PrintSeptember 3, 2009
LATimes Got The Finger Wrong
Looks like the LATimes got the story of a clash between pro- and anti-Obamacare protesters totally backwards.
This was the lede in a September 3, 2009 LATimes blog (scroll down to find it under "Man bites off man's finger at Obama healthcare rally"):
"A 65-year-old man at a Wednesday night California rally supporting President Obama's embattled reform ideas had a finger bitten off during a scuffle with anti-reform protesters."
The democraticunderground.com website jumped on the piece and it provokes a series of comments. The first one was,
"1. Why are Right-Wings always ruled by Emotions and Never by Logic"
Well, turns out, according to Times reporter Rubin Vives who is now assigned to follow-up on the story, the paper got it backwards and a rewrite is in progress. (Mr. Vives was contacted by phone at approximately noon central time, September 3, at the Times' office.)
A pro-Obamacare protestor bit off the pinkie finger of the 65-year-old anti-Obamacare protestor.
The underlying question is: How does a big paper blogger - it wasn't Vives - make a mistake like that in the first place?
Inbred bias perhaps?
