The Los Angeles Times and Harper's have a bit of egg on their faces.
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by Kitty Kelley last week claiming that no one in George W. Bush's extended family -- daughters, nieces or nephews -- has served in the military since his father's service in World War II.
The Bush family's supposed lack of military service is the entire focus of the op-ed.
Says Kelley: "The president tells us Iraq is a 'noble' war, but his wife, his children and his nieces and nephews are not listening. None has enlisted in the armed services, and none seems to be paying attention to the sacrifices of military families."
She also says: "The presidential nieces and nephews also have missed the memo on setting a good public example."
And then there's "[George H.W. Bush] flew 58 missions in two years and returned home a war hero. Since then, no one in his large family has seen fit to follow his sterling example of service and patriotism."
The Harper's magazine blog excerpted the piece, calling it "Kitty Kelley's can't miss op-ed." The blog is written by a former Los Angeles Times reporter, Ken Silverstein, who now is Washington Editor for Harper's.
A couple dozen liberal bloggers approvingly copied parts of the Kelley op-ed as well.
However, at the time the op-ed ran, George P. Bush, the President's nephew, was (and remains) in the U.S. Navy.
Oops.
P.S. [Added 3/30/07] Eleven days after running this op-ed, and eight days after an an AP wire story said George P. Bush and 14 others were "selected in February" for "the intelligence unit of the Navy reserves," the Los Angeles Times had not run a correction.
Issues perceived by the Times to be significant enough to warrant correction during the period included clearing up whether President Kennedy's second son died in April or August of 1963 and whether the son of E. Howard Hunt was 19 or 18 at the time of the Watergate break-in.
