Sunday, April 6, 2008

Siegelman and 60 Minutes, Part II

Want to get in the right frame of mind for tonight's Part II in 60 Minutes' coverage of the Don Siegelman case?

Well, check out today's editorial in the Tuscaloosa News, questioning Karl Rove's ethics for slamming CBS' coverage.

The News' editorial gets to the heart of the matter, noting up front that the Siegelman prosecution is "a case that grows more odious by the day."

Then the News goes after Rove in a major way. This is not the kind of stuff you are used to seeing in an Alabama newspaper:

Rove, in an interview with GQ magazine made public late last week, called Simpson a 'complete lunatic' and accused CBS of being a 'shoddy operation' for airing her charges.

Rove can hardly afford to hurl around accusations of shoddy operation. Ethics and morals mean little to him. He has proven time and again that he will do anything to get his way in politics.

Want some specifics? The News provides them:

For example, in the 2000 GOP primary, Rove's operation targeted Bush's main rival by spreading false stories that John McCain informed on other POWs in Hanoi and fathered a black daughter out of wedlock.

(Rove's) personal attack on Simpson fits the pattern. Rove has used smear tactics to tar opponents throughout his political career. In 1994, for instance, he ran Bush's successful campaign in Texas against incumbent Ann Richards in which 'pollsters' asked questions such as 'Would you be more or less likely to vote for Gov. Richards if you knew her staff was dominated by lesbians?'

Want background? The News has that, too:

Rove learned his craft at the foot of Richard Nixon's squad of dirty tricksters led by Donald Segretti. It's almost laughable that he would call anything 'shoddy.'

Tonight's Siegelman report evidently will be an abbreviated segment. I understand that 60 Minutes has much more information that could make another full report. Let's hope we will see a Part III.

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