When The Washington Times published Jeffrey Kuhner's December 3 column declaring that Julian Assange “poses a clear and present danger to American national security” and that America" must take care of the problem -- effectively and permanently" by treating him “the same way as other high-value terrorist targets: Kill him” its headline for the print edition left even less to the imagination: “Assassinate Assange.”

The Times seems to be having second thoughts about that. Somewhere along the line, the online version of Kuhner's column on the Times website sprouted a question mark in the headline:

The content of Kuhner's column, meanwhile, got a minor trim online. A comparison of the current online version of the column with the original version in the Nexis database shows that his concluding statement “Kill him” has been deleted, though other declarative statements remain that leave no doubt about Kuhner's preferred outcome for Assange.

It's unclear who ordered the change; it's unlikely it was Kuhner, given his long record of hostile rhetoric. It's more likely that the Times itself made the change in a minor case of cold feet.