Heluva 'n arm worthy of a Cincinnati Reds star pitcher

The Carew Tower cuts across the Cincinnati skyline. It stands 49 stories high, right on the Ohio river. It also happens to house the main district office of Democrat Congressman Stephen Driehaus.

With his boyish good looks, he's become the poster boy of sorts for the anti-Republican/anti-Tea Party "violence" campaign.

Hurried breaking news reports came out earlier in the week on how a rock was thrown through the Congressman's window. The story originated with the far left Seattle Times, and was carried through the liberal blogosphere and mainstream press.

GOP libertarian blogger Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) first captured the report from the Seattle Times story before the Times and syndicated versions were scrubbed:

"A rock was thrown through the window of Driehaus’ Cincinnati office Sunday."

Driehaus responded to non-incident by pointing the finger at Sarah Palin

Turns out the Congressman's office is not located on the ground floor, but rather on the 30th. Some on-line Right blogger sleuths caught the error.

The media line quickly changed to a local Democrat Party headquarters. But not before the Congressman had the chance to take a few shots at a certain Republican/Tea Party star.

The next day Local 12 WKRC in Cincinnati reported:

A rock was thrown through a window at Hamilton County Democratic Party headquarters, but any other acts of violence have just been talk. Driehaus says the hateful chatter is becoming more and more mainstream. He points to a fundraising website for Sarah Palin that puts targeted seats in congress literally in the cross hairs.

"That kind of constant reference to violence. I don't think it's helpful."

Of course, the Congressman's comments were picked up without reporters/bloggers checking the facts of the original story. And the comments added fuel to the fire of the "Sarah Palin inciting violence" meme.

Local Democrats are admitting that the original story was completely fabricated. Two staffers at the Hamilton County Democrat HQ, one named Molly and the other Caleb Faux, have confirmed to a a local reporter no such incidents occured. Faux quoted from the Examiner.com:

When asked about the Seattle article and the rock being thrown through Driehaus’ Cincinnati office window, he replied, “I think that report is an error. You’d have to have an awfully good pitching arm to throw something that high.”