Yep, you’re not a trash journalist. Not at all. This is exactly the response a legit, dignified journalist would give to being called trashy.
I just don’t get where all the “outlandishness” and “hate” comes from on the McCain side. I am only a humble author trying to do my job, sharing facts that are 100% sourced. It’s not like I included in my book the account of a former AP reporter who recounted to me seeing John McCain wander off into the Red Light District of Hanoi in 1996 when he was there to normalize relations with the Vietnamese. Or that it was known among reporters that he used to disappear into that part of town alone at night. I never said that in my book. And why would I? That would supposedly be “trash journalism.”
Or let’s just say that a few reporters told me that the McCains don’t really live together anymore, and that until the presidential campaign Cindy McCain was spending much of her time in San Diego with their daughter Bridgette, because her husband was just not Johnny-on-the-spot anymore. I’d never report such an unfounded charge, if those few sources could not provide any more concrete details. The New York Times stoops that kind of reporting, but not me.
Now that’s classy.
PS – I think the reaction to the WaPo story is an indication that nobody gives a damn about some crap McCain did ages ago. That does not bode well for book sales.
