Applebaum’s First Rule of Holes: Keep Digging
Unbelievable. Anne Applebaum writes me to say:
Many thanks for the correction, I had not in fact seen it. I could dispute your other claims but I see from your email that you are in fact angry at “Big Media”, not me, so there isn’t much point. Best, AA
I feel contempt for people who deliberately refuse to correct errors. I feel contempt for arrogance. So, Anne Applebaum, I may not be “angry” at you . . . but I do feel contempt for you.
I have responded:
Ms. Applebaum,
Yesterday I specifically notified you of four errors or distortions in your recent blog posts about Roman Polanski:
- You referred to allegations of misconduct in Polanski’s “trial” when he had no trial, but rather pled guilty.
- You said Polanski is not a Polish citizen when multiple sources have reported his dual citizenship with Poland and France.
- You claimed that his victim testified that she called her mother for permission to have her picture taken in a jacuzzi, when she testified to no such thing (she testified merely that she called her mother before getting into the jacuzzi).
- You told your readers there was evidence Polanski did not know the girl’s age, but did not tell your readers that he swore under oath (at his plea hearing) that he knew she was 13 at the time.
I have just visited both of your posts, and I see that not one of these errors or distortions has been corrected.
Not even one.
You suggest that you could dispute me on the facts, but because I made a crack about Big Media (“I thought you folks in Big Media were proud of your record for accuracy”) you can dismiss me with an airy wave of your hand. Even the guy who botches my order every Saturday morning at the local McDonald’s is bright enough to recognize that as a cheap dodge.
So let’s remove your excuse for failing to confront your errors. Let’s put aside all questions of whether your arrogant refusal to correct (or even discuss) these errors and distortions is typical of Big Media.
Let’s talk about you, and your integrity. Because that is what is at stake.
Have you read your comments section lately? Do you even realize how your numerous falsehoods and stubborn refusal to correct them has affected your reputation? Don’t you think it’s time to stop the bleeding?
Let’s start with my first point: that you referred to allegations of misconduct in Polanski’s “trial” when he had no trial, but rather pled guilty.
How are you going to “dispute” me on that, Ms. Applebaum?
Tell me. Please. I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about that.
Yours truly,
Patrick Frey
https://patterico.comP.S. There is no need to thank me for my “correction,” as I did not issue a “correction.” I made no errors and had nothing to correct, but I did promptly link your defense. That’s what fair, honest people do.
What’s the over/under on whether she is going to finally start confronting her errors, instead of issuing arrogant, snippy little pronouncements and trotting out even more falsehoods?
I bet $1 she posts corrections for at least two of those points (probably the trial and citizenship claims), along with a rationalization on why it doesn’t matter that she was wrong and why you’re a bad person for taking the trouble to point out her mistakes.
roy (d6fc79) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:17 pmShe is treating you dismissively in front of her “real” audience at the Post because she thinks she will subdue them, whilst treating you disdainfully at your own blog which she regards as inconsequential. She is mistaken on both levels. The more she is forced to stick to her guns, as she surely must in deference to her husband and the consequences if she backtracks, the bigger the price she will ultimately pay for under-estimating the power of blogs, in general, and this one in particular. It should get good.
Gazzer (22ecdc) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:20 pmWell, Patterico, points for trying. But you know that pundits are never wrong. You are just unsophisticated. Why, I’ll bet you don’t have a chalet in Switzerland, or have dined with more than one French President.
Eric Blair (184ac1) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:21 pmIn the last thread I made an analogy to a popular card game (I wonder if that is why it made it to the spam folder) and how Ms. Applebaum was insisting on playing a really bad hand to the bitter end. Now it is to the point where she has been called and is trying to claim that her two, three, four, five, and seven somehow beats Patterico’s full house. Pretty sad.
JVW (77b111) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:22 pmThe story of Victor Salva establishes a pattern tolerance of sexual deviants in Hollywood. To no-one’s surprise…
Gazzer (22ecdc) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:23 pmDefensive. Very passive aggressive. Just like a woman. Meh.
Dana (863a65) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:24 pmLet me try linky again,
Gazzer (22ecdc) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:24 pmVictor Salva
My apologies. I thought if I highlighted the name,hit link and added the hyperlink, it would work. The article can be read by clicking on my name until I get a clue. Sorry.
Gazzer (22ecdc) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:27 pmShe’s merely behaving the way the media has always behaved.
Dan Rather still believes that the Bush TANG story is real. Good luck getting him to recant, too.
JayC (705e9d) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:30 pmHere you go Gazzer:
Victor Salva
š
Stashiu3 (8cadeb) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:31 pmDamn, I love this blog.
dhmosquito (3e3c95) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:32 pmSo she is a fundamentally dishonest sick little twist.
Anne – In general, I have a problem with the MSM, and you are quickly becoming the face of that which is so wrong with same.
Have you no decency? No honor? No integrity?
JD (07af0d) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:33 pmWhatās the over/under on whether she is going to finally start confronting her errors ….
