Desperate Times: Another Vicious Attack on McCain Family

With all the talk of a Democratic landslide in November (discussed here), it seems a measure of desperation on how far the left-wing media will go to smear John McCain and his family.

Exhibit A is this morning's New York Times story, "Behind McCain, Outsider in Capital Wanting Back In," which is a hit piece on Cindy McCain disguised as biographical essay.

I've just read the article, and I frankly see nothing really new and newsworthy. The Times has hammered Mrs. McCain in a number of journalistic smears throughout the year, and today's article is just piling on.

In fact, the hatchet-job agenda of the article is revealed by Jodi Kantor's reprehensible rumor-trolling at Facebook, which is explained by Michael Goldfarb:

Today the New York Times launched yet another in a series of vicious attacks on Senator John McCain, this time targeting not the candidate, but his wife Cindy. Under the guise of a 'profile' piece, the New York Times fails to cover any new ground or provide any discernible value to the reader other than to portray Mrs. McCain in the worst possible light. Though Mrs. McCain’s battle with drug addiction and even her miscarriages are again reported, the paper entirely ignores a life devoted to family and charity work in the most impoverished and violent corners of the world -- except when a detail can be quibbled with so as to imply some kind of deceit. This campaign made every effort to share personal accounts of Mrs. McCain’s good works with the paper, but apparently they were deemed unfit for publication in the New York Times. This is gutter journalism at its worst -- an unprecedented attack on a presidential candidate's spouse.

In order to assemble this barrage of petty and personal attacks, the New York Times employed tactics that are obviously unprofessional and almost certainly unethical. This campaign has obtained a copy of an email sent by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor to a 16-year-old girl and friend of Bridget McCain, the youngest of the McCain children. Ms. Kantor sought to dupe the unsuspecting minor by soliciting ‘advice’ on how best to approach the story, as if a top-flight investigative reporter at the New York Times would need the assistance of an underage girl in writing a hit piece.

The New York Times has stooped lower than this campaign ever imagined possible in an attempt to discredit a woman whose only apparent sin is being married to the man that would oppose that paper’s preferred candidate, Barack Obama, in his quest for the Presidency. It is a black mark on the record of a paper that was once widely respected, but is now little more than a propaganda organ for the Democratic party. The New York Times has accused John McCain of running a dishonorable campaign, but today it is plain to see where the real dishonor lies.

Goldfarb's post includes the text of an e-mail to Bridget McCain’s 16-year-old classmates, as well as the text of a letter to the Times from McCain family attorney, John M. Dowd, who wrote:

These allegations and efforts to hurt Cindy have been a matter of public record for sixteen years. Cindy has been quite open and frank about her issues for all these years. Any further attempts to harass and injure her ... will be met with an appropriate response. While she may be in the public eye, she is not public property nor the property of the press to abuse and defame.

See also Captain Ed, who writes:

The New York Times long ago transformed itself into an advocacy organization for Barack Obama. Trolling for dirt on Facebook among teenagers for hit pieces on a candidate’s spouse hits a new low. Does the National Enquirer even do that?

See also, Memeorandum.