Lieutentant colonel? Let's hire him, no questions asked.

April 29, 2002 5:46 PM

Lieutentant colonel? Let's hire him, no questions asked. Last year, Fox News hired Joseph A. Cafasso as consultant on Afghanistan and the military. He said he was a retired lieutenant colonel with an exemplary service record, including tours in Vietnam, and rescuing hostages in Iran. The truth, however, was an entirely different matter. (nyt link: mefi/mefi)
posted by patrickje (11 comments total)

This whole thing sounds suspiciously like a Fletch movie.
posted by patrickje at 5:51 PM on April 29, 2002

If the New York Times ever writes a piece about me, I am going to insist that the phrase "The sheer brazeness of it is just remarkable." appear in it somewhere.

The guy has got some seriously oversized cojones, no doubt about it.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:19 PM on April 29, 2002

lets take Cafasso out back and beat the shit outta him.
posted by clavdivs at 6:37 PM on April 29, 2002

What's that famous line?

"The great mass of people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one."

Oh wait a minute...that one is from Hitler! Whoops!

Did I just kill this thread by mistake?
posted by Grum at 7:45 PM on April 29, 2002

They say in the article, they are unaware of any instance in which he gave them misinformation on any substantive matter. And he did have legitimate contacts in the military. That is, the information he got for Fox was real, even if he wasn't; he fooled genuine military types as well.

So Fox looks bad, and deservedly so, but they didn't do their readers or viewers any disservice, as far as I can tell -- even if it was just by luck.
posted by mattpfeff at 7:51 PM on April 29, 2002

sounds sort of like the british author who wrote a book on afghanistan claiming to be a former SAS officer back in november. the best part (in the video interview) is when he hits the camera.
at least this guy came forward somewhat.
posted by sixtwenty3dc at 8:01 PM on April 29, 2002

"As he spent more time at Fox deciphering military movements, the executives eventually felt compelled to hire him as a consultant for $200 a week". Well hell, that sounds like a job worth lying for. I'm sure most people would ruin their reputation and creditibility for the opportunity at them sorta bucks.
posted by Mack Twain at 11:50 PM on April 29, 2002

Mack, I got a kick out of that as well. They hire a military advisor for $200 a week??? It's like buying a Rolex for $12 and thinking you got the real thing.
posted by patrickje at 12:02 AM on April 30, 2002

i like how fox tries to play it off like Cafasso was there so often they felt compelled to pay him something every week and that's how they justify the paltry $200. on the other hand, people like this guy don't do it for the money. they want the recognition. he starts w/lies while building some legitimate experiences and mixes them together for a wonderful hazy background soup.
posted by suprfli at 12:21 AM on April 30, 2002

Two of the best friends I ever had were guys who could spin yarns, one after another, keeping everyone around them enthralled or in stitches.

I didn't care if any of those stories were lies, they were just plain fun to be around.
posted by planetkyoto at 5:37 AM on April 30, 2002

Ho-hum. FoxNews gets story wrong again, runs wildly innacurate tripe without bothering to check into it, we report you decide. Millions of dittoheads can't be wrong. Or won't, at least.
posted by emptyage at 10:23 AM on April 30, 2002