The Two Faces of Joe

On the one hand, Gene Lyons says that New York Times managing editor Joseph Lelyveld is an ill-informed Clinton basher, who, while holding that post in the mid-1990s, failed to inform Times readers of information exonerating Bill Clinton in the Whitewater matter.

On the other hand (hopefully one covered with several layers of non-porous gloves), you've got Dick Morris. Morris says that Joseph Lelyveld promised to drop the Times' various investigations of President Clinton in exchange for a softball interview. According to Newsmax.com, Hump-a-Pump Morris claims as follows:

"I was surprised to be asked by Lelyveld and a Times reporter to help them get an exclusive interview with the president," Morris reports.

"We've tried for months and come up empty," the Lelyveld [sic] pleaded. "Can you help get it done?"

When Morris told him that Clinton was unlikely to grant the interview because he was unhappy with the paper's scandal coverage, Lelyveld hinted at a deal.

"A worried frown clouded the editor's formerly sunny face," writes Morris, who quotes the Times decision maker as saying next, "You know, we don't think that the public cares about what happened back in Arkansas."

....

"I wondered if I heard right. Did the top editor of The New York Times just imply that they'd pull their punches over Whitewater, Paula Jones, the Rose Law Firm, Hillary's billing records, the Web Hubbell hush money and the rest of the scandals that had emerged from Clinton's Arkansas Pandora's Box - all in return for an interview?

"I certainly got that impression," the top White House adviser recalls.

Now anyone who has ever believed a word Dick Morris has said should be demanding Lelyveld's dismissal from the Times. Certainly the crimes of Howell Raines pale in comparison to those of an editor who promises favorable reporting to the vile Clinton in exchange for an interview.

Which is it: Is Dick a liar, or should Joe go?