She and her husband are going to have the free use of Polanski’s chalet in Gstaad during ski season, I think.
nk (df76d4) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:35 pmThanks Stashiu3. I got my IT guy, Mrs Gabfest, and she straightened me out for the future, I hope.
Gazzer (22ecdc) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:39 pmIsn’t any one else getting a bit tired of the “angry” trope being trotted out everytime somebody in the fly-over — although, technically, Patterico is not in the fly-over — questions their facts, motives or opinions.
I’ve been accused if it. As a matter of fact, I was accused of it by my wife and kids tonight, so there go my Christmas presents. (I think it had more to do with driving privileges, though).
Nonetheless, I believe Stevie Wonder summed up my feelings better:
We are all amazed, but not amused
By all the things you say that you’ll do
Though much concerned but not involved
With decisions that are made by you
But we are sick and tired of hearing your song
Telling how you are gonna change right from wrong
Cause if you really want to hear our views
“You haven’t done nothing!”
He wrote that about Nixon.
It seems to fit now. I’m not angry, I’m amazed.
The people who do seem to be angry — the Olbermanns, Maddows, Kos Kiddies, Friedmans, Pitts, et al, have a President and Congress with absolute power. I’ve said this before. Why do they remain so angry?
Because we don’t toe the line? Because we disagree on issues? I can quote plenty of Democratic politicians that have praised dissent in the past. What’s different now?
Oh, wait, I forgot: Rush and Beck are angry, so that means everyone on the right is angry.
Except, all the people on the right are not angry. They go about their business, work hard if they still have a job and try to make a contribution.
But, they have questions. And when they start asking questions, all of the sudden, they’re gun-toting mouth-breathers ready to assassinate the President.
And some people wonder why the press and government are misunderstood?
I’m also pretty sure Stevie would not appreciate my interpretation of his lyrics. Great song, though.
Ag80 (592691) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:40 pmBy the way, I found the lyrics to the song from another blog. And since my point is extremely close to that blogger’s point — made in October 2008 — I believe I should provide a link:
http://husemoller.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-havent-done-nothing.html
That’s called disclosure and I apologize for not placing the link in my original post.
But it did give me the opportunity to post another snippet of the lyric:
It’s not too cool to be ridiculed
But you brought this upon yourself
The world is tired of pacifiers
We want the truth and nothing else
If Stevie were dead, he would be rolling over in his grave.
Ag80 (592691) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:51 pmElitists and Hollywood types defending the indefensible. This could really have resonance. A turning point. An awareness that the lines of demarcation are not between Rep and Dem, but between elitists and serfs.
Molon Labe (640aad) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:52 pmPatterico – Now she will be angry at you for talking about her “private” emails. Heh!
daleyrocks (718861) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:53 pmMolon – I thought the Dems considered themselves the elitists?
daleyrocks (718861) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:54 pmNow she will be angry at you for talking about her āprivateā emails.
She needs a dodge and that’s the most obvious one. I think we have a winner.
Patterico (64318f) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:59 pmThis is a public controversy and she has no reasonable expectation of privacy in her e-mails to me.
Patterico (64318f) — 9/30/2009 @ 8:59 pmPatterico,
I’m glad you can keep your cool when dealing with this jerk. She is so twisted. I knew she would call it a correction and imply you admitted some kind of error. And I also knew she would pretend you were some kind of kook extremist.
Anne is the problem at big media. She’s corrupt, whether because of her husband’s stake in her story or because of something else. She has thrown around the sexist card to explain why you can’t ask her to disclose the truth about her relationship with one of Polanski’s most important defenders, but her feminism doesn’t prevent her from blaming the rape victim.
I hope you keep it up. This is a great story.
Dustin (0bdb72) — 9/30/2009 @ 9:00 pm“Big Media” … in quotes.
She’s a piece of work, this one.
oh dear. I’m almost certain we’ll be needing to disinter the word cooze and press it into service. There’s nothing for it though. Nothing at all. What’s a little pikachu to do? It’s the times we live in.
happyfeet (6b707a) — 9/30/2009 @ 9:01 pmdaley: most Dems are just myrmidons.
Molon Labe (640aad) — 9/30/2009 @ 9:04 pmShe needs a dodge and thatās the most obvious one.
But you did quote her emails in previous posts, so she’s going to have to claim she hasn’t bothered to read your blog lately… which would be just as irresponsible as the ignorance level she’s claiming to have had about the story she’s writing about in a major paper (so I guess it’s actually possible she’ll make this play).
Something is clearly quite wrong with her views on this case. She’s got so many of the facts screwed up, and all of them conveniently in favor of this rapist… who just happens to be well connected to big media. She’s seriously an ugly little person.
Dustin (0bdb72) — 9/30/2009 @ 9:05 pm“This is a public controversy and she has no reasonable expectation of privacy in her e-mails to me.”
