May 28, 2022

"The Daily Beast issued an apology to the laptop repairman who first obtained Hunter Biden's computer after the liberal blog erroneously alleged the device was ‘stolen.'..."

"The apology came as Mac Isaac launched a defamation lawsuit against the Daily Beast as well as CNN, Politico and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., over how they portrayed him while pushing the narrative during the 2020 presidential election that the content from Hunter Biden's laptop was the product of Russian disinformation... It is unclear if the apology is tied to any resolution to Mac Isaac's suit against the Daily Beast."

From "Daily Beast issues apology to laptop repairman amid lawsuit after claiming Hunter Biden's laptop was 'stolen'/John Paul Mac Isaac filed a defamation lawsuit against the Daily Beast, CNN, Politico, Adam Schiff" (Fox News).

Maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe the Daily Beast just suddenly felt stricken by its conscience and wanted to atone, to square up with the truth, to commit anew to the grand tradition of journalistic professionalism.

53 comments:

cassandra lite said...

It's time to revisit Sullivan. Nothing has undermined journalism more.

Gahrie said...

Now how about apologizing to the American people for interfering in an election and lying to them?

Yancey Ward said...

If they want to atone, they can pay up some dough.

JAORE said...

We are very sorry that our attorneys have determined we are vulnerable.

Who knew that "our preferred narrative" was not a rock solid defense?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

"Maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe the Daily Beast just suddenly felt stricken by its conscience and wanted to atone, to square up with the truth, to commit anew to the grand tradition of journalistic professionalism"

DEAD PAN đŸ˜‚

Michael K said...

Good for him. He was smeared by Democrat operatives, which includes most of the Media.

Owen said...

As Glenn Reynolds has said, “Even a flatworm turns away from pain.”

Make them pay.

Jersey Fled said...

"Maybe the Daily Beast just suddenly felt stricken by its conscience and wanted to atone, to square up with the truth, to commit anew to the grand tradition of journalistic professionalism"


Yeah,right

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

journalistic professionalism circa now =

All facts that makes a precious elite democrats look bad will be labeled "RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION!"

Hillary - Brennan - Clapper + typhoid Mary of disinfo - Cackle and laugh.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

The Daily Beast is preparing the field to eject Joe "Two Scoops" Biden from office. Right after the November elections when the Dems are massacred. Two Scoops will become the scapegoat.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

“Maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe the Daily Beast just suddenly felt stricken by its conscience and wanted to atone, to square up with the truth, to commit anew to the grand tradition of journalistic professionalism”

Lawyer humor. Sheeeeesh!

Drago said...

Gadfly and women and children and minorities and LGBTQ-RSTUVWXYZ hardest hit.

Art in LA said...

Journalistic integrity and professionalism? It feels like it has always been yellow journalism.

The rare times I have been interviewed for industry magazine articles, always mis-quoted. What's up with that?

Beasts of England said...

’Maybe the Daily Beast just suddenly felt stricken by its conscience and wanted to atone, to square up with the truth, to commit anew to the grand tradition of journalistic professionalism.’

Drier than my Martinis…

Quaestor said...

"Maybe the Daily Beast just suddenly felt stricken by its conscience and wanted to atone, to square up with the truth, to commit anew to the grand tradition of journalistic professionalism."

Althouse assumes The Daily Beast was ever committed to the grand tradition of journalistic professionalism.

Quaestor assumes the opposite. Different flavors of fascists hate different things, however, they all agree on one point, they hate tradition.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Or maybe Althouse has been hitting the boxed wine a wee bit early today.

William said...

I guess this counts as an apology, but it's not exactly fulsome or heartfelt. As minimal as it can get and still count as an apology.

Kevin said...

Maybe the Daily Beast just suddenly felt stricken by its conscience and wanted to atone, to square up with the truth, to commit anew to the grand tradition of journalistic professionalism.

Hahahahah!

You had me at conscience.

n.n said...

A late-term apology. Sure, why not.

Rt41Rebel said...

[Theodoric]"Maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe the Daily Beast just suddenly felt stricken by its conscience and wanted to atone, to square up with the truth, to commit anew to the grand tradition of journalistic professionalism"

Naaaaah![/of York]

paminwi said...

Nothing would give me greater pleasure than seeing Adam Schiff getting found guilty in a defamation case like this.
I believe I read the guy is now out of business.

n.n said...

An em-pathetic plea bargain for sympathy.

Quaestor said...

"It is unclear if the apology is tied to any resolution to Mac Isaac's suit against the Daily Beast."

More likely it's a move to get ahead of Mac Isaac's lawsuit. Doncha see, Mistah Judge? We don't mean no harm. Honest Injun.

I wonder if Mac Isaac is the gentleman's legal surname. The linguistic convention of rendering Gaelic patronyms with the word Mac pushed against the paternal name, as in MacNeill rather than Mac Neill or shortened to McNeill, is English rather than Scots or Gaelic.

