Conservatives accuse PBS of conspiratorially covering up huge Obama "gaffe" about Lincoln, even though there was no gaffe, no conspiracy, and no cover-up

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Yup, here we go again. As LGF's Charles Johnson notes:

Practically the entire right wing blogosphere went into vapor-lock this morning, shrieking in unison at the evil librul PBS for "editing" the transcript of the President's joint session speech on jobs, to cover up his "gaffe" that Abraham Lincoln was a founder of the Republican Party.

Evil, evil PBS! Shame on them!

Oh, wait...

So are they right? Did PBS edit the transcript?

Gasp! Yes, they did! Full Text: Obama Vows to Spur Job Creation, 'Jolt' Economy in Speech to Congress.

Why in the world would they do something like this? Why, I ask you?

EDITOR'S NOTE: The original transcript provided on this page, as was noted, reflected the president's remarks as prepared for delivery and released by the White House. This transcript has been updated to reflect the remarks as delivered and released by the White House.

Oh.

There you go. PBS didn't do anything wrong. In fact, it did what pretty much every news organization does, running the prepared remarks, which it received in advance, and then not "editing" them but changing them to reflect what was actually delivered.

Conservatives really do jerk their knees in the stupidest ways.

(Actually, as Johnson also notes, Republicans commonly refer to Lincoln as the founder of their party -- and understandably so given that Lincoln gives them instant credibility, even though Lincoln and the current GOP, which is anything but Lincolnian in its right-wing ideological extremism, have next to nothing in common. It's never a wise thing to trust Wikipedia entirely, but its current phrasing is good: "[Lincoln] was instrumental in forging the shape of the new Republican Party." That was way back in the 1850s. Needless to say, the GOP has taken on rather new shapes since then.)

You can find more on the whole brouhaha at Mediaite:

If PBS wanted to "cover up" the gaffe, they did a lousy job when they posted the full video of the speech, including the Lincoln remark at the 27:35 mark. A quick review of the President's "Prepared Remarks" versus his "Remarks As Delivered," both of which we posted here at Mediaite, reveals that PBS didn't "alter" anything, they simply ran the prepared remarks, and never added the transcript when it was released several hours later...

So, again, big deal. There's hardly a "liberal media" pro-Obama conspiracy going on here. Conservatives are just desperate to find one.