That's a screenshot from the cached Wikipedia entry for Scooter Libby. I was up late futzing around, and I decided to check if I'd missed a new post at World O'Crap. There were new comments on the thread devoted to me (okay, that's the real reason I went there in the first place), with both Beth and Rowan Berkeley (who'd left a comment to my original post) raising questions about the accuracy of the Liebowitz story. I checked the Wiki entry and there was no "Irving Lewis Liebowitz" in the story. I thought for a moment I'd hallucinated the whole thing, until it occurred to me to check the cache.
I should have known better than to use Wikipedia as a source without attribution. I did pose my comments in the form of a question, but I'll admit that, as I said, I thought this was something I'd missed. It didn't occur to me that it might'nt be the case.
One more thing: I was not trying to portray Libby as hiding or denying Jewish ancestry, nor the Republican party as a place where one would find that advisable. I asked only why I couldn't find any info about the change. I'd have asked the same question if it had claimed he was born Irving Lewis Bongo-Shaftsbury.
Irving Lewis Bongo-Shaftsbury
ReplyDeleteHm, maybe I'll use that as my new internet identity...
I was born Robin Bongo-Shaftsbury and then changed it to Bongbury, then Shaftbo, then Shafto, before settling on Libby.
ReplyDeleteI assumed you brought it up as a way of making a point about the weirdly common unfounded assumption people tend to make that if you've changed your name, it must be for some nefarious purpose.
ReplyDeleteCertainly that's what the whole "Hartpence" thing was about. And the bizarre talking point that Bill Clinton is a liar because he wasn't born "Clinton".
This was all part of the Must Defend Jeff Gannon swarm, of course. The thing is, and I say this as someone who *has* changed her name repeatedly, sometimes name changes are indeed done for suspicious reasons.
And sometimes it's just because names are important, and for whatever reason, maybe a name doesn't fit anymore.
As I recall, though, Mr Gannon didn't actually change his name. He was just using a different one, in a situation where background checks are required, and thus one has a legal obligation to use one's legal name.
Otherwise, I wouldn't give a damn if he was calling himself Maryann Hilton.
Even *I* give my legal name to cops and the government. As do, one assumes, Gary Hart and Bill Clinton.
Though considering the latest round of revelations out of Washington, it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that Mr Libby didn't, just because he seems to have the same honesty rating as Ollie North.
Anyway, I assumed that was what that was all about, and if so, I appreciate your trying to make the point. If not, I apologize for totally misunderstanding you.