tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post8860118722536486808..comments2024-02-24T05:19:10.949-05:00Comments on Durham-in-Wonderland: Rabinowitz Eviscerates Author Cohankcjohnson9http://www.blogger.com/profile/09625813296986996867noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-86394753843283097982014-05-25T15:26:51.749-04:002014-05-25T15:26:51.749-04:00Jim in San Diego: And who is to say HP doesn't...Jim in San Diego: And who is to say HP doesn't play football?Hershel Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919613095448470289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-13480437538688540692014-05-21T22:59:03.063-04:002014-05-21T22:59:03.063-04:00edit:
Hershel Parker, of course.
Hershel Walker...edit:<br /><br />Hershel Parker, of course.<br /><br />Hershel Walker played football, I believe?<br /><br />Jim PetersonJim In San Diegohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959286127760699852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-30598139879822420092014-05-21T22:56:50.494-04:002014-05-21T22:56:50.494-04:00Joan Foster on Liestoppers has answered the questi...Joan Foster on Liestoppers has answered the question no has answered yet, including especially William D. Cohan:<br /><br />Why would a business writer decide to write a (long) book about an 8 year old rape hoax?<br /><br />Answer: It is Cohan's formula to:<br /><br /> (1) pick a target which can easily be made a symbol of populist rage (rich, privileged white athletes abusing a black working woman; Bear-Stearns, Goldman-Sachs)<br /><br />(2) Use his skill at using innuendo and unattributed quotes ("it was known on the street"), to fan his targeted audience's pre-existing prejudices.<br /><br />(3) Reward sources who will speak to him; punish those who will not.<br /><br />(4) Sell books. No other goal. Certainly not a balanced perspective on the factual history of which Cohan was writing.<br /><br />Hershel Walker long ago conjectured this was his MO, in Hershel's excellent (1-star) review on Amazon. Hershel has the talent and experience in the publishing business to smell out a rat much quicker than we did.<br /><br />Jim PetersonJim In San Diegohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959286127760699852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-59525646855527661932014-05-21T12:52:06.018-04:002014-05-21T12:52:06.018-04:00The standard suggestion to anyone who is puzzled a...The standard suggestion to anyone who is puzzled as to the overwhelmingly negative reviews of "Price of Silence" on Amazon, after all the glowing reviews in the major media, should be:<br /><br />Please read them. All of them. <br /><br />Do not carry any opinion at all into your reading.<br /><br />Just read them. <br /><br />After you read them, you will have formed your own opinion, whatever it might be. It will not be someone else's opinion.<br /><br />Just read them.<br /><br />Jim PetersonJim In San Diegohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959286127760699852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-48421879732970983232014-05-21T07:57:43.255-04:002014-05-21T07:57:43.255-04:00We can see from the Tapper 'interview' tha...We can see from the Tapper 'interview' that, after 6 weeks, Cohan has his paws dug in and is fighting for his career. His whining screed on HuffPo regarding Amazon reviews shows how scared he is. <br /><br />He's sticking to his tired sound bites, and seems to have a real fetish for Rumsfeld's 'unknown unknowns'. 'Nifong made mistakes', 'something we would not be proud of', 'we'll never know' have become little more than verbal ticks.<br /><br />And continues his gossip about $60 mil and $100 mil, and the misdirection about AG Cooper 'not allowing him to see the investigation file'. He just tosses aside the AG office' 3-month (or 4 month at one point in the interview) investigation as meaningless.<br /><br />New in this piece (I think) is that Cohan doesn't even know that RCD did indeed file suit against Duke; he describes the settlement as 'preemptive, not tied to a particular lawsuit'.<br /><br />Joan Foster has posted some comment/reviews of his Wall Street books; it seems that he's taken a similar tack when writing those:<br /><br /><a href="http://s1.zetaboards.com/Liestoppers_meeting/topic/5483860/1/" rel="nofollow"><b>Cohan's Other Books; Interesting comments</b></a>RighteousThugnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-44169337960576826582014-05-21T03:56:12.735-04:002014-05-21T03:56:12.735-04:00To: 5:42
Sounds like your talking about Obama, i.e...To: 5:42<br />Sounds like your talking about Obama, i.e., he's (read: the Administration) silent about scandals and then, when he can't ignore them anymore, he claims (through a spokesperson) that he was never informed about the problems and blames those that 'should' have informed him.<br /><br />Big AlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-3649144616539018222014-05-20T19:30:56.061-04:002014-05-20T19:30:56.061-04:00anonymous @ 6:51
Here is the link:
http://www.hu...anonymous @ 6:51<br /><br />Here is the link:<br /><br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-d-cohan/how-much-freedom-of-speec_b_5353325.html<br /><br />As of a few minutes ago, there were 22 comments.<br /><br />Jim Peterson<br /><br />Jim In San Diegohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959286127760699852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-56503172221795018682014-05-20T18:51:02.415-04:002014-05-20T18:51:02.415-04:00Where is the "discussion" at the huffing...Where is the "discussion" at the huffington post? ...Link??? ...not to Cohen's absurd pity piece (there are no comments allowed there). Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-40261123070501734742014-05-20T17:26:39.704-04:002014-05-20T17:26:39.704-04:00Anonymous 4:55
