Richard Holbrooke's Dying Words Taken Out of Context, Politicized by Lefty Mother Jones Mag
Tuesday's Washington Post print edition ran a front-page obituary for Richard Holbrooke which closed by noting that the veteran diplomat told his surgeon "You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan."
Of course numerous news outlets latched onto that quote. Leftist magazine Mother Jones even made the line their quote of the day late Monday evening as blogger Kevin Drum approvingly added in a December 13 post, "That would be a fitting memorial."
[See screen capture after page break]
But politicizing a dying man's last words has its risks. It turns out Holbrooke's exchange with his doctors taken out of context:
From Time magazine's Michael Crowley:
The initial Washington Post report that Richard Holbrooke's final words to a Pakistani surgeon were, "You've got to stop this war," felt like a stark message to the wider world...
[...]
But now the State Department has provided important new detail and context to what Holbrooke said. And a rather different picture emerges:
There was a, you know, lengthy exchange with Ambassador Holbrooke and the medical team, probably reflecting Richard's relentless pursuit of the policy that he had — he had helped to craft and was charged by the president and the secretary with carrying out.
At one point, the medical team said, "You've got to relax."
And Richard said, "I can't relax. I'm worried about Afghanistan and Pakistan."
And then after some additional exchanges, you know, the medical team finally — finally said, "Well, tell you what; we'll try to fix this challenge while you're undergoing surgery."
And he said, "Yeah, see if you can take care of that, including ending the war."
As of 12:55 p.m. EST today, Mother Jones had no updated Drum's post:
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Comments
His last statement, really?
Submitted by jon_torlin on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 2:13pm.
I don't believe that for a second.
I wonder what he really said but as they say, dead men tell no tales, just the living.
-Jon
The dead do tell tales, just
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 8:36pm.
The dead do tell tales, just look at all the books that survive them; the books are still telling tales. OK its cheap but your statement while literarily prophetic is not quite accurate. I agree dead men tell no tales ... arggg.
History
Submitted by Unsane on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 1:33am.
Dead men DO tell tales. What else is history?
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Ouch! Open printing press,
Submitted by bassndude on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 2:13pm.
Ouch! Open printing press, insert foot....of course, those of us who are aware of the type people we are dealing with, were skeptical of the quote from the beginning.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal/troll!!
New name for this pinko publication
Submitted by djwolf12 on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 2:14pm.
Bloody Mother Jones Rag seems more appropriate
Mother Jones is bad enough
Submitted by Keef Olbermann on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 11:43pm.
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was an organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World. You may know them as the Wobblies; their goal was to organize the entire global proletariat into a mega-union and (eventually) simultaneously strike and bring down the capitalist/industrial order just like that, and replace it with an anarcho-socialist paradise.
I'm not making that up. It's an explicitly communist name.
I am not buying that Holbrooke said that
Submitted by Dave. on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 2:23pm.
And yet I bet his funeral will degenerate into Wellstone II anyway.
These people just cannot help themselves.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
My quote, "You've got to stop
Submitted by Radical1979 on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 2:40pm.
My quote, "You've got to stop muslims from kiling Americans".
Once that happens, we can stop the war in Afganistan.
I knew the minute I read it
Submitted by marpel on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 2:51pm.
I knew the minute I read it on Drudge earlier this week, it was a bunch of BS. But, the glorification had already begun...
"Deep within my heart lies a memory. A song of ol' San Antone..."
LSM, Holbrooke
Submitted by sarge329 on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 2:55pm.
Did the LSM take Holbrooke's last comment out of context? Really? No!!! They wouldn't do that. Would they? Ummm, .... , yeah they would. It would be very easy for them to do so. First of all, they tend to take remarks out of context as easily as you or I breathe. It's what they do. This just makes it easier. There's no one to refute their side of the story There's no such thing as object-ive journalism anymore. These people make the Enquirer and the Star look like Shakespeare.
He really said...
Submitted by bigdaddy on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 2:57pm.
"Thank God I don't have Obamacare to cover this procedure..."
bigdaddy
Submitted by Gary Hall on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 5:20pm.
.. seems the truth here is that he went into surgery talking, and didn't come out that way.
(;~/ gary
Complete BS in my opinion. I
Submitted by Captain Repus on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 3:54pm.
Complete BS in my opinion. I have suffered 2 heart attacks, multiple bypass surgeries, stents and other procedures. I am a true patriot and love my country. My words going into surgery were, and I would bet were the words of Holbrook were "I DON'T WANNA DIE". Lefties will stoop to any level to agrandize themselves and their fellow lemmings.
Gone to that Embassy in the Sky, or something
Submitted by Jack Bauer on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 4:03pm.
After collapsing during his meeting with HIllary Clinton (due to her hotness), it's believed they shared a brief tender moment as he said his last words...
HOLBROOKE: Madam Secretary.. GO TO HELL.
CLINTON: You first... Dick.
All of the above Mr Obama? --- How about ALL OF THE BELOW, instead.
Is this the same Mother Jones
Submitted by Rusty Shackleford on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 4:38pm.
Is this the same Mother Jones that in 1985 claimed that by the year 2000 the Central American rainforest would be gone?
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Chris Matthews: The Joy Behar of MSNBC.
Bill Maher: The Joy Behar of HBO.
Paul Krugman: The Joy Behar of The New York Times.
Actually, Holbrooke's last word was "Rosebud"
Submitted by Galvanic on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 5:41pm.
It no longer matters what Holbrooke said or didn't say. The MSM will spin his mythos.
I dont get it
Submitted by bobbys on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 6:10pm.
I dont get it, If you send in more troops you get a Pizza prize, If your dieing breath is to end the war your a true and noble fellow even though you acted as the Presidents Agent in this matter..
I fear for next years Miss America Pagent cause i bet ending this war will overtake World hunger and saving Kittens as the No 1 comment.