing -- this is a statement by me I am more or less being forced into making."
The word used to mean "to feel sorrow or remorse". However, it's not possible for Kristol to feel either one.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:04 pmre #7
Furthermore, he said nothing that right wing preachers haven't said many times over.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:04 pmhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/obamas-minister-committe_b_91774.html
To be honest? That's a joke right? Since when did you reich wing trolls care about being honest? When did they decide to let you post here again CT?
March 17th, 2008 at 1:04 pmdig the new look. swanky
March 17th, 2008 at 1:05 pmKristol issues a correction: ‘I regret the error.’
Translation = Sucks getting caught
March 17th, 2008 at 1:06 pmHey Kristol, What error do you regret? Being born. Lying scumbag who should be begging for change on the off ramp, not working for NYT.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:06 pmyoutube is censoring Mike Gravl . aint that some shit? Youtube presents itself as a public forum yet when corporate influence shows its ugky head they do whatever they tell them to do.
Mike Gravel is Still running.
details here
http://oldhacks.blogspot.com/
March 17th, 2008 at 1:07 pmObama's Minister Committed "Treason" But When My Father Said the Same Thing He Was a Republican Hero
March 17th, 2008 at 1:09 pmIt's time for the NYTimes to get rid of Kristol
March 17th, 2008 at 1:10 pmI only speak to barmaids indirectly; got that, biatch?
Just because I despise you doesn't mean that I'm a right winger.
_AIO_
March 17th, 2008 at 1:15 pm.
America regrets that Bill's father didn't support pulling out either.
.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:17 pmLooks like the deluge of letters that hit the NYT, Kristol and the public editor had an effect. It's too bad, however, that once again, the story was out, read and undoubtedly repeated many times before this correction, which will never be seen by many, was issued.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:18 pmI guess this means that the right wing has abandoned the "Barack is a muslim" talking point?
Too bad. That one was so easy to shoot down.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:22 pmThaat's the m.o. of the neocons and the repugnicans isn't it -- run a smear story, an unwarranted assault, make an outrageous claim - get the publicity and IF you are caught doing it, issue a half-hearted "oops."
March 17th, 2008 at 1:22 pmRalph, the rightwingers can no longer legitimately make the claim "stealth muslim" of Obama - so they have accepted that he is christian, and therefore they must attack his church. Do not focus on the good works of the church, but take a few sound bites that may appeal to racists and the easily-led.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:25 pmThanks for your cooperation your most heinous troll. You make it so easy to get you kicked out of here when you lose it so quickly. Better cut back on the crystal meth. Or is that Kristol meth in your case?
March 17th, 2008 at 1:29 pmNothing new here. William the Bloody is wrong about everything. He needs to issue a whole lot more "corrections" and "regrets for errors".
March 17th, 2008 at 1:32 pmKristol should have said that " I was hoping Obama was in the pews". Then he would have been labeled another want to be comedian. We are use to Repukes comedy like Gibson and Tucker.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:35 pmJust putting the correction on-line isn't good enough. The NYT needs to print the correction tomorrow in the print version of their paper. If they don't, then it proves that they are fine with disseminating disinformation.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:40 pmAh, this is amusing. Once again, the right wing 'liberal' media puts an unwarranted and patently false news item out in the wild. Yes, he got caught, and we all know he's only sorry he got caught. But now every two-bit neocon boot-licker will be spewing this bull$#!+ everywhere they can, and if people don't do basic fact checking, then they'll swallow this story hook, line, and sinker.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:40 pmShouldn't there be a big disclaimer saying BK is advising John McCain everytime he writes one of these broadsides against the Democratic party?
March 17th, 2008 at 1:44 pmDo not focus on the good works of the church, but take a few sound bites that may appeal to racists and the easily-led.
This should die down quickly now that the left is coming up with sound bites of right wing preachers saying some pretty ugly things about our government. We all remember one of them blaming 911 on our government's tolerance of gays, don't you? I'm waiting for someone to come up with some outrageous quotes Mike Huckabee has said from the pulpit. I'm sure there are lots of those.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:46 pmVery surprising that a "serious" journalist like William Krystol would use News max as a source. I guess anyone is entittled to be wrong once or twice or all the f......g time.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:47 pmWho cares about the tanking economy, crashing stock market, record high gas prices, and worthless dollar bill...we NEED to focus on Obama's middle name and former pastor!
March 17th, 2008 at 1:54 pmPink slip that vapid fop, and give his job to a sophomore journalism major.
All the billionaire buttplugs running this circus best pack up for places that will tolerate them. The USA is going to have a bleak Depression followed by a Bolshevik Revolution thanks to the avaricious few who just won't quit when they're ahead.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:55 pmBilly Crystal struck out with the NYY's.
Billy Krisco struck out trying to be a journalist.
This little half-wit was staunchly against McInsane just 2 months ago.
