Sorry to revisit this but it keeps coming back like a bad penny

[SoutherDem]

Today on NPR's Talk of the Nation one segment was about political opponent research, those who's job is to dig up every bit of dirt about an opponent. Neal Conan had a Democrat and a Republican researcher on the show.

The Republican at one point said that the Washington Post's story wasn't well researched because it has unraveled. The comment did fit into the context of the current point being made and neither Neil nor the Democrat chose to challenge this claim. It may be because of an off air agreement to not get into a debate on current issues or it may be because it is true.

The only thing which I have heard on the subject was a Fox News claim that according to ABC News, one of the five had said they were not present during Romney's attack. But, from what I understand the person ABC was talking about was a sixth person whom the Romney campaign had contacted to dispute the report. The sixth person said he wasn't there, so he didn't know and wasn't sure if he would help the campaign saying Romney was not that bad in high school. He then added that he felt the campaign would have problems finding many people who would agree that Romney was a good guy in high school.

Has there been any real unraveling of the Washington Post's story? Or is that just Republican wishes which they think if they say it enough it will be true, or at least people will believe it?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. I don't know for sure but I would guess the latter rather than former

I believe that there was some minor detail about the story that WAPO didn't quite right or one of the witnesses hadn't witnessed the incident or something like that and, unlike Fox News, issued a correction/update but I don't believe that it undermined and/or unraveled the story in any significant way.

[coalition_unwilling]

2. It has not unraveled in the slightest, AFAIK. It was solidly sourced and

several of the eyewitnesses even allowed their names to be placed on the record.

Romney and his cohort only wish it would unravel. They're probably shuttling huge sums of hush money back to Cranbrook to suborn false testimony.

[The Magistrate]

3. No, Sir, The Man is Simply Lying: That is What He is Paid To Do

The victim's older sister has said he did not tell her about it, and that she does not think he was effeminate as a young man, but that is hardly unravelling, especially when people cited by The Post did not just witness the assault but own up to participating in it.

[blm]

4. There has NOT been any unraveling of the story. The RW spinners are trying to claim that

because one guy said he didn't hear about the event till later and he was mistakenly included in the first group who actually were part of the attack.

That absolutely does NOT change the events of that day. The RW machine has been furiously trying to claim that minor change in wording to push the idea that the entire story fell apart.

IT DID NOT!

[gratuitous]

5. I think this is a wishful pronouncement

But what the heck? I mean, of the dozens of men who served with John Kerry in Vietnam on his swift boats, only one of them said Kerry wasn't everything his biography, his official naval citations, and the eyewitness accounts of 35 others said he was. And that was good enough in 2004 to paint Kerry as some faker wannabe, getting Purple Hearts that apparently were handed out like "participant" ribbons at the Special Olympics.

If the Republicans want to claim that the stories about Romney are "unraveling," why shouldn't they think they can call an alternate reality into being simply by wishing it were so. Their pals in the popular media will unquestioningly believe them. They have in the past.

[jberryhill]

6. A woman who was not there has gone on record as not having seen it

So, there you are.

[librechik]

7. wishful thinking

the story has FIVE named sources for that one incident everyone is talking about, and it is not the only one in the article. They like to go around pretending things are the way they want as if it were reality, but reality has a way of coming back and kicking them in the ass.

[Politicalboi]

8. Then why didn't Rmoney keep denying it

If it really didn't happen, then he could have stuck with that. To be accused of assaulting someone when you didn't, wouldn't be acceptable. I believe it happened, and I believe there IS more to come. If there is any evidence of the Rmoney's team trying to buy stories from his victims, that would be interesting. There could even be, dare I say animal cruelty aside from Seamus.