Last week Tim Russert debunked Bill Clinton’s misleading explanation of Hillary Clinton’s false claims about a trip to Bosnia with a gusto that has been missing for most of the Bush years.

As Josh Marshall points out, that fact-checking gusto was also missing this week when Russert repeated the false claim that a picture of Barack Obama with his hands at his sides was taken during the Pledge of Allegiance.

The common denominator in both cases is that Russert’s actions fit with the prevailing narrative. Everyone is suspicious of Bill Clinton’s factual accuracy, so his statements get extra scrutiny. Similarly, Russert’s question today drew upon the GOP/Clinton narrative about Obama:

David Axelrod, based on the last couple of weeks, many Democrats fear Republicans in the fall will string together an ad which shows Michelle Obama saying that she really never had pride in America until this campaign when Barack Obama was running, Barack Obama with his hands clasped in front of him rather than holding his heart during the pledge of allegiance, Barack Obama not wearing a flag pin, Barack Obama talking about clinging to faith and to guns, suggesting—Barack Obama meeting with Bill Ayers, a former Weather ground under—Weatherman underground figure. Are you concerned that all those kinds of issues could be strung together to create an impression of Obama that would make him almost unelectable to a lot of swing voters?

Most media fact-checking is narrative-driven in this way. Many of the Al Gore “lies” were embellished versions of minor misstatements he made that received great scrutiny from hostile reporters. Because those “lies” reinforced prevailing narratives about Gore, they were parroted by the talking heads. By contrast, as we discussed in All the President’s Spin, President Bush was generally seen as personally honest so his misleading claims about policy received little attention. John McCain is now getting similar treatment.

Still, none of this excuses Josh Marshall’s insinuation that Russert intentionally smeared Obama:

With his supposedly crack research staff, how does Russert manage to make a mistake like that? Where’s the retraction and apology? Or is it intentional?

It’s the latest instance of a long pattern of Marshall suggesting what he can’t prove. Josh, please stop.