Remember this hit job from the New York Times?

In New Hampshire, where open political meetings are deeply ingrained in the state’s traditions, Representative Carol Shea-Porter’s campaign Web site had this message for visitors: “No upcoming events scheduled. Please visit us again soon!”

Of course, Shea-Porter had held EIGHT town halls just prior to that.

Why so many? It came on the heels of the historic health care vote, and despite the bogus hay made earlier by the dishonest in a similar venue, despite knowing that the Tea People were determined to make theatre out of every one, the Congresswoman was adamant about reaching out to her constituents’ questions about this legislation.

Today the Union Leader, referencing the NYT piece, ran this lead editorial, in part:

Greeting Guinta: An accessible congressman

…After they voted for Obamacare in March of 2010, then-Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes faced a Memorial Day recess in which, under normal circumstances, they would have held town hall meetings and interacted directly with their constituents. But the health care vote was unpopular, and the pair took Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s advice not to hold big, open meetings in which lots of non-supporters would get to yell at them.

I suppose it falls short of “lying” because the way it is precisely phrased, it technically skips from the March vote to the Memorial Day recess. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s grossly misleading. Either by design, or by mimicking the poorly researched NYT piece.

I am told the comments on the piece fought back hard, but I never got to read them, because it’s since been taken down. Clicking the link as of the time of this post gives you “D’Oh! Page Not Found.”

Drew Cline issued a correction on Twitter:

Correx: Today’s lead editorial erred in stating that Shea-Porter, Hodes did not hold town hall meetings after the health care vote. They did

My takeaway is that when you know you will never be given a fair shake by certain sectors of the media, you cannot give one inch when it come to errors, distortions, lies, etc… Rapid response is required, always.