The Old Gray Gossip

The New York Times story on John McCain's alleged improper activity with a lobbyist sinks the paper even further. When I read the original story, I was surprised at how little the TImes went to press with. The conclusion which might have been drawn from the story is that a) McCain has had some deep ties to lobbyists (shudder) and b) that one of them might have been sexual. But to come to the worst conclusion from the facts that are presented in the story would take a leap of faith of tremendous proportions.

The story (and that is what it is in the best sense of Hans Christian Anderson or Steven King) is corroborated by one of his former strategists and a whole bunch of (as former Mayor Richard Daley once called them) "insinuendos." Keller said in a Times response to the hubbub after the story "Afterall we wrestled with our doubts" as a way to justify his actions. I guess if you wrestle and still publish a gossipy story that represents the current state of journalistic ethics in the Times.

What was surprising to me was the responses to the article. As they have come down so far, Bill Keller, whose tenure as Executive Editor at the Times has been pretty lame, said we published it because it was "ready." One wonders why a story which was 10 years old and containing only one legitimate source would be "ready" at this point- but I guess that is within the realm of "professional judgment." Keller remember thought it was OK to publish some intelligence documents on monitoring of financial transactions even though it was clear that the publication would compromise some very helpful actions against terrorist networks. When the publication of the story about the financial transactions caused criticism, Keller got on his soapbox and sanctimoniously commented "We apply the principles of journalism individually as editors of independent newspapers. We agree, however, on some basics about the immense responsibility the press has been given by the inventors of the country." And he also babbled "Our job, especially in times like these, is to bring our readers information that will enable them to judge how well their elected leaders are fighting on their behalf, and at what price." His paper was also among the leading opponents of looking carefully into the bimbo eruptions of the Clinton presidency (which were mostly stories before Keller became executive editor).

A second set of reactions from the McCain story came from what Hillary Clinton lovingly referred to as the "vast right wing conspiracy." Several conservative talk show hosts used the story to savage the Times and defend McCain. Since many of those professional yabberers have been critical of McCain, that allowed the story to extend for a couple of days more. In this morning's Bee - the editorial cartoon shows a hapless newsboy (hardly an accurate picture of the Times - so they label him) being throttled by a group of loud mouthed talkers.

Every politician interacts with lobbyists and indeed every politician who is worth their pay has some relationships with lobbyists that are stronger than others. I don't know from the story whether the relationship between McCain and the female lobbyist was even potentially improper from the Times story. And without that the Gray Lady just becomes another gossip monger.