The New York Times has a story on the relentlessness of the blogosphere once it gets going. The New York Times references Talking Points Memo, but I saw it at this Daily Kos story.
A Republican candidate in California’s 50th Congressional District, Howard Kaloogian, posted a photo “to illustrate a peaceful and prosperous Baghdad that he claims the antiwar liberals who run the so-called mainstream news media never show.”
[The photo is of] a bustling street corner with a variety of shops, billboards and fashionably dressed pedestrians. The caption reads, “Iraq (including Baghdad) is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be. But each day, the news media finds any violence occurring in the country and screams and shouts about it — in part because many journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism.”
The problem. The street corner isn’t in Baghdad, it’s in Istanbul (cue “They Might Be Giants”) A commenter at Daily Kos found and posted a picture of the Istanbul intersection that Kaloogian claimed was evidence of a peaceful and prosperous Baghdad. “Within hours, Mr. Kaloogian withdrew the picture, blamed an unnamed staff member for the blunder and apologized.”
D’oh!
Ah, the Mel Martinez defense: “My staff did it!”
The irony in this is that TPM had just been complaining about MSM picking up blog stories without attribution.
I think Republicans and conservatives should be proud of their brother in California. He cares so much about mocking and ridiculing opponents of the Iraqi war that he won’t let competence, honesty, or a sense of personal responsibility stand in the way.
One cannot help but be awestruck.