How fortunate is John McCain, (R-AZ), to have Newsweek magazine in its corner?The magazine’s reporters and writers don’t even pretend to be objective anymore. They see their job as explaining the ‘Maverick’ to an unappreciative nation.
Case in point is their package of stories and columns under the headline Straight Talk Roadblock, which sought to dismiss the recent article by The New York Times about ethical lapses by McCain, including apparent cozy relationship between him and a lobbyist. Despite the fact that their own reporting (by powerhouse Evan Thomas and pit bull Michael Isikoff, among others) confirms the essential facts of the story by the Times, they still called it a non-story.In his ‘Editor’s Desk’ column, Jon Meacham said:
Let us be honest: without the allegations about sex, there was no Times story. (McCain’s FCC efforts and links to the communications company had been previously reported.) No suggestion of sex, no front page; no suggestion of sex, no right-wing rally to McCain’s side against the Times. It is, as Margaret Thatcher used to say, a funny old world.
It’s of a piece with recent Newsweek reporting about McCain, which has been adulatory, even more so than the usual media treatment of McCain. Howard Fineman put in his usual yeoman’s work sucking up to the good senator.As Newsweek says, there’s no scandal here. Everybody run along.
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