They are so…what?….unprofessional, to be charitable.

Even for the New York Times, today’s article about Sen. John McCain was ridicilous. A smear job, yes, but an embarrassingly obvious one…

accusing him of ethics violations and insinuating that
he had an affair with a lobbyist. What is most striking, though, if you
actually read the story, is how thin it is. It’s mostly about the
Keating Five scandal, which dates to the late 1980s. The “news” that
gives the story a hook has to do with McCain’s friendship with a pretty
blonde lobbyist that apparently ended in 2000. As for the purported
affair, the Times offers zero evidence.

Seriously. As the guys at Powerline point out, McCain legal
representative Bob Bennett says now the Times have lowered their
standards in this smear.

That is incorrect, of course. The Times is a mouthpiece
for the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, nothing more. Its smear
of McCain–not the last, to be sure–is entirely consistent with the
editorial policies it has maintained for many years. [Today’s] story is
just one more reminder of why no sophisticated person takes the Times
seriously as a news source.

I heard a reporter for The Hill on Fox News this morning say that
instead of the effect the Times wanted of making a McCain scandal the
blazing news of the day, turns out that the credibility of the New York
Times is the story of the day. ‘They led with an allegation they
couldn’t back up’ she said, adding ‘It’s hard to stand on this story.’

Especially since, like in The Emperor’s Clothes fable, some folks who see it clearly are speaking up about the Times fall from….relevancy.

We have come to expect this kind of gossip story from The New York Times. It’s not enough to say the paper is biased. The problem at The Times is worse than simple bias. Editors are clearly attempting to drive news and create scandal. In my view, The New York Times is sinking into irrelevancy because of stories like this and if you
look at the paper’s shrinking circulation, it appears most Americans
agree.

However, one thing they’ve managed to do, that is rather remarkable, is galvanize the conservatives.

And give McCain an emboldened voice against “hit-and-run” tactics,
which Obama’s successful campaign proves….people are sick of hearing
and seeing.

What you won’t see in the Times is McCain’s rebuttal. Here it is.

What you will see in the Times is more of the same, given their record.