An editor's assessment of the McCain lobbyist story

If you missed the big brouhaha yesterday, the NY Times published a piece about a longstanding (professional) relationship between Senator John McCain and a lobbyist. The point of the article was to express the disconnect between McCain's principled stand against lobbyists ever since his humiliation in the Keating Five scandal and the relationship he cultivated. The angle of the story was lost in the heated media debate about it, with many people calling it a "smear."

For those interested, the NY Times editors responded today to questions about the article. It's a nice counterpoint to those blaming the "liberal media" and is worth considering in the larger context of the story.

I should note that I think the article spent too much time hinting at a possible romantic connection between the Senator and the lobbyist, since the purported point was to illustrate the issue of his political principles.

Why we have courts...

...instead of media convictions. Google News still shows more than 2,000 articles on the supposed JonBenet Ramsey killer - a man the Colorado DA says they had "no concrete evidence beyond the rambling confessions" for bringing in. What a ridiculous waste of energy.