Burned By Her Source

The New York Times today printed a correction to her Cocky/Chiefy column which said:

In her column last Wednesday, Maureen Dowd wrote that a Democratic lawmaker privately asked Gen. David Petraeus why there weren’t more Democrats in the military, and he replied, “There are more than you think.” Col. Steven Boylan of the general’s public affairs office in Baghdad, which was not contacted for comment, says the quotation “is in error as he never made nor would make such a statement.”

Since she is quoting Petraeus by name and he (indirectly) denies the quote, the other person involved must have been the un-named "Democratic lawmaker". According to CBS News, the other legislators on the trip were Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. Since Hagel is a Republican, that leaves Jack Reed as Dowd's source.

I understand why General Petraeus has to refute an off-the-record comment that is embarrassing to military, but Reed needs to go on the record on whether he was ever told this or not. I doubt he will and will instead leave Dowd twisting in the wind. And the DowdHaters will have more ammunition to use in their jihad against her. We here at Dowd Central will have an open competition for the blogger that comes up with the most vociferous denunciation of Dowd's latest faux pas. Have at it folks.