March 25, 2007: Is the StarTribune Grown Up Enough to Apologize to Power Line?

Minneapolis Star Tribune has a history of dueling with the Power Line blog in a way that could, charitably, be described as juvenile. But nothing quite prepared me for their ridiculous misquotation of Power Line yesterday that bordered on the comic. They attributed to the PL site the following (allegedly as a commentary on a young Muslim woman who was refusing to work at Target because she might touch pork): "Poor babies can't touch bacon ... boo hoo. Refuse to scan my bacon, and I guarantee you will be wearing it!" Actually this was someone else's comment on an AOL site. [Don't they have editors at the Strib?-ed. You looking for a job?]

Now I don't know the article's writer, Curt Brown, from the proverbial Adam, but I'd give him an "F" in literary criticism. Anyone who has spent even five minutes on Power Line would realize its lawyer authors do not write that kind of idiotic bigoted prose, no matter what you think of their political views. The Strib (as they call it) have really made buffoons of themselves on this one. It will be interesting to see if they have the maturity to make a formal apology on their pages. As for Mr. Brown, he's lucky he doesn't work for the LAT where they fire people for a lot less. (via Instapundit)

Comments

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They might but even if they do it will still somehow be PowerLine's fault. It is pretty silly.

Posted by: Terrye at March 26, 2007 3:25 AM

"The Strib (as they call it) have really made buffoons of themselves on this one."

At the risk of coming off as a priggish pain in the arse, shouldn't that be:

The Strib (as they call it) has really made a buffoon of itself on this one. (?)

I mean, you being a professional writer and all.

Posted by: ricpic at March 26, 2007 1:38 PM

Ricpic, wouldn't it be more correct to admonish Mr. Simon by saying, "Your being a professional writer," rather than "you being"?

Posted by: NewcombCarlton at March 26, 2007 1:45 PM

NC - Is, "you being a professional writer," wrong?

I didn't know.

If so, I humbly apologize to all and sundry.

(But that still doesn't get Mr. S off the hook.) ;^)

Posted by: ricpic at March 26, 2007 2:24 PM

Ricpic,
Whether it's really wrong is debatable, but if you want to be "priggish," or pedantic, it's what Fowler called a fused participle, In the Third Edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage, edited by the more liberal R. W. Burchfield, there's a lengthy explanation under "Possessive with Gerund." That's if you're really interested. I apologize to all who aren't.

Posted by: NewcombCarlton at March 26, 2007 3:48 PM

Why would they apologize? If they want to paint Powerline in a certain light, they will.

Actual facts have nothing to do with it.

Posted by: Bostonian at March 28, 2007 10:27 AM

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