Smear Campaigns
Posted at 2:07am on Feb. 27, 2008 John McCain: Pro-Lobbyist!
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
Er . . . no. I have lots and lots of disagreements with John McCain--including and especially concerning the manner in which he has sought to restrict political speech in his anti-corruption efforts. But to say that he is a pawn of the lobbying industry is to turn the truth upside down. I am sure that both the Clinton and Obama camps will try to push this line of argument, but this dog just won't hunt.
Posted at 12:42am on Feb. 23, 2008 Jonathan Martin And Mike Allen Don't Read Carefully
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
Note the following in this report concerning the McCain campaign's reaction to yesterday's New York Times smear job:
Few commentators on the right -- including some who regularly denounce ethical lapses or weaknesses of the flesh among Democrats -- paused to assess seriously whether the Times' suggestions of conflict of interest were well-founded.
Actually, that's ridiculous. There are plenty of people who noted that the Times story relied on "he said/they said" charges, that the charges made were anonymous and that the people making the charges identified themselves as being "disgruntled." I think that constitutes a "serious assessment," even if Martin and Allen do not. And they should not be surprised if bloggers on the Right who are skeptical of McCain still rally to his defense in the wake of the smear. When stories like the one pushed by the Times are so lacking in facts, people should denounce them no matter what their general feelings concerning McCain's candidacy. I don't know why that is so hard to grasp.
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