Patterico – But as you said, she needs a dodge and this one’s easy.
daleyrocks (718861) — 9/30/2009 @ 9:10 pmIsn’t it a bit jarring to discover how little a person values their own integrity? There are so very, very few things in life we really truly have control over but one’s integrity is definitely one of those things. It’s surprising to see her so casually throw it out. And further, the 4 corrections she refuses to make are facts, not opinions, nor personal assessments, nor political views, but straight-up provable facts. I might understand her refusal as an issue of pride if these were personal opinions but when the facts speak for themselves and she still refuses a correction, then I’m stumped.
Of course, I also assumed a 13 year old girl would of course be given far greater worth than a rapist, but what do I, an ignorant serf, know.
Dana (863a65) — 9/30/2009 @ 9:12 pmPeople who express their opinion based on their limited view of the world are always astonished when they are disagreed with.
I’m as guilty as Applebaum. That doesn’t excuse either of us.
Ag80 (592691) — 9/30/2009 @ 9:13 pm“Isnāt it a bit jarring to discover how little a person values their own integrity?”
But the voice in her head reading the words she writes isn’t the voice of little Anne Applebaum, it’s the voice of the mighty and prestigious Washington Post. Macaca!
Molon Labe (640aad) — 9/30/2009 @ 9:20 pmThe airy superiority in “there isn’t much point” is remarkably similar to the airy superiority in the “but he’s a Great Man!” defenses of Polanski.
Ken (871237) — 9/30/2009 @ 9:29 pmIf the private email excuse doesn’t work, there’s always: The end justifies the means.
DRJ (b008f8) — 9/30/2009 @ 9:43 pmDid you just call your wife a dude?
Hope you invested in a comfy couch… š
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 9/30/2009 @ 9:45 pmThis is why I have little tolerance for the “intelligentias” of any shade.
They are never incorrect, ever. And woe beside any fool who dare point out anything to the contrary.
Techie (482700) — 9/30/2009 @ 9:54 pmStonewalling. Ignorance. Misdirection. Condescension. Typical responses you get when you point out errors of fact to columnists, reporters and editors. They hate being corrected by people outside their caste.
gp (cb5e61) — 9/30/2009 @ 10:08 pmDam# Patterico, that is going to leave a mark.
As is obvious by all the previous comments and history…the media elite are never wrong…no matter how many times you prove them to be.
Baxter Greene (af5030) — 9/30/2009 @ 10:40 pmScott at 32.
Gazzer (22ecdc) — 9/30/2009 @ 10:44 pmYou make an excellent point. One which Mrs G certainly picked up on…
I must away, my LaZ-Boy awaits…
Patterico – I don’t think she’ll go after the emails or DRJ’s ‘end justifies the means’.
She’s going to make fun of your trips to McDonald’s.
JD to AA – Have you no decency? No honor? No integrity?
Applebaum seems to be lacking in brains.
Apogee (e2dc9b) — 10/1/2009 @ 12:19 amyou are in fact angry at āBig Mediaā, not me
She needs help.
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a mental illness that involves the sufferer experiencing at least two clear identities or personality states, each of which has a fairly consistent way of viewing and relating to the world.
Amphipolis (b120ce) — 10/1/2009 @ 5:23 amhttp://www.medicinenet.com/dissociative_identity_disorder/article.htm
Maybe Ms. Applebaum is defensive because she can’t even count on her colleagues at the Post for support. She mentioned that Robinson and Cohen came out against Polanski. It also appears that Jo-Ann Armao has jumped on the anti-Polaski bandwagon.
Bru (d0d3f0) — 10/1/2009 @ 5:56 amAnne, when even “milky loads” Trig Truther Andrew Sullivan asks you to <a href="“Stop Digging, Please”, you KNOW it’s time to giveStop Digging, Please,” you KNOW it’s time to give up.
Northeast Elizabeth (364b01) — 10/1/2009 @ 6:08 amAnne, when even āmilky loadsā Trig Truther Andrew Sullivan asks you to Stop Digging, Please, you KNOW itās time to give up.
Comment by Northeast Elizabeth ā 10/1/2009 @ 6:08 am
Northeast Elizabeth (364b01) — 10/1/2009 @ 6:17 am[…] word on WaPo columnist Anne Applebaum’s reaction to this new development.Ā She remains stuck on stupendous disconnectedness… Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Some Pervs Are More Equal Than OthersRoman […]
UPDATED: Whoopi Goldberg, Call Your Dressing Room! « The Rhetorican (220927) — 10/1/2009 @ 6:36 amDoing a quick scan of your rubbish, Kitty Kat, I found that absolutely assinine remark. Let me tell you, Kitty Kat, if anyone ever drugged and raped my little girl, he had better flee. Because I won’t settle for “finishing out a 90-day term” for the piece of rubbish. If anyone ever drugged and raped my little girl, the law would have me up on charges that I would plea “momentary insanity” on. So, you go ahead and hug Roman Polanski with both your arms and both your legs. Of course, he won’t want you. You’re far too old for him. And shove the rest of your drivel up your (where Roman finished).
John Hitchcock (3fd153) — 10/3/2009 @ 11:26 pm