Long ago the bib-overall wearing editor of a small weekly newspaper in Raleigh published a story claiming Jim Hunt was gay. There wasn’t a word of truth in it. He’d made it up and splashed it across the front page, hoping to elect Jesse Helms. For one stunned moment, there was a collective gasp. Then everyone from Helms to the head of the Baptist Convention declared what he’d done was wrong.

Humbled, the editor apologized. And, a few weeks later, his newspaper shut its doors.

Last week the editor of an Internet newspaper out in California reported Renee Ellmers has been having an affair with Kevin McCarthy. He had no more proof than the Raleigh editor years ago. He’d simply heard rumors and published them.

What happened?

Riding down the road, Ellmers spotted a dog laying by a fence next to a field. She stopped, climbed out of the car, then had whoever was riding with her take a cell phone photo of her leaning over the wounded dog – then she sent the photo sailing across the Internet accompanied by a ‘tweet’ she’d written describing the dog’s injured leg and pain – to be certain no one missed her kindness and tenderheartedness.

And that’s American politics today: Rumors have replaced news. Sentiment has replaced reason. And politicians boast about helping dogs on Twitter.