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Jane Mayer Takes On Marc Thiessen

By Michael Scherer | @michaelscherer | March 22, 2010 | +

“Thiessen is better at conveying fear than at relaying the facts,” Mayer writes in the new New Yorker. “‘Courting Disaster’ has a scholarly feel, and hundreds of footnotes, but it is based on a series of slipshod premises.”

Read her entire review of Thiessen’s book here.

Related Topics: marc thiessen, Uncategorized

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  • afguy

    Jane Mayer obviously didn’t have the same admiration for Thiessen’s ability to present “facts” as you did in an earlier posting on the same subject.
    .
    Care to re-visit your earlier conclusions, based on her review?

  • stuartzechman

    Michael Scherer:
    .
    This is a very important review, thanks so much for linking to Mayer’s work.

  • grape_crush

    To be fair, Scherer was milquetoast-harsh on Theissen in that post. Jane Mayer, in contrast, disassembles the dissembler.

  • Ivy_B

    Thanks for that review link Michael. I have heard Theissen several times on NPR in addition to seeing him on Jon Stewart and found him repulsive. Jane Mayer has taken his foolishness apart.

  • afguy

    grape,
    .
    Yeah, I was referring to Scherer’s reference to Thiessen’s supposed “knowledge” of the subject.
    .
    Somehow, either Thiessen’s “knowledge” was limited to events that proved what the CIA wanted proven (and ignorant of events that might cast them in something other than a favorable light), or he assisted in their cheer-leading.
    .
    How was Ms. Mayer able to uncover those contradictions and Scherer unable to do so?
    .
    A case of “acutely myopic/partisan stenography”, perhaps?

  • grape_crush

    How was Ms. Mayer able to uncover those contradictions and Scherer unable to do so?
    .
    Not Scherer’s AoK, I guess…combined with the time it takes to throw up a blog post versus craft an article for a monthly magazine.

  • malousethan

    The whole thing is essentially silly

    Notice that the Obama Admin has taken to giving captured alpha level terror subjects to Pakistan? How nice of them….

  • discostu570

    The fact that Thiessen now has work as a professional opinioneer is nothing short of hilarious. Anybody who isn’t already familiar with the way Thiessen works needs to go watch his interview with Jon Stewart on thedailyshow.com. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen a guest pout on the air about not being allowed to make his points, which is doubly funny since he had every opportunity to make a point, but clearly had no valid points to make.
    -
    Of course, it’s not surprising that a speech writer and PR worker struggles with the concept of debate, and the notion that ideas, in order to be taken seriously, have to hold up under scrutiny. I’m sure his book would sound fine if read from behind a podium in a forum where it was certain to applauded and unquestioned.
    -
    In sum, anybody who’s looking for the ultimate example of mindless right-wing zealotry need look no further. This man, for whom advocacy is everything and facts are irrelevant, can be found on the Opinion page at the Washington Post.

  • michaelfury
  • FlownOver

    It’s no surprise Thiessen has been shown to be a partisan lying hack. One wonders, though, why the proof was necessary – his hiring by the Washington Post should have told us all we needed to know.

  • FlownOver

    Blogwhore, begone!

  • dollared

    Thanks, Michael, you are doing two services here: applying sunlight as a disinfectant against our national infection of Cheneyism, and connecting people with Jane Mayer.

  • textee

    Marc Thiessen and Jane Mayer in a live debate? If Mayer had a brain, Thiessen would wipe the floor with said, alleged brain and then serve it on a platter to the nearest family of rats. Mayer’s as qualified to discuss American national security as are Obama, Holder and the rest of the Al Qaeda Ten lawyers in the Obama/Holder Department of “Justice”,

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