So last night, as I'm standing in line at the Super Market, waiting to pay for my dinner, I look over at the National Enquirer and what do I see but Johnny Mac on the cover with a screaming headline that says, "John McCain & Connie Stevens Affair!"

Naturally, I was appalled by that sort of trash and had no desire whatsoever to read it -- but, because I'm looking out for you, RWN's readers, I bought the National Enquirer so I could see if there was anything to it. Ah, the sacrifices I make to keep you folks happy!

So, what's the verdict?

The "there there" quotient is very low indeed on this one.

Long story short, John McCain and Connie Stevens knew each other and a guy by the name of Ron Bianchi started claiming that they were having an affair. Both of them denied it and if Bianchi had any evidence of that claim, it wasn't provided in the article. Furthermore, Bianchi was mysteriously murdered in 2000; so, the Enquirer, being the Enquirer, managed to not only suggest that McCain was having an affair based on no hard evidence, they hinted that McCain may have had Bianchi murdered based on...well, pretty much nothing.

In other words, we've pretty vaulted past even the Enquirer's low standards for journalism down to the sort of material you might find in a diary at the Daily Kos or on the Democratic Underground.

In other words, happily, this isn't anything we're going to have to worry about.

PS: Any bets on whether this story will make it into the mainstream media?