McCain Bloggers React To The New York Times

Greetings My Friends,

I am writing to you today in regards to the New York Times Ideological Hit Piece on our friend John McCain. It is time we put our huge readership to good use. There are 100 of us bloggers right now and we are growing every single day. We have thousands of volunteers across the country. I urge all of you to post this information on your blogs. Urge your readers to BOYCOTT the New York Times Company. Demand a retraction of the article and an official apology. Sign the Petition by replying to this email with **BOYCOTT NYT*** in the subject and your name email and state in the body.

I am sure you have read the statements by Jill Hazelbaker communications director of the campaign. "It is a shame that the New York Times has lowered its standards to engage in a hit and run smear campaign."
That while quite true is only the beginning of the truth. This happens all too often in our political process, the timing and partisan overtones of an editorial or story such as the Times story. The Times should have been well aware of the backlash following such an amateurishly written and edited smear story. Arrogance and agenda once again overtook them. This story can't be typecast as a simple liberal-media-bias-rears-its-ugly-head-again tale. No my friends it is time we told the Times . . . Time is up.

The loathsome 3000 word amateurish piece was written by Washington bureau reporters Jim Rutenberg, Marilyn Thompson, Stephen Labaton, and David Kirkpatrick. It is nothing more than a collection of decade-old stories about McCain . . .unsubstantiated. Instead of hard fact based cooperated concrete proof that McCain and Iseman were an item, the piece dances foolishly around purported romance and instead reports on the debate within the McCain campaign about the alleged affair. The article provides just enough innuendo and happenstance to attempt to leave the reader at least questioning the unwavering integrity of one of our Nations most noble of men.

This all began back in November, Washington bureau chief Dean Baquet assigned Rutenberg, Kirkpatrick, Thompson and Labaton. Four reporters for one story? This tells you the type of story they thought they had . . .a huge scandal! Rutenberg had been calling all over Washington like a sixteen year old girl looking for lunch room ammunition asking probing questions about McCain and his dealings with Iseman.
Finally this misguided fellowship of would be professional journalists gained the opportunity to meet with Bob Bennett in his office for over an hour.

Bennett of course admonished the Times reporters to be fair to McCain. Bennett should know, he was well aware this was all nonsense 10 and 20 years ago. Now what happens next is speculation at best, we do know that stealthy ol' Drudge banged out a leak of the story like he banged out a leak of the Monica Lewinsky story first, back on December 20th. Where did the leak come from? The Times news room? Hmm. A veteran former Times staffer stated "Inside the Times newsroom, the Drudge item sent the McCain piece into hiding, making it both tightly guarded and "a topic of conversation," as he put it. "The fact that it ended up on Drudge pushed it into secrecy,"

Even executive editor Bill Keller expressed serious reservations about journalism ethics and issuing a damaging story so close to an election. Keller even went so far as to tell reporters and the story's editor, Rebecca Corbett, that he was holding the piece in part because they could not secure documentary proof of the alleged affair beyond anecdotal evidence. Well, what has changed? Timing my friends . . . Timing. Timing can be everything. There was obviously, as we can see from the Keller comments alone, infighting regarding this 'lack of story' at the Times.

There was such turmoil that the Times lost journalists . . .some very bright. Take for instance Marc Santora. Marc was on the campaign trail covering the senator for four and a half months! On January 10th this up and coming reporter left the McCain Train, to quote him the reason being; "The last thing I wanted was to be a pawn in this thing," Well, good for you Marc. I am sure you are not alone in that sentiment. Marilyn Thompson, one of the folly of four quit the Times as well. This month, it was announced that the newspaper will be shedding 100 newsroom jobs!

Hmm, you take four of your key people, waste them on an obviously timed hit piece for four or five months . . . involve staffers and journalists in the field as pawns then allow a piece that even a grocery store tabloid would've questioned to be printed at a key time in our Presidential race? Seems like more than piss-poor journalism to me. Seems to me like the Old Gray Lady is ready for a retirement home.

I have ended my subscription both online and in print. I would urge everyone to do the same. Urge your friends to do the same. Boycott this sleaze!

Send letters, emails, faxes and make phone calls to the Times and demand that they not only recant the story but that they rightfully follow up with an apology! Here are some of the key people you can address your concerns with. Blog about them. Write to them. Email them. Fax Them. Call Them.

BOYCOTT THEM ALL! MAKE THEM APOLOGIZE TO THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES JOHN MCCAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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