Charles Murtaugh has a great post on Bob Herbert’s column . Herbert is enraged that anyone anywhere get away with defying the NYC smoking ban. The Oak Bar at the Plaza has apparently exempted itself from the City’s absurd policies. Murtaugh noticed that Herbert is now crediting his assistant for doing his actual legwork, something Herbert has never done before. Murtaugh rightly suspects that Herbert is covering his butt given the new realities at the Times. This could be the start of all sorts of fun because I know for a fact Herbert is hardly alone. Maureen Dowd, for example, has a minion who does much of her gruntwork for her as do many other columnists (I used to be Ben Wattenberg’s researcher for example). Let the full-disclosures fly!