Pajamas Media deconstructs the latest TNR fiasco, painting us a more textured portrait of one Scott Thomas Beauchamp; infantry soldier, Baghdad “diarist,” sociopath:
(ex-Beauchamp financ?©e) Priscilla reveals a recurring pattern: Beauchamp was repeatedly willing to deceive those close to him to reach his goals.
By age 23, he had been engaged three times to three different women whom he did not marry.
Or consider his relationship with the Army. Priscilla writes: “He hates the army. The only reason he joined was because he wanted to have more experience to write about.”
Oddly he was secretive about his intentions to serve his country. “He didn’t even tell his mom he joined in the army. One day before basic training he left a note on the table for her…”
It is telling that he did not talk to her face-to-face, but simply made his admission and vanished.
He is manipulative. “He is very charming and he can convince people very good and he tries to make his side very clear.”
He is ambitious. “He always wanted to become a writer and he has a huge imagination,” Pricilla writes, without irony.
In another email, she notes: “He always wanted to write for The New Republic and so he thought the ‘Iraqi Diary’ is a good start and he could keep writing for them after that.”
This explains how the TNR got fooled. Again. Doesn’t entirely explain why they allowed it to happen, or what they intend to do in the future to prevent moving further from a current events and politics periodical into the fiction category.
It isn’t entirely clear that the magazine understands what’s happened to its reputation.
Pity.
Maybe Hollywood’ll do the Beauchamp story as a pseudo-sequel to Shattered Glass.
TNR needs a refreshment course in quantum physics. One collapses the probability wave by measuring, not by wishing.
“It isn’t entirely clear that the magazine understands what’s happened to its reputation.”
Of course they don’t. Sociopaths are perfect mimics. To influence their prey, they mirror their victim’s biases and hopes while playing on their fears–usually imagined fears. Individuals or organizations ruled by imagination–instead of by boring, unshapable facts–tend to get suckered by the charming manipulative sociopath. The surest bet in the sociopath’s scam is his prey’s recluctance to test reality.
You can’t cheat an honest man. The honest people at TNR must have left a long time ago. Guess they weren’t missed.
Cap’n, et al
Ed Morrissey over at Captains Quarters has a very interesting perspective. His blog links to a more detailed account/analysis of how (and why)TNR got led to the Kool Aid (again). Bears reading.
Can’t invest much time on a P.O.S. story about a P.O.S., but reading this link and your lead-in immediately brought to mind that “other” mother-son “relationship” you posted a couple weeks or so ago…
b2
Excuse me, but I believe his fifteen minutes are up.
I smell a future Governor (D) for Arkansas and White House to follow…
N
Compare and show contrast with Winston Churchill.
Winston joined the Army for political reasons, no kiddin, but had to actually, like, *participate* seriously in the action, to be taken seriously afterwards.
Winston was aware of the unusual softness and pinkness of his particular body, but chose to risk it anyway.
CPT J. said it right. TNR wanted to hear what Beauchamp was saying. They wanted the military to be so bad, so broken, so evil. He fed them exactly what they were looking for. And it seems clear that they still don’t get it.
The magazine has their statement about the incident only available for subscribers. It can be found by searching Google for “A Statement on Scott Beauchamp” and then selecting the “cached” version on the first return. Here is one paragraph of the statement:
“All of Beauchamp’s essays were fact-checked before publication. We checked the plausibility of details with experts, contacted a corroborating witness, and pressed the author for further details. But publishing a first-person essay from a war zone requires a measure of faith in the writer. Given what we knew of Beauchamp, personally and professionally, we credited his report. After questions were raised about the veracity of his essay, TNR extensively re-reported Beauchamp’s account.”
Forgive me for saying this here, I don’t normally talk this way in such a civilized format as Lex’s Place, but all I can come up with is one word to describe the TNR and their “fact checking” – assholes.
Kris, I like my word better — dumbsh!ts.
Cheers.
Lex, in reply to “Casca”, his 15 minutes were up before they started. After your “Post Mortem” on this insanity, BURY IT AND LEAVE IT THERE!
Grumpy