Under Fire, The Washington Post Quietly Scrubs Their Marco Rubio Hit-Piece

Via Big Journalism

First, the Miami Herald came out swinging against WaPo’s embellishment of Rubio’s so-called embellishments, then the Senator himself hit back, then we learned the troubling back-story of the WaPo “reporter” who wrote the piece, and now the once-legendary newspaper has taken to quietly scrubbing the original story in order to make it look like something closer to the truth.

From the Miami Herald:

But the top of the story suggests Rubio himself has given this “dramatic account:” that “he was the son of exiles, he told audiences, Cuban Americans forced off their beloved island after ‘a thug,’ Fidel Castro, took power.”

However, the story doesn’t cite one speech where Rubio actually said that.

Compare and contrast:

Not long ago The Washington Post was digging up rocks from 30 years ago to find dirt about Rick Perry.

If you look close enough, you can see The Matrix:
1.The Washington Post desperately wants to see Barack Obama re-elected in 2012.
2.In order for Obama to get re-elected he needs to win a large portion of the Hispanic vote.
3.Rubio is, obviously, Hispanic and a rising star within the Republican party.
4.If Rubio is the pick for VP in 2012 he’ll attract Hispanic votes.
5.The Washington Post has decided to try and take Rubio down now.

Rubio himself:

“What’s important is that the essential facts of my family’s story are completely accurate,” Rubio said, adding that Castro’s ascension to power meant that his family would not be able to achieve their dream of returning to Cuba.

Rubio said his parents, Mario and Oriales Rubio, and his brother, Mario, arrived in the U.S. in 1956 on an immigration visa, prepared to live there permanently but hoping to return to Cuba one day.

In 1961, he said, his mother and older siblings returned to Cuba while his father stayed behind in the U.S. to wrap up the family’s matters.

“After just a few weeks living there, she fully realized the true nature of the direction Castro was taking Cuba and returned to the United States one month later, never to return,” he said.
They were exiled from the home country they tried to return to because they did not want to live under communism,” he said. “That is an undisputed fact, and to suggest otherwise is outrageous.”

Washington Post Downplayed Obama's Big Embellishment about Mother's Health Insurer

The 1,610-word Rubio story was on the front page, and the headline clearly implies Rubio is guilty of wrongdoing: "Marco Rubio’s compelling family story embellishes facts, documents show." The Post's 486-word report on Obama's mother's health insurance was on page A-06 on July 15, with the headline: "Obama’s mother had health insurance, according to biography."


Why is it news that Obama's mom had health insurance? Oh, right: To help win a presidential election and pass his health care overhaul, Obama claimed that his mother's insurer tried to not pay for her cancer treatments by claiming her cancer was a "pre-existing condition." In fact, her insurer covered all medical treatments but denied her coverage for a "disability insurance policy" because that policy was picked up after she was diagnosed with cancer. (But no need to indicate in the headline that Obama fibbed.)