LGF is a right-wing blog that traffics in lots of nonsense. And Saturday was no exception. It created an online buzz within right-wing circle when, through some supposedly nifty defective work, it raised the possibility that the Obama campaign might be behind a new website spreading misinformation about McCain's new VP pick, Sarah Palin.

Lots of LGF's right-wing blog friends jumped in, linking to the site and condemning the Obama campaign for pushing dirty tricks, while LGF excitedly updated the story all day. And that's why, as part of its round-up of blog reaction to the Palin pick, the Times' political blog, The Caucus, made mention of LGF's mini-investigation: “Some conservative blogs are undergoing an investigation of their own into who exactly is behind a Web site that mischaracterizes Ms. Palin's views about gay rights.”

And that was how the Times blog post ended. What the Times left unsaid was that by mid-afternoon LGF's dubious charge had already been debunked, which LGF itself sheepishly admitted in an update: “There is apparently no connection between these attack sites and the official Obama campaign.”

Question: Why didn't the Times put the LFG goose chase in context and note that all the hot air turned out to be yet another righter-wing blogger charade? After all, that was the news.