DSPQ

April 8, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Double Standard Paranoia Quotient 

The extraordinary corruption of the Bush43 DOJ’s prosecutorial arm is only just beginning to be understood; and the fallout is only just beginning to be felt.

WaPo today provides brief biographical sketches of the six prosecutors who will be investigated and, possibly, prosecuted.

But one aspect has, at least so far, been finessed.

The indictment was issued —contrary to DOJ policy and custom— on 29 July, in the run up to last fall’s Senatorial election.

The case went to the jury on 22 October.

The now-cancelled verdict was reached on 27 October.

On 18 November, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich was declared the winner by 3,724 votes.

Indulge me for just a moment by imagining that a Democratic Senator had suffered a similar injustice followed by similar consequences (and consequences not just for him but for his State and for the nation).

Would the Democratic Party and the media now be so…..accepting?  So philosophical?  So passive?

Would the Democrats and the media allow the pesky fact that there isn’t even a snowball’s chance in hell of it ever actually happening to deter them from assembling the press and harnessing the huskies and announcing that nothing short of a special election will be acceptable?

Alaska Republican Chairman Randy Ruedrich duly called for a special election to be held  ”so Alaskans may have the chance to vote for a senator without the improper influence of the corrupt Department of Justice.  The only reason Mark Begich won the election in November is because a few thousand Alaskans thought that Senator Ted Stevens was guilty of seven felonies. Senator Stevens has maintained his innocence and now, even the Department of Justice acknowledges its wrongdoing.”

But his call has fallen on deaf  and/or tin ears.  No Republican member of Alaska’s congressional delegation has even raised such a possibility.  Senator Lisa Murkowski wistfully said that ”I am sure many of us wish we could turn the clock back to last November.  Unfortunately, that is not an option.” 

The only way this could happen would be if Senator Begich resigned.  And Senator Begich, in a stirring statement of principle in a time of troubles, has affirmed that: ”Today, with our country in a severe recession, it’s more important than ever that we have a senator focused on fixing our economy so Alaskans have the jobs they need to support their families. That is my job in the Senate, and I’m honored to serve Alaskans for the next six years.”

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