Things the New York Times won’t report!

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

Its account of Joe Biden’s complaint: Mark Landler was holding forth on the front page of the Times.

He had written the day’s top campaign report. Michael Barbaro helped!

Eventually, Landler reported what Joe Biden said. He even went into a bit of detail, giving the topic five paragraphs.

Yesterday, Joe Biden said this about a Romney ad:
LANDLER (11/1/12): The disaster [caused by Hurricane Sandy] comes as the campaigns continue to clash, with the federal bailout of the auto industry—which Mr. Romney opposed—erupting again as a major issue as the candidates scramble to capture the swing state prize of Ohio.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., also in Florida, attacked Mr. Romney for his ad in Ohio that claims Mr. Obama forced Chrysler into bankruptcy, resulting in the carmaker’s sale to Italian owners, who are now building Jeeps in China.

Mr. Biden called it “one of the most flagrantly dishonest ads I can ever remember in my political career.” The ad is the centerpiece of a mounting war of words over the Obama administration’s bailout of the auto industry, which the Romney camp is trying to discredit, as it works to cut the president’s narrow but stubborn lead in Ohio.

The harsh words reflected the frantic maneuvering in both campaigns as the hours tick down. Both sides are projecting ironclad confidence that they will win, while trying to outwit each other with last-minute purchases of advertising time in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Minnesota, which lie outside the conventional battleground.

Aides to Mr. Obama said the Romney campaign’s purchases reflected a “flailing” attempt to win an electoral majority without Ohio, while Mr. Romney’s advisers said that tightening polls in those states showed Mr. Obama’s position was eroding everywhere.
Wow! Biden called the Romney ad “one of the most flagrantly dishonest ads I can ever remember in my political career.” According to Landler, it was part of a mounting war of words!

But why did Biden make that statement? Landler didn’t explain! He spent five paragraphs on the topic. But he gave readers no idea why Biden had thundered that way.

Why did Biden say the ad was flagrantly dishonest—“one of the most flagrantly dishonest ads I can ever remember in my political career?” In Landler’s telling, the Romney ad says three things:
Landler’s account of the Romney ad:
It says Obama forced Chrysler into bankruptcy.
It says that resulted in Chrysler’s sale to Italian owners.
It says the Italian owners are now building Jeeps in China.
Which of those claims is supposed to be flagrantly dishonest? Landler made no attempt to say! If readers want to figure it out, they should go buy a second newspaper!

(Perhaps it’s a tribute to lower Manhattan. If you don’t already know what’s wrong with the ad, you get left in the dark!)

Can someone please bring this charade to an end? Somewhere, the Times has a dog on the roof of a car on which it wants to report!

To the lighthouse: As usual, information can be found in the Times—on the editorial page!

7 comments:

  1. I heard on the news that Romney has gone 3 weeks without taking questions from reporters -- not even Fox. Yesterday, I saw video of him ignoring their questions about whether or not he would get rid of FEMA. What a great way to show that you have the leadership skills to be president. What's he afraid of?

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    1. He knows that we "can't handle the truth." Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, etc.

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  2. Let's see, Chrysler went through bankruptcy. TRUE (a bankruptcy like no other, but that's a tale for another day) - Chrysler sold to Italians. TRUE - Italian owners to build Jeeps in China. Also TRUE. We're likely to see that even though the ad got the facts straight, it will get 4 pinocchios for being "misleading". Oh wait, that's already happened:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/4-pinocchios-for-mitt-romneys-misleading-ad-on-chrysler-and-china/2012/10/29/2a153a04-21d7-11e2-ac85-e669876c6a24_blog.html

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    1. From the Wapo:

      "The series of statements in the ad individually may be technically correct, but the overall message of the ad is clearly misleading — especially since it appears to have been designed to piggyback off of Romney’s gross misstatement that Chrysler was moving Ohio factory jobs to China.

      It is also especially strange that the ad touts Romney’s endorsement by the Detroit News, when the editorial actually backs up Obama’s criticism of Romney’s response to the auto industry crisis."

      Sorry, but you whiffed. Try again.

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    2. Seeing as you cut and pasted parts of the WashPo article as an "argument", I salute your obviously superior intellectual skills. I mean really, how many other people could do such an amazing thing.

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    3. #1 is false. Obama did not force them into bankruptcy.

      #3 is true, but it's also misleading-- and, yes, a riff on their previously untrue statement. They are (or soon will) make Jeeps in China, but not only China, as they (were) saying.

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    4. The "ad got the facts straight"????? Why don't you explain what is inaccurate in the Post or Times editorials? The ads are sleazy distortions. You seem to be utterly cynical in your smug defense of this sleaze.

      AC / MA

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