Gotta love the New York Times!

Last night this tweet went viral:

Favorite headline of week. He pitches righty, lefty — and evidently, also underwater. Faces Aquaman in next outing. pic.twitter.com/efxaQxFp8Z

— Neill Woelk (@NeillWoelk) June 8, 2015

This morning, the New York Times corrected its online story, but too little, too late.

Screen shots are FOREVER!

If you think that the Gray Lady is still the most venerable of newspapers, think again.  How that particular blooper got by the editor is indeed a head scratcher.  And, yet, that wasn’t the worst journalistic faux pas committed by the New York Times this week.

On Saturday, the Times reported in Rubios on the Road Have Drawn Unwanted Attention, that a review of traffic violations committed by Marco Rubio and his wife “dating back to 1997 shows that the couple had a combined 17 citations:  Mr. Rubio with four and his wife with 13.  On four separate occasions they agreed to attend remedial driving school after a violation.”

OMIGOD, this is NEWS?

Even US News & World Report smacked the New York Times over this non-story.

The New York Times, presumably one of the best sources of journalism the U.S. has to offer, has opted to spend reporters’ time and newspaper ink on an utterly insignificant and petty topic: the four – count ’em, four! – traffic citations Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio has gotten, going back to 1997. That’s less than one every four years, for the math-challenged. And they were not anything shocking – no DWIs or driving a car into a plate glass storefront or mimicking one of those high-speed stunts featured in TV commercials with the warning: do not attempt. Nope, these were just your garden variety traffic violations, caught not by a human-being police officer, but a red light camera, cash-strapped municipalities’ own version of a drone.

The driving record of Ms. Rubio – who does not hold elected office, does not drive a school bus and is not running for president – was described as “even messier” than that of the Florida senator.

I’m all for vetting presidential candidates, examining their records and their character (as long as “character” is not used as a lame justification for voyeurism or unwarranted invasion of privacy). But seriously? Traffic tickets?

Yeah, traffic tickets. What’s next?

BREAKING: Rubio was three days late paying his electric bill in 1999! #NYTHeadlines — The Foo (@PolitiBunny) June 9, 2015

Not one mention by the New York Times about the undeniably looniest politician on either side of the aisle, Alan Grayson (who happens to be a Democrat), who caused a horrific car accident on March 12, 2012, when he ran a red light and drove his Mercedes into a bus on his way to a fundraiser.  Two people were injured.

Before that accident, Grayson had nine traffic tickets since 1995, according to the Sunshine State News, “which ranged from speeding to littering to “improper backing” — resulted in fines and, in one case, enrollment at traffic school.”

The article also reported, “With airbags on Grayson’s 2009 Mercedes deploying in the crash, the vehicle had to be towed from the scene with what observers called ‘significant damage.'”

Ya think?

Michelle Malkin columnist Doug Powers reported, “The vocal Occupy Wall Street supporter was driving a Mercedes Benz, car of choice for the discerning member of the 99 percent.”

But, according to the mainstream media … crickets.

The New York Times is at it again in its full scale attack on Marco Rubio.  Today, the newspaper is reporting his “struggles with finances,” denouncing his purchase of an $80,000.00 “luxury speedboat.”

While it should be noted that the 2009 Mercedes-Benz S-Class that Alan Grayson smashed into a bus cost him between $89,350 and $147,450 … no, wait.  We can’t mention that.

But, maybe this?  

@PolitiBunny About Rubio’s $80,000 boat… In 2013, Kerry docked his $7 million yacht in RI to avoid $500,000 in taxes. http://t.co/ppLHxwkiz0 — Civic_Thoughts (@Civic_Thoughts) June 9, 2015

Oh, wait.  Scratch that.  Never mind.

As Twitchy.com reported:

From the Times:

For years, Senator Marco Rubio struggled under the weight of student debt, mortgages and an extra loan against the value of his home totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. But in 2012, financial salvation seemed to have arrived: A publisher paid him $800,000 to write a book about growing up as the son of Cuban immigrants.

In speeches, Mr. Rubio, a Florida Republican, spoke of his prudent plan for using the cash to finally pay off his law school loans, expressing relief that he no longer owed “a lady named Sallie Mae,” as he once called the lender.

But at the same time, he splurged on an extravagant purchase: $80,000 for a luxury speedboat, state records show. At the time, Mr. Rubio confided to a friend that it was a potentially inadvisable outlay that he could not resist. The 24-foot boat, he said, fulfilled a dream.

So he wrote a book and then paid off his debt and bought a boat? Stop the presses!

But it gets worse. After years of financial struggle, now the Rubios are saving money, too:

The Rubios have taken steps to stabilize their finances in recent years, aided primarily by proceeds from his two books. Since 2012, they have started college savings accounts for his four children, put away at least $150,000, given $60,000 to charity and refinanced the mortgage on their primary home to lower the monthly payments.

Best response ever?

@nytimes @marcorubio You’re right. He should probably just set up a charity, ask for donations in exchange for favors, give 6% to the needy.

— Eternal Boar (@Eternal_Boar) June 9, 2015

Gee, I wonder what that was all about.

Oh, wait.  Never mind.  Scratch that.

Of all the Republicans who have thrown their hat into the crowded field of contenders, do you wonder that Marco Rubio is the only one under attack by the so-called mainstream media?

I don’t. 

Neither does Hugh Hewitt.

Why Is The New York Times Targeting @marcorubio? http://t.co/yYSrKhqSCq

— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) June 9, 2015

@hughhewitt @marcorubio Fear.

— TANSTAAFL (@TANSTAAFL23) June 9, 2015

That about sums it up.

I have not yet decided who I will vote for in the GOP primary in March.  I’ve always liked Marco Rubio, but there’s still plenty of time to ponder.

In the meantime, although I will continue to write about fraud and corruption in North Miami, North Miami Beach and surrounding communities (surprises in store!), from time to time I do intend to write about the presidential election.

But more importantly, I fully intend to point out the bias and hypocrisy from the mainstream media.

I do know, however, that somewhere out there on the campaign trail, Marco Rubio is grinning.

And so am I.  😆

Stephanie Kienle
“Spreading the Wealth”