Of all the people to let off the hook..

How does the New York Times manage to get it so horribly wrong? Hat tip to Melanie at Just a Bump in the Beltway, who notes that “Steve Benen catches things everybody else misses.”

And it’s a very good thing he does. Apparently, Senator Barack Obama spoke Tuesday at a conference of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and had something to say about the disturbing practice of defiling the memory of fallen service members at their funerals. Only the reporter didn’t quite get it right; he wrote that Obama “said it was wrong for anti-war activists to protest at military funerals, declaring: ‘It needs to stop’.”

Here’s what Obama actually said: “And our sacred trust does not end when a service-member dies. The graves of our veterans are hallowed ground. When men and women who die in service to this country are laid to rest, there must be no protests near the funerals. It’s wrong and it needs to stop.”

You’ll notice, of course, that he didn’t make any references to “anti-war activists,” the way the NYT reported it.

There’s a very good reason for that: anti-war activists don’t protest at military funerals.

There’s only one group of sick, depraved freaks I’m aware of that would “protest” at the funerals of service members, and they are definitely not anti-war. Everyone should know who is responsible for this disgusting behavior, and why. Especially why.

It looks like “old media” may not be up to the task. In the current online version of the story, the quote has been removed without explanation.