It’s hard to know what influence Martin Peretz – the owner of The New Republic from 1975 until this year – has on his old magazine anymore. But the man whose writings I have known for many years, I would imagine would be hugely disturbed by the revelations about the magazine he lead for decades.
The Beauchamp Affair is far worse, in my view, than the Stephen Glass Scandal of “Shattered Glass” that besmirched TNR several years ago, though evidently did not improve their fact-checking capabilities. The Glass Scandal was about the pathetic ambitions of a neurotic young writer willing to do anything for his personal glory. Not pretty, but something out of Balzac with which we are all familiar. Beauchamp’s “Shock Troops” knowingly misrepresents the actions of the US military during time of war. Something on a truly different level.
I am wondering why Peretz is allowing the stonewalling on this matter to continue. If he thinks this about “conservative” blogs or some such, he is completely mistaken. This is about integrity and the validity of the magazine to which he gave so much of his life.
By the way, I wrote Franklin Foer, current editor of The New Republic, in advance of the publication of the PJM story today for a comment. I heard nothing.
PJM Home
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
10 Comments
1. Lem:It took Fitzgerald 3 years (with all of the resources of the fed) to say essentially nothing happened.
With TNR we may be in for a long long wait
Sep 10, 2007 - 2:16 pm 2. Mike K:Marty Peretz lost control and Foer has been given the task of improving circulation by reaching out to the angry left who are a natural audience for these military bashing stories. Unfortunately for Foer, TNR has a reputation on the far left as an old fogey with too much “baggage,” defined as concern for the truth and national interest. These people are all about tactics. Emotionally, they are teenagers with no interest in making sure the mortgage is paid and food is on the table. It is all about their anger. Somebody else can defend the country and make the trains run on time. Juveniles, that’s all they are in that subset that Foer is trying to sell the magazine to. I don’t think they care if the stories are true. What matters to them is that they are not radical enough to matter. Those folks are moving into 9/11 Truther territory as the Bush Derangement Syndrome runs its course.
Sep 10, 2007 - 2:30 pm 3. Rich V:TNR will NEVER fessup…nor will they appologize, just as moveon.org will never appologize for accusing Gen. Petreaus (spell?) of treason…{big sigh}…such is the far left…it’s all about the “right-wing” conspiracy…
Richard A. Vail, Ph.D.
Sep 10, 2007 - 3:22 pm 4. David Thomson:Pikesville, MD USA
“I am wondering why Peretz is allowing the stonewalling on this matter to continue.”
Marty Peretz is no longer the owner of TNR. My guess is that the lawyers told him to be quiet. He may have no choice in the manner. Moreover, Peretz is a lonely figure. I don’t think even one of TNR’s staff writers agree with him regarding the war on terror or Israel. This publication is for the most part—is only slightly to the right of the Daily Kos!
Sep 10, 2007 - 4:22 pm 5. Captain Hate:I’ve been wondering this here for a while. I’m sure the morons that have taken over the USS New Republic and turned it into the Dhimmocrap Garbage Scow consider him a total apostate. Marty might also be depressed at what a total loon his bud Weird Al Gore has turned into; his only flaw that I could see was total loyalty to that loser. He also might be depressed on what a nest of quislings the Donks have become, although he should’ve seen that coming. He was contributing op-eds to the WSJ on a sporadic basis, including one of the best demolition jobs on Kerry I’ve ever read.
Sep 10, 2007 - 6:03 pm 6. Mike K:I was a TNR subscriber for 25 years, sending gift subscriptions to my kids. I quit when Peretz fired Michael Kelly over his editorial criticizing Gore. I signed up again a couple of years later but this is the end. The irony is that the angry left won’t have anything to do with them either, They are orphans. Sort of like the 1848 Whigs. They cannot straddle the gulf between the two wings of their old readership.
Sep 10, 2007 - 6:40 pm 7. miriam's ideas:My husband is a graduate of Columbia University, so we receive their magazine. In the summer issue they feature a laudatory article on Foer. The article makes it clear that TNR is competing for readers with the Nation. So we can expect more of this in the future. Lots more.
That’s if the magazine survives the current scandal.
Sep 10, 2007 - 7:59 pm 8. Mike K:Take a look at Kevin Drum’s blog and you will see the audience that Foer is seeking. They don’t care about anything but losing.
Sep 10, 2007 - 9:14 pm 9. john.cunningham:Foer and the current TNR editors will drop the whole thing down the memory hole. Mike K has the right analysis, they are competing with the Nation in
Sep 12, 2007 - 6:59 am 10. jweaver:a hard left mode.
I always believed that this was a great magazine for liberal opinions that were not insane. More of what the good but differing fellow has to say. That has come to an end, it is a shame to say. Mr. Peretz needs to say something but he is most likely angered and embarrassed at his former magazine.
Sep 12, 2007 - 11:07 am