Another Shoddy Hit Job by the NY Times

Update below.
In their drastic quest to be counted as a tabloid, the Grey Lady launched insinuations against Senator John McCain with zero facts to back them up. From John Hinderaker at Powerline:

The New York Times smears John McCain in tomorrow's
paper, accusing him of ethics violations and insinuating that he had an affair
with a lobbyist. What is most striking, though, if you actually read the story,
is how thin it is. It's mostly about the Keating Five scandal, which dates to
the late 1980s. The "news" that gives the story a hook has to do with McCain's
friendship with a pretty blonde lobbyist that apparently ended in 2000. As for
the purported affair, the Times offers zero evidence...

The Times is a mouthpiece
for the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, nothing more. Its smear of
McCain--not the last, to be sure--is entirely consistent with the editorial
policies it has maintained for many years. Tomorrow's story is just one more
reminder of why no sophisticated person takes the Times seriously as a news
source.

First the paper endorses McCain, then trashes the likely GOP nominee? I guess now that they're sure there will no no die-hard conservative in the running, they feel no need to lend the Senator their support. If you lie down with dogs...

Update From the New Republic-Behind the Bombshell in 'The New York Times.'