My, how times have changed.
BTW, I just canceled my NYT subscription. The day KKKarl & Billy can spew bullshit out of it's print is the day I stop reading it.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:00 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
March 17th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I haven't seen much this week of the evangelical tirades, blaming 9/11 on gays and other outrageous claims they are so noted for.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:00 pmThe rebuttals and comparisons of the same kind of sermon must be given coverage on the msm.
Wow, the entire column was about the fact that Obama was a liar because he said he wasn't there when he really was. And then at the top there is the "well, he really wasn't there", but the entire column is still there. They should have pulled the column and put in it's place the retraction.
Every time some right winger refers to the New York Times as that liberal newspaper I want to barf.
I wonder what these right wing newspapers are going to do once the Democrats are in charge. Are they going to change their tune and start going after the right. Probably not.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:03 pmMarie Says:
Bilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
I haven’t seen much this week of the evangelical tirades, blaming 9/11 on gays and other outrageous claims they are so noted for.
I don't watch TV or read newspapers so I don't know if it is being covered there. But the comparisons are sure popping up in blogs all over the internet.
I would love to see Obama give a speech where he says that he repudiates the things they are quoting Wright saying, and then say he also repudiates .... and then give a list of the outrageous things the right wing preachers (and maybe Huckabee) have said from the pulpit.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:09 pmDr. Hussein Matt Says:
March 17th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Who cares about the tanking economy, crashing stock market, record high gas prices, and worthless dollar bill…we NEED to focus on Obama’s middle name and former pastor!
Um, Wright is STILL Obama's pastor. The man hasn't officially left the ministry yet. (Also, Obama STILL considers the man to be a family friend. Further, the comments that Wright is being excoriated over were made while he was Obama's official minister--that is, Obama still considered himself a part of Wright's congregation.)
March 17th, 2008 at 2:27 pmBut, let's not forget that when certain other left-wing persons made similar comments regarding 9/11 (*cough*Ward Churchill*cough*), they were not only excoriated by the right-wing media but roundly (and thoroughly) denounced by most progressives--even in places such as this--especially because they were used by the right-wing noise machine as examples of "wacky liberals" or "America-hating lefties". Now, it's King Barack's long-time minister whose words are being used against him and Barack, but we dare not sully the Anointed One's name or reputation so Wright MUST be completely dissociated from St Barack.
I'd be willing to bet that if Hillary's minister of nearly 20 years had been caught making the same sort of vile comments, if Hillary didn't dump the guy and make a PERSONAL public apology for the man's comments within 1 hour of the comments' coming to light, there wouldn't be a single member of the media that didn't lead with "HILLARY MUST GO!!!!" Even more, in such a situation, if Hillary claimed that she was unaware of such comments and had never heard him ever make such comments from the pulpit, the "liberal" media would be howling that she couldn't possibly have not known.
Barack Obama is just as ambitious as every Obama fan accuses Hillary of being (IMO, perhaps more so--one of them actually served a full Senate term before announcing a run for the Presidency).
good_golly Says:
March 17th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Obama was there for 20 years of this hate speach and didn’t repudiate it until his advisors told him to. That he wasn’t there for one particular sermon is a minor point.
He shouldn't have to repudiate it at all. Truth isn't hate speech.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:29 pmObama was there for 20 years of this hate speach and didn’t repudiate it until his advisors told him to. That he wasn’t there for one particular sermon is a minor point.
I guess goon_golly thinks that Obama was able to channel Wright's speeches when he wasn't there. Obama started backing away from Wright when he found out about those cherry-picked clips from over 30 years of sermons. How many were there? Three or four over 30 years. Wow, that surely says something terrible.
So, how about all the hate speech the right wing has been preaching from the pulpit. Why does that get a pass?
This issue isn't going to make a whit of difference in who people support. If you are an Obama supporter, you will accept what he said regarding not knowing that Wright had said those things. If you are a Hillary Rove Clinton supporter, you are gleeful to find this issue to hammer Obama with. If you are a McCain supporter then...I feel sorry for you.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:30 pmKrystol's whole argument falls flat on it's face when the facts are shown that Obama wasn't in the seats and Obama does reject the incindiary comments.
Ignorance is a dangerous thing and Krystol knows that.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:31 pmHere ya go, racist goon golly:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20080317/cm_huffpost/091774;_ylt=Aq_lH72YCCxOlaE1vskCJXms0NUE
March 17th, 2008 at 2:33 pmEven more, in such a situation, if Hillary claimed that she was unaware of such comments and had never heard him ever make such comments from the pulpit, the “liberal” media would be howling that she couldn’t possibly have not known.
Barack Obama is just as ambitious as every Obama fan accuses Hillary of being (IMO, perhaps more so–one of them actually served a full Senate term before announcing a run for the Presidency).
