No Mao Row

A few items back, I discussed a story that was raging around the net about UMass Dartmouth student who claimed that he had been questioned by Department of Homeland Security agents after having requested Mao's "little red book" via an inter-library loan. As cynical as I am, this didn't strike me as particularly surprising, though some of the details did seem a tad "off." In fact, the whole thing sounded silly, really, but I and many others spared no time sounding off about what appeared to be yet another example of Bush administration overreaching.

John McAdams of Marquette Warrior had pointed out in the comments that there was some debate as to the legitimacy of the story. Indeed, it now appears that the story is a hoax. Joe Gandelman has the details but the bottom line is that the "student," who has yet to be named, confessed to simply making shit up. Like there isn't enough real nonsense to keep track of.

This is exactly the kind of story that makes legitimate criticism of the administration's actual behaviour all the more difficult. When mendacious claims like these surface, keeping alert of real news is all that much harder. And those on the right are correct in pointing out that critics of Bush glommed onto this one with a little too much zeal and insufficient skepticism. Ultimately, though, the real culprit is the The Standard-Times, which reported this story with insufficient fact-checking and relied on hearsay. Didn't these guys learn anything from Judith Miller?

And whoever this "student" is, I'm sending a big, hearty "fuck you, asspiece" his way.