As I wrote the other day, the NYT can self-censor as much as it wants, the Republicans will continue to bash them anyway (and they did). This is the best never-published lede ever, from Krugman:

I’m almost never censored at the Times. However, I was told that I couldn’t use the lede I originally wrote for my column following the 2007 State of the Union address, in which Bush made ethanol the centerpiece of his energy strategy:

“Before the State of the Union address, there had been hints and hopes that President Bush would offer a serious plan to reduce our dependence on imported oil. Instead, however, he took refuge in alcohol.”