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Sunday, July 24, 2005

Perpetuating the lie: George H. W. Bush and the supermarket scanner

In Friday's Boston Globe, Mac Daniel and Michael Levenson combine to report on Governor Romney's MBTA train ride, in this article, Hey, governor, welcome to the T, where Romney reportedly didn't know the cost of a T ride.

Guess what? T fares are variable.

But my main problem with this article is that the authors perpetuate the myth that George H.W. Bush had never seen a supermarket scanner. They report:
"Romney's gaffe recalled President George H.W. Bush's puzzlement during the 1992 campaign over a supermarket scanner, seen by many as patrician aloofness. The charge has been disputed by some, but has neverthless dogged the elder Bush ever since."
A quick trip over to snopes.com shows that the supermarket scanner story was false.

What this quote shows is a bias on the part of the reporters.

The scanner story, false, and the cost of the T, no big deal.

I'm going to send an email to the Globe's new Ombudsman to see what he has to say about it.

Instapundit had similar complaints about reporters in 2004.