From reading the first 15 or so co...Anonymous 4:55<br /><br />From reading the first 15 or so comments. A couple of exceptions, of course.<br /><br />Jim PetersonJim In San Diegohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959286127760699852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-78351756889883529722014-05-20T16:57:35.156-04:002014-05-20T16:57:35.156-04:00@ 3:57 I might be a little dense ...but what are ...@ 3:57 I might be a little dense ...but what are you trying to say??? ..or anyone?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-54444354553857910432014-05-20T16:55:05.629-04:002014-05-20T16:55:05.629-04:00Where did you find "Thankfully, Huffington Po...Where did you find "Thankfully, Huffington Post commenters are not buying into the idea of censorship of Amazon reviews" this information/discussion? Thank-youAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-16694374607865848902014-05-20T16:51:55.383-04:002014-05-20T16:51:55.383-04:00Cohan's wikipedia entry is substantially updat...Cohan's wikipedia entry is substantially updated with links to the positive and negative reviews and the HuffPo piece.<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_D._CohanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-25597676350209996202014-05-20T16:23:58.761-04:002014-05-20T16:23:58.761-04:00Correction:
My mistake.
Amazon did respond to m...Correction:<br /><br />My mistake.<br /><br />Amazon did respond to my email; just a Different email account.<br /><br />However, Amazon did not acknowledge deleting the comment I asked about, even though I see it on my screen as "Removed by Amazon".<br /><br />So, will investigate further. As anyone can see, reviewing the "comments" sections on a number of the 5 star reviews, that Amazon HAS deleted several comments,without explanation.<br /><br />Will try to get to the bottom of it.<br /><br />Jim PetersonJim In San Diegohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959286127760699852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-40553860612141054502014-05-20T15:57:18.362-04:002014-05-20T15:57:18.362-04:00This is curious:
I sent an email to Amazon 36 ho...This is curious:<br /><br />I sent an email to Amazon 36 hours ago asking:<br /><br />1. Why Amazon was beginning to remove comments critical of the 5 star reviewers, when the comments were civil, factual, but critical?<br /><br />2. Who, specifically, complained about the comments, and what was their specific complaint?<br /><br />I received the pro-forma notice that someone would respond within 12 hours. <br /><br />That did not happen.<br /><br />Contemporaneously, in his absolutely amazing Huffington Post article, Cohan fulminates about holding Amazon legally accountable for those critical of his masterwork!!<br /><br />So, this is the connection we have been missing. Picture what we are viewing: an investigative reporter, calling for censorship of criticism of him, and threatening Amazon with legal action for posting reviews and comments critical of "Price of Silence".<br /><br />Is anybody in journalism taking notice of this? Isn't there a great story here, even an expose? <br /><br />I don't have the training, the ability, or the platform, or I would be there myself.<br /><br />Thankfully, Huffington Post commenters are not buying into the idea of censorship of Amazon reviews.<br /><br />Jim PetersonJim In San Diegohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959286127760699852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-61566566545188643392014-05-20T15:28:00.926-04:002014-05-20T15:28:00.926-04:00It really seems like someone or some group said, &...It really seems like someone or some group said, "hey, it's been a good interval since the Duke LAX case was in the public, Until Proven Innocent (UPI) was published, Nifong was disbarred, etc, let's get some revisionist history out there and make a big splash". Nobody will remember any of the details. William Cohan was certainly a willing participant, if not the leader, of this effort.<br /> <br />I certainly hope Mr. Parker is correct and Rabinowitz's review is a "turning point" in consigning "The Price of Silence" to oblivion. I am heartened by all the "pans" on Amazon, but it sure would help if more "names", in addition to Dorothy Rabinowitz, provided reviews in other fora. I would make it mandatory, though, that each reviewer read or have a grounding in Johnson's and Taylor's UPI.