I'm not sure what to make of the Scott Thomas scandal at The New Republic. I started subscribing after the Stephen Glass fiasco, and I don't think I've ever even read one of the diaries. It's not as if I have a lot of time to read and blog as it is. If it doesn't appear on the main page online, or come through the RSS feed, I don't know it. I was taken aback by ROK Drop's post on the alleged "Scott Thomas", one of the few times I'm caught offguard by the blogs.

My first reaction is, that the partisan wars, the Fox-CNN sparring, the talking heads, and the canned monotony of the talking points whizzing past one another but never meeting in dialogue, is just tedious. And now, not even the troops are off-limits. Editing movies is one thing, but imagining soldiers is just wrong. I really hate to be on the same side of an issue as Michelle Malkin.

Anyway, TNR's Franklin Foer has responded, and he's sticking to his guns:

Several conservative blogs have raised questions about the Diarist "Shock Troops," written by a soldier in Iraq using the pseudonym Scott Thomas. Whenever anybody levels serious accusations against a piece published in our magazine, we take those charges seriously. Indeed, we're in the process of investigating them. I've spoken extensively with the author of the piece and have communicated with other soldiers who witnessed the events described in the diarist. Thus far, these conversations have done nothing to undermine—and much to corroborate—the author's descriptions. I will let you know more after we complete our investigation.

The Mudville Gazette has the most authoritative rebuttals. And, even more than the partisan political noise, I don't know what even a war-skeptical soldier thinks he—or, she—is doing making his or her service look so disreputable. It plays into all the leftist claptrap about the military service. I just hope there is a definitive account to this horrendous journalistic event, and that all sides can agree. I don't want to be hearing echoes of "melted faces" and Bradley Fighting Vehicles all the way into next year.