What bugs me about the whole [original] deal is how reporters can get suckered in by these you'd-think-it-would-be-easy-to-check rumors. I can understand how the people who get their news in between reality shows and soaps can swallow 'Obama is a Muslim' crap, and I can even understand how fairly intelligent folks can be make a mistake and trust the wrong source, but this was a reporter, and what I would think is a respectable newspaper.

I think what it comes down to is not believing anything inflammatory without trying to verify its accuracy - especially not if one is planning to do something because of it.