Which quote was accurate?

Yet another reason not to trust the "traditional media" outlets. This was Howard Dean, according to the Washington Post, speaking to a group of Arab Americans on October 18th:

"Because John Ashcroft touts the Patriot Act around the country does not mean John Ashcroft is a patriot," Dean said to rising cheers. "That American flag over there belongs to every American -- not only to John Ashcroft, Rush Limbaugh, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson."

But according to Reuters, this is what Howard Dean said:

"It does not belong to General Boykin, or John Ashcroft, or Rush Limbaugh or Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson," the former Vermont governor said to cheers in the packed hotel conference room in the Detroit suburb which is home to one of the highest concentrations of Muslims and Arabs outside the Middle East.

Bear in mind that the addition of Boykin is no small matter. When Presidential candidates start personally attacking active-duty generals on the campaign trail, that's an issue. Especially so in this case, as it would appear that Dean is attacking him for his religious beliefs, since nothing of what Boykin reportedly said had anything to do with the flag, especially in a partisan manner. (Robertson and Falwell, of course, have repeatedly and publicly mixed politics with their proselytizing.)

So if the Reuters quote is accurate, why did the Post cover it up? And if the Post is accurate, why did Reuters make it up?

Apparently, the LA Times is not the only media outlet having trouble understanding what quotation marks mean. I suspect Reuters may be the culprit here; they're more used to using them as "scare quotes" around words like "terrorism". (via Little Green Footballs)

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