Earlier this week, the WaPo printed an error in the Foley timeline which prompted me to write a couple of late-night diaries
WaPo gets Foley timeline wrong by A WHOLE YEAR! and
Who's correct? Weisman or Weisman?
and write to the author, Jonathan Weisman, requesting a correction.
Well, the correction has now appeared:
Correction to This Article
An Oct. 11 article incorrectly said that the e-mails sent by then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) to a former congressional page in Louisiana were sent in 2004. The e-mails, which were later called "over-friendly" by House Republican leaders, were sent in 2005.
But now the Republican attempt to spin the author -- and his apparent acceptance of the spin -- is more apparent than ever.
As I believe is the habit with the Washington Post, when they correct an online article, they leave the original intact. (Please correct me if I'm wrong on that.) So in this case, the original offense is still viewable:
The communications that would eventually trigger the scandal were written by Foley in 2004. Foley's e-mails asked a former page from Louisiana for a picture and told him he had just finished a long bike ride and was going to the gym.
Those 2004 e-mails -- dubbed "over-friendly" by House Republican leaders -- originally leaked out of the office of Rep. Rodney Alexander (La.), a Republican. But, Republicans say, they still may have come from a Democrat on his staff. Alexander changed parties in 2004.
But doesn't the truth that the e-mails were written in 2005 sortof negate these anonymous Republicans' insinuation that a Democrat in Alexander's office was the leaker? How many staffers who signed up to work for "Democrat Alexander" stuck-around after he flip-flopped and become "Republican Alexander"? I have no idea...but someone somewhere thought it was worth pointing Weisman in that direction. Might be worth looking into if someone is on the trail of Foleygate's "Deep Throat". (Insert lewd snicker here.)
I would consider raising this issue with the Post's so-called "ombudsman" Deborah Powell, but I'm sure she would find a way to justify this and blame it somehow on Democrats and/or uncivil bloggers. Instead, I decided to post one last diary (I promise) on the topic and enjoy the fact that perhaps I played a small roll in getting the record corrected. :-)