The New York Times Gets Punked

The New York Times on Monday published a letter purportedly written by Bertrand Delanoë, the mayor of Paris, sharply criticizing Caroline Kennedy's bid to take over Hillary Clinton's senate seat.

"As mayor of Paris," the letter goes on to say, "I find Caroline Kennedy’s bid for the seat of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton both surprising and not very democratic, to say the least. What title has Ms. Kennedy to pretend to Hillary Clinton’s seat? We French can only see a dynastic move of the vanishing Kennedy clan in the very country of the Bill of Rights. It is both surprising and appalling..."

However, the Grey Lady later issued an apology, saying the letter was fake and that sadly, the Times had been punked.

"This letter was a fake. It should not have been published. Doing so violated both our standards and our procedures in publishing signed letters from our readers... It is Times procedure to verify the authenticity of every letter... We did not do that. Without that verification, the letter should never have been printed..."

If only this would have been the Grey Lady's only sin, but truth be told, this incident pales in comparison to some of the more serious crimes which the Times has perpetrated against humanity, and to which it has never shown any remorse.

Sorry, Grey Lady, apology not accepted.