The decline and fall of the New York Times accelerates, with today's anonymously-sourced hit piece on John McCain.  I will leave to others like Rick Moran  and Ed Morrissey  the debunking of the story itself. What concerns me is the manner in which the CEO of the organization has jettisoned standards that once would have ruled out publication of such material. "A fish rots from the head" goes an old Chinese saying. If it is true, as reported, that the story was controversial within the Times, and only ran because the paper feared that The New Republic would publicize the office politics at the Times over publication of the story, the Sulzberger's responsibility is all the greater. His inability to set clear guidelines, hire capable editors, and maintain newsroom harmony and discipline was about to be exposed to the public. To protect his hind quarters, he went with a disastrously bad story.The proper response to TNR would be a statementthat the Times does not...(Read Full Post)