Jane Taber clarification/apology

On 5/1/09 8:29 PM, "Taber, Jane" wrote:

So sorry

--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

Jane: Very good and decent of you to say you are “so sorry” , as I caught wind of this comment contained your article in the Globe from a posting on the Toronto Star website. I really could not believe what I was reading with my own eyes, so I naturally went back to read the source (your article) from which the person had been quoting to confirm whether it was accurate or not. I read your piece and left with the interpretation that these were, indeed the word and thoughts attributed to Michael Ignatieff , when in fact you are now confirming they are Tom Flanagan’s. Never could their be two different ends to the academic and political spectrum than Micahel Ignatieff and Tom Flanagan. I was not alone in my misinterpretation of your article.

Therefore out of sense of fair play and good journalism and the reputation of Michael Ignatieff. I would strongly encourage you to correct this widespread misunderstanding that exists amongst your readers that Flanagan and NOT Ignatieff is of the moral standing that: “As an academic, he said, "you just build up a habit of trying to give honest answers to questions. ... Then once you get into politics your task is mostly to conceal the truth. The truth becomes a gaffe”

Thank you and knowing you will do the right thing, given that reputations are essential to whom we are.

Or as Michael Ignatieff himself has written...”“We need words to keep us human”. An essential aspect of which requires that they be the actual “words” of the “human” in question.

Brent Fullard


From: CAITI
To: Taber, Jane
Sent: Fri May 01 20:28:18 2009
Subject: Jane Taber needs to properly qualify her pronouns. "He" means Flanagan, not Ignatieff!

I think you have misread the quotation. The Globe is quoting Tom Flanagan about Ignatieff, not what Ignatieff is saying there.

It is poorly written but read it again after reading the prior paragraphs and I think you'll see.

"So far, however, Mr. Flanagan said, Mr. Ignatieff is improving and has made few missteps, with the exception of recent musings on raising taxes to pay down the deficit.

The problem lies in Mr. Ignatieff's years as a university professor. As an academic, he said, "you just build up a habit of trying to give honest answers to questions. ... Then once you get into politics your task is mostly to conceal the truth. The truth becomes a gaffe."Flanagan is the gift that keeps on giving... to the Liberals. First he tells us that 'yeah, there is a hidden agenda' then he tells us that 'Harper's budget is bad but it is necessary for him to keep his job', he had the helpful comment that we are not any longer a "constitutional democracy but an electoral democracy" in trying to pretzel around the Constitution to say that the coalition was un-Constitutional.

And now he reveals the inner modus operendi of the Harper government.