Boundless Arrogance - NYT Update II (Heh)

I blogged below on the Drudge Report's story about the NYT editor, David Shipley's decision not to run a McCain opinion piece that responded to Obama's "My Plan for Iraq" editorial that the NYT published last week. I updated that with Mr. Shipley's incredibly arrogant e-mail reposnse to the McCain Camp in which he, in essence, only would agree to publish a McCain response if it was substantailly reworked to mirror Mr. Obama's call for timetables for withdraw. It was a display of arrogance and bias writ large. I thought that the matter ended there, but that is not the case. TNOY has obtained the notes of David Shipley wherein he has helpfully edited the McCain editorial to show them what he would find acceptable

In January 2007, when General David Petraeus took command of the dismal situation in Iraq, he called the situation “hard”, but not bordering on “hopeless.” Today, 18 months later, violence has fallen by up to only 80% to the lowest levels in four years leaving much work to be done to eliminate the final 20%. Sunni and Shiite terrorists freedom fighters, battling valiantly to protect their homeland, are reeling from a string of defeats minor set-backs. The situation now is full of hope uncertain, but and considerable hard work remains to consolidate our fragile gains. rebuild the country we destroyed.

Progress has been due primarily to an increase in the number of troops and a change in their strategy recent polls showing Senator Obama as the clear front runner for the presidency, as well as fears of a Hillary Clinton victory. I was an early a bloodthirsty advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters in Washington most rational people were questioning my ability to make toast, let alone run the country. Senator Barack Obama was an equally eloquently vocal opponent. “I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to completely solve the sectarian violence there,” he said on January 10, 2007. “In fact, I think it will do the reverse predict only an 80% reduction in violence, leaving 1 in 5 Iraqis sadly disenfranchised by the surge.” . . .

Read the entirity of Mr. Shipley's proposed edit. There is much more.