Paddy Mack calls it an "error" but it looks like a "big lie"

Folkbum, the godfather of McIlheran watching, does a splendid job shredding Patrick McIlheran's blog post defending poor. poor Scooter Libby.

While detailing the spin and falsehoods of McIlheran's arguments-- Libby wasn't the leaker and Valerie Plame wasn't "covert" anyway blah blah blah -- Folkbum jumped on a "blatant lie" in Paddy's effort. Namely that Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA employee was revealed in her husband's Who's Who entry:

Plame's "cover" was long before blown: Her identity as a CIA employee--presumably, this was the secret that Libby or Karl Rove or someone else let out of the bag--was mentioned in her own husband's Who's Who entry. Read more on it here.

Paddy subsequently said this was an "error" and rewrote the paragraph. Folkbum notes:

He maintains the original paragraph was "an error," though I would be more likely to believe that it was really a mistake if the same falsehood hadn't been making the conservative rounds--and getting throroughly debunked--a year ago.

The Brawler would be more likely to believe that it was really a mistake if the same falsehood hadn't been making the Paddy Mack rounds!

From January, here's a previous iteration of the "error":

It’s all very interesting, I guess, just who was out to get whom in the case of how someone leaked the name of Valerie Plame, the spy whose cover was less than perfect (it was in Who's Who).

So there are at least two instances of Paddy Mack making the same "mistake" -- which also happens to be a right-wing spin point about why we should ignore the Libby affair.

Two possible explanations for Paddy Mack repeating the same mistake:

He literally has no grasp of the facts of the subject he's writing about and is relying on right-wing spin.

He wants to pass along right-wing spin, as opposed to fact, to his readership.

Take your pick: sloppiness or malfeasance. In either case, why is this guy a JS columnist?

Separately, in the same  column, Patrick McIlheran asserts that Iraq was indeed seeking uranium for Niger (a claim used to justify the runup to the Iraq war and a claim that was shot down by Joe Wilson). The Brawler was amused that Paddy Mack, who was deeply offended by the "anti-Catholic" writings of some bloggers who worked for John Edwards -- would rely on the work of noted atheist and Mother Theresa basher Christopher Hitchens to make this point.

The Brawler was also amused by this takedown of Hitchens' claims by former spook (and classmate of Valerie Plame) Larry Johnson

Comments

[Karin]

That juror in the Libby trial asked a great question: where's Karl?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDaRFf7Cd6M

This is very funny...Karl Rove skewered by way of eminem.