Senator McCain and the Controversial NY Times Article
If you've been following politics lately, then you've noted the recent flap over an article about Senator John McCain in the NY Times. Today I finally had a chance to read the article thoroughly. Here are my impressions.
First, if you read the article first hand in the print version, then you may not have had as complete a picture as if you had read it on line. This is not the first article the Times has done this political season that is involved in looking at each of the Presidential candidates "to understand better how they think, what influenced them and how they performed in public life or private endeavors." One of the first things I saw when I looked at that list was the article on Obama that discussed Obama's drug use in his youth. My impression from listening to the flap was this was some sort of new article printed in isolation from any previous efforts. Such is simply not the case.
Here is a link listing the other articles published in this genre.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/politics/series/thelongrun/index.html
Second, I am reminded of the quotation from the Irish poet Robert Burns: "O wad the giftie gie us, to see ourselves as ithers see us." The Times article makes clear that it found no evidence of an affair between Senator McCain and the female lobbyist in question. The Times is simply demonstrating that Senator McCain's own sense of honor and confidence in his ability to act in an above-board manner can make him blind to the appearances his behavior sometimes creates. The Times legitimately raises the question of whether McCain might repeat that kind of behavior as President and what impact that might have on his Presidency.
Unfortunately, we live in a world that waits breathlessly with an insatiable appetite for another scandal to wring its hands over. This article provided that crowd with as large a meal as they have had in many weeks. I regret that the way the article was written provided the opportunity for the feast and distracted us from other more serious areas of concern.
I personally remained convinced of the goodness of John McCain's character and his desire to do the right thing for himself and his country. Honesty is essential to the candidate we choose, but is not the only trait we need to have in our next President. The next few months will illuminate more and more of those traits as the time draws nearer to a final choice.
Here is a link to the original article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/us/politics/21mccain.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&th&emc=th
First, if you read the article first hand in the print version, then you may not have had as complete a picture as if you had read it on line. This is not the first article the Times has done this political season that is involved in looking at each of the Presidential candidates "to understand better how they think, what influenced them and how they performed in public life or private endeavors." One of the first things I saw when I looked at that list was the article on Obama that discussed Obama's drug use in his youth. My impression from listening to the flap was this was some sort of new article printed in isolation from any previous efforts. Such is simply not the case.
Here is a link listing the other articles published in this genre.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/politics/series/thelongrun/index.html
Second, I am reminded of the quotation from the Irish poet Robert Burns: "O wad the giftie gie us, to see ourselves as ithers see us." The Times article makes clear that it found no evidence of an affair between Senator McCain and the female lobbyist in question. The Times is simply demonstrating that Senator McCain's own sense of honor and confidence in his ability to act in an above-board manner can make him blind to the appearances his behavior sometimes creates. The Times legitimately raises the question of whether McCain might repeat that kind of behavior as President and what impact that might have on his Presidency.
Unfortunately, we live in a world that waits breathlessly with an insatiable appetite for another scandal to wring its hands over. This article provided that crowd with as large a meal as they have had in many weeks. I regret that the way the article was written provided the opportunity for the feast and distracted us from other more serious areas of concern.
I personally remained convinced of the goodness of John McCain's character and his desire to do the right thing for himself and his country. Honesty is essential to the candidate we choose, but is not the only trait we need to have in our next President. The next few months will illuminate more and more of those traits as the time draws nearer to a final choice.
Here is a link to the original article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/us/politics/21mccain.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&th&emc=th
Another way to liik at it.
Under a heading of "Public Editor of New York Times slams the NYT for the McCain hit Piece"
The fallout from the New York Times hit piece on McCain continues. Clark Hoyt, the readers representative at the NYT, wrote a piece today slamming the NYT for printing the McCain piece. From Hoyt's article:
A newspaper cannot begin a story about the all-but-certain Republican presidential nominee with the suggestion of an extramarital affair with an attractive lobbyist 31 years his junior and expect readers to focus on anything other than what most of them did. And if a newspaper is going to suggest an improper sexual affair, whether editors think that is the central point or not, it owes readers more proof than The Times was able to provide.
NYT Executive Editor Bill Keller has publicly defended the hit piece. One wonders how long Hoyt can continue working at the NYT. I won't be surprised if Keller leaves first.
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