The Trib Gets It Wrong. Again.

While I am off for a few days taking care of some important (non-blog related) business, I have to take a few minutes to point out how wrong the Trib got another story. Completely wrong.

From the yesterday's Whispers column:

The check's in the mail -- or will be soon.

That's what U.S. Sen. John Kerry's staff essentially is saying regarding his stall tactics on making tax payments on his $7 million yacht, a Friendship sloop featuring a varnished teak interior, wet bar and cold wine storage area.

Kerry, D-Mass., originally ported the tony craft in Rhode Island in an apparent attempt to get out of paying taxes on it in his home state. But when the Boston Herald disclosed the boat's location in July, Kerry agreed to promptly pay the equivalent of all taxes owed had the boat been ported in Massachusetts.

Didn't happen.

But it did - we'll get to that in a second.

This story first bubbled up here at 2PJ in regards to a Jack Kelly column in August. From that blog post we discover that the Boston Herald reported in late July that the Kerry's were under no obligation to pay the Massachusetts sales tax on the boat they owned, as it was ported in Rhode Island.

Would have saved them $500,000. After a very public smear, the Kerrys pointed out that they were always planning on paying the tax they weren't obligated to pay.

Cost them $500,000.

So what's the story now? Had the Trib braintrust actually and honestly referenced the Boston Herald article, they would have told their audience:

A spokesman for the state Department of Revenue confirmed that “a sales tax return was filed” by Kerry last summer to cover state taxes that would have been owed, had he kept the Isabel in his home state’s waters.

So they did pay the state taxes. Now go back and take a look at what the Trib wrote. The piece is written so that you'd think he didn't pay any of the taxes on the boat. That's what's known as a lie of omission, my friends.

So what's the point of the latest Herald Story? Town excise taxes from the town of Nantucket.

That's on a $500 bill the Kerrys haven't received yet.

Once you peek under the Scaife veneer (and the braintrust is always betting you won't bother) you'll usually see all sorts of facts that get in the way of their story.

What are facts when you can smear?

Can I get back to my life now? Please?