Power Line has responded to Camille J. Gage’s op-ed in the Star Tribune. They sent a response to the Star Tribune. An excerpt:
In her column, Gage claims she asked whether Power Line posts are fact-checked, and that I (Hinderaker) was “dismissive of the question.†This is nonsense. On Power Line, we apply exactly the same standard of fact checking that we use for the numerous columns we have published in the Star Tribune, the New York Times, the New York Post and other reputable newspapers over the past 13 years.
More important, Gage went on to claim, once again, that the news story we linked to last October was untrue. She wrote that she “made a few phone calls†and found that “there was no factual basis for the voter fraud allegations.†Remarkably, however, her column contains no information as to whom she called, or what facts she learned that showed that the news story was false.
Puzzled by this, we contacted Eric Ringham, commentary editor of the Star Tribune, and asked whether the newspaper had asked these obvious questions of Ms. Gage. To our amazement, Ringham stated that no one at the newspaper had asked Gage to explain the basis for her claims. In fact, the Star Tribune’s editors did no fact checking whatsoever before they ran Gage’s column accusing us of failing to check facts. None. Zippo. Zilch. Nada.
Because the editors did no fact checking, they did not know that the FAIR report, far from having “no factual basis,†has been the subject of a criminal investigation.
Because the editors did no fact checking, they did not know that the FAIR representatives have submitted sworn affidavits saying they went to deputy registrars in Racine and Milwaukee who accepted their registrations to vote, even though they made it clear that they were not eligible Wisconsin voters.
Because the editors did no fact checking, they did not know that the FAIR representatives made tapes of their conversations with the deputy registrars which are consistent with their sworn accounts, and have been turned over to federal and state law enforcement authorities.
I wonder if it’s time to bring legal action against the Star Tribune for libel?
Update: A commenter brings up an interesting point: Bloggers like John Hinderaker are probably considered public figures, so if they wanted to sue the Star Tribune, they’d have to prove actual malice, a tough standard. As with many other subjects, I blogged briefly about whether bloggers are public figures in Random Thoughts On Christians, Public Figures And Bloggers.
My new liberal friend John says Hinderaker’s response is lacking.
