But then again, what else is new?

The current editorial laments alleged political prosecutions of Democrats.

Individual Democrats may be paying a personal price. Don Siegelman, a former Alabama governor, was the stateÂ’s most prominent Democrat and had a decent chance of retaking the governorship from the Republican incumbent. He was aggressively prosecuted by both the Birmingham and Montgomery United States attorneyÂ’s offices. Birmingham prosecutors dropped their case after a judge harshly questioned it. When the Montgomery office prosecuted, a jury acquitted Mr. Siegelman of 25 counts, but convicted him of 7, which appear to be disturbingly weak.

The mere fact that he was found guilty of at least some of the charges seems to be irrelevant to the New York Times. The Times deems the case weak due to the acquittals, despite the fact that there was substantial evidence of Siegelman's guilt on even those charges. It seems that the editors believe that Siegelman should not have been prosecuted because it harmed the chance of a Democrat electoral victory -- corruption doesn't matter when your name is followed by a D.

And then there is this little example.

Georgia Thompson is a Wisconsin state employee wrongly put in jail on corruption charges by the Milwaukee United States attorney. Despite strong evidence that she was innocent, Steven Biskupic prosecuted Ms. Thompson for corruption and got a conviction. The news hit shortly before a bitterly fought governorÂ’s race, and opponents of James Doyle, the stateÂ’s Democratic governor, used the conviction to attack Mr. Doyle as corrupt. An appeals court later freed Ms. Thompson, but only after she had spent months in jail.

Excuse me, but now the overturning of a conviction is proof that the prosecution was improper in the first place? I'm curious -- will that be the standard now in all cases in which evidence of official corruption is alleged? In all cases?

Frankly, I'm surprised that the paper hasn't taken a stand agaisnt the William jefferson investigation.

And they fail to note that the same Bush Administration Justice Department has been aggressive in prosecuting GOP politicians. Acknowledging that would completely undermine the dastardly conspiracy theory that the Times spins.

But I like this conclusion.

If Americans are being put in jail for political reasons, Congress must put a stop to it.

Hey, New York Times -- we'll be able to take this editorial much more seriously when you call for the dropping of all charges against Tom DeLay, and the disbarment of rogue partisan prosecutor Ronnie Earle, whose actions reek of partisanship even more than the cases you point to.

Posted by: Greg at 01:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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