Friday, June 22, 2007

Edward Murrows would roll over his grave on the world of journalism today.


Like sands through a hour glass...We now turn to Ms. Dorothy Rabinowitz...

Ms. Rabinowitz wrote an Op-Ed article in WSJ called "A Tale of Two Prosecutors." The prosecutors she discussed is the prosecutor in the Duke-Nifong saga and the other prosecutor is CIA Leak-Fitzgerald saga. The true journalism along with newspapers today has certainly taken a serious nose dive in reporting the truth. Christy Hardin Smith of FDL adds this information about Rabinowitz:

And what I found out about
Ms. Rabinowitz is something that I had to share:– Did you know that Dorothy brought the world the Juanita Broderick “Clinton raped me” accusations? And that it was brought out by the WSJ — not in its news pages, but by Ms. Rabinowitz in its editorial page — just like today’s attempted hit piece against Patrick Fitzgerald? Convienent to have a fact-free pulpit at your disposal, isn’t it?

Here is an excerpt of Rabinowitz's article from WSJ, (subscriber req.) the new Fox News clone:

From WSJ:
A Tale of Two Prosecutors
By Dorothy Rabinowitz
This week the Duke-Nifong drama oozed to its finale, with a payout to the victims, a confidentiality agreement, the usual salutes to the healing process, and plans on the part of the principals to begin putting the case behind them. Missing from these declamations was the core reality that had brought this day to pass. No one expected participants in this peace-and-resolution ceremony to find a moment to recall the rightful fury and amazement this case engendered across the nation and outside of it -- but such a moment would not have been out of place.

It was a noteworthy week on the justice front. Even as Mr. Nifong was facing ethics hearings in North Carolina, Scooter Libby's attorneys came before trial Judge Reggie Walton, in Washington, to plead for a delay in the beginning of the 30-month sentence the judge had handed down. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's project -- the construction of a major case of obstruction of justice out of a perjury rap against Mr. Libby -- had come to a satisfactory conclusion.


For Mr. Fitzgerald, whose prosecutorial zeal and moral certitude are in no small way reminiscent of Mr. Nifong's, the victory was complete with those two final judgments: the severe sentence for Mr. Libby, and the judge's refusal, last week, to allow its postponement pending appeal. The prosecutor's argument for a heavy sentence emphasized Mr. Libby's alleged serious obstruction of justice -- a complicated effort, considering that there was no underlying crime, or evidence thereof, and that this case, which had begun in alleged pursuit of the leak of a covert agent's identity was, as the prosecutor himself would finally contend, not about that leak at all.

Just what serious obstruction of justice Mr. Libby could have been guilty of, then, was, at the least, a heady question, though not one, clearly, that raised any doubts in the judge. Neither did Mr. Fitzgerald's charge -- also in pursuit of a heavy sentence -- that the defendant had caused, by his obstruction, no end of trouble and expense in government effort.

Ms. Rabinowitz, a member of the Journal's editorial board, won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary on prosecutorial abuse



1 comment:

airJackie said...

Let's hope the next generation takes a different path. Right now so many once honest Journalist are being paid to lie for the GOP and using their reputations to do it. All I can say is I hope the money was worth it and don't ask later why their not trusted anymore. Very few Journalist would qualify for the Edward R. Murrow Award.