The first inky slick surfaced with a smear of Cindy McCain, “A Tangled Story of Addiction,” with the subhead, “Consequences of Cindy McCain’s Drug Abuse Were More Complex Than She Has Portrayed.”
The “more complex than portrayed” excuse for exhuming a circa-1991 story is pathetic. What’s next? Has she “neglected to mention” a 1993 parking violation? Has she "omitted the full truth" about an unreturned library book from 1965? Has MediaMatters taken over the Post newsroom?
In case you miss the piece’s malicious intent, it runs with a picture of Cindy McCain flashing a 500-watt grin – a jarring, sophomoric insult in the context of the “consequences of drug abuse.” Ever so subtle, guys. (The online edition omits this over-the-top propaganda trick.)
The second inky smear appears next to the first: “Palin Links Iraq to Sept. 11 In Talk to Troops in Alaska.” Here, let's take a peek:
Gov. Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would "defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans."
The idea that the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda plan the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a view once promoted by Bush administration officials, has since been rejected even by the president himself. But it is widely agreed that militants allied with al-Qaeda have taken root in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion.
Great, the Post finds fault in a speech to an Iraq-bound brigade. I could go on, but you get the idea.
