Perhaps taking a lesson from The New York Times' fumbling of its initial stories about Connecticut Democratic Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal's military record, The Washington Post made clear upfront that it got information about an Illinois Senate candidate from the person's opponent.

You recall the Times wrote a major front page story May 17 questioning Blumenthal's incorrect assertions on several occasions that he had served in Vietnam when he had actually served during the Vietnam era. Soon after the first stories ran, Blumenthal's opponent, Republican Linda McMahon, said she had tipped the Times off to the information.

On Sunday, a Post story revealing Rep. Mark Kirk -- a Republican candidate for President Barack Obama's former Senate seat -- incorrectly claimed to have received the U.S. Navy's Intelligence Officer of the Year Award. That story stated clearly that the Post received the information from Kirk's oppnent: "The Post's inquiries were sparked by complaints from a representative of state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Kirk's Democratic opponent in the Illinois Senate race."

Transparency is everything.