The Times They Are a Changin'

New York Times' reporters are now correcting their own lies in the same article in which they appear. Here's the opening sentence from yesterday's article about the supposed "shopping mall bomber:"

A Somali citizen living in Ohio has been charged in an alleged plot by Al Qaeda to bomb an unidentified shopping mall in Columbus, according to an indictment unsealed on Monday by federal prosecutors.

And here's the ninth paragraph (emphasis added):

The indictment against Mr. Abdi makes no mention of the alleged plot to blow up a shopping mall. That reference was contained in the motion filed by prosecutors to keep Mr. Abdi in custody. The government's motion said that Mr. Abdi, Mr. Faris and other co-conspirators "initiated a plot to blow up a Columbus area shopping mall, and accepted bomb-making instructions from one of those co-conspirators."

Krugman notes that Ashcroft's announcement of the indictment came a day after the "Justice" Department's torture memo was made public. As Eli points out, Abdi was arrested in November. There's a pattern here, as Krugman notes:

For an example of changing the subject, consider the origins of the Jose Padilla case. There was no publicity when Mr. Padilla was arrested in May 2002. But on June 6, 2002, Coleen Rowley gave devastating Congressional testimony about failures at the F.B.I. (which reports to Mr. Ashcroft) before 9/11. Four days later, Mr. Ashcroft held a dramatic press conference and announced that Mr. Padilla was involved in a terrifying plot. Instead of featuring Ms. Rowley, news magazine covers ended up featuring the "dirty bomber" who Mr. Ashcroft said was plotting to kill thousands with deadly radiation.

But the SCLM (so-called liberal media) posts big headlines every time Chicken-Little Ashcroft screams that the sky is falling.