AP sinks to new low

Swimming through the Spin has a story that will make your blood boil, but at the same time, it made me laugh - uproariously. The AP, covering Bush on the campaign trail, reported that there were boos from the crowd when Bush announced that Clinton was in the hospital for heart surgery. The problem is, there are eyewitnesses and an audio recording that prove the AP was lying.

So the AP edited the story, twice, and the second edit shows a clear intent to hide the lie in the first edition. Here they are, in the order they were released.

WEST ALLIS, Wis. - President Bush (news - web sites) on Friday wished Bill Clinton (news - web sites) "best wishes for a swift and speedy recovery."
"He's is in our thoughts and prayers," Bush said at a campaign rally.
Bush's audience of thousands in West Allis, Wis., booed. Bush did nothing to stop them.

WEST ALLIS, Wis. - President Bush (news - web sites) on Friday offered former President Bill Clinton (news - web sites), who faces heart bypass surgery, "best wishes for a swift and speedy recovery."
"He's is in our thoughts and prayers," Bush said at a campaign rally.

WEST ALLIS, Wis. - President Bush on Friday offered former President Bill Clinton, who faces heart bypass surgery, "best wishes for a swift and speedy recovery."
"He is in our thoughts and prayers," Bush said at a campaign rally in Wisconsin.
The crowd reacted with applause and with some "ooohs," apparently surprised by the news that Clinton was ill.

The "ooohs" would give the AP plausible deniability if it weren't for the Internet. With thousands of eyes looking at every story every minute of every day, it's very difficult to hide a glaring error like this. One enterprising soul even got a raw copy of the first edited version.

sh-Clinton, 1st Ld-Writethru,150 Bush offers best wishes for Clinton's recovery
Eds: SUBS lead to include reference to surgery. DELETES 3rd graf previous, Bush's audience, because of uncertainty about crowd reaction.
WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) - President Bush on Friday offered former President Bill Clinton, who faces heart bypass surgery, "best wishes for a swift and speedy recovery."
"He's is in our thoughts and prayers," Bush said at a campaign rally.

So much for trying to hide your errors.

I've reported before on the AP's dismal record of reporting complete falsehoods, but those merely revealed incredible incompetence. This proves intentional bias by an AP reporter who has a history of lying. You'd think the AP would fire the reporter, but that would require that they have an interest in reporting facts.

Hat tip to Oh THAT Liberal Media!

UPDATE: You can watch the video here and decide for yourself if the AP is lying. Even liberals are denouncing it now.

Hi, I'm the guy who said: "I don't see why the Repugnicans should get flak for booing Clinton. That is to be expected of assholes..."

Heh. Anyway, I listened to the mp3 and saw the video, and heard no booing at all, not one. Talk about role reversal: Republicans get a heart and Clinton loses his! Throw tomatoes this way.

# posted by Anonymous : 11:24 PM