Times Expose Increasingly Looking Like Times Libel

It certainly seems like there was a willful attempt to knowingly spread false information in order to "discredit" John McCain. (See here and here.) I cannot remember a major front page piece by the Times that has fallen apart so quickly and so completely. Given this I think it would be difficult to support the story or even to be agnostic about it. If we want a better standard of political discourse in this country we must also stand for a better standard of journalism.

If the blogosphere didn't exist who exactly would have checked up on all this stuff I wonder.

ADDING:

It looks like team McCain did a good job responding to this. To use naval parlance: scratch one flat-top!

"Tactically, the McCain campaign executed flawlessly and quickly to put this story back in the box,” said GOP strategist Phil Musser, a former executive director of the Republican Governors Association. “They re-shaped the coverage from dawn to dusk, avoided any big name conservative defections and were actually monetizing the event online at the Grey Lady's expense.”

“Ironically,” says Musser, who supported Mitt Romney’s presidential bid, “the larger impact of the whole story may well be to further galvanize McCain's leadership position, especially if it goes away quickly.”

I really never thought McCain could win the Republican nomination, let alone get the Conservative wing of the party to rally to his defense. I forgot to take into account the "power" of the Times.

ADDING FURTHER:

It looks like other papers with New York Times syndication rights, including at least one owned by the Times, have refused to run the salacious McCain story.

That is hopeful at least.