Great. You would think that before publishing something this explosive and politically sensitive, the Times (and Kristof, back in the days when his conscience and ethics alarms were working) would have demanded some hard evidence: photos, an Israeli whistle-blower, something. I have watched “All the President’s Men” and “Spotlight” many times. What happened to the practice of independent, objective confirmation as a condition predicate to publishing such stories?

Trump is what happened, I guess. 2016. Progressive “by any means necessary” ideology. Hate Something. My mind is still reeling from the fact that anyone would hate Israel so much that their confirmation bias would allow them to believe that Israel trains dogs to rape people.

Here is how silly Kristoff is. He writes (sorry, I still can’t make WP’s quote block work properly…):

“I became interested in reporting on sexual assaults against Palestinian prisoners after Issa Amro, a nonviolent activist sometimes called “the Palestinian Gandhi,” told me when I previously visited that he had been sexually assaulted by Israeli soldiers and that he believed this was common but underreported because of shame. By one count, Israel has detained 20,000 people in the West Bank alone since the Oct. 7 attacks, and more than 9,000 Palestinians were still being held as of this month. Many have not been charged but were detained under ill-defined security grounds, and since 2023, most have been denied visits from the Red Cross and lawyers.”

“The Palestian Gandhi” makes as much sense as “The Nazi John the Baptist.” And “by one count.” Come on. How sloppy can you get? By one count, I have two heads.

There is some question now whether the Times will pull Kristof’s piece because it is being so widely criticized for its terrible sourcing (and the fact that it is, you know, incredible on its face). I hope so, but it is too late anyway, for both the columnist and his disgraceful paper.