Blumenthal Didn’t Lie About ‘Nam

Does The New York Times owe Connecticut Attorney General and Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal an apology? Two days after the paper ran a story saying Blumenthal lied about serving in Vietnam—a story that Blumenthal’s Republican opponent, Linda McMahon, bragged about spoon-feeding to the paper—TheDay.com reports that Blumenthal began the same speech the Times criticized by saying he served in the Marines “in the Vietnam era.” A few minutes later, he said that he served “in” Vietnam, but the fact that this statement followed an honest admission about the nature of his service makes it seem as though he misspoke, rather than lied deliberately.