Bachmann-Palin confusion was behind New York Times error

It takes a mighty force to dislodge the New York Times’ grip on the facts, especially on its front page. Sure, the nation’s newspaper of record may occasionally let right-wing quote machines dominate what’s supposed to be a range of opinion or pass off a GOP activist’s views as those of an ordinary voter. But to force a simple date error on the NYT’s front cover, apparently immobilizing the Gray Lady’s legions of fact-checkers, a terrible power would have to be loose upon the land. And therein lies a tale.

Last week I noted how the 180-turn that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann has apparently taken in her opinion of President-elect Barack Obama landed her on the front page of the New York Times. In a story headlined, “Harsh words about Obama? Never mind now,“ the Times made Bachmann the leading example among Republicans who, post-election, turned on a dime in their public attitudes toward the president-elect. Bachmann’s evolution, evident in a post-election interview with Politico, came after her infamous “anti-American” remarks on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” a tepid Obama mention on Election Night and more inflammatory remarks about him on radio the next day.

I also noted an error in the Times account: The article had Bachmann telling Politico she was “extremely grateful” for Obama’s win on Nov. 5 when Politico had clearly stated her comments came on Nov. 6. Now the Times has corrected the original story online and owned up to the error:

Because of an editing error, a Washington Memo article last Sunday about some Republicans who spoke more kindly of Barack Obama after he was elected reversed, in some editions, the dates on which Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska commented on Mr. Obama. It was on Nov. 6 that Ms. Bachmann said she was “extremely grateful that we have an African-American who has won this year.” And it was on Nov. 5 that Ms. Palin said, “God bless Barack Obama and his beautiful family.”

So now we know the rest of the story. It was the Times getting goofed up by the election season welter of Bachmannisms and Palinisms that forced the error. The Palin-Bachmann axis was quickly recognized in Minnesota but apparently is still enough of an unknown beyond our state’s borders that it can wreak havoc on the national stage.