Rally round the flag, boys . . . or should we?

David Frum on John McCain:

The New York Times may have just done for John McCain what he has not been able to do for himself: unite the Republican voting base behind him. The note of complaint in the Drudge headline - "Now that he's won the nomination ..." may gain an echo on talk radio and on Fox. Nothing like being attacked by the ultimate enemy - the detested liberal media!

And yet .. if the story is true, isn't it a huge and appalling problem? (Allegedly) delivering government favors to a woman one is (allegedly) sleeping with? Pretty bad, in my book.

So before we rally round - how about a reality check? Is the story true? Is it part of a pattern of behavior? These are things voters are entitled to know, and the Times was not wrong to investigate.

Meanwhile, conservatives wondering how this story got run may find their answer at the New Republic.