Shot: Gail Collins of the New York Times, referring to teacher layoffs in Wisconsin that included by-all-accounts excellent teacher Megan Sampson.

…those layoffs happened because Walker cut state aid to education.

Chaser: John McCormack of the Weekly Standard, noting the implied temporal paradox.

…the big error in Collins’s piece is her claim that “those layoffs happened because Walker cut state aid to education.” As you can see in the excerpt above, Collins is talking about teacher layoffs that occurred in 2010. Walker did not become governor until 2011.

I don’t blame Gail Collins too much; journalists have editors for this very reason*. I do, however, think that whoever is supposed to be overseeing Gail Collins needs remedial training. I mean, this went out in the papers!

Via Instapundit. Image via Shutterstock.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: Let me just clear up any confusion, here. Superficial – which, alas, these days probably means ‘average’ – readers of the NYT will skim through the aforementioned article, seize upon the rather bitter Claudia Felske (who wrote a rather bitter open letter complaining about Scott Walker), and say “A-ha!” Yes. She is apparently the ultimate source of the false perception that Gov. Walker’s policies resulted in Megan Sampson being laid off (Ms. Felske was not laid off herself). Ms. Felske also took the opportunity to slam Ms. Sampson’s award, solely because Ms. Sampson was used as an example for a third-party argument that Ms. Felske didn’t like.  Which is, I believe, roughly equivalent for blaming an assault victim because she should have known better than to be in such a rough place at night. …Charming person, no?  Not to mention, apparently not that great a communicator.

PPS: Don’t hold your breath waiting for a public correction.  It’s a minor miracle that the NYT is able to print their papers right side up these days.

*Yes, that is a slam.