Here It Is: Silliest Retelling Yet Of Bogus Pelosi Plane Story
February 13, 2007 -- 4:35 PM EST // // Post a Comment
Sillier and sillier. Ruth Ann Dailey, a columnist for the mainstream Pittsburgh Post Gazette, has outdone many of her media colleagues on the bogus Nancy Pelosi plane story: Rather than just recycle this tall tale, she's actually gone and built a whole theory about the new Dem Congressional leadership on it. Ms. Dailey writes:
Just weeks after promising the dawn of a corruption-free, environmentally sensitive era on Capitol Hill, the new Democratic speaker rejected the 12-seat Gulfstream 3 jet that her Republican predecessor had used and asked for something much larger.Ms. Pelosi requested the military equivalent of a 757, the most luxurious airplane available for a nonstop coast-to-coast trip. She and her staff had decided that pausing to refuel would be a security risk, having evidently forgotten they can refuel at any of the country's dozens of Air Force bases...
Certain abuses of power arise from a lazy sense of entitlement -- too much comfort from being in power too long. Republicans stumbled on this sort.
Then there are the abuses of power that arise from an aggrieved sense of entitlement denied -- injured pride from being out of power for so long, especially if you think the power in question should rightfully be yours.
This is where Democratic leaders are stumbling already. Judging from their campaign rhetoric, the only surprise is how fast it happened.
As you know already, this is pure fiction, so today I sent Ms. Dailey an email with a corrective and a few questions. Because Ms. Dailey, a delicate soul, has complained about "left wing incivility" in the past, I took care to be very, very civil:
As it happens, this account you provide is entirely false. On February 8th the House Sergeant-at-Arms released a statement saying that he, not Pelosi, had requested for security reasons an aircraft that could fly nonstop from D.C. to her California district....So, several on the record questions: First, do you intend to issue a correction? Second, were you aware that this statement, which was reported by CNN, the New York Times and many other news outlets, had been released? Third, if you were aware of the statement, why did you repeat the false claim that Pelosi requested the larger aircraft? And if you didn't know about the statement, shouldn't basic professionalism have required you to be aware of such a critical aspect of a story that you were addressing in your column?
When she replies, you'll be the first to know. Special thanks to TPM Reader MJ for the catch.
Incidentally, if you want a comprehensive rundown on just how many media figures recycled this bogus story, Eric Boehlert's got one here. Be warned: It's pretty dispiriting.