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NY Times and Gov. Scott Walker Both Fooled by Non-Union ‘Union Guy’

by Tommy Christopher | 7:24 pm, February 28th, 2011

» 26 comments

Last Tuesday, the New York Times ran a story about eroding support for unions in Wisconsin, best personified by the “union guy,” who supports Gov. Scott Walker‘s decimation of collective bargaining, in the story’s lead paragraph. The story was so compelling, in fact, that Governor Walker recommended it to Fake David Koch during their now-infamous prank call, calling it “one of these unbelievable moments of true journalism.”

As it turns out, though, the disillusioned “union guy” was never in a union, which makes me wonder if this whole thing isn’t really an outtake from Inception. (h/t FOK News)

So far, I have only linked to Keith Olbermann‘s takedown of the Times because Olbermann has the original text, and NYT‘s original piece has since been amended, along with the following correction: (made four days after the fact, and far from the front page where the mistake ran)

A front-page article on Tuesday about reaction among private-sector workers in Wisconsin to Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to cut benefits and collective-bargaining rights for unionized public employees referred incorrectly to the work history of one person quoted, and also misspelled his surname. While the man, Rich Hahn (not Hahan) described himself to a reporter as a “union guy,” he now says that he has worked at unionized factories, but was not himself a union member. (The Times contacted Mr. Hahn again to review his background after a United Auto Workers official said the union had no record of his membership.)

Yes, they even spelled the guy’s name wrong. All the nooz thatz fit too primt.

Now, everyone knows that corrections always get short-shrift, but it is particularly galling when the error completely changes the thrust of the piece in which it appears. In this case, the Times story goes from one union guy who agrees with Scott Walker, to zero, and the balance of the piece featured interviews with people who support the cuts that the unions have already agreed to, and were split on the issue of collective bargaining. Sample bit of genius from an anti-union worker at a billboard advertising company:

“I know there was a point for unions back in the day because people were being abused,” she said. “But now there’s workers’ rights; there’s laws that protect us.”

That’s right, and those laws can never be changed! It’s not as though there’s some kind of movement to take those rights away, right?

Olbermann seems rather enamored of the possibility that Mr. Hahn might possibly be some kind of right-wing mastermind (even though the fact that the Times spelled the guy’s name wrong strongly suggests sloppiness), but for my money, the best part of this is that Walker related the story about the fake union guy to the fake David Koch who prank-called him:

Courtesy Michael Moore’s website: Governor Walker had already clipped and saved the story of the phony union man Hahn – and even boasted about it to the guy he thought was his puppet-master David Koch:

SCOTT WALKER: The New York Times, of all things—I don’t normally tell people to read the New York Times, but the front page of the New York Times, they’ve got a great story—one of these unbelievable moments of true journalism—what it’s supposed to be, objective journalism—they got out of the capital and went down one county south of the capital, to Janesville, to Rock County, that’s where the General Motors plant once was.

FAKE DAVID KOCH: Right, right.

SCOTT WALKER: They moved out two years ago. The lead on this story’s about a guy who was laid off two years ago, he’d been laid off twice by GM, who points out that everybody else in his town has had to sacrifice except for all these public employees, and it’s about damn time they do and he supports me.

The scary part is, the Times is certainly not alone in sloppily reporting on this story. Without looking all that hard, I’ve written four or five stories about sloppy and/or erroneous reporting on the Wisconsin story in our own back yard, while journalism is enjoying a renaissance half-a-world away in the Middle East. Wouldn’t you think it’d be the other way around, especially when it’s the supposedly liberal media covering “their own?”

You might almost think that TV, print, and cable operations had something to gain by crippling collective bargaining. Nah, it’s probably that devious mastermind Hahan.

David Koch, fok news channel, Ian Murphy, Inception, keith olbermann, Scott Walker, Wisconsin

toyotabedzrock

He thinks it’s a Teabagger because they openly planned to do just what is described here. Did you miss that reporting?
The Lantern of Truth

Michael Moore and The Kittymaster are excellent sources – in your mind . Even Newsweek knows public unions are a money laundering scam .

