The editors at the L.A. Times have done it again.

I am on record as saying that a newspaper should not print a letter containing facts its editors know to be false. The letters editor of the New York Times op-ed page is on record saying the same thing:

Letter writers, to use a well-worn phrase, are entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts. There is, of course, a broad gray area in which hard fact and heartfelt opinion commingle. But we do try to verify the facts, either checking them ourselves or asking writers for sources of information. Sometimes we goof, and then we publish corrections.

And the L.A. Times appears to agree — in theory — if this correction is any indication:

War casualty – In a Sept. 8 letter, Bradley Parker of Salt Lake City wrote that his brother was killed in Iraq “defending a Halliburton convoy near Basra.” The Times is unable to corroborate the soldier’s death and retracts the letter.

Well, the L.A. Times goofed again today, when it printed a clear falsehood in this letter (second letter in the link):

Let’s keep this in perspective. Dan Rather may have unwittingly been the victim of forged documents in reporting on Bush’s National Guard duty. But no one is disputing former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes’ admission that he pulled strings to get the “fortunate son” of then-Rep. George H.W. Bush (R-Texas) into the Guard, leaving the less fortunate sons of ordinary mortals to serve, and die, in Vietnam.

And no one has yet been able to account for the months of Guard duty the younger Bush failed to show up for while working in Alabama on the Senate campaign of one of his father’s cronies, Winton “Red” Blount.

Harold N. Bass

Northridge

Read that carefully. Harold N. Bass of Northridge is entitled to his opinion that Barnes pulled strings for George W. Bush. But that’s not what he said. He said that “no one is disputing” Barnes’s claim that he pulled strings for Bush.

If anyone knows for sure whether Barnes’s claim is true, it’s George H.W. Bush. And what did he say earlier this month?

In a television interview last week, George H.W. Bush called reports that his son had received favored treatment “a total lie,” adding, “Nobody’s come up with any evidence, and yet it’s repeated all the time.”

Does that sound like “no one is disputing” Barnes’s claim??

Now, I am willing to give Harold N. Bass of Northridge the benefit of the doubt. Rather than assume he is lying, I will assume he is gravely uninformed.

But the Times editors don’t have that excuse. The Bush quote above is from a story in the Los Angeles Times! The editors know damn well that the letter is false — but they printed it anyway.

P.S. Should I write them about this? After all, they’re ignoring me lately. If any of you want to take up the reins on this, that would be great. Don’t write the Reader’s Representative — she doesn’t handle complaints about the editorial page. You’ll probably want to write Michael Kinsley by clicking on this link. (He has also been ignoring me.)

And tell him Patterico sent you! (On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t. He’ll ignore you too.)

If anyone sends him an e-mail, shoot me a copy, or paste its content in the comments.

UPDATE: A commenter notes that Barnes’s own daughter also disputes his claim. That’s two people! [Mentally imagine Sesame Street's "The Count" doing his counting laugh.]

UPDATE x2: Commenter Justene doesn’t know what to make of Barnes’s daughter. Apparently she backed down somewhat when she talked to Sean Hannity.

UPDATE x3: Via Beldar we learn that Col. Staudt’s recent statements are not new. In July 1999, Col. Staudt told the Dallas Morning News:

If somebody like that came along, you’d snatch them up. . . . He took no advantage. It wouldn’t have made any difference whether his daddy was chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff.

Three people!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!! [That's another Count imitation, for those who aren't paying attention.]