GOODY TWO SHOES: The Wall Street Journal Accused Of Fabricating Facts
Bear Stearns Cos. Chief Executive James Cayne, 73, denied allegations in a front-page article published in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) that during the month of July when two of the company’s major hedge funds were tanking in the wake of the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, he was attending several bridge tournaments around the country and "sometimes smoked marijuana at the end of the day"; the article also cited one incident involving pot-smoking that supposedly occurred in 2004.
Cayne has denied the specific facts reported in The Journal article in an internal E-mail to Bear’s 15,000 employees, reports Crain’s New York Business, adding that "The Journal is sticking by its story, a spokeswoman for Journal parent Dow Jones told The Associated Press."
Now that Cayne has gone on record accusing The Journal of fabricating facts, The Stiletto wonders whether he, too, will be getting a "lawyer letter" from the paper’s general counsel, Stuart Karle, "urg[ing] you to recognize the personal animus underlying your attacks" – or does he preferentially target obscure bloggers* to coerce them into relinquishing their free-speech rights.
In a tangentially related development (stick with The Stiletto – you’ll see how this segues together), The Daily Telegraph (London) has compiled a list of the 100 most influential conservatives in America and 100 of their liberal counterparts. Several of James Taranto’s frequent targets are on the list of top liberals: Noam Chomsky (#67); Howard Dean (#84); Maureen Dowd; Ted Kennedy (#85); Paul Krugman (#53); Keith Olbermann (# 67); and Cindy Sheehan (#98) – along with Andrew Sullivan (#33 on the conservative list).
Taranto’s colleagues Paul Gigot and Peggy Noonan are also on the list of top conservatives (#14 and 83, respectively), as are Matt Drudge (#3 – and he’s not even a real journalist!); Ron Paul (#96 - and he’s not even a real Republican!); and PJ O’Rourke (#60 – and unlike Taranto, he writes his own jokes!). But where is Taranto? He’s not listed anywhere amongst the most influential conservatives in the U.S. Guess that makes him just another obscure blogger. Welcome to the club.
*Disclosure: A talentless nonentity who finds it necessary to inflate her meager credentials recently called The Stiletto an "obscure blogger."
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