Okay, this is positively bizarre.

In its latest issue (published yesterday I believe), The New Republic announced that it's taking an unscheduled week off (Note: Please see correction below) and will push back the publication of its next issue by seven days. After taking several gratuitous (although not unwarranted) whacks at the Iraqi Parliament’s extended holiday, TNR’s editors finally get to the nub of the matter:

Of course, our decrying of America's aversion to vacation will only do so much to solve this growing crisis. Which is why we're happy to say that, with the publication of this issue, The New Republic will try to do its part by joining those Iraqi M.P.s and taking some time off in August. It won't be the month our Baghdad brothers will enjoy, only seven days, but that means the next issue of tnr won't be published for another three weeks instead of the customary two. What you, dear reader, will do without tnr for that one week is hard to fathom, but we'd be remiss if we didn't offer one suggestion: Maybe you should take a vacation, too.

LET’S REVIEW, SHALL WE? It’s been over two weeks since the Beauchamp Diarists hit the Internets and the storm they kicked up began. It’s been over two weeks since TNR’s editor-in-chief Franklin Foer began what he promised would be a dogged investigation to corroborate the details of those Diarists, something a responsible editor would have done before running the piece. It’s been almost two weeks since Franklin Foer said he unearthed “much to corroborate” the details of the piece and yet has declined to share those details with a curious public.

Like I said, above, this is quite strange. Periodicals don’t just go on unscheduled holidays because the staff is collectively jonesing to visit Wally-World. If you look at the inside of any magazine you subscribe to, you’ll see the publication schedule clearly delineated right below the Table of Contents. To wit, every issue of The Weekly Standard includes the following:

“The Weekly Standard is published weekly except the first week in January, third week in April, second week in July and fourth week in August.”

Although I don’t have any issues of The New Republic lying around the house to check for similar boilerplate, I bet its there. So, what gives? Has the entire staff of TNR decided to go to FOB Falcon to investigate the Beauchamp Diarists? Or, as is more likely, is the magazine in full crisis mode? (Again, Please see Correction below.)

LEST I BE ACCUSED OF taking delight in The New Republic’s problems, allow me to point out a couple of things. From the start of this thing, I’ve said that the editorial decision to run the Thomas Diarists was unconscionable. Even if they turn out to be true and TNR had done the proper due diligence in qualifying them before publishing them, printing them without putting them in context of the 160,000 men and women who are honorably serving in Iraq unconscionably slandered our soldiers. This was a horrendous and morally appalling editorial decision, the kind for which offers of resignation should have been tendered.

Franklin Foer’s stonewalling since the publication of the Diarists has exacerbated his slanderous editorial decision. It has now been over two weeks, and The New Republic has not clarified whether it has blown the whistle on profound wrong-doing at FOB Falcon, or instead slandered every soldier, NCO and officer serving there. Indeed, if the Diarist is untrue and Franklin Foer’s sole contribution to the argument regarding its veracity for over the past two weeks has been to insist on its accuracy, those actions would cry out for his termination if he lacks the honor to resign.

Under the best case scenario for The New Republic, it published a story whose details were accurate but which painted a grossly distorted views of our troops. It appears increasingly unlikely, however, that this “best case scenario” will pan out for the justly beleaguered publication.

UPDATE/CORRECTION: Alert reader JB emails TNR's media kit. This week was a scheduled vacation. I apologize for the error. In case the TNR staff feels like making it a working vacation, I hear FOB Falcon is lovely this time of year. I'm sure there are some soldiers there who would enjoy their company.

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