Granted, It's Hard To Keep Track of Ricks' Nonsense

I'm in narrowband country so can't do much about the latest terrorist plot, lso I've looked at Howard Kurtz's latest live chat. These things are... live, so let's cut Kurtz some slack, but he muffed the following exchange:

Columbia, Md.: I was watching your show on Sunday and my jaw hit the floor when I heard Tom Ricks claim he believes Israel was purposely targeting journalists. Unfortunately you did not follow up and went on to another guest.

Doesn't Ricks have to provide some evidence of this to make such an accusation?

Also, with his new book now out basically attacking the Bush administration, is Ricks still considered an "objective" reporter at The Washington Post?

Howard Kurtz: Actually, I did follow up, and Ricks said he was basing his remarks on what he had been told by U.S. military analysts. I also asked him the objectivity question.

Actually, he didn't follow up. Kurtz is confusing his brief query about Ricks' claim that Israel lets civilians die from Hezbollah rockets for PR purposes with Rick's other nonsensical claim. Here's the transcript:

KURTZ: Tom Ricks, "The New York Times" reported the other day, quote, "Israel is now fighting to win the battle of perceptions," which to me says the battle of headlines. And, in fact, an Israeli cabinet minister was quoted, not by name, as saying, "That the narrative at the end, is part of the problem." I'm starting to hear echoes of Iraq.

RICKS: Echoes of Iraq, yes. But also the Israelis are very sophisticated in their handling of the media. They consider it part of the battlefield, officially. The word "narrative" always comes up with conversations with Israeli national security officials. They consider shaping the narrative, the battle for the narrative, to be key as part of any war fighting. So they see the media as part of the battlefield. And, in fact, there's some belief from our reporters that they have occasionally targeted the media.

KURTZ: Richard Engel in Lebanon, let's talk a little bit about your efforts to cover Hezbollah....

Columbia's right. Kurtz is wrong.