Shame on the Grey Lady. . . again!

The New York Times has obviously gone tabloid making the National Enquirer looking like it is to the right of Cardinal Richelieu.

It’s all about the front page story today about John McCain that the Times’ suggests — but does not prove or outright say — that McCain had a romantic relationship with a female lobbyist and did favors for her clients from his position as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.

It’s all about innuendo from the paper that claims it publishes “all the news that’s fit to print.”

Many do not think these unproven allegations were fit to print.

The New Republic said the piece was, “filled with awkward journalistic moves” and that it danced around the trysts with lobbyist Vicki Iseman.

The story resulted in a rapid shift today, with only anecdotal descriptions and no evidence of an improper relationship, to serious questions whether the Times should have run the story.

“The New York Times is giving the National Enquirer a bad name,” said Brent Bozell of the conservative watchdog Media Research Center. “The New York Times story today is all that about a story that is 10 years old.  I have never seen anything like it in my life.”

The Times piece was suggested in November and the four reporters assigned to the story were pitted against Bill Keller the executive editor who didn’t believe they had the story then.

But today he issued the following statement saying, “On the substance, we think the story speaks for itself.

“”On the timing, our policy is, we publish stories when they are ready. ‘Ready’ means the facts have been nailed down to our satisfaction, the subjects have all been given a full and fair chance to respond, and the reporting has been written up with all the proper context and caveats.  This story was no exception.  It was a long time in the works.  It reached my desk late Tuesday afternoon.  After final edit and routine check by our lawyers, we published it,” he said.

“I’m very disappointed in The New York Times piece. It’s not true,” McCain said at a press conference he called in Toledo, Ohio, with his wife Cindy, by his side.

“The New York Times — the newspaper that gave MoveOn.org a sweetheart deal to run advertisements attacking General Petraeus — has shown once again that it cannot excercise good journalistic judgment when it comes to dealing with conservative Republican,” campaign manager Rick Davis said in an e-mail to supporters.

By the end of the day the story was playing badly for the New York Times and not John McCain.

“All I can conclude is that this is the largest liberal newspaper in America trying to unfairly attack the integrity of the new conservative Republican nominee for president,” said McCain adviser Charlie Balck.  He went on to say “There is no other good explanation for it.”