Atrios errs on Lieberman statement

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Duncan Black, aka Atrios, explains why the left is angry with Joe Lieberman. In the process, though, he appears to make a factual error:

Late last year, after President Bush's job approval ratings hit record lows, Lieberman decided to lash out at the administration's critics, writing in the ultraconservative Wall Street Journal editorial pages that "we undermine presidential credibility at our nation's peril." In this he echoed the most toxic of Republican talking points — that criticizing the conduct of the war is actually damaging to national security.

But Lieberman made that statement verbally, not in the Wall Street Journal op-ed he wrote in November. Indeed, Atrios presented a transcript on his site in which CNN's Wolf Blitzer played the clip of Lieberman making the statement.

This Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article from December 2005 makes the sequence clear:

Lieberman, who in 2000 ran unsuccessfully for the vice presidency, made his fourth trip to Iraq late last month. Afterward he gained attention for a Wall Street Journal op-ed article in which he asserted that progress would be lost in spreading democracy in Iraq, and throughout the Middle East, if U.S. troops were brought home before the Iraqi military is capable of securing the country.

Tuesday, Lieberman urged Democrats to acknowledge that President Bush will be commander-in-chief for three more "critical" years. "In matters of war, we undermine presidential credibility at our nation's peril," he said.

Lieberman still made the statement. But Black should get the facts right, especially when he's writing in a major newspaper.

Comments

[Seth]

"...especially when he's writing in a major newspaper."

I certainly hope you didn't mean to imply that getting the facts right is less significant when one is blogging, or for that matter, when writing in a less significant newspaper.

[Sean]

Isn't this a minor error? It pales compared to Anne Kornblut 180 degree misinterpretation of Hillary Clinton's remarks in the NYT recently.

[Brendan Nyhan]

It's not the biggest deal in the world, but an error is an error, and it should be corrected. As for Seth's comment, getting the facts right is important all the time, but readers' expectation of accuracy is generally higher for newspapers (ie they trust them more) and it's harder to correct misinformation from newspapers (you can't just fix the mistake as you can with a blog).

[Lettuce]

It's not the biggest deal in the world, but when you're stock in trade is false equivilence you need to point it out.