The Washington Post reports on a 9/11 memorial that was vandalized at Occidental College in the suburbs of Downtown Los Angeles:

Some of the flags had been crushed or snapped in two. Others had been tossed into nearby garbage cans; so many of them had been trashed that they spilled onto the pavement.

“Not one was left in the ground,” according to the Occidental College Republican Club, whose members organized the 9/11 display, then made the alarming discovery on Sunday. “Not only did they destroy the memorial, they put posters and fliers up that shamed the victims of 9/11.

The Occidental College Republican Club detailed the vandalism on their Facebook page:

Matt Vespa at Townhall gives some great detail on the display and its origins from the Young America’s Foundation.

But, I’d like to focus on an element of the story that isn’t included in the Post’s write-up.

Missing from WaPo’s account is any mention of the relevant fact that Occidental is the alma mater of the President of the United States, Barack Obama. It’s a strange omission. Especially considering the article does mention a famous Republican alumnus of the college, Jack Kemp:

The Occidental College Republican Club “was established to create an engaging and safe environment for students who are politically conservative.” The group’s Facebook logo features the face of Jack Kemp, a nine-term Republican congressman who was a champion of supply-side economics. Kemp, the GOP’s 1996 nominee for vice president, graduated from Occidental in 1957. He died in 2009.

Obama attended Occidental in 1980 where he was known as “Barry.” During these first two years of college (prior to his transfer to Columbia University) Obama was the subject of this now famous photo session:

Why would the vaunted Washington Post omit such an obvious and relevant fact from their article? The Charlotte Observer actually LED with the fact in their write-up:

President Barack Obama’s alma mater is investigating the vandalism of a 9/11 memorial on its campus early Sunday morning.

On Saturday night, several students had gathered in Occidental College’s quad with nearly 3,000 tiny American flags in hand.

Perhaps the hagiography initiative put into place during the 2008 campaign is still working in full force. Not only was Obama never fully vetted but aspects of his college years are still as mysterious and deemed “off-limits” as Hillary Clinton’s health status. Perhaps, the effort to paint Obama as anything but the Saul Alinsky, community organizing radical that he clearly is has become so pervasive that even associating his name with this anti-American vandalism 35 years after he attended the college is deemed too radioactive.

Perhaps.

Or, perhaps the Washington Post is just a sloppy, 3rd rate newspaper.