Scott Horton, one of the legal eagles most involved in publicizing government malfeasance in Karl Rove's and Alberto Gonzales' prosecution of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman, writes that in the parts of Alabama the "60 Minutes" expose could not be seen.
In a stunning move of censorship, the transmission was blocked across the northern third of Alabama by CBS affiliate WHNT, which is owned by interests of the Bass Family.
Bass. That's the north Texas family, most likely. Robert Bass of the Bass brothers. Out of Fort Worth. Big Bush pals, contributors. Also turn up regularly in the society columns of the New York Times. Horton continues:
The CBS piece came through on its promise to deliver several additional bombshells. The most significant of these was the disclosure that prosecutors pushed the case forward and secured a conviction relying on evidence that they knew or should have know was false, and that they failed to turnover potentially exculpatory evidence to defense counsel. The accusation was dramatically reinforced by the Justice Department’s failure to deny the accusation. It delivered a fairly elaborate version of a “no comment,” and that came a full twenty-four hours after it had conferred with the prosecutors in question. The gravity of the accusations made and the prosecutors’ failure to deny them further escalates concerns about the legitimacy of the treatment of the former Alabama governor, which is now routinely called a political hit job.
CBS, lately the weakest reed of the three weak broadcast reeds, did its job, albeit belatedly and after delays and shrugs. Now it's up to the American people to decide whether they want their Justice Department to shelter a political prosecution service for the current or future inhabitant of the White House.
Imagine what a future Democratic president, a lawyer, could cook up by way of "special national prosecutions" for bothersome Republicans. Perhaps we should just turn a blind eye?
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