This writer quoted VERBATIM a story about John Kerry. Then the quote source changed its story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In his TMV post “John Kerry not committed to following the law?“, this writer quotes verbatim a story about John Kerry that was published by TheHill.com.
Here is what the story said at the time that this writer read it:
He [Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.)] asked Kerry whether the administration would “follow the law” if Congress passes a resolution of disapproval and then overrides a presidential veto of it.
Kerry said he would he would have to consult with the president first, to which Sherman retorted, “So you’re not committed to following the law?”
After this writer published the above verbatim quote, TheHill.com story was changed to read as follows:
He [Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.)] also appeared annoyed with Kerry when the secretary said he would need to consult with the president about whether the deal would be implemented if Congress passes a resolution of disapproval — and overrides an expected veto by President Obama.
“So you’re not committed to following the law?” Sherman snapped.
As it turns out, the writers of that above-quoted story left out something important. TheBlaze.com gives a different account as to what was said during that committee hearing (Hat Tip to TMV reader DdW):
Things got slightly tense when Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) pressed Kerry on whether or not he would follow the “law” if Congress decided to override a presidential veto to block the Iran deal.
“Will you follow the law even though you think it violates this agreement clearly and even if you think it’s absolutely terrible policy?” Sherman asked.
“I can’t begin to answer that at this point without consulting with the president and determining what the circumstances are,” Kerry responded.
“So you’re not committed to following the law?” the Democrat said.
“No, I said I’m not going to deal with a hypothetical, that’s all,” Kerry shot back.
This isn’t the first time that a quoted source either left out important information or worded something the wrong way. For example, in his Wizbang post “Did Jerusalem Post writer incorrectly quote President Obama?“, this writer defends President Obama after a writer for the Jerusalem Post misquoted an interview of the President.
The benefit of being a political moderate is that one is willing to correct the record when one obtains information that refutes one’s previous comments. Being that this particular writer doesn’t have an agenda or a political ax to grind, he admits to being in error in his aforementioned previous TMV post.
By the way, even a highly-professional journalist can get something completely wrong. For example, during the night of the 2000 presidential election, NBC News prematurely declared a winner. Upon realizing the mistake was made, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw said to his audience. “We don’t have egg on our face. We have an entire omelette.”
If Tom Brokaw can make such an admission, then this writer can, too.
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Personal Note: This writer has never claimed to be a journalist.
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All images used with this post are the creation of this post’s author.
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