The New York Times keeps flailing, part 2

Mark Salter is the long-time staffer for John McCain, as well as McCain’s literary alter ego. I wrote about Senator McCain’s memoir Faith of My Fathers (written with Salter) in “Reading John McCain, part 1” and “Reading John McCain, part 2.” He continues to serve Senator McCain in the current campaign.

Responding to my invitation to provide us occasional commentary related to the campaign, Mr. Salter has forwarded the following statement:

On Sunday the New York Times ran an absurd editorial demanding that the campaign release health records that the campaign had already publicly stated will be released in three weeks. Yes, you read that right: The Times was told that the records will be released on May 23rd, and ran the attack anyway. This comes after months of Times “news” stories attacking John McCain on all fronts, some earning the rebuke of the Times’s own editors. At this point, the Times’s effort really has become so transparent and juvenile that voters are sure to see right through it.

John McCain remains committed to providing extraordinary access to the media in the hope that his candor and availability will encourage both the campaigns and the press to commit to helping better inform voters and abandon the practices that have understandably earned their cynicism. Should the New York Times ever show it possesses half of John McCain’s sense of civic responsibility, it might begin to repair its deservedly tarnished reputation.

Paul Mirengoff commented on the Times editorial last night along the same lines in “The New York Times keeps flailing.”

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