An update on the Ken Lay/Lincoln Bedroom myth
Gandalf Grey
By Brendan Nyhan
The myth that Ken Lay stayed in the Lincoln Bedroom of the Clinton White
House may be on its way to extinction. The Washington Times' correction last
Friday has been followed by a number of others.
Here's a full chronology of the progression of the myth - note that the Los
Angeles Daily News and Denver Post have published letters to the editor
promoting this falsehood since my piece was published:
-Matt Drudge, Drudge Report (1/11)
-Stephen J. Hedges, Jeff Zeleny and Frank James, Chicago Tribune (1/13)
-Judy Keen, USA Today (1/14)
-Fred Barnes, Fox News's "Special Report with Brit Hume" (1/14)
-James Lileks, Newhouse News Service (1/15)
-Bill Sammon, White House Weekly (1/15)
-Daily Oklahoman letter to the editor (1/22)
-Modesto Bee letter to the editor (1/25)
-Fresno Bee letter to the editor (1/26)
-St. Louis Post-Dispatch letter to the editor (1/26)
-Houston Chronicle letter to the editor (2/2)
-Arkansas Democrat-Gazette letter to the editor (2/8)
-Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) letter to the editor (2/9)
-Los Angeles Daily News letter to the editor (2/13)
-Alex Castellanos, CNN's "Crossfire" (2/14)
-Fred Barnes, Fox News's "Special Report with Brit Hume" (2/14)
-The Oregonian (Portland) letter to the editor (2/15)
-Castellanos, ABC's "This Week" (2/17)
-Patrice Hill, Washington Times (2/21) [and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
(2/22)]
-Katty Kay, The Times (London) (2/22)
-David Bossie, "On the Record with Greta van Susteren" (2/22)
-Los Angeles Daily News letter to the editor (2/24)
-Denver Post letter to the editor (2/27)
Here's a list of everyone's who has issued a correction, retraction or
clarification (often at the prompting of angry readers of
MediaWhoresOnline.com):
-Washington Times (2/22)
-The Oregonian (2/23)
-Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (2/24)
-Chicago Tribune (2/24)
-Greta Van Susteren, Fox News's "On the Record"(2/25)
-Judy Keen's February 26 USA Today story correctly reports that Lay spent
the night in the White House of George H.W. Bush
And here's your guide to the debunking of the myth:
-Gene Lyons, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (2/13)
-Ben Fritz, Spinsanity (2/18)
-Brendan Nyhan, Spinsanity/Salon.com (2/21)
-Bob Somerby, The Daily Howler (2/25)
-Joe Conason, The New York Observer (2/27)
-Gene Lyons, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (2/27)
As to how this falsehood made it into the mainstream press, Conason offers
this account of what he was told by Frank James of the Chicago Tribune:
Mr. James denies that he picked anything up from the Drudge Report. Instead,
he told me that on a tight deadline he had mentally "transposed" Bill
Clinton's name into his memory of an article he'd read about another
President who hosted Mr. Lay in the White House. That President was, of
course, the father of the current President.
Let's hope that the public exposure of this myth will make the press more
careful in the future.
--
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"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so
long as I'm the dictator." - GW Bush 12/18/2000.
"This is not a monarchy.... We've got a dictatorial President and a Justice
Department that does not want Congress involved.... Your guy's acting like
he's king."
--Congressman Dan Burton, referring to George W. Bush
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---Frank Luntz: GOP pollster and propaganda producer