False Boos Reported at Bush Rally

The AP reported a story that Bush supporters booed his call for prayers regarding Clinton's hospitalization for heart surgery:

President Bush on Friday wished Bill Clinton "best wishes for a swift and speedy recovery."
"He's is in our thoughts and prayers," Bush said at a campaign rally.
Bush's audience of thousands in West Allis, Wis., booed. Bush did nothing to stop them.

The trouble is, the boos never showed up on the audio tape and multiple witnesses claim there was no booing at all. The story has since been changed twice without a formal retraction. And several AP feed sites still contain the original version.
(Food Chain: Instapundit -> Swimming Through The Spin)

UPDATE: Left-blogger Atrios still links to the original story, despite multiple comments that point out the retraction. I guess the Eschaton is not all that immanent, hmm?

UPDATE: Just for the record, the stories about cheers at the announcement of Reagan's Alzheimers were for real. Tammy Bruce is on our side now, but she confesses to having cheered back when she was a leftist.

UPDATE: Hindrocket at Powerline is also on this story.

Note that the AP didn't say "there were scattered boos" (there weren't) or even "one guy booed." The AP reported, falsely, that "Bush's audience of thousands in West Allis, Wis., booed." That isn't spin; it's a flat-out lie. And the AP writer added the malicious embellishment that Bush did nothing to stop the (nonexistent) booing.

And note his update. Evidently the lie is spreading:

The AP's lie is spreading rapidly around the globe. Salon says: "Audience boos as Bush offers best wishes for Clinton's recovery." WSTM television in New York has a slightly different version of the story, with an AP copyright, which says: "Many in Bush's audience booed when Clinton's name was mentioned. The president made no comment on that and continued with his rally speech." WRIC television in northern Virginia has the same "many booed" story. In Iowa, KWWL television reports that "Many in Bush's audience booed when Clinton's name was mentioned. The president made no comment on that and continued with his rally speech." The same misinformation is being promulgated in Georgia, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, California, Tennessee, Indiana, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Minnesota, and New York again.

I'll stop there, but there are many more. Do you suppose that all of these news outlets will offer corrections? What proportion of the people who hear this story will ever find out that it was a complete lie, fabricated, apparently, by a Democrat who works for the AP?
[...]
This, folks, is a scandal. The blogosphere should not rest until the AP is brought to account.

Amen.