I’m referring, of course, to being the “Public Editor” of the New York Times.  That’s the position responsible for cleaning up after MoDo and the fruitcakes as well as dealing with the never ending laundry list of “corrections” to their “news” stories. Now I understand that once in a while stuff just slips through, heck I burned myself over the weekend right here at Redstate. Commenters caught my goof and I corrected it. So I understand what it’s like to be less than perfect. But…

The Times has a history of making factual errors to make an ideological point and then glossing over them much later. Today is no exception on the former, we’ll see about the latter.

In a story about the difficulties of being Muslim and serving in the military the Times works hard and spares no effort to show just how victimized the Muslim members of the military truly are. They interview combat veterans from Iraq and point out just how difficult it is to “do your duty” and then “return to your community”. And all that tripe.

And then, as a capstone to their whiney little piece, they cite a Muslim hero.

Too many Americans overlook the heroic efforts of Arab-Americans in uniform, said Capt. Eric Rahman, 35, an Army reservist who was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Iraq at the start of the war. He cited the example of Lieutenant Michael A. Monsoor, a Navy Seal who was awarded the Medal of Honor after pulling a team member to safety during firefight in 2006, in Ramadi, Iraq.

Lieutenant Monsoor died saving another American, yet he will never be remembered like Major Hasan, said Captain Rahman.

Now let me note that I know times are hard at The Times. I noted it myself in a Redhot article a while back about the financial misfortunes of the “Paper of Record” forcing the layoff of a bunch of folks from the newsroom. Obviously the folks on the hit list were fact checkers. Oh well, think of it as job security for the Public Editor.

From Petty Officer Second Class Monsoor’s official Navy biography…

Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously in a ceremony at the White House April 8, 2008. He will receive the award for his actions in Ar Ramadi, Iraq on Sept. 29, 2006. On that day, Monsoor was part of a sniper overwatch security position with three other SEALs and eight Iraqi Army (IA) soldiers. An insurgent closed in and threw a fragmentation grenade into the overwatch position. The grenade hit Monsoor in the chest before falling to the ground. Positioned next to the single exit, Monsoor was the only one who could have escaped harm. Instead, he dropped onto the grenade to shield the others from the blast. Monsoor died approximately 30 minutes later from wounds sustained from the blast. Because of Petty Officer Monsoor’s actions, he saved the lives of his 3 teammates and the IA soldiers.

Though he carried himself in a calm and composed fashion, he constantly led the charge to bring the fight to the enemy. His teammates recall his sense of loyalty to God, family, and his team. He attended Catholic Mass devotionally before operations, and often spoke lovingly of his family - his older brother, a police officer and former Marine for whom he held great respect; his sister, a nurse; and his younger brother, a college football player.

My emphasis added.

So Mr. Public Editor, we have a small correction, Monsoor was a Petty Officer not a Lt. Heck, I’ll give you that one. No big deal. But then there’s that tricky thing. You know, the part where your story implys that Monsoor is a Muslim. I know the story says “…heroic efforts of Arab-Americans…” and doesn’t specifically say Muslim. Context, however, is very important and the excerpt above is bracketed with these paragraphs:

Just before…

“Is it an army that defends the oppressed, or have you slipped into becoming the oppressor?” asked Mr. El Fadl, who has counseled Muslims conflicted about enlisting. “People from the military who contact me, that’s what I find they’re torn up about.”

And yet more than 3,500 Muslims have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Defense Department figures provided to The Times. As of 2006, some 212 Muslim-American soldiers had been awarded Combat Action Ribbons for their service in Iraq and Afghanistan, and seven had been killed.

And followed by…

Regardless, he said, Muslim- and Arab-Americans are crucial to the military’s success in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I’m not even going to argue the silly point that 212 Muslim-Americans (NYT’s term not mine) have been awarded the CAR for service in Iraq and Afghanistan - out of tens of thousands of US servicemen who’ve received the award - could have not been deployed with no impact on the war effort.

I will say, unequivocally, that your reference- IN CONTEXT - to Petty Officer Monsoor is offensive and disgusting. Pretty much what I’ve come to expect from the house organ of the DNC.

HT: Andrew Cline @ The Corner.