A number of people who were at the rally and didn't hear any boos sent angry emails to the AP, which resulted in a rewrite of the story. If you follow the link to the original story, this is what you get. Nothing.
The AP put up a revised version which is exactly the same as the original, except that it omits the two sentences about the crowd booing and Bush "doing nothing to stop them." No explanation and, as of yet, no apology.
Meanwhile, someone came up with an audio of the President Bush's speech, which is linked to by Drudge. Listen to it here. The audio is stunning. When the President says that he's just received word that Clinton had been hospitalized, you can hear the crowd react with sympathy and dismay. When Bush goes on to say that President Clinton is in our thoughts and prayers, and we send him our best wishes for a speedy recovery, the crowd applauds and cheers enthusiastically. No booing. None.
Note that the AP didn't say "there were scattered boos" (there weren't) or even "one guy booed." The AP reported, falsely, that "Bush's audience of thousands in West Allis, Wis., booed." That isn't spin; it's a flat-out lie. And the AP writer added the malicious embellishment that Bush did nothing to stop the (nonexistent) booing.
Is this the most astonishing example of media bias I can remember? Offhand, yes. It is sheer, malicious fabrication and slander--of President Bush and of Republicans generally--in what purports to be a brief, factual account of Bush's speech.
What this shows, I guess, is that the establishment media are in a full panic mode over John Kerry's prospects. Any semblance of professionalism, or even basic honesty, in this instance, is gone.
The AP needs to do some serious soul-searching, and fire, at a minimum, the guy who wrote that story, if it wants to retain even a shred of credibility.
While I was typing this, video footage of the West Allis rally was played on Fox News, but without any mention of the AP fabrication.
UPDATE: The AP's lie is spreading rapidly around the globe. Salon says: "Audience boos as Bush offers best wishes for Clinton's recovery." WSTM television in New York has a slightly different version of the story, with an AP copyright, which says: "Many in Bush's audience booed when Clinton's name was mentioned. The president made no comment on that and continued with his rally speech." WRIC television in northern Virginia has the same "many booed" story. In Iowa, KWWL television reports that "Many in Bush's audience booed when Clinton's name was mentioned. The president made no comment on that and continued with his rally speech." The same misinformation is being promulgated in Georgia, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, California, Tennessee, Indiana, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Minnesota, and New York again.
I'll stop there, but there are many more. Do you suppose that all of these news outlets will offer corrections? What proportion of the people who hear this story will ever find out that it was a complete lie, fabricated, apparently, by a Democrat who works for the AP?