They may not be her pastor, but Hillary Rove Clinton has a lot of "former friends" and supporters who she has had to repudiate. And I'm betting that the reason why she is so unwilling to release her tax returns is because there are more financial contributers to the Clintons who will be embarrassing to be associated with.
How about we judge people on who they are, not who they hang with? How about we judge the candidates based on their record, their plans for the future, and their ability to heal our nation of grievous wounds.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:34 pmgood_golly Says:
March 17th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Obama was there for 20 years of this hate speach and didn’t repudiate it until his advisors told him to. That he wasn’t there for one particular sermon is a minor point.
Nice one, Gigi. An opinion columnist bases the entire premise of his column on a lie, but the lie is a "minor point".
We always knew that the Truth was insignificant to the Right, but so seldom do any of them actually admit it. Kudos to you, Gigi.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:41 pmIt remind me of the Christian values that many in the Republican Party upholds so strongly when they go on the attack against others. I wonder how they are doing on keeping those Commandments. I had a look at those Commandments that focus on person-to-person relationships and are meant to guide interaction between people. Unfortunately, they tend to break them willfully day in and day out. Yes, theft, lies, adultery, want and murder. More on my blog at http://angryafrican.net/2008/03/09/breaking-the-commandments-republican-style/
March 17th, 2008 at 2:46 pmRegret the error is simply insufficient. This is not a mistake. This is the simple and well repeated tactic of the conservative propaganda machine. This is no different than FOX constantly placing a Democrat designation under the picture of a Republican charged with significant misconduct. We see the continual campaign against Obama with innuendo that he is Muslim. The only way to put an end to this is if people are fired for their lies and right wing bias.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:48 pmBill baby, next time get a senior reporter to show you how it's done.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:51 pmCan I interpret the headline to mean that Irving Kristol has apologized from the grave for the "error" that is his son?
March 17th, 2008 at 3:06 pmgood_golly resents the fact that Obama attended the church for 20 years and failed to disparage the comments by the reverend. Yes, I am constantly bored by the number of Republican politicians who tie up the airwaves every week denouncing the viewpoints of their preachers who have said something that was out of line. How many is it? 100 a month? 10 a month? 1 a month? Oh gosh, no one goes on national or local TV to denounce their ministers. Just one more delusional desire by the unbalanced gigi.
March 17th, 2008 at 3:10 pmgood_golly Says:
March 17th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
in gg's world republican lying is always a "minor point".
March 17th, 2008 at 3:51 pmHeckava job, NYT, for hiring that incompentent clown! I certainly wouldn't hire Vampire Kristol to proofread my spelling.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:01 pmposted a new blog about
"the concequences of corporatizing the Internet"
might wanna take a look
Kristol is a hired agent of the corporatists that rule this nation.
they're all in on it together!
http://www.oldhacks.blogspot.com
March 17th, 2008 at 4:53 pmIt seems someone, possibly even Ronald Kessler himself, is scrubbing his Wikipedia entry clean of any controversy including reference to his false weekend article in Newsmax regarding Obama being in attendance at church in Chicago on 7/22/07, that was Kristol's source.
Take a look at Kessler's Wiki page's history -
March 17th, 2008 at 5:17 pmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ronald_Kessler&action=history
John McCain's radical religious advisors advocate the violent overthrow of our own government!!!
March 17th, 2008 at 5:48 pmAnytime someone says "there is, in fact" as a preface to anything (see also: Dick Cheney, "we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators"), you know you're getting a line of crap.
duly noted, editors?
March 17th, 2008 at 5:53 pmWhat I can't get is why the New York Times hired him in the first place, considering his overall judgment and predictions of the Iraq war. He reminds me a bit of Dan Quayle, the man he used to work for.
March 17th, 2008 at 6:59 pmWhaaaat??? Kristol actually admits that he was -- *GASP* -- wrong?!?!? Will wonders never cease -- surely icicles are forming on the doorsills of Hell e'en now and new advances being made in the area of porcine aviation.
I was under the impression that acknowledging one's mistakes is practically an unforgivable sin in neoconservative dogma...
March 18th, 2008 at 12:02 amI love ThinkProgress but pointing out that his correction was misspelled is juvenile. It's also the pot calling the kettle black. There are typos on this site all the time.
March 18th, 2008 at 12:29 amIf this is true, based on an article written on August 9, 2007 where the reporter was said to attend the same service as Obama on July 22nd and was disturbed by the sermon, then it seems Obama may have made a morning service and then flew to Miami, it's only a 3 hr flight.
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/8/8/194812.shtml
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/03/breaking-news-1.html
But I could not find it on the wayback machine, so it could be a plant, or maybe I just could not find it.
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.newsmax.com
March 18th, 2008 at 1:47 amBill Kristol seems to get his facts wrong quite A bit. At the NYT's, is this why they hired him. Can we believe any thing the NYT's prints any more? Who checks the facts.
March 18th, 2008 at 10:23 am