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/02/27/do-we-still-need-unions-no.html
tgk

You must be thrilled to be able to cover Olbermann again Tommy!
lonestar77

It’s cute when lefties find an error on the front pages of the NYT’s. They happen almost daily and nearly always to the detriment to anyone to the left of Nancy Pelosi, but they finally made an error that outrages you, Tommy, so you finally decide to be a “media watchdog”. Bahaha
lonestar77

anyone to the RIGHT
da-wdc

The Lantern of Truth said:
Even Newsweek knows public unions are a money laundering scam .

Did you even look at the story you linked? Which is an opinion piece written by a professional GOP strategist? It’s not what Newsweek thinks.
The Lantern of Truth

da-wdc said:
It’s not what Newsweek thinks.

They printed it Mr. Bear . They think it . I know who wrote it .
da-wdc

The Lantern of Truth said:
They printed it Mr. Bear . They think it . I know who wrote it .

You must be joking? (The BEAR ALERT bear is a joke, and I’m a she, though obvs there’s no way to tell that from the username.) They printed it as the conservative side of a point counterpoint debate with Ezra Klein, whose piece is also linked there.

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/02/27/do-we-still-need-unions-yes.html
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

Seems lantern of truth hates unions. Stop using them. Get rid of your own garbage. Walk everywhere, unions built and maintain the streets. Work seven days a week. Suck on a tailpipe to get some of that good old pollution. We don’t need to worry about your sh*t–you obviously never release any. Anyone who reads your posting knows you’re full of it.
WCinWI

You know what:

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/02/28/scott-walker-responds-to-obama-you-sound-a-little-like-a-union-boss-you-know-that/

:)
The Lantern of Truth

Joseph Glackin said:
Seems lantern of truth hates unions. Stop using them. Get rid of your own garbage. Walk everywhere, unions built and maintain the streets. Work seven days a week. Suck on a tailpipe to get some of that good old pollution. We don’t need to worry about your sh*t–you obviously never release any. Anyone who reads your posting knows you’re full of it.

Grow up , Joey . Get away from Rachel and think for yourself , if you can . Public unions are a scam and you know it . Bloodsuckers , Joey .
Tommy Christopher

The Lantern of Truth said:
Michael Moore and The Kittymaster are excellent sources – in your mind .

Well, they’re not really “sources” here, but rather, aggregators, Unless you think they did so inaccurately, your comment is nonsense.
Greg

The Lantern of Truth said:
Grow up , Joey . Get away from Rachel and think for yourself , if you can . Public unions are a scam and you know it . Bloodsuckers , Joey .

http://cdn.other98.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/walker-final.jpg
Harry Flashman

Tommy,

Your point about a lack of journalism is well taken, but it rides both sides of the fence.

The MSM is largely ignoring the left’s ugly reaction to the Madison issue as well as the numerous violent incidents that are on video. Why?

They were all over the Tea Party and were pointing and squealing for all they’re worth at any incident no matter how small and even stuck to narratives that were discredited or disproven (the phony claim that black representatives were spit on and racial epithets were hurled at them is one that immediately comes to mind – a hundred thousand dollars was offered for proof – none was forthcoming).

