You probably are aware of the mini-scandal over discovery that the New York Times ran an ad by MoveOn.org that not only described Gen. Petraeus as "General Betray Us", but also managed to finagle a cut-rate on its ad space purchase from the Times. It may be illegal, and it certainly raises questions about the integrity of the Times.
Hand it to Ruddy Giuliani. He not only denounced the ad, but demanded to run one of his own in the Times at the same price. Surely, one thought, the Times will explain that there was some perfectly understandable reason why MoveOn.org got such a low price ($65,000). But, no, it now appears that they are going to sell an ad to Ruddy for the same amount.
How embarrassing. It would appear that the Times really does let editorial policy dictate how other departments of the paper behave. One might alert the Ombudsman (reader rep), if one thought that column might do anything.
What will happen, I submit, is that the Times will hold an "investigation," decide they had made a mistake--and THEN let any and all presidential candidates rent their page for at least one time at $65 K.
Well down in the Times' blog on politics today you can find most of the story.
