It's not often we get this sort of a head-to-head matchup: The NYTimes and the Washington Post have a flat-out disagreement between their anonymous sources.
Tired of all the hit-or-miss gossip? Well, it's this sort of fact-vs.-fact death match we need more often. One or the other of these -- arguably, the two most influential papers of record in the country -- has been spun out of the ballpark. So let's keep score so we can hound them about it.
Here's what a couple of anonymous Joes told David Johnston and Richard W. Stevensonat the NYTimes:
...Karl Rove, President Bush's senior adviser and deputy chief of staff, will not be charged on Friday, but will remain under investigation, people briefed officially about the case said. As a result, they said, the special counsel in the case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, was likely to extend the term of the federal grand jury beyond its scheduled expiration on Friday....
But that's not at all what the WaPost sez....
Jump for the lowdown.
Here's what another anonymous couple of Joes told Jim VandeHei and Carol D. Leonnig:
...Though there was considerable speculation among lawyers for witnesses in the case that Fitzgerald could choose to empanel a new grand jury and extend his investigation, two legal sources said he has indicated he does not plan to take that route and will wrap up the case today....
Somebody's right. Somebody's wrong. And everybody's playing fast and loose these days with anonymous sources.
Please recommend if all these anonymous Joes are twisting your knickers -- and you expect better from our leading newspapers.