Alabama's Right-Wing Press Can't Grasp the Siegelman Case

How dense is Alabama's right-wing mainstream press when it comes to coverage of the Don Siegelman case and the evolving Bush Justice Department scandal? We get a clue today from an editorial in The Birmingham News. The News' braintrust has decided that it was "dumb" for loyal Bushies at Justice to use political criteria in hiring for prestigious honors and internship programs. The Newsies assure us that there is no better word than "dumb" to describe these actions at Justice. But there is a much better word. And it's "corrupt." Why do the Newsies and other right-wing types have such trouble grasping that? The Bushies aren't (just) dumb; they are corrupt. And the honors/internship story that broke last week is the tip of a giant corrupt iceberg at Justice. The Newsies proclaim that they are among those who "believe" that Siegelman was justly prosecuted. But Alabama blogger Legal Schnauzer shows that the Siegelman case is not a matter of who "believes" what. It is about the rule of law. When the rule of law is applied to the facts of the Siegelman case, one can't help but conclude that the former Democratic governor of Alabama was railroaded. Reaching this conclusion, of course, would upset the Newsies' prim, proper, and conservative world view. And it would require effort--some actual reporting--on their part. So they stick to telling us about what they "believe" regarding the Siegelman case.