Did you know that Idaho Senator Larry Craig is going to speak at the Republican convention? Okay, I'm just kidding but can you imagine the reaction from the media if that were the case? We would hear never ending stories about the "culture of corruption" inherent in the Republican party. Well, guess what? Former Alabama governor Don Siegelman who was convicted on bribery and mail fraud charges, is going to be a speaker at the Democratic convention in Denver according to this report from WHNT TV in Huntsville, Alabama. And if you want to know what the media reaction will be to this, we already have a sneak preview of biased reporting in the WHNT story by Greg Privett announcing Siegelman's convention appearance (emphasis mine):
Don Siegelman will speak at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Siegelman tells NewsChannel 19 he has accepted an invitation extended by the Colorado delegation.
Targeted by Republican prosecutors, Alabama's former governor says he will talk, in particular, about the critical need to reveal former Bush White House adviser Karl Rove's role in politicizing the United States Department of Justice. The DOJ, under Bush, has gone after Democrats seven times more than Republicans.
In the Siegelman case, the prosecutors -- then Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor followed by U.S. Attorneys Alice Martin and Leura Canary -- along with Federal District Judge Mark Fuller have personal, political, or in some cases, business ties to the Bush administration.
Is this a news report or a listing of Democrat talking points? WHNT makes Siegelman out to be a victim who was the innocent target of evil Republican prosecuters as well as Karl Rove who personally targeted him.
What WHNT fails to mention is that the charges that Karl Rove personally targeted Siegelman is based on claims by one Jill Simpson, a low level Republican volunteer who made her charges on "60 Minutes" in February as you can see in this NewsBusters report by Bob Owens. Simpson asserted that Karl Rove personally ordered her to spy on Siegelman for the purpose of entrapping him. Only one problem with Simpson's explosive charge. She never had any contact with Karl Rove. How do we know? Because she testified about this before congress and according to Wikipedia:
However, in contrast with what she told 60 Minutes, she never claimed in her sworn testimony to have met or spoken with Karl Rove.
So it turns out that the main accuser claiming that Karl Rove was trying to frame Don Siegelman completely contradicted herself. Will the media note this? Don't hold your breath if the WHNT biased report is any indication of how the MSM will report on Siegelman's appearance at the Democrat convention.
