The perfect postmodern New York Times story

I don’t know how I missed this the other day, but it may be the definitive painfully postmodern New York Times story: Fox News makes Sarah Palin looks like an idiot; the New York Times makes the Fox News team look like a bunch of idiots; and The New Republic and Los Angeles Times look like a bunch of idiots compared to the New York Times, because not everyone can be as smart — or as satisfied with themselves right now — as the folks at the Gray Lady:

It was among the juicier post-election recriminations: Fox News Channel quoted an unnamed McCain campaign figure as saying that Sarah Palin did not know that Africa was a continent.

Who would say such a thing? On Monday the answer popped up on a blog and popped out of the mouth of David Shuster, an MSNBC anchor. “Turns out it was Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, who has come forward today to identify himself as the source of the leaks,” Mr. Shuster said.

Trouble is, Martin Eisenstadt doesn’t exist. His blog does, but it’s a put-on. The think tank where he is a senior fellow — the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy — is just a Web site. The TV clips of him on YouTube are fakes.

And the claim of credit for the Africa anecdote is just the latest ruse by Eisenstadt, who turns out to be a very elaborate hoax that has been going on for months. MSNBC, which quickly corrected the mistake, has plenty of company in being taken in by an Eisenstadt hoax, including The New Republic and The Los Angeles Times.