David Horsey doesn't think much of critics of the New York Times's recent attempt at an expose on John McCain. His reasons why leave something to be desired.

He says critics allege the Times "concocted" the story. That really misses the point of the broad critique of the Gray Lady that has spread well beyond the conservative movement. The most significant issue at hand is the unsubstantiated nature of the implied sexual relationship that was such a prominent component of the original story.

The New Republic questioned the merits of the story given the lack of evidence rising above anecdotal to support the article's central assertion. Lefty bloggers were likewise unimpressed by the "news." The Seattle P-I chose to not even run the story. And the Times's own public editor has now weighed in, lambasting his own paper for the unsupported sexual implications.

All that contrasts rather starkly with the choices of other major news outlets. The Washington Post, for example, concurrently ran the with the same essential story after the Times decided to publish, but left out in the points of controversy that have since engulfed the latter paper.

Nevertheless, Horsey earnestly laments the accusation that ideology was a notable factor in the Times's journalistic choices. Many a critic of the Times and other MSM outlets with a left-of-center tilt might even wish it were so simple to trust journalists these days. But in the era of Jayson Blair and Rathergate - not to mention the Times' own steady drift outside the editorial page toward an urban, liberal view of the world (intended or not) - journalists shouldn't be so surprised to find a cynical readership.

Speaking of cynicism, Horsey notes his concern both at the post linked above and in an editorial cartoon about the appearance that John McCain might not be the totally pure Maverick combater of special interests his image portrays. The fact the media is only now beginning to explore that McCain's sanctimonious campaign rhetoric has not always aligned nicely with the totality of his actions in office is more journalistic malpractice than the recent Times article could ever hope to achieve.

Ironically, conservatives have long lamented the fact the media was too busy fawning over McCain's eye-poking of his fellow Republicans to cover the bigger picture truth that has long frustrated right-of-center activists. Yet now, an over-the-top attack from the Times has served to rally many conservatives to McCain's defense (at least for now). Now that's an accomplishment.

If David Horsey wants to object to conservatives lamenting a liberal bent in many of our modern MSM news sources, that's fine. He might, however, want to select a better example to press his point.