Intent vs. deed

A defensive lapse at Wichita gives the annoying weasel Todd Tiahrt a free shot at his opponent's fusebox. Let's have a look, in case something similar crops up around the country.

The problem isn't the story, which manages to note in the second graf that Rep. Tiahrt is lying. It's a little too long, which is a natural consequence of having to chase down some communist phone numbers on the fractional chance that in some alternate universe with lots of purple suns, Rep. Tiahrt might not be a lying gasbag, but it still gets to the point rather effectively: He is! In public! Unreservedly!

The trouble is the hed,* and the trouble in the hed is the verb "tie." It doesn't mean "assert a connection" (or even "tell a brazen lie on the off chance no one will notice"). It means -- oh, how do they put it over at the OED?

To join closely or firmly; to connect, attach, unite, knit, bind by other than material ties,

Rep. Tiahrt has done nothing of the sort. He floated a patently dishonest trial balloon and got a free headline out of it. If the story's worth the front page, it needs a hed that makes his dishonesty clear -- not one that politely holds a finger on the twine while he "ties" his opponent to the evil commies.

* True, the kicker says "false assertion," but it doesn't say which assertion is false or what's false about it. That's not much help.