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The New York Times allegations regarding Sen. John McCain's purported professional impropriety, and possible personal perfidy, are utterly confounding given that, at least upon initial dissection, they appear to lack merit, serve little purpose and expose no real substantive scandal. Superficially, the allegations seem like journalistic suicide. They cannot however be, as has been the contention of Sen. McCain and his staff, the White House and conservative pundits nationwide, a liberal smear campaign: for in giving the allegations, the history governing their revelation, the reasonable anticipation of their effect and the Times well known political philosophy, due consideration, no political or journalistic benefit is gained by the Times in running the story if it is wholly without merit. Unless and until the substance of those allegations emerge, as they surely must if the Times are ever to be vindicated, one can only judge the available facts and motives of the central, and perhaps far more important peripheral, parties. As these considerations are weighed it becomes readily apparent that either the Times allegations are in fact true and will be substantiated or that the sabotage on Sen. McCain has been orchestrated from deep within the conservative ranks and that the Times organization has been used as the unwitting catalyst for that attack.

The Candidate of Choice:

The Times endorsed Sen. McCain as their choice amongst the Republican candidates in a move that makes complete political sense given his dubious conservative record. In fact, the right wing pundits now rushing to chastise the Times and lend their support to Sen. McCain are the same commentators that endlessly bashed him for his moderate, even liberal, record and his uncomfortably cozy relationship with the likes of Sen. Hillary Clinton; whose presumptive battle against him for the White House was characterized by Former President Clinton, as undoubtedly being "fought with kid gloves"; and Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic Party exile whose omnipresence in the McCain camp has been an endless source of grief, ridicule and embarrassment. Given the Republican field of candidates, Sen. McCain was, and is, clearly the most agreeable choice for the policies and politics of the Times, even if he should go on to defeat the eventual Democratic Party nominee.

It is worthwhile to note here that only three short weeks ago, Ann Coulter distinguished Sen. McCain from Adolf Hitler by saying: "I'm not comparing

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