In the bizarre AP piece I referenced below there’s this surreal passage …
The Abramoff investigation threatens to ensnare at least a half dozen members of Congress of both parties and Bush administration officials. Abramoff, who has admitted to conspiring to defraud his Indian tribe clients, has pleaded guilty to corruption-related charges and is cooperating with prosecutors.
With the midterm elections 10 months away, Democrats have tried to link Abramoff to Republicans, the main recipients of his largesse.
At least half a dozen members of both parties.
That’s quite a line. We’re just on the outer edge of this investigation. And I’m certainly not willing to claim or predict that no Democrat, either in or out of Congress, will be taken down.
But to the best of my knowledge no credible claim has been made that any Democrat is even under investigation in the Abramoff scandal, let alone facing potential indictment. At least half a dozen Republicans have been so named in press reports, with varying degrees of specificity. The sentence is a plain statement of misinformation posing as news reportage.
Then comes the next line — that Democrats are trying to link Abramoff with Republicans. This is like when Republicans tried to link James Carville to Democrats. Link him to Republicans? He’s been a professional Republican and major GOP power-player for a quarter-century.
All the factual claims noted here in this article appear to be willful distortions, or statements with omissions so great as to be meant to confuse.
How can the public know what’s happening in their government when the reporters of the news seem so bent on misleading them?