There is more than negligence at work there. It’s deliberate indifference bordering on malfeasance.
Greg

Harry Flashman said:
There is more than negligence at work there. It’s deliberate indifference bordering on malfeasance.

http://www.hark.com/clips/zrnscwprny-malfeasance-for-malfeasances-sake
Harry Flashman

Another link about the media’s disregard for fact:

http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/28/media-drop-ball-on-wisconsin-coverage-make-union-protesters-look-like-saints/
tatboy

The New York Times got fooled by the non-union guy. Walker made the mistake of trusting the NYT. Misleading headline to say the least.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

HEY, LANDTURD OF POOP! You use my name properly, I’ll do the same. No one tells me what to think or to say. I’ve been a union man for 45 years in free states and “right to work for less” states. The biggest scam out there is the substitution of 401k’s for pensions. The 401k money is given to Wall Street fatcats who gamble it away and ruin the lives of working people, then get a bailout and a bonus check. Those are the bloodsuckers.
Pensions and benefits are negotiated in contracts. Those contracts are binding on both parties. The state cannot unilaterally abrogate a contract without breaking the law. A new Gov. does not get to rewrite the obligations entered into by his predecessors. If he could, no contract, bond, or law would be worth a fart in the wind.
http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

Joseph Glackin said:
Seems lantern of truth hates unions. Stop using them. Get rid of your own garbage. Walk everywhere, unions built and maintain the streets. Work seven days a week. Suck on a tailpipe to get some of that good old pollution. We don’t need to worry about your sh*t–you obviously never release any. Anyone who reads your posting knows you’re full of it.

You were talking to Lantern, but I’ll respond. Luckily I live in a right-to-work state and my trash collectors are not union, and DOT are not unionized here either.
http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

Harry Flashman said:
Tommy,

Your point about a lack of journalism is well taken, but it rides both sides of the fence.

The MSM is largely ignoring the left’s ugly reaction to the Madison issue as well as the numerous violent incidents that are on video. Why?

They were all over the Tea Party and were pointing and squealing for all they’re worth at any incident no matter how small and even stuck to narratives that were discredited or disproven (the phony claim that black representatives were spit on and racial epithets were hurled at them is one that immediately comes to mind – a hundred thousand dollars was offered for proof – none was forthcoming).

There is more than negligence at work there. It’s deliberate indifference bordering on malfeasance.

Thank God somebody else said it. It’s also bordering on complicity, as well. Can you imagine it if it had been a Tea Partier who had done all that shoving ON camera like the Unioin goons have?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

MsUnderestimated–Hope you enjoy your life as a free-loader. As I said before, the rights and safety you have now were won by unions. I belonged to a union where joining was NOT required to hold the job. I paid dues to fight for benefits that leeches like you sucked up for free. They actually made MORE money than me, because they weren’t paying dues. Maybe in your mind that makes them smart. In mine it makes them scum. When you can name a right, safety measure or benefit that was given freely by a corporation, I’ll be glad to acknowledge it.
http://Mediaite.com uggugg

• Scott Walker may end his career with this one.
Gov. Scott Walker is playing with fire and may end up in jail for collusion with the Koch brother and/or other private business enmities in relation to trying to kill the Labor Unions and insert private business employees mixed into the State Government jobs with the intentions of beating down the labor wages and benefits while at the same time bringing in private worker to do the work of union help. This is an unnecessary unfair sabotage of worker livelihoods being perpetrated by this selfish Governor to appease private business and possibly receiving perks for himself at a later date. At the least it is using collusion with probably special favors to the Governor to help private business unfairly route our State worker and satisfy the desires of their private business by allowing private businesses to fill those job vacancies. At the least it is unethical, un-American, greedy and ruthless and possibly criminal. I hope it is criminal. This Governor should be fired.
chicgoods7

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SueDi

The federal gov’t does NOT have collective bargaining rights. The employees doing okay and better than the majority of Americans. Why would Obama then slam Wisconsin? Because he owes the unions $400 million worth of bribes from campaign contributions. I am so, so sick of the progressive diatribe of big business corruption when they are POWERED by corruption from SOROS and UNIONS. They also are in bed with big banks like Goldman Sachs so don’t give us any more sh*t and holy-er than thou crap. It’s a bunch of propaganda from those who want POWER. Again, socialism has the haves (those in power) and the have nots (the rest of us).
Tedderman

Thank you Tommy for saying what we wwre all thinking about The Mean Lanturn.
chicgoods10

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