Vicki Iseman is the Monica Lewinsky that never was: the D.C. lobbyist was allegedly had an affair with Senator John McCain but fell by the wayside once we stopped caring about the old Arizona dry-fart. But the New York Times once entertained ideas (about 3,000 words worth) about Iseman and McCain, and now that Iseman will soon be out of GOP money to line her lobbyist pockets with, she's taken on a new target to squeeze blood from in a $27 million lawsuit. Ha, the Times wishes it had $27 million bucks lying around somewhere.

Clark Hoyt found his story for next week.

Today, the New York Times ran a lengthy article on John McCain that has already inspired late night talk show debate and merits a column from the public editor.

Part of its “Long Run” series, the Times questions McCain’s history of pretending to be above the Washington lobbying scene.

The piece has a lot of legitimate reporting on McCain’s hypocritical relationship with corporations. But this reporting will probably get lost in the rumors that McCain had an inappropriate relationship with a lady lobbyist.

But this obfuscation is the Times’s own fault. They lead with the smut:

CONTINUED »