Hat Tip Little Green Footballs. OK, I take one weekend semi-off for a family reunion and it seems the liberal MSM has decided to go off the deep end. First the Washington Post has its liberal fits of obsession and spin here and here. And now the NYTimes is caught making up quotes for someone in lieu of what they said (I see the ghost of Jason Blair lives on at the NYTimes).

It seems to me that your explanation of this situation confirms the suspicion of “an unusual number of readers” that “a Times editor had tried to put words in the mouth of the reserve Army officer, Capt. Phillip Carter, without his consent.”

After all, isn’t that exactly what happened? Captain Carter had rejected an editor’s suggestions that were included (albeit inadvertently) in the published version of his opinion article. To my eyes, these unauthorized insertions have an anti-Bush bias.
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The changes made by the editor did not “clarify and improve” – the standard set forth by David Shipley, the Op-Ed page editor. They completely changed the meaning as well as the focus of Capt. Phillip Carter’s article.

Given the editorial positions of The Times, it is inevitable that readers will assume the worst: that the editor tried to put words in Captain Carter’s mouth. What other possibility is there?
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Despite your long and confusing explanation, it is clear that an Op-Ed editor’s initial proposed insertion into Capt. Phillip Carter’s article was made up out of whole cloth before later discussions with the writer. Even though the piece was to be revised based on editors’ subsequent conversations with Captain Carter, the initial reaction by the editor who chose this language as the going-in position is indicative of both the inherent bias of this individual editor as well as (I fear) The Times’s editorial staff.

The real error here isn’t that the wrong piece was run. Rather, it is that the Times editorial board permits editors to think – however fleetingly – that they can change the text and tone of a citizen’s opinion to fit their own preconceived political notions.

If you have money invested in stock of the NYTimes – sell it now. The only value a news organization has is its reputation for delivering the news honestly and without bias. Without that reputation it is a worthless rag.