Posted 10:35 AM by Robert

Editing Out The Raines Effect At The New York Times

Various liberal and Democratic organs and representatives have been shouting that the President was (and is) a "liar" with respect to his most recent tax cut and the question of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The New York Times addresses the matter today.

Queery: Would this conclusion ha ve been allowed to appear in an important New York Times news article while Howell Raines was in charge:

In fact, a review of the president's public statements found little that could lead to a conclusion that the president actually lied on either subject.

The Times article as a whole, of course, is still pretentious and tendentious. But can any aware person doubt that the Rainseian blue pencil would have struck out the above sentence?