The Washington Post: We weren't lying, we were just, er, overgeneralizing

The W.P. tried to slip a fast one by readers, claiming that Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly scheduled a vote on a veto override while their Democratic comrades were attending 9/11 ceremonies. Total b.s., as it turns out. The vote had been scheduled well in advance, and only two donk legislators have been found who were actually at any kind of commemorative ceremony at the time the vote was held. A later lame attempt at a correction was almost as deceptive as the original bogus story:

Amazingly enough, the paper has not retracted its story. It has not even fully corrected it. Rather, the Post has amended the story’s opening line so that it now includes primo weasel language: “While most North Carolinians were remembering the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, the Republican leaders in the General Assembly took advantage of a half-empty House and voted to override the governor’s budget veto Wednesday morning.”

The report also bears a slimy editor’s note that reads, “Clarification: An earlier version of this article overly generalized the reason for Democrats’ absence from the General Assembly session. This version has been updated.”

The Post’s original report is not guilty of overgeneralizing. It is guilty of asserting things that simply were not true, its coverage aligning exactly with false Democratic talking points.

What's the Post's slogan? Oh, yeah: Democracy Dies in Darkness. Looks like it's dying in the full light of day, too, with an assist from the Post.