Times' columnist ignores truth, gives McCain a pass

Nicholas Kristof is an award-winning New York Times columnist who helped focus American attention to the ongoing tragedy in Darfur and the power of microfinance for single women living in poverty throughout the emerging world. He is admired by many as a champion of progressive ideology.

So it comes as a complete shock to read his column on Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, in the Feb. 17th issue of NYT. The title, "The World's Worst Panderer," might lead one to think that Mr. Kristof is criticizing Mr. McCain for pandering to the conservative wing of the GOP. In fact, Mr. Kristof is commenting on the poor quality of Mr. McCain's ability to pander.

It's a clever use of language and certainly the column itself is not going to make it into Mr. McCain's campaign literature, but Mr. Kristof does his readers a disservice by continuing the myth that Mr. McCain has been consistent on the issue of torture.

Mr. McCain's public statements about torture have taken on a place in popular culture because they fit neatly within the narrative that exhorts the virtues of American individuality and justice. Mr. Kristof repeats this thread in his column.

But the tread has been broken. Mr. McCain is not against torture now that he's trying to convince the right-wing of the party to get behind him and preserve the White House to the GOP.

This week, Mr. McCain opposed a bill that would make it illegal to use interrogation measures such as "beating, electric shock, burns, or other forms of physical pain to an individual."

Now that he is virtually assured of the nomination, he decides that principle can be sacrificed for the record. His vote was meant to be a signal to the right that he would play ball. And given that Mr. McCain knew that the White House had promised to veto the bill, there is no way that he can claim that his vote wasn't pandering.

Why would Mr. Kristof give Mr. McCain such a pass: Is the Pulitzer-prize winning journalist getting lazy in his dotage?

At the end of the Academy Award nominated film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, newspaper man Maxwell Scott (played by Carleton Young) is confronted with a choice to print the truth about a legendary western senator (played by Jimmy Stewart) who gained his fame for standing up to and gunning down a local outlaw. Scott decides not to run the truth that someone else actually killed the outlaw. Apparently both the fictional newspaperman and Mr. Kristof hold the same sentiment.

"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."