You'll recall that over the weekend the Times was wildly impressed by the fact that the Anti-Defamation League had essentially joined forces with often hysterical right-wing voices and issued a press release urging that a proposed Islamic center not be built near Ground Zero.

In its haste to juice up the story though, the Times inexplicably, and erroneously, reported the following [emphasis added]:

[T]he unexpected move by the ADL, a mainstream group that has denounced what it saw as bigoted attacks on plans for the Muslim center, could well be a turning point in the battle over the project.

The clear implication from the Times was that the ADL-fueled turning point would be against the construction of the center.

But on Tuesday, New York's Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to allow the Islamic center project to move forward. And hours later, New York's Republcan major, Michael Bloomberg, gave an impassioned speech on Governor's Island near the Statue of Liberty where he applauded the Commission's decision and reaffirmed his complete support for the Ground Zero center.

So I'd sure like to know from somebody inside the Times how the ADL press release represented a possible “turning point in the battle over the project.”