A full day after Media Matter debunked the phony Fox News claim that Teamsters President James Hoffa had urged violence during a Labor Day rally in which he introduced President Obama, the mainstream press continues to struggle to get the story right.

This afternoon, the Los Angeles Times posted an item headlined, “Teamster Chief's Salty Language At Obama Event” and reported that, “In his introduction of President Obama in Detroit on Monday, Hoffa warmed up the pro-union crowd on Labor Day with an old-fashioned union call to arms."

The Times then quoted Hoffa:

“President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong,” Hoffa said.

In stitching together that quote, the Times omitted an awful lot of what Hoffa said at the rally. In fact, the Times omitted precisely what Fox News omitted yesterday when it launched the doctored Hoffa story.

Here's what Hoffa said [emphasis added]:

President Obama this is your army. We are ready to march. And president Obama we want one thing: Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. That's what we're going to tell him. He's going to be - and when he sees what we're doing here he will be inspired. But he needs help and you know what? Everybody here's got to vote. If we go back and keep the eye on the prize, let's take these sons of a bitches out and give America back to America where we belong! Thank you very much!

What the Times omitted was the entire context. What the Times omitted was the explanation that Hoffa's controversial “take these son of bitches out” quote was referring to voting Republicans out of office and not, as Fox News tried to sell the story yesterday, a call to violence against Obama's opponents.

If the press is going to cover contrived controversies, reporters need to get the facts right, not simply follow the Fox News lead.