That’s it?
This is the worst that they can come up with?
UPDATE:
Jim Geraghty says the same thing: This Is All The New York Times Has?
Even partisan Democrats are taking the NYT to task for this non-story:
This is irresponsible, even despicable “journalism.” Anonymous sources say THEY feared there was a romantic relationship 8 years ago? Suppose for a second, this is relevant, how could you possibly run this with just that? A responsible news organization would not.
. . . During the 1990s, the tabloid press was the first stop to writing about Bill Clinton’s sex life. It was “out there” was the mainstream press’s excuse for writing about it. Since then, no barriers exist. And now, the Paper of Record, the New York Times, has pushed us to a new low.
Meanwhile, via AllahPundit we learn the news that The New Republic allegedly pressured the New York Times into running the hearsay story. Things must really be bad at the Grey Lady if a scandal-ridden two-bit rag like the TNR is able to badger the NYT into running a story based on nothing but an unsourced, uncorroborated rumor about something that no one in the story even alleges happened.
ALSO:
Megan McArdle who is sharing guest-hosting duties at Glenn’s place, hears this comment from CNN:
This may end up being a story about the New York Times as about John McCain.
If this is all there is to the story, then the NYT is about to go through the same scrutiny that another prominent news outlet went through the last time there was an old, badly-sourced hit piece on a presidential candidate.
