Powerline's now-discredited "Fake But Accurate II" accusations made it into this week's TIME magazine, in the front-of-the-book section called "Blogwatch."
The blurb is on page 15 of the April 11 issue.
The POWER LINE bloggers who launched the Dan Rather Memogate questions last year are doubting the authenticity of another incendiary document: a talking-points memo, first reported last month by ABC News and the Washington Post, detailing how Republican Senators could use Terri Schiavo to their advantage. Righties, after floating the idea the unsigned - and letterhead-less - memo could have been "a Democratic dirty trick," were angling for retractions. But ABC and the Post countered that the never said a G.O.P. official wrote the memo, only that it was "circulated among" and "distributed to" Republican Senators.
Oops.
Just so we're straight here - TIME magazine didn't out-and-out claim that the memo was fake. The TIME writer just gave publicity and respect to Powerline, which four months ago was the magazine's "blog of the year," and did it with a tone that weighed against Democrats and reporters. Notice the "nudge, nudge" bit about the memo being unsigned and without a letterhead, and the way ABC and the Post "never said" a Republican wrote the memo. It's written as if Powerline has ABC and the Post on the ropes. And this appeared for the consumption of millions of TIME readers in what will probably be the year's best-selling issue, the John Paul II tribute.
While we're on the subject, may I suggest something? Right-wingers have taken to mocking Dan Rather by raising the "th" in his name, to mock the fonts in the Rathergate memo. So, how should right-thinking people refer to Powerline's sleuth, Hindrocket?
I'm suggesting Fraudrocket.
UPDATE: I added a link to the story. Thanks, HalC!