The Art of "Quotemanship" and "Misquotemanship"

Quoting people accurately is really hard — and you can quote me on that.

Cindy Adams breathlessly–and casually–passes on an elusive Kissinger quote about Israel’s future

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In her breathless, I-rarely-have-time-for-a-verb writing, gossipy Cindy Adams passes on quite a prediction that she attributes for former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (shown at the right).
She presented it (on Page 12 of the September 18 issue of the New York Post, shown above) this way:

“Reported to me, Henry Kissinger has stated–and I quote the statement word for word: ‘In 10 years, there will be no more Israel.’
“I repeat: ‘In 10 years, there will be no more Israel.'”

She offers no CONTEXT for the quote. Hey, given the chronological prediction, it would have been good to add WHEN he might have said that. The way she presents it (“has said”), she implies that Kissinger has said it a few times.
Her presentation (leading a column that also dealt with Katie Couric, Harvey Weinstein, Kourtney Kardashian etc.) drew some reaction.
That reaction surfaced over the last couple of days. Reporters from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) have gotten a response from Kissinger’s office.
According to posts in the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel from earlier today, staff member Tara Butzbaugh (who works in Kissinger’s office at Kissinger Associates, said this:

“It’s not a misquote. He didn’t say it.”

It’s worth checking. I can’t find it.
But Adams has put the statement in play. It now has life on the Web. Some find it quite believable. Others–in the spirit of Robert DeNiro (portraying Conrad Brean) in Wag the Dog–deny, deny, deny.

One Comment

  1. Highly unlikely.

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