I made a bad call the other day. Yes, there is a pro-Hugo Chavez activist named Linda Panetta who campaigns against the US military. No, she is not the daughter of CIA Director-designate Leon Panetta as I had reported on this page. I had two separate sources and they were wrong; I didn't check beyond them and ran the post here. My thanks to Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy in Media and to those of you who sent in comments for pointing out the mistake, and my apologies for spreading a story that was false. I have taken down the posting.
Kincaid reports that he reached Linda Panetta by phone. He says she told him that "while she admires Leon Panetta and that there may be a distant family connection somewhere, he is not her father and that she has never even met him. 'Not only am I not his daughter but unfortunately I have not had the pleasure of meeting this man who has done amazing work in his lifetime,' she said. 'He and my father may have been second cousins,' she acknowledged, but under no circumstances is he her father."
Some of my critics are having fun with this one at my expense, and it's only fair that they do. Certainly I would do the same to them under similar circumstances. This blog is, after all, about political warfare. I make no excuses for my error. However, when I make or repeat a factual mistake I will immediately try to correct it once it's brought to my attention. The same can't be said for, say, the New York Times. So, again, my apologies. And my thanks to those who so quickly pointed this out.
UPDATE, January 21: My sources from the Left who mis-identified Linda Panetta as Leon Panetta's daughter have since pulled down their items from the Web but have not acknowledged their mistake. A reader spotted one of those sources, the website of Springfield College, and took a screenshot of the site before the college pulled the item within the past 48 hours or so. See comments, below.
Apparently, you weren't the only one who made the error. And this listing appeared AFTER she spoke there. Surely the subject must have come up during the talk or in pre or post talk discussions.
From Springfield College, Feb 12, 2007:
"ACTIVIST LINDA PANETTA SPEAKS Linda Panetta, photojournalist, social activist, and daughter of former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, spoke about her work in Central America and the Middle East in a presentation entitled "Social Justice and Contemporary Society" on Monday, Feb. 12, in Marsh Memorial Chapel. Read more."
http://www.spfldcol.edu/homepage/dept.nsf/0/11842e178bdeba5e45256cad0020276e/$FILE/feb_07.html
Posted by: ETL | January 20, 2009 at 09:26 AM
Hi Mike,
Ian here in the UK (I think we met each other years ago).
I tweeted your article to my followers on twitter, but have also posted your timely correction. Keep up the good work.
Ian
Posted by: Ian Geldard | January 20, 2009 at 03:26 PM
Update: I just checked the Springfield College page that I was referring to and they've now removed the 'Leon Panetta's daughter' mention. However, I don't see anywhere on the revised page an admission or, Lord forbid, an apology. Good thing I did a screen capture soon after I saw it!
I'll post a link to the screen capture as soon as I can figure out how to do so.
Posted by: ETL | January 21, 2009 at 10:27 AM
As promised, here are the before and after screen captures...
Original version: Linda Panetta is listed as Leon Panetta's daughter. It appeared this way until Jan 19th or 20th, 2009:
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt161/FRP410933/ScreenCapture-LindaPanettaspeakinge.jpg
__________________________________
Revised version: On Jan 21st, 2009, I first noticed the 'Leon's daughter' mention removed, with no acknowledgment and/or apology, at least as of this moment (1/21/09, 10:15AM ET):
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt161/FRP410933/ScreenCapture-REVISED1-21-09LindaPa.jpg
Posted by: ETL | January 21, 2009 at 10:34 AM
As promised, here are the before and after screen captures...
Original version: Linda Panetta is listed as Leon Panetta's daughter. It appeared this way until Jan 19th or 20th, 2009:
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt161/FRP410933/ScreenCapture-LindaPanettaspeakinge.jpg
__________________________________
Revised version: On Jan 21st, 2009, I first noticed the 'Leon's daughter' mention removed, with no acknowledgment and/or apology, at least as of this moment (1/21/09, 10:15AM ET):
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt161/FRP410933/ScreenCapture-REVISED1-21-09LindaPa.jpg
Posted by: ETL | January 21, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Please feel free to delete either of my duplicate postings. They are identical to each other.
Posted by: ETL | January 22, 2009 at 08:49 PM