It cracks me up to see Republicans and the pundits who love them waggle their fingers at Harry Reid for relying on an anonymous source to make a claim easily refuted by the target. It's also pretty fucking funny to see them talk about going beyond the pale in political discourse. These were, after all, the guys who impeached Clinton for a blow job, having accused him of being a cocaine smuggling murderer.
But when I want speculation, emptywheel is my first choice.