In the late 16th when the inevitability of the House of Stuart became clear, the heralds of the College of Arms were confronted with documenting royal pedigrees containing some very foreign-looking names. Since Anglo-Saxon patronyms follow the Scandanavian/Germanic pattern, as in Harold Godwineson rather than Harold Godwine's son, they decided to apply a similar rule to Scottish names. This Anglicisation proceeded slowly and haphazardly, and it wasn't until the 17th century that the practice firmed up into a convention. Compare Shakespeare's First Folio of 1623 to some manuscript references to the play dated 1606. The Folio edition renders the character's name as Macbeth, whereas the Lord Chamberlain's Accounts, written by Baron Hunsdon's secretary, has it as Mack Beth.

Something similar happened to Irish names as well. For example, the Earl of Tyrone's name was Anglicised to O'Neill rather than Ă“ NĂ©ill, and pronounced "OH-Nee-ol" rather than "ewh-Neel". Today most people assume like O'Neill and O'Malley are shortened from of Neill and of Malley when Ă“ NĂ©ill indicates a male descendant of Neill; the female descendants are surnamed NĂ­ NĂ©ill. To clarify, mac is a patronymic, whereas Ă³ and nĂ­ are tribal particles.

Perhaps Mac Isaac is a "Celtic revival" version of McIsaac. Isaac seems to be an unlikely Scottish personal name, but recall that the Stone of Scone is supposed to be the stone Jacob the Patriarch used for a pillow when he dreamed of the Ladder.




R C Belaire said...

Whatever Mac Isaac was suing for, I hope he got at least 10 cents on the dollar. That could still be a tidy sum.

Quaestor said...

Drier than my Martinis…

Harumph. I count mine as dry if the vermouth is in the same room as the gin -- acquainted but not what you'd call friendly.

M said...

I hope he owns them after the lawsuit. The only way he shouldn’t make big money off this is if the judge is a Democrat. They obviously intentionally smeared him to protect Biden.

Sebastian said...

"the liberal blog erroneously alleged the device was ‘stolen.'..."

Without evidence, to use progs' favorite cliche.

Browndog said...

Maybe someday someone will talk about what was on the lap top.

tim maguire said...

I hope he goes scorched earth on all of them. Hunter Biden never denied it was his laptop. The whole Democratic Party establishment, most of the media, the 51 “national security experts,” everything they said was a lie. Not a mistake, not lazy journalism, it was deliberate lying to undermine our democratic processes. No mercy for these traitorous frauds.

Richard Aubrey said...

If you apologize, you admit you did wrong, if only by accident. You don't want to admit that prior to the litigation. From which I deduce these clowns think they're immune already.

gilbar said...

tim maguire said...
I hope he goes scorched earth on all of them. Hunter Biden never denied it was his laptop. The whole Democratic Party establishment, most of the media, the 51 “national security experts,” everything they said was a lie. Not a mistake, not lazy journalism, it was deliberate lying to undermine our democratic processes.

Now do the Trump–Russia dossier!
Then do Trump-Ukraine!!

Rusty said...

tim
Sue them to the point where they are bawling their eyes out, on a street curb, in their stocking feet. Because that is what they would do to you.

chickelit said...

Sue the shit out the Daily Beast. Shut them down before they do even more damage to American politics. We could all benefit from a protracted discovery period. Hopefully, it brings the ‘“Big Guy” down a couple notches.

gadfly said...

“An earlier version of this story mistakenly referred to Hunter Biden’s laptop as ‘stolen.’ We have removed that word, and we apologize to Mr. Mac Isaac for the error,” the editor’s note reads.

Since The Daily Beast did not opine that Mac Isaac was the person who did the stealing, an apology directed to Isaac appears to simply be an attempt to not have to pay a lawyer to say the same thing in court.

Stephen St. Onge said...

Althouse said...
“Maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe the Daily Beast just suddenly felt stricken by its conscience and wanted to atone, to square up with the truth, to commit anew to the grand tradition of journalistic professionalism.”

        <Steve Martin as Theodoric of York, Medievil Judge>“Nah!!”</Steve Martin as Theodoric of York, Medievil Judge>

Rt41Rebel
        Great minds think alike.

LA_Bob said...

"Maybe the Daily Beast just suddenly felt stricken by its conscience and wanted to atone, to square up with the truth, to commit anew to the grand tradition of journalistic professionalism."

In other news, Hell reportedly froze over at 6AM GMT, May 28, 2022. The Devil was spotted wearing a parka and declined to comment.

Narayanan said...

Joe "Two Scoops" Biden
=========
when was there title contention fight for "Two Scoops" and when/how did Joe Biden win?!

Ampersand said...

The British tabloids know how to do apologies. When The Mirror settled a defamation claim with Steven Bing, they published a fulsome full page groveling apology, contextualized (to Bing's detriment) by a piece on the opposite page, written by the Mirror's showbusiness editor, Kevin O'Sullivan. The headline: "Why Americans can't understand irony or sarcasm."

