Dexterity They Call It

Lets us see how nimble the DK can be.

First the hysterical headline:

Politico Continues To Make Up News

Then the lede:

Since its inception a few short months ago, Politico, the online soul-mate to the Drudge Report, has gotten into the habit of creating news stories through innuendo, omission, outright error, and now today, out of thin air.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "incompetent" during an interview Tuesday with a group of liberal bloggers, a comment that was never reported.

Reid made similar disparaging remarks about Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said several sources familiar with the interview.

Of course the reason this comment was never reported is quite simple: the bloggers on the call don't remember this quote.

See they don't remember Reid saying it, so it must not have happened. (Someone forward this off to Scooter for comment please.)

Then, the troubling revelation!

Update: Well, it seems that Reid did say Pace was incompetent. He said to Pace's face.

And Reid said the following to all of the bloggers on the call:

"I guess the president, uh, he's gotten rid of Pace because
he could not get him confirmed here in the Senate... Pace is also a yes-man for
the president and I told him to his face, I laid it out to him last time he came
to see me, I told him what an incompetent man I thought he was."

How will our intrepid heroes get out of the pickle they have gotten themselves into? Why, by employing Literary Criticism 101 of course! You see, it's all a matter of interpretation really:

A throw away line that was so unremarkable that none of us remembered or
reported it, yet Politico attributes it to "several sources,"

See, it is a "throw away" line, and therefore no one need concern their pretty little heads over it. And besides! It is all Politico's fault for getting the quote correct, but from folks who were preparing not to remember it! What a bad journalist!

Thank God the DK is taking it upon themselves to decide what is and isn't important to pass along to its readers.

Just think of all the other things they have "forgotten" to report.