Nothing like making a joke out of a plot to poison the Speaker of the House.
A Tuesday night Boston.com article by Victor Paul Alvarez, an associate editor, wondered if “anyone would have noticed” if an alleged plot to poison and murder John Boehner proved successful.
Initially flagged by Politico’s Hadas Gold, the article’s initial headline (since changed) read: “Would anyone have noticed bartender succeeded poisoning John Boehner?”
According to Gold, the piece initially also included the following paragraph, of which the final sentence has been removed:
The question is: Would anyone have noticed? Stories about Boehner’s drinking have circulated for years. His drinking inspired a blog called DrunkBoehner, and in 2010 he brought booze back to Washington. Had he been poisoned as planned, perhaps his pickled liver could have filtered out the toxins.
The article’s current headline now reads “Bartender’s Threat Against John Boehner Thwarted.”
At the bottom of the piece, post-changes, an editors note has been added, saying: “A previous version of this article made an unsubstantiated reference to the health of Speaker Boehner.”