Blowback

Seattle Post-Intelligencer editor David McCumber on why he chose not to run the NYT's McCain story:

To me, the story had serious flaws. It did not convincingly make the case that McCain either had an affair with a lobbyist, or was improperly influenced by her. It used a raft of unnamed sources to assert that members of McCain's campaign staff -- not this campaign but his campaign eight years ago -- were concerned about the amount of time McCain was spending with the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman. They were worried about the appearance of a close bond between the two of them...

...That's pretty thin beer.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is not exactly a conservative publication. And even the reliably leftwing Slate is mocking the story.

Meanwhile, the New York Times is trying to deal with readers questioning their integrity and judgement:

I think we all expected the reaction to be intense. We knew from our experience last year, when word leaked out we were pursuing this story, that Senator McCain's operatives would set out to change the subject by making the story about The New York Times rather than about their candidate. That's a time-honored tactic for dealing with potentially damaging news stories.

I see. So the Gray Lady believes that the best response to being raped is to lay back and enjoy it. God knows that mere mortals have no business questioning the integrity, competence, or motives of the Lords of Perception.