The NYT: Surely they could have fit a little more

I second Digby's call for the New York Times to do some more reporting on the alleged spitting incident involving Cpl. Joshua Sparling. The perpetrators of this and any other similar incidents do, indeed, deserve to be exposed.

Related to that, though, is a question I'd like to add. Why didn't the reporter talk to the protestor who supposedly spit on Sparling? Why didn't she get a quote, try to get his or her name? It really wouldn't have been that difficult to talk to the protestor and it would have made for a much better story. Maybe the protestor refused to talk to her, but I'd like to know if she tried to get them to talk and if not, why not?

We've heard protestor-spitting-on-soldiers stories before. This time the actual soldier has been identified. There is (or was) a chance here to find out the whos and whys that other similar stories have lacked. I'd like to see the Times follow up on that.

The reporting on this isn't done, Times editors. Get on it.