Bill Kristol Quietly Revises Column On 'Cone Of Silence'

The New York Times' Kit Seelye is backing up NBC's Andrea Mitchell, who reported on Sunday the contention that John McCain may not have been in the "cone of silence" before Saturday's Saddleback Chuch forum. But even as Seelye advances the story for the Times news pages, over in the opinion section, backtracking has begun.

We speak, naturally, of Bill Kristol, who has "tweaked' the online version of his latest column. In the print version, we get these paragraphs:

NBC's Andrea Mitchell reported on "Meet the Press" that "the Obama people must feel that he didn't do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context. ... What they're putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama."

That's pretty astonishing, since there seems to be absolutely no basis for the charge. But the fact that Obama's people made this suggestion means they know McCain outperformed him.

Tom Tomorrow, however, is tipping the Times readership off to a change in the online edition:

NBC's Andrea Mitchell reported on "Meet the Press" that "the Obama people must feel that he didn't do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context. ... What they're putting out privately is that McCain ... may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama."

There's no evidence that McCain had any such advantage. But the fact that Obama's people made this suggestion means they know McCain outperformed him.

In other words, since Kristol now has to acknowledge that the "charge" that McCain was not in the "cone of silence" has legs, those details disappear so that Kristol can continue to paint the Obama camp as making baseless charges.

As Tomorrow points out, the only clue that readers get from the newspaper is "a small note in teensy tiny light grey type at the bottom of the page" that reads: "A version of this article appeared in print on August 18, 2008, on page A19 of the New York edition." Isn't it customary to note any substantive corrections to an article?

Comments

[SteveStephens]

What is the Bush Administration's "Minister Of Propaganda" doing in the NYTimes?

[Redrover666]

Could be, he's providing an opinion. Is that still permitted in the US?

[Caroleeena]

Providing an opinion is one thing. Deliberately changing a quote so that is no longer represents what Andrea Mitchell actually said is something else altoghether. It's called lying.

[Guynemer]

Mr. Linkins,
All due respect, Kristol's revisions to his article are non-substantive and change nothing of its meaning. The only story that has legs is the nonsense that some in the Obama camp are putting forward that McCain had some kind of unfair advantage at the debate.

[evangelicalatheist]

UUUUhhh...... So WHY was the article CHANGED? Kristol seems to be having a BIG-TIME problem with accountability at the Times - there's a great deal of difference between being a RESPONSIBLE journalist and being a mouthpiece for the neocons!

[DrScientist]

haha Obama is destroying himself, he doesn't need Rove's help. Just standing next to McCain will be enough. Wait for the debates.

[SteveStephens]

Obama will destroy McCain in the debates, just as Kerry destroyed Bush in those debates.

[Redrover666]

What's Kerry been doing these last few years?

[elr50]

What in the hell is Bill Kristol doing in the NYTimes anyway? If I want BUSHIT, I could watch Fox "News". Which I don't. I also won't subscribe to the Times for this reason. Read what interests me on line, MY money isn't going to pay the likes of Kristol.

[CarmanK]

You haven't seen low yet!! The Republicans are on the Rovian Path to destroy Obama and that is what they will do. Obama walked into an adversarial situation on Saturday and he faced the "Evangelicals" and came off to intellectual. John McCain won the debate. He had 70% of the audience before the discussion began and gave the doubting 30% plenty of ammunition. What Rick Warren owes the Obama campaign for breaking its own "rules" is a public apology, so there is no doubt that McCain was not confined to the "cone of silence" and/or that he was not in the building when Rick Warren said he was.
Obama was set up. Get on with it, I want to see some real action from Obama and his warriors. Obama said he can win this. He needs to show me!!

[shelobo]

The good 'Pastor 'admitted on Fox that McCain was NOT in the 'cone ' McCain was on his way to the Saddle Back Church ,with his CELL phones ,Blackberrys and Radios on !McCain was NEVER in the so called 'cone'.

[Redrover666]

In other words.... Obama looked pretty weak and therefore his competition must have cheated. Why do you think Obama is sinking in the polls? Why do you think Obama has decided to avoid debates whenever he can?

The American people are on to him.

[hypnus]

I swear I really believe that Bill Kristol is brain damaged. How the f*ck does this guy make it home by himself at night, much less feed and bathe himself? Does he just wonder up and down the halls at FOX unshaven, in a hospital robe, with his Johnson hanging out babbling incoherent thoughts until it’s time to drug him, dress him up, put him in front of a camera and spoon feed him the dribble that passes for journalism? Seriously, he needs to be on a poster for some charity catering to the mentally vacant.

[WoodyCPM]

Bill Kristol doesn't have a Johnson. He has a Teeny.

[LawrenceL]

Now that we know that Mr. McCain was *not* on the premises, in a soundproof, isolated room, the next question is exactly *when* did he arrive at the Church and enter said room.

I want to know how much of the interview he may have been informed about.

If he arrived at the Church and entered the isolation room 5 minutes after Obama started, no big deal.

If he arrived at the Church when Obama was 90% done, that is a problem.

[Donnat]

Kristol looks like he belongs in day care. Why does anything he does make news?

[Spud777]

Republicans have one again shown they have not moral values, their goal is to win (steal) another election at any cost. These people are truly pathetic.

[gdamac]

Kristol makes my skin crawl.

[MrWampler]

Um.... wasn't the "cone of silence" joke that you could still hear what was spoken?

[LawrenceL]

(...thinks to himself...having to explain a joke...shudder)

No. The Cone of Silence "joke" was that it worked too well. The "Chief" would always say, "Max, you know that thing doesn't work." And Max would insist. The Cone would be lowered over Max and the Chief, who would spend the next minute saying "What?" to everything the other person said.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. The Pastor misrepresented McCain's isolation when he spoke of McCain being in a sound-proof room. He may not have intended to, but that's what happened: McCain was *not* isolated from, for example, being informed by his staff as the questions were sent to their Blackberries while they were in transit.

[NTO08]

I don't care about this...why is this news?

[Spud777]

Because, nitwit, once again repuplicans lied.

[hypnus]

Me no like. Me want cartoons!

[DueTruthinesss]

Well you see NTO this is, oh wait I just remembered something, noone gives a rats a** what you care about.

[dotmafia]

Isn't the evidence the fact that McCain wasn't even in the building as he should have been, the so-called "cone of silence"?

[WendellFranklinWentz]

The Saddleback Dog and Pony Show was narrated by Mr. Republican himself, Rick Warren, who campaigned actively for George Bush in 2004. What did you expect from a group of the Grand Old Party? I am of the opinion that the show was rehearsed by Warren and McCain. Obama should learn about these far right religionists!!!