Atrios has
it and I am listening to Howie "the Shill" Kurtz do it too -it wasn't poor Mike Isikoff's fault. I told you guys Isikoff is a fuckhead. It's Newsweek's fault say the Wingnuts, but not poor Isikoff. Are you fucking kidding me? Here's
Media Matters:
* Ed Rogers, Republican consultant:
ROGERS: ... Now, the reporter that wrote this is actually a big-time pro, who I don't think could be deceived. But nonetheless, it has real consequences, and it's done real harm, so there ought to be a real inquiry into this. [CNN's Crossfire, 5/16/05]
* Brit Hume, Fox News Washington managing editor:
HUME: This is Michael Isikoff, the veteran investigative journalist, a guy we all know, who has been on this program, somebody who has compiled a pretty good record over the years. [Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, 5/16/05]
* Fred Barnes, Weekly Standard executive editor:
BARNES: He's a very honorable reporter. [Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, 5/16/05]
... and then shifted the blame to Newsweek's editors and management:
* L. Brent Bozell III, Media Research Center president, and Sean Hannity, ABC radio and Fox News host:
BOZELL: One would be hard-pressed to lay the blame directly at the feet of Michael Isikoff. Michael Isikoff is also the reporter who broke the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky story for Newsweek magazine.
HANNITY: Yeah. I wouldn't mind putting Isikoff on and getting his take on this, and I don't want to rush on the Isikoff-bashing bandwagon here because if I had to bet dollars for donuts, he probably told them, "I have a story, I have a source, I'm not ready to go with it yet, but I'm writing it out and we gotta investigate it." And they probably just said, "Hey, great! Let's run with it!" [ABC Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show, 5/16/05]
I told you so. I'm starting a Fire Isikoff Movement Right Now!