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-87600882235528171972014-05-20T13:36:37.053-04:002014-05-20T13:36:37.053-04:00My comment in the Huffington POST on Cohan's c...My comment in the Huffington POST on Cohan's complaints about "free speech" on Amazon<br />Hershel Parker · Top Commenter · Northwestern University<br />As Dorothy Rabinowitz says in the WALL STREET JOURNAL, Cohan wrote a dishonest book and compounded his folly by embarking on a Media blitz in which he has made increasingly reckless false claims about the falsely-accused Duke lacrosse players. He may turn out to have said actionable lies. The WSJ on 11 April had already published a puff piece by David M. Shribman, one of many ignorant incompetent puff pieces that welcomed THE PRICE OF SILENCE. Cohan was the beneficiary of the corruption of reviewing in the mainstream media. I have a vested interest here because the President of Duke University (as he is now), Richard H. Brodhead, lied about me in the NEW YORK TIMES in June 2002, saying that only I in my "black hole" had ever heard of the book Herman Melville finished in 1860 and called POEMS. That is, the Dean of Yale College defamed me as a biographer who merely "surmised" rather than worked from documentary evidence. Of course, everyone had known about POEMS since 1922. I became interested in the non-rape case because I knew of Brodhead's dishonesty in the NEW YORK TIMES, and then became appalled at the behavior of the Gang of 88 at Duke. I have written about this at some length in MELVILLE BIOGRAPHY: AN INSIDE NARRATIVE (published January 2013). Now, I am one of the Amazon reviewers of Cohan's THE PRICE OF SILENCE. I have also made several comments on other reviews of the book. If you go to my (admittedly long) review on Amazon you will find detailed criticism of the incompetence and even viciousness of Cohan's book. I dare to hope that Rabinowitz's review will be a turning point. This may be the time when the amateur reviewers in Amazon push the mainstream media toward honesty. Here is a comment I posted this morning on the comment by carla4515:<br /><br />What's most encouraging is that the WSJ corrected itself. Someone assigned a review to someone who ought to have been responsible, David M. Shribman, boss at the Pittsburgh POST-GAZETTE. That review, published 11 April 2014, was an incompetent puff piece. So the WALL STREET JOURNAL had to look at its own mistake and decide to protect its new reputation as the most serious national reviewing newspaper (much better now than the NEW YORK TIMES) even if it meant repudiating its own review. Don't look for more reviews by the shamed Shribman in the WSJ! All this speaks very well for the seriousness of the Book Review editor at the WSJ and the integrity of some members of the editorial staff, particularly Rabinowitz herself, who paid attention to what Cohan was doing on his Media Circuit Circus as well as the falsifications in the book. I regard Rabinowitz's review as a turning point in the long-term fate of Cohan's very bad book, but I am optimistic enough to see it as just maybe a turning point in reviewing, the point where the corrupt mainstream media meets the Great Waters of the Amazon. How can I be so optimistic at almost 80? Well, I'll tell you--I'm optimistic after reading so many intelligent one-star reviews of William D. Cohan's THE PRICE OF SILENCE here on Amazon.<br /><br />I will keep using the image of GREAT WATERS OF THE AMAZON in celebrating the best hope readers have of fighting the ignorance and incompetence of the mainstream media.<br />22345386Hershel Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919613095448470289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-58615906781813399202014-05-20T12:53:24.247-04:002014-05-20T12:53:24.247-04:00"He picks on one of the poor one star reviews..."He picks on one of the poor one star reviews, a reader who acknowledges not reading the book"<br /><br />... neglecting to mention, of course, the five-star review from a 'reader' who also admits not reading it, but gives a thumbs-up to amazon for delivering it promptly.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-6102805683921919412014-05-20T11:10:24.109-04:002014-05-20T11:10:24.109-04:00Just read Cohan's 5/19/2014 Huffington Post Pi...Just read Cohan's 5/19/2014 Huffington Post Piece. It is entitled "How Much Freedom of Speech is Too Much".<br /><br />His theme: "...there should be limits to saying or writing whatever you please in online forums that can sully someone's reputation with impunity and impair his or her ability to make a living"<br /><br />Omigod.<br /><br />The irony is so thick you can cut it with a knife. This is a self proclaimed "investigative reporter" asking for limits on criticism of [himself, naturally].<br /><br />How about putting limits on investigative reporters who, "say whatever they please to sully someone's reputation with impunity", such as William D. Cohan has done with his new book, and has done for six weeks on his sales tour?<br /><br />Then, in a burst of intellectual ignorance, Cohan attacks Amazon reviewers of his book. He does so in the time honored way of dishonest debaters: he chooses a straw man as his target, then argues from the particular to the general on the basis of the straw man.<br /><br />He picks on one of the poor one star reviews, a reader who acknowledges not reading the book, then generalizes that all negative reviews are similar.<br /><br />This of course is nonsense. My suggestion to anyone interested in the argument is: read the reviews. <br /><br />There are about ten "1 star" reviews, signed by authors with their real name, that go into dozens of specific instances of bias, errors, and just plain dishonesty in "Price of Silence"<br /><br />For those with little time or interest, I recommend they read just one review: That of Hershel Parker, Pulitzer Prize finalist non-fiction author. Professor Parker lists, WITH PAGE CITATIONS, several dozen examples of Cohan's bias and inaccuracies, and concludes, "This is a book that never should have been published".