TOM MAGUIRE is parsing Nick Kristof, and wonders: “Hmm – might the Times sue me as a promotional stunt? I’ll believe anything about Times Select.” Sounds like it could use the help.
Mickey Kaus chimes in on Maguire’s analysis, and comments on blog-revisionism:
I’m not saying bloggers should never revise after hitting “publish.” Maybe they shouldn’t, but I rewrite sentences all the time–if an emailer makes a good objection or I just have second thoughts. But it does become Orwellian at some point–i.e. when you redo a column after you’ve been publicly attacked for some stupidity to make it look as if there was never any stupidity to attack. … P.P.P.S.: Luckily, I have a printed-out hard copy of Kristof’s original, presumably dumber,** version, which I will mail to anyone who wants it for only $49.95.! Call it TimesSelectClassic.
Yeah, stuff looks different on the screen, and it’s okay to fix things once published, but once people are commenting on your posts, it’s time to make changes in a clearly labelled update.