The following Letter To The Editor appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning, and it is definitely food for thought as far as I’m concerned (and by the way, the answer to the question is yes)…Does Inquirer have its head in sand?Believe me when I tell you that it’s hard to defend someone like Fumo, who used taxpayer funds to spy on his girlfriend, but State Sen. Ferlo makes an excellent point. The trend is unmistakable (and the inevitable freeper hate mail will start gushing into the Inquirer’s editorial desk shortly – five, four, three, two, one…).
Considering the intense coverage that The Inquirer has devoted to the federal indictment of State Sen. Vince Fumo and considering that the political influences exerted upon U.S. attorneys are now a major national news story, it is odd that The Inquirer has been unable or unwilling to try connecting those dots.
In Philadelphia, U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan bugged the office of the Democratic mayor who was running for reelection. Meehan carried out a lengthy investigation of Fumo, marked by repeated leaks to the media that violated grand-jury secrecy, followed by a sensationalized indictment.
Meehan's investigation of Fumo provided fodder for two of Rick Santorum's negative attack ads against Bob Casey during their U.S. Senate campaign last fall. This is the same Santorum for whom Meehan once worked as campaign manager.
In western Pennsylvania, U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan has pursued high-profile investigations of prominent Democrats, but not Republicans. She conducted a long investigation of former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy that crippled him in his final term of office.
Pennsylvania provides some stark examples of Bush-loyalist U.S. attorneys going after Democrats. Why is The Inquirer so uninterested?
State Sen. Jim Ferlo
Pittsburgh
jferlo@pasenate.com
And this tells you why Ferlo is a great friend to us all, and why we must watch his back in particular.
2 comments:
Since taking office, Ms. Mary Beth Buchanan has gone after almost all major Democrats in the Western PA area. She tried former Sheriff Pete DeFazio for macing. Before you get up in arms, macing is a charge against someone for utilizing their office to solicit campaign contributions. Defazio denied the charge, yet agreed to the guilty plea in order to not have his government pension seized.
Ms. Buchanan not only went after Mayor Tom Murphy, she also publically disclosed she was investigating the late Mayor Bob O'Connor less than 1 month into his term. The allegation was that he did not give a city contract to a fly by night shop that provided a lower bid. This investigation was dropped relatively quickly, yet not before it was disclosed to the press.
The current investigation target is Cyril Wecht. You may know him as one of the most prominent coroners in the nation. The allegations is that he comingled his private practice with the county. To date, Ms. Buchanan has been unable to provide a dollar amount of how much money was misappropriated, yet she someone believes the amount rises to the level of criminal action. Of the indictment, 84 of the charges are for Dr. Wecht receiving faxes at the county office. Is this really a good use of funds?
All in all, Ms. Buchanan is a good foot soldier for the Bush agenda. In case you wish to read more on Ms. Buchanan, go to these links:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07079/770820-109.stm
http://www.reason.com/news/show/118446.html
Douglas,
This is good information, and I'll check it out. Thanks for passing it along.
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