John McCain is a Super-Regular Guy - He Don't Worry about Appearances - or needs to.
New York Times has Gotten it wrong Before. BTW -that is not a real Front Page - could have been; but it ain't. 
Clark Hoyt comes off as a pretty good guy. Most people who take on the task of listening to the public are just that - good people. They catch the flak for the mistakes, insults, thievery, laziness and mean-spiritedness of people within an institution, or the institution itself.
'Let me speak with you manager!' is about as polite as the howling public gets when something goes wrong or is perceived to be wrong. The very worst people in our litigious society usually have some ambulance chaser in their back pockets when they get to venting as well. 'I'll sue!' has taken the place of 'I am going to give you the beating of the New Millennium' in our politically correct day and age - sadly.
Public editors for newspapers, like assistant managers of Denny's Worldwide, meet the eyeball popped public with good grace and genuine concern. Clark Hoyt issued a pretty fair assessment of the New York Times's pooch-screwing of the John McCain non-story:
The pity of it is that, without the sex, The Times was on to a good story. McCain, who was reprimanded by the Senate Ethics Committee in 1991 for exercising “poor judgment” by intervening with federal regulators on behalf of a corrupt savings and loan executive, recast himself as a crusader against special interests and the corrupting influence of money in politics. Yet he has continued to maintain complex relationships with lobbyists like Iseman, at whose request he wrote to the Federal Communications Commission to urge a speed-up on a decision affecting one of her clients.«
Much of that story has been reported over the years, but it was still worth pulling together to help voters in 2008 better understand the John McCain who might be their next president.
I asked Jill Abramson, the managing editor for news, if The Times could have done the story and left out the allegation about an affair. “That would not have reflected the essential truth of why the aides were alarmed,” she said.
But what the aides believed might not have been the real truth. And if you cannot provide readers with some independent evidence, I think it is wrong to report the suppositions or concerns of anonymous aides about whether the boss is getting into the wrong bed.
Clark Hoyt burned one past the batter admitting that 'sex' had no place in the story. No matter what! Swing and miss. Ok that gets Jim Thome's attention and he digs in his cleats for the next one.
Clark Hoyt wizards a change up admitting that the material is in fact eight and nine years old. Thome windmilled that one.
Hoyt's use of Managing Editor's low and outside '“But that was not the point of the story. The point of the story was that he behaved in such a way that his close aides felt the relationship constituted reckless behavior and feared it would ruin his career.” is what gave Mr. Incredible the beach ball that goes sailing over the Center Field Wall at Comiskey Park ( Cellular Field to Infidels).
Clark Hoyt should get a couple of more zeros before the decimal point on his next paycheck. Since the New York Times will be bleeding cash in the next few months do it soon bean counters. Clark Hoyt did some tough pitching today
That is some pretty solid relief pitching, but with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and three men on two strikes are not enough.
A guy like John McCain, who seems indifferent to what people like "investigative reporters" Think and 'aides' want to use against him, appears even more honest to an uncomplex guy like me. Who cares about appearances? Jesus hung out with hookers, tax-collectors, drunken fishermen, Roman gamblers, wine guzzlers, and had an aide who sold him out for appearances sake. John McCain is no Jesus - miles fromit and he is only to glad to admit it, but McCain went through a pretty long Gethsemane.
If a guy worries about appearances, it is time to really worry about the guy and give him a long stare. John McCain is Ok by me.
Click my title for Clark Hoyt's NYT piece. HT to Meghan Mccain for her button photo!
