Everything that the NYThas told us about the war in Iraq is a lie

or completely wrong:

From the corrections section of yesterday's New York Times:

An article and a picture caption yesterday about the funeral of Sgt. Jose Gomez of Queens, who was killed on April 20 in Iraq, referred incorrectly to the Army representative who comforted his mother. She was a sergeant first class — an enlisted woman, not an officer. The article also misstated the name of a service medal that a general presented to Sergeant Gomez's mother. It is a Purple Heart, not a Purple Star.

This is freaking unbelievable. "Purple Star"? We have never pretended to any expertise in military matters, but I wouldn't have thought there was a single adult American who didn't know that the medal that is awarded to wounded servicemen is the Purple Heart. Now we know there are at least two: the reporter who wrote that story, and the editor who--presumably--read it before it was published. Keep that in mind next time you're wondering whether to trust the Times' coverage of military affairs.

I bet if they had kerned the caption this whole horrible horrible tragedy never would have happened. Not Sgt. Jose Gomez dying in a phony war. John Hinderaker doesn't care about that. But "purple star"? "Freaking unbelievable."

Tomorrow Hinderaker finds a mistake in the NY Times Sunday Crossword, has a complete meltdown, and calls for the head of Bill Keller on a pike for crimes against the mother tongue.

http://tbogg.blogspot.com/

:rofl:

I think the newspaper media is in a rapidly accelerating decline in even basic knowledge. It's amazing that both the "journalist" as well as his editor missed that. It kind of makes you wonder doesn't it?

Just the other day, this little gem appeared in a Newsday article about a Holocaust denier for running for Alabama attorney general:

"Historians say about 6 million Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis."

Historians say? You mean like, "Scientists say the earth is a sphere"?

Again, like in your instance, this was penned by a presumably educated reporter and then approved by a presumably more experienced editor.