I thought we had seen the end of these bogus stories with the end of the presidential campaign season. It seems as though the Associated Press is all too happy to act as a mouthpiece for the Republican party's vile smears.
The headline this morning:
Analysis: Scandal Threatens to Dog Obama
The state of journalism today is truly sad indeed. All it would take is an iota of journalistic discipline to come to the very clear conclusion that the Blagojevich scandal has NOTHING to do with Barack Obama, and does not threaten his integrity in any matter. However, it does not prevent the Associated Press from opening their article with the following:
President-elect Barack Obama hasn't even stepped into office and already a scandal — not of his own making — is threatening to dog him.
Let's get some things straight. It has been made explicitly clear that Barack Obama has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the governor of Illinois was trying to sell a vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said prosecutors were making no allegations that Obama was aware of any scheming. And Blagojevich himself, in taped conversations cited by prosecutors, suggested that Obama wouldn't be helpful to him. Even if the governor was to appoint a candidate favored by the Obama team, Blagojevich said, "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation."
...The two Illinois politicians have never been close and have largely operated in different Democratic Party camps in the state. Blagojevich's disdain for Obama was clear in court documents; he is quoted as calling the president-elect a vulgar term in one phone conversation recorded by the FBI.
It doesn't get any clearer than that.
It is fitting that they call themselves the "Associated" Press, because they are only too eager to associate Obama with a scandal that he has nothing to do with. It would seem that no matter how many facts come to light that exonerate Obama of any wrongdoing, the fact that Blagojevich is a Democrat from Illinois is enough for a supposedly reputable news organization to plant seeds of doubt about their president-elect into the heads of millions of readers.
It also raises the specter of notorious Chicago politics, an image Obama has tried to distance himself from during his career.
This is journalism?
This article is an insult to intelligent Americans. The headline itself, "Scandal Threatens to Dog Obama," is not a reflection of what is happening in the world, it is itself creating a narrative that will be picked up by the ravenous right-wing that is hungry for an Obama scandal, and the significantly large population of the politically ignorant.
Oh, and no AP story would be complete without a large chunk dedicated to Republican blowhards:
"The serious nature of the crimes listed by federal prosecutors raises questions about the interaction with Gov. Blagojevich, President-elect Obama and other high ranking officials who will be working for the future president," said Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the new GOP House whip.
Added Robert M. "Mike" Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Committee, "President-elect Barack Obama's comments on the matter are insufficient at best."
Why should anyone care what Obama's political opponents in Washington have to say about a scandal in Illinois? They probably just heard about it the same time my mom did last night.
We need journalists with INTEGRITY. Where have they all gone?
UPDATE: Right on time.