Narayanan said...

paminwi said...
Nothing would give me greater pleasure than seeing Adam Schiff getting found guilty in a defamation case like this.
I believe I read the guy is now out of business.
=========
I have on good authority that all Congress-critters are immune from accusations of lying; so effectively allowed to; in the sacred holy ground premises of the Capitol : just a carryover from election campaign rhetoric

Narayanan said...

paminwi said...
Nothing would give me greater pleasure than seeing Adam Schiff getting found guilty in a defamation case like this.
I believe I read the guy is now out of business.
=========
I have on good authority that all Congress-critters are immune -:from accusations of lying-; so effectively allowed to; in the sacred holy ground premises of the Capitol : just a carryover from election campaign rhetoric

Narayanan said...

paminwi said...
Nothing would give me greater pleasure than seeing Adam Schiff getting found guilty in a defamation case like this.
I believe I read the guy is now out of business.
=========
I have on good authority that all Congress-critters are immune -:from accusations of lying-; so effectively allowed to; in the sacred holy ground premises of the Capitol : just a carryover from election campaign rhetoric

Spiros Pappas said...

It is obvious that an apology is inadequate compensation. Some money has to change hands. But I wonder if the Daily Beast apologized immediately after realizing its mistake, would that be enough of a defense to a defamation suit?

Mr. T. said...

"Maybe the Daily Beast just suddenly felt stricken by its conscience and wanted to atone, to square up with the truth, to commit anew to the grand tradition of journalistic professionalism."

Hahahahahahahahah!

SLATE are the people who publish Amanda Marcotte ( Duke Lacrosse Fake Rape story) , Talia Levin fake ICE neo-nazi" story) , and Franklin Foer (fake Scott Beauchamp Iraq atrocities story).

Slate has nothing to do with truth or journalistic professionalism.

traditionalguy said...

It’s Narrative Control. The media owned by the Dems always lies for a year or two and only stops when the truth has already come out. Then it is just a mistake they made…or else they would have been destroyed.

traditionalguy said...

It’s Narrative Control. The media owned by the Dems always lies for a year or two and only stops when the truth has already come out. Then it is just a mistake they made…or else they would have been destroyed.

The Godfather said...

I hope Mac gets a bundle for the "stolen" lie, but that isn't the lie that matters. The lie that matters is the lie that the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation. That lie was told by "51 former intelligence officials" and widely reported by all mainstream news media. Problem is, that lie was an "opinion", and you can't sue about an "opinion" that's wrong. But that "opinion" was treated by virtually all mainstream news media as a FACT and a reason not to report the information until the election was over. Forget all the"stolen votes" crap. If the information that Vice President Biden's son had been selling his Dad's influence for millions of bucks had been allowed to become public, the very close 2020 election would likely have gone the other way. One of the reasons that I hope that Trump doesn't run for President in 2024 is that he focuses on the wrong arguments about why he "lost" in 2020.

Crazy World said...

The Biden family is such garbage, may they not horrify the Texas survivors any further.

Tom Grey said...

Without $100,000 or more being paid, the apology now is worth less, a lot less, in fact worthless. To the victim. Maybe in the settlement, as they are found guilty, it will serve to lower their cost. Self serving.

Rusty said...

gadfly said;
"Since The Daily Beast did not opine that Mac Isaac was the person who did the stealing,"
Apparently you have a problem processing information.
The laptop in question was abandoned by the owner. Shops like that, computer repair, lawn mowers etc. usually have a policy that you have to retrieve your property in a set period of time or it will be sold or otherwise disposed of. Guess what happens to the clothes you "forgot" to pick up from the dry cleaners. They now belong to the dry cleaners. If you want them now you can buy them back from the Salvation Army. Have you always been this obtuse?

boatbuilder said...

Ann--I can see you making the Tucker Carlson face while delivering that last line.

Well done.

boatbuilder said...

The fact that the MSM did not go 24/7 saturation coverage about what might be on the laptop and what it might signify regarding corruption and general all-round awfulness of the candidate, his son, his family and the political party which nominated him is not, in this instance, an instance of admirable journalistic restraint.

Nor is the fact that the MSM has refrained from 24/7 saturation coverage about the perfidy of the "former intelligence officers" who prostituted themselves to cover for the candidate.

Nor is the fact that they have not gone with 24/7 saturation coverage of the extent to which Twitter's censorship of the NY Post's correct account of the scandal undoubtedly changed the outcome of the election.

It is not a cheap debating tactic to ask: "Can you imagine if this were Donald Trump, Jr's laptop? (Or even Donald Trump Jr's alleged laptop created by "Russians?")

Gospace said...

Narayanan said...
paminwi said...
Nothing would give me greater pleasure than seeing Adam Schiff getting found guilty in a defamation case like this.
I believe I read the guy is now out of business.
=========
I have on good authority that all Congress-critters are immune -:from accusations of lying-; so effectively allowed to; in the sacred holy ground premises of the Capitol : just a carryover from election campaign rhetoric


For anything he says on the floor of the House.

Not for anything anywhere else.

Zev said...

the media are trash