Late this afternoon, AP Special Correspondent David Espo cobbled together one of the most incoherent "comparisons" of two totally unrelated events I have ever seen.
In a piece that should be called "AP Writer's Bush Derangement Syndrome Meets Up with His Palin Derangment Syndrome; Hilarity Ensues," Espo attempts to paint current GOP tactics being employed to defend Sarah Palin in the Walt Monegan firing case with those Bush-Cheney used to ensure that the Florida results in the 2000 presidential election didn't get hijacked by Democratic Party efforts to selectively recount only certain counties and to exclude legitimate overseas military ballots.
Of course, that's not how Espo sees it (saved here at my web host in case the report changes or goes away), as you'll see in the beginning of his report:
Palin probe has parallels to 2000 recount fight
This time, there are no hanging chads.
Yet the Republicans' drive to derail an abuse of power investigation against Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP vice presidential candidate, reflects the same determination and many of the same methods employed in shutting down the 2000 presidential recount in Florida.
Now, as then, the playbook includes lawsuits, the exercise of power by sympathetic state officials, and appeals to the court of public opinion - all in an operation directed by out-of-state Republicans.
Not only are there no hanging chads, David, there are no similarities worth citing. The only "parallels" are these:
- The two events involve US states.
- They both pit Democrats against Republicans.
Along the way, Espo does what the media has consistently done in virtually every reference to the 2000 election:
- Writing as if the GOP stopped the recount; no, the Supreme Court did.
- Conveniently forgetting that media recounters in 2001 concluded that the result wouldn't have changed, even if the recounts the Democrats wanted would have taken place.
- Ignoring the wholesale attempts at disqualifying overseas military ballots.
Readers who endure Espo's piece in its entirety will find much more material to dispute and refute.
Espo's Alaska 2008 reporting isn't any better.
He writes that "Republican lawyers, researchers and public relations specialists have been dispatched to Alaska," and doesn't mention that the Democrats did the same thing. He even claims that "Democrats have appeared slow off the mark, unwilling or unable to dispatch their own crew to Alaska to counter the Republicans." That's baloney.
Of course, Dems and their co-operatives in traditional media aren't just working on "Troopergate." They're also stirring up rumors, half-truths, and untruths about Palin at breakneck speed -- so far totalling 84, according to Charles Martin, who has taken on the unenviable task of monitoring them. Update: Make that 89, and #89 is a doozy that I hope will get its own post shortly.
Espo's piece looks to be a thinly-veiled excuse to vent his spleen over what happened in 2000, something he clearly can't get over, and to begin yet another fantasy-based victimization saga with even less substantive support. One fears for what remains of the guy's mental well-being if the McCain-Palin ticket wins in November.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
