As I expected, we’ve gotten a number of emails from readers asking why we’re giving as much attention as we are to the Patrick Kennedy story over at TPMmuckraker, given that it’ll inevitably pull attention away from the various GOP corruption stories.
The answer is simple: when it comes to muck, we’re on the case regardless of the person’s party affiliation. We wouldn’t be true to our mission if we didn’t.
The simple fact is that when you have an alleged driving under the influence or sleep-driving story and it involves a Kennedy, the press is going to be all over that. What’s new.
But here’s what does get my attention. There’s another pretty tawdry story that’s out there — one about members of Congress getting sauced up at rollicking parties and set up with hookers by crooked defense contractors in exchange for help bagging pricey defense contracts.
That’s pretty salacious too. You’d expect the press to be all over it. As Justin reported yesterday, the legendary Watergate Hotel has already received mulitple subpoenas from federal investigators investigating the hotel’s role in ‘Hookergate’. So this thing’s for real.
Yet, I’m not seeing any morning show’s running with it.
And, while the Kennedy story is ‘newsy’ it doesn’t really have any greater policy implications. And the public trust implications are minor. The Wilkes-Watergate-Hooker story, on the other hand, is both. It’s salacious, which the press loves. And it’s also directly tied to crooks ripping off taxpayers, probably allowing our service members abroad to have shoddy equipment or defense dollars going to worthless projects.
So, we’re on the Kennedy case. But why the silence on the much bigger scandal bubbling up out of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee?
Cricket, cricket …
Late Update: A number of readers have told me that NBC Nightly News has a piece on the story last night. Good for them.
