And the sentence you refer to was constructed in a way to reveal a poor understanding of English composition. So the writer is, I suppose, a typical product of public school education.
Funny I was going to add a second post that says that but you beat me to it ;)
I looked at the source article and the writer is the usual smug kid hurling invective from his little cubicle somewhere in DC or NY. What a lead sentence, eh? Anger, inaccuracy and smears all wrapped up in a so-called news story.
I also note that NBC sites have no comment sections. Typical.