Comments on: NYT Accuses John McCain of Cheating

By: BlogWonks » Blog Archive » Editorial: The New York Times John McCain Story – Cheap Political Journalism

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:42:41 +0000

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By: Editorial: The New York Times John McCain Story – Cheap Political Journalism « Wayward Fundamentalist Christian

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:44:51 +0000

By: Independent Liberal » The Gray Lady Gives

Independent Liberal » The Gray Lady Gives — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:34:12 +0000

[...] And she apparently taketh away, at least when it comes to John McCain. [...]

By: Michael van der Galien

Michael van der Galien — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:14:40 +0000

Your hyperbolic rhetoric notwithstanding, I’m skeptical that this story is going to have legs unless there’s far, far, more evidentiary support forthcoming.
What? Did you actually read the article?

By: The Moderate Voice

The Moderate Voice — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:11:08 +0000

Around The Campaign 2008 Sphere (McCain “Scandal” Story Edition)…

The campaign is REALLY heating up now, with the controversy over the New York Times piece about Arizona Senator John McCain, McCain’s big denial, the New York Times and press coverage becoming issues, plus the big debate show-down in Texas betwe…

By: Rich Horton

Rich Horton — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:29:44 +0000

"Like someone else preparing to tell the tale, thus stealing NYT’s thunder. But I’ve yet to hear proof."

What thunder? Who else was lining up to tell a story from unnamed sources, about something that may or may not have happened, with no other evidence? Evidently, TNR was going to castigate the Times for not running the piece, but after reading it I can see why the Times was hesitant. It is shoddy journalism.

As for the timing of the release of the "story", I think it says more that it comes hard on the heels of McCain hitting Obama on the use of public financing and Obama’s reneging on the issue. The message is "Why listen to McCain’s criticisms of anyone…he sleeps around on his mife!! (maybe)"

By: kranky kritter

kranky kritter — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:05:01 +0000

Your hyperbolic rhetoric notwithstanding, I’m skeptical that this story is going to have legs unless there’s far, far, more evidentiary support forthcoming. As to whether a politician’s cheating is our business, many folks believe it’s reflective of character. In fact, last night on Fox, some conservative functionary made itquite clear they felt that way. It’s really not any sort of a disqualifier for me as long as the aggrieved party (the wife) is accepting of it. I’m electing a president, not a husband. So I tend to care more about political malfeasance than personal failing. But I’m satisfied with the basic "we report, you decide" rubric SO LONG AS WHAT’S REPORTED IS FACTS and not innuendo. If a pol has in fact been unfaithful, then I think people have a right to know and decide what it means to them. Thus my troubles with the story are entirely constrained to the issue of the lack of factual basis. It’s easy to manufacture an appearance of impropriety, and the responsibility of any journalist in such instances is not to report on the basis of mere appearance using circumstantial evidence. Like when Gary Hart got caught with the bimbo sitting on his knee. That’s corroboration. Positive votes on lobbyist-related issues is purely circumstantial. I’ve yet to see evidence that proves that the Times was certain to someday publish this story, rather than waiting until they had everything they wanted. It’s also quite plausible that they didn’t think the story, as it was, was actually a disqualifier, in which case, the conflict you imagine between the story and the endorsement would not have existed. I have no trouble accepting as plausible the notion that they sat on it, and might have waited longer, but something came up that made it necessary to for them to release it now. Like someone else preparing to tell the tale, thus stealing NYT’s thunder. But I’ve yet to hear proof.