TPM Final Post on 'Lonely Guy' Photo

New Proof That The Wingnut "Lonely Kerry" Story Is Bogus

By Greg Sargent | bio

It looks as if another wingnut tall-tale is going to go down in flames today: The story of the "lonely Kerry" photo.

For days and days now, the following photo of Senator John Kerry has been making the rounds in the conservative blogosphere:

See article at TPM for photo: http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/jan/05/the_wingnut_lonely_kerry_story_is_bogus_according_to_witnesses

This photo has been triumphantly pointed to by conservative bloggers who claim that it shows that Kerry was "snubbed" by the troops during a recent visit to Iraq. This story was aggressively promoted by Powerline Blog's John Hinderaker and Scot Johnson, Michelle Malkin, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, and many others. To the wingers this photo demonstrated, in the words of Malkin, that "lonely John Kerry" had been "spurned by the troops in Iraq."

The wingers spent many, many hours on this photo, trying to prove its authenticity. I'm not going to dispute that it's authentic. Rather, I'm here to report that I've now contacted at least two people who say they were at the table with Kerry. And it's clear that the winger characterization of the photo is entirely bogus.

Dear Ms. Malkin,

I see from your blog that you are planning to go to Iraq. May you come through that journey safely.

I am writing to you to ask you to do the right thing. Your story from Dec. 27th about Kerry being shunned by the troops, here:

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/006613.htm

has been completely debunked. Greg at the TPM Muckraker has independently confirmed from journalists pictured with Kerry, that, in fact, that photo was of an off the record interview with reporters in the Green Zone:

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/jan/05/the_wingnut_lonely_kerry_story_is_bogus_according_to_witnesses

Quote from the story:

Told that the Kerry people had confirmed that the meeting was an off-the-record talk with reporters, Danner replied: "The discussion was off the record, but given the fact that the Kerry people have confirmed it, I suppose it's all right if I confirm it."

"Santora was to my right," Danner also said. "It was very early in the morning at about 8:30, in the green zone. The reason that people weren't sitting directly around us was that we were having a private conversation." Asked if the troops showed animosity to Kerry, Danner said: "Not in any way that I noticed. A number of soldiers came up and asked to have their photograph taken with him."

I can understand that you wanted to wait until the Kerry staffer's story had been confirmed by a 3rd party. Since it has, this story has proved to be completely erroneous. As I read through your blog entries, you seem to be very concerned with the "truth". As Patrick Moynihan so eloquently said years ago, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." Therefore, if you wish to retain credibility in the blogosphere, you, like Greg at TPM who admitted the photo was real after questioning it, must come out and admit the story was bogus.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Beachmom