<br /><br />If Mr. Cohan were intellectually honest, he would address and respond to Professor Parker's review, not some carefully selected straw man. Or, those of at least half a dozen others. <br /><br />Of course, not a chance.<br /><br />Mr. Cohan is a very dangerous man. He has a position of influence, and a following, and no moral compass. Such men have caused a great deal of damage throughout history.<br /><br />Jim PetersonJim In San Diegohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959286127760699852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-48388612772862543342014-05-20T10:45:09.768-04:002014-05-20T10:45:09.768-04:00re: "Cohan just published a piece at Huffingt...re: "Cohan just published a piece at Huffington Post whining about the bad reviews his book is getting at Amazon"<br /><br />Here's the article: "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-d-cohan/how-much-freedom-of-speec_b_5353325.html" rel="nofollow">How Much Freedom of Speech is Too Much?</a>" For those <i>haters</i> too busy to read it, here are WDC's gems:<br /><br /> - "...an increasing number of ordinary Americans are wondering if there should be limits to saying or writing whatever you please in online forums that can sully someone's reputation with impunity and impair his or her ability to make a living."<br /><br /> - "...authors whose books appear for sale on Amazon and then quickly get reviewed by an increasingly large army of people who seem to have nothing better to do with their time."<br /><br /> - "...an extremely passionate group of reviewers began posting one-star reviews on the Amazon page devoted to the book ... a well-organized group ... no way any of them had read the book ... [which] is a tightly wound 621 pages devoted to a balanced assessment of a complex event ... haters, who were determined to poison the well." <br /><br /> - "...Amazon ... doesn't much care how authors are treated ... these these thoughtless reviews hurt authors' ability to make a living ... slanderous reviews hurt book sales...."<br /><br />I then wondered if he lapsed into a moment of self-reflection and humility with an apology to the falsely accused Duke LAX players for his book <i>The Price of Silence</i> which was:<br /><br /> - "...unvetted and unfiltered ... justified concerns of those whose reputations can be torn asunder unfairly by it."<br /><br />Nah, he was still wallowing in his pity puddle. :~)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-3468381009676146132014-05-20T10:18:55.967-04:002014-05-20T10:18:55.967-04:00Someone is trying to persuade Amazon to remove com...Someone is trying to persuade Amazon to remove comments critical of the gaseous "5-star" reviews. Amazon is proving somewhat receptive.<br /><br />More to come, possibly. I am trying to communicate with Amazon.<br /><br />Jim PetersonJim In San Diegohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959286127760699852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-26196112866563858702014-05-20T10:15:29.935-04:002014-05-20T10:15:29.935-04:00Kindred spirits indeed.
Just for the record, I po...Kindred spirits indeed.<br /><br />Just for the record, I posted a review and some comments on Price of Silence at Amazon. I am an ordinary American mother who doesn't approve of what was done to those innocent young lacrosse players at Duke. So I spoke up, as did others there, on Amazon, about this book that I felt portrayed the innocent in a false light, and the guilty in an undeserved favorable light. I have no ties to any other reviewers and saw no evidence of any organized effort to sandbag the book. There seems to be a lot of people out there who care not to have repeated the injustices of the Duke case. In sum, the negative reviews are evidence of a spontaneous Happening and of that I am proud. America will be ok as long as the information that matters can somehow get through.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-36826845276915922052014-05-20T04:49:54.917-04:002014-05-20T04:49:54.917-04:00"His solution?
Curb free speech."
Othe..."His solution?<br /><br />Curb free speech."<br /><br />Other folks' free speech, of course, not his own. He's still free to insinuate that three former lacrosse players are guilty of a nefarious unspecified something.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-78243405033424690952014-05-20T00:41:22.888-04:002014-05-20T00:41:22.888-04:00Cohan just published a piece at Huffington Post wh...Cohan just published a piece at Huffington Post whining about the bad reviews his book is getting at Amazon. His solution?<br /><br />Curb free speech. No wonder Cohan found Nifong to be a kindred spirit.<br /><br />Trial JunkieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-35788921901502427262014-05-19T23:22:03.279-04:002014-05-19T23:22:03.279-04:00I am a former newspaper reporter. The embarrassme...I am a former newspaper reporter. The embarrassment of the wretched journalism noted here by K.C. Jonson -- and the glaring contrast to the superb journalism of Dorothy Rabinowitz -- continues to rankle me. <br /><br />WHERE HAVE JOURNALISTIC STANDARDS GONE?<br /><br />Gus W.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-14363272702607296852014-05-19T23:02:59.088-04:002014-05-19T23:02:59.088-04:00I don't know about the amount of evidence that...I don't know about the amount of evidence that "something (nefarious)happened" in the bathroom but I would wholeheratedly agree that is undeniably incredible. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13983194873601866098